Resolutions

Resolution Number ANAL07.14

Valid Claims

WHEREAS, numerous cases have been reported of serving military and veterans having to prove their physical and mental difficulties resulting from service in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars to their military organization, and without such proof, being denied the help and the benefits that they have been promised and deserve; and

WHEREAS, even if veterans of the current and previous conflicts prove their need, once their cases are referred to the Department of Veterans Affairs they must once again prove the service-connected relationship of their illness or trauma often under different rules of evidence and requiring different records; and

WHEREAS, the result of these conditions is that thousands of individual service members and veterans have had to face two of the largest bureaucracies in the United States government alone, and often without requisite records or guidance to prove their cases, almost guaranteeing certain failure;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the California Democratic Party calls urgently upon the Congress of the United States to establish by law, under the authority provided in Article I, Section 8 of the United States Constitution, the following:

1) That when a soldier or veteran makes a claim for benefits based on a service-related injury or disability, either to the claimant or to eligible dependents, his or her parent service and the Veterans Administration must, in all cases, presume that the claim is truthful and accurate and such assistance or treatment must be provided immediately; and

2) That when such assistance or treatment is initiated, it will be continued as long as needed, until and unless clear and incontestable proof of the invalidity of the claim is established through investigation, the results of which are certified as valid by no less than two qualified reviewing authorities – at least one from the parent service and one from the Department of Veterans Affairs; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the California Democratic Party forwards this resolution to the California Democratic members of Congress with a demand that they immediately sponsor legislation to this end, and that they pledge to shepherd it through Congress at the earliest possible opportunity.

Submitted by California Democratic Party Veterans Caucus

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Adopted by the Executive Board
Of the California Democratic Party
At Its Executive Board Meeting
Sheraton Hotel, Anaheim
November 18, 2007