Hall, left, and Zippo, discuss the funding, outdoors, at the Orange County Veterans' Cemetery, near Goshen

GOSHEN – U.S. Rep. John Hall (D-Dover) and Orange County Veterans Service Agency Director Anthony Zippo announced major new funds for the VA that will help clear the growing claims backlog at regional VA offices in New York.

The president’s budget makes a 27 percent increase for the Veterans Benefits Administration.  The $460 million increase will be used to hire and train approximately 2,000 additional claims processors to deal with the influx of claims coming from returning Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, as well as to reduce the VBA’s claims backlog that is approaching one million claims.

During a news conference, outdoors, at the Orange County Veterans’ Cemetery near Goshen, Hall emphasized more than money is needed.

 “Just throwing money at the problem will not solve it.  We will continue to do vigorous oversight to make sure that the training of new processors is done correctly, and that the VA management understands that they work for the veterans.”

Hall said the increased funding will help not only current service people as they migrate to veteran status, but will also help the elderly veteran, as well.

“Veterans who have served our country nobly and made sacrifices beyond what most of us can even comprehend, are forced to wait months and sometimes years to get the compensation and benefits from the VA that they have earned”, said Hall.  “This is an outrage and it must stop now.”