There's another problem. Regardless of how well the legislation is written, it's overly restrictive in its administration. This is the bureaucrats' fault and it's a misunderstanding.
Time and time again, you will hear people say that they don't understand the military culture. We say that's because Veterans Affairs has turned its back on veterans in many different ways.
First of all, it doesn't give priority to hiring veterans. The people who most understand veterans are veterans. If the department that was created to service veterans is not giving priority employment to veterans, there's a fundamental problem.
Also, as I've said, the adversarial perception that Mr. Jack Stagg talked about is prevalent within the department. It seems that the first thing Veterans Affairs does when it receives an application from a veteran is to reject it. It seems to be the common belief that it's the same way that insurance companies reject claims and force customers to go back and fight it. We have to substantiate everything we claim and substantiation is not giving the benefit of the doubt. I have to go back and talk to my medical practitioners and get them to provide me with information.
The other thing that happens is that they don't properly communicate to you how you go through the appeal system. There's such a thing as a departmental review, but the department will tell you that first you have to appear in front of the Veterans Review and Appeal Board. Well, that's not true. Once you've finished the two stages of the veterans review and appeal system, the next step, they tell you, is to hire yourself a lawyer and go to a Federal Court.
The true system is that you keep submitting new information to get a departmental review so you don't have to incur out-of-pocket expenses hiring lawyers. But nobody in the department, except those who are sympathetic to veterans, will tell you that. Unless you become well educated, you don't know these problems and you don't understand things.
Why should veterans have to become as knowledgeable about veterans legislation as the members of the department that is here to serve us?