A bill that aims to streamline veterans claims was proposed in Congress on Thursday by senators who said the government has failed to uphold its duty to disabled service members for the past 20 years.
Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., and five others called for a series of actions in the bill they said would attack the backlog that has proved difficult for the Department of Veterans Affairs to whittle down, leading to long waits that they said can devastate a veteran financially and emotionally. (Steve Tetreault/Stephens Washington Bureau)