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Claims backlog still plagues VA, chief says

WASHINGTON

Outgoing Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson acknowledged Tuesday that he's struggling to reduce backlogs in disability claims from Iraq war veterans, saying current efforts won't be enough to cut down waits that take months. Addressing Congress for a final time before stepping down Oct. 1, Nicholson also pointed to persistent problems between the Pentagon and Department of Veterans Affairs in coordinating care for veterans and urged Congress to embrace proposals by a presidential commission to fix gaps. Nicholson, who took office in early 2005, said the department has hired 1,100 new processors to reduce delays of up to 177 days in processing disability payments. But even with new staffers, the VA can only hope to reduce delays to about 145 to 150 days - assuming that the current level of claims doesn't spike higher.

D.C. loses chance at representation

A bill that would have given District of Columbia residents their first member of Congress died in the Senate on Tuesday, dashing hopes of full voting rights in the nation's capital after a 206-year wait. Senators voted 57-42, just three votes short of the 60 needed to move the measure forward. The bill would have created two new House seats: One for the city of about 600,000 people and one for Utah, which narrowly missed out on a fourth seat after the last census. The procedural vote, against moving on with the debate, effectively killed the best chance in decades to win the District a full-fledged House member. The city has been denied voting rights in Congress since 1801, making it the only major capital city in the world where citizens are denied a vote in the nation's representative body of government.

Senate approves mental health bill

The Senate passed legislation Tuesday night that would require equal health insurance coverage for mental and physical illnesses when policies cover both. The bill, which passed by unanimous consent, moves advocates one step closer in their yearslong quest for a concept known as mental health parity. The bill goes to the House next, where it has 270 co-sponsors, or more than half of the membership. Brendan Daly, spokesman for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, said that the speaker supports the legislation and would like it to come to a vote on the floor soon. He said a mid October vote was a realistic target.

Justice nominee courts senators

Michael Mukasey, President Bush's choice to be the next attorney general, would fire any Justice Department official who receives a call from a politician and does not report it to higher-ups, Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., one of his chief Senate patrons, said Tuesday. The visit with Schumer came on a busy first day of Mukasey's courtship of senators who will question him about his independence from the White House and his fitness to take over the Justice Department. Holding up the confirmation process apparently is not the nominee himself but a standoff between Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and the White House over information the senator is seeking on the administration's interrogation and eavesdropping programs.

[Last modified September 19, 2007, 00:27:58]