ICYMI: Following Trip to Afghanistan, Allred and Members of Veterans Committee Seek Solution for Veteran Contractors Serving Abroad

Washington, D.C. – Last week, Congressman Colin Allred (TX-32) along with House Committee on Veterans' Affairs Chairman Mark Takano released a letter sent to the Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Secretary of the Department of State, and the Secretary of the Department of Defense describing concerns from veterans serving as contractors with the State Department in Afghanistan.

During the Congressional delegation to Afghanistan over the Thanksgiving break, Allred heard concerns from veterans who chose to continue serving our country after their military service by working as contractors employed by the Department of State. Because they are abroad, these veterans are unable to attend VA disability exams within the United States and are often unable to access benefits.

"As a country, we made a promise to honor our veterans' sacrifices by ensuring they have access to benefits and care following their service," said Allred. "I was honored to be able to travel abroad to visit our servicemembers and veterans serving overseas and hear their stories. I hope we can work together to eliminate this barrier to receiving their benefits. I look forward to working with my colleagues in the House Veterans' Affairs Committee to fulfill our promise and ensure veterans can easily access the benefits they have earned."

The letter was also signed by Reps. Conor Lamb (PA-17), Lauren Underwood (IL-14) and Haley Stevens (MI-11).

Read the letter below:

Dear Secretary Esper, Secretary Pompeo, and Secretary Wilkie:

We recently visited the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan during our Thanksgiving congressional delegation overseas. There, we hosted a roundtable where we heard from veterans currently working as contractors through the U.S. State Department. They described the difficulty they experienced navigating the VA disability claims process while abroad. As government contractors stationed outside the U.S., these veterans are unable to attend a stateside VA disability examination, leading to delays and denials of benefits. Through no fault of their own, these veterans are often unable to access benefits.

We believe VA's contract disability examination program could provide a solution to this problem. Presently, VA utilizes contractors to conduct disability examinations for veterans living both within the U.S. and overseas. Though the framework to perform overseas examinations already exists, veterans working as government contractors in areas of military conflict are excluded from those resources. Because a contract disability examination program already exists in various locations abroad, we believe this program could eliminate geographical barriers to benefits for these veterans.

We are eager to reach a prompt resolution to this issue. Please advise as to the feasibility of extending VA's contract disability examination program to government contractors stationed in areas of ongoing armed conflict before February 1. We look forward to your response and partnering with you to resolve this issue.

Download a copy of the letter here: