VA to Hire Additional Claims Processors

Week of July 16, 2007

As chairman of the appropriations subcommittee over veterans spending, Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco, oversaw approval of $61 million in funding to hire 400 additional claims processors across the nation. Now the Veterans Benefits Administration has been given the OK to hire an additional 28 processors this month in Waco. The new positions represent only a 6 percent increase in staffing, but Carl Lowe, the regional office's director, said it's the first major hiring he has been able to do in the seven years he has worked there. Legislation providing an additional $126 million to hire 700 more claims processors across the country has been approved in the House and awaits passage in the Senate.

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