[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 179 (Friday, November 8, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1408]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         INTRODUCTION OF THE VETERANS LEGAL SUPPORT ACT OF 2019

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                      of the district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, November 8, 2019

  Ms. NORTON. Madam Speaker, today, I introduce the Veterans Legal 
Support Act of 2019, which would allow the U.S. Department of Veterans 
Affairs (VA) to provide support to law school clinical programs that 
provide pro bono legal and support services to veterans, including 
assistance with disability claims and appeals and foreclosures. There 
are already at least 22 law schools that have clinics devoted to 
veterans' legal needs, including the William & Mary Law School Veterans 
Benefits Clinic, which serves as a national model for this idea and was 
the first recipient of a ``best practice'' certification from the VA. 
There are many other law schools, such as the University of the 
District of Columbia's David A. Clarke School of Law, that are 
interested in starting their own VA-certified clinics.
  More than 400,000 veterans are waiting for their disability claims to 
be processed by the VA. With the assistance of lawyers and law 
professors, clinical programs provide free legal resources to assist 
veterans in processing their claims. My bill would merely build on what 
some law schools have begun to do for the last several years. More 
needs to be done to sustain and increase these programs.
  I was a tenured professor of law and continued to teach one seminar 
after being elected to Congress. I saw the expert assistance that 
clinical programs provide.
  I urge my colleagues to support this bill, a concrete measure that 
would assist our veterans, who have repeatedly put their lives on the 
line for this country.

                          ____________________