Common Defense Submits Statement to Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee Challenging Misleading Narratives About VA Disability System

Veterans’ organization calls on Congress to pass Guard VA Benefits Act to protect veterans from predatory claims companies

Washington, DC – This week, Common Defense, the nation's largest veteran-led grassroots organization, submitted an official statement for the record to the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs in response to recent reporting on the VA disability system. The statement, submitted by Deputy Director for Government Relations John Kamin, challenges misleading narratives that misrepresent both veterans and the system designed to serve them, while calling on Congress to pass the Guard VA Benefits Act to combat growing predatory practices.

The hearing, “Putting Veterans First: Is the Current VA Disability System Keeping Its Promise?” follows recent Washington Post reporting that framed the VA system as “swamped” by fraudulent claims and veterans as exploitative.

Common Defense submitted testimony to the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee challenging recent narratives that misrepresent the VA disability system and the veterans it serves.

Key Points in Common Defense’s Statement

1. Veterans are not the problem — war is.
   The Washington Post article framing the VA system as “swamped” by fraudulent claims ignores two decades of sustained conflict that produced widespread physical, psychological, and toxic-exposure injuries. Legislative reforms like the PACT Act were bipartisan corrections to those realities, not lapses in discipline or oversight.

2. Predatory claims-shark companies are exploiting veterans.
   A growing industry of unaccredited firms charges illegal or excessive fees to “help” veterans file benefits claims, siphoning millions from rightful compensation. These companies operate outside VA’s accreditation system, using misleading marketing and complex contracts to turn the claims process into a private marketplace.

3. Rising claims reflect outreach success, not failure — but invite abuse.
   More than 2.3 million claims were filed in FY 2024, driven by new outreach programs such as the PACT Act and Solid Start. Yet this visibility has also attracted profiteers who monetize each claim and worsen the backlog that critics cite as inefficiency.

4. Congress must act.
   The testimony calls on Congress to pass the Guard VA Benefits Act, which would reinstate criminal penalties for unaccredited actors charging veterans for claims assistance. The legislation reaffirms that guiding veterans through the benefits process is a public trust, not a private business.

Common Defense concludes that both stigmatizing rhetoric and unchecked profiteering erode public trust in VA itself. Protecting veterans from exploitation and restoring confidence in earned benefits are inseparable tasks — essential to honoring a four-century-old promise between America and those who serve it.

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Common Defense Civic Engagement (501c4) (CDCE) is a grassroots, veteran-led organization that was founded in 2016. We empower veterans to stand up for our communities against the rising tide of racism, hate, and violence, to organize against the entrenched powers that have rigged our economy, and to champion an equitable and representative democracy, where “liberty and justice” truly is for all. For too long, politicians from both political parties have attempted to use veterans as unwilling political props, and Common Defense serves as a home for veterans to organize and speak for themselves and support the candidates who truly share our values.