Tuesday, December 8, 2020

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) and Jon Tester (D-Mont.) – chairman and ranking member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee (SVAC) – today led their Senate colleagues in calling on the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) to find ways to safely increase their operating capacity to reduce the backlog of requests for veteran service records that have accumulated during the pandemic.

“In just over seven months since the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a nearly 120 percent increase in claims and appeals waiting on Federal records,” the Senators wrote. “Scaling back operations so drastically eliminates a veteran’s ability to submit new claims or appeal decisions in a timely manner. It is imperative that the National Personnel Records Center hasten work toward operating at an increased capacity to service the needs of veterans while protecting NPRC employees from exposure to COVID-19.”

The NPRC, operated by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), is currently operating at less than 10 percent of normal operating capacity and only servicing requests related to emergencies.

The letter was signed by U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), James Lankford (R-Okla.) and Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.)

The letter can be found here.