{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.heller.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/videos?ContentRecord_id=9a28ecd8-3174-4c07-b4b7-75f3693df7fc", "ICYMI: Heller Urges Support for Bills to Address Veterans Claims Backlog, Family Benefits", "2013-10-30", "2013", "2013-10", "Republican", "House", "NV", "Dean Heller", "H001041", "www.heller.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Legislation considered in Veterans Affairs Committee Today\u00a0 \r\n(Washington, D.C.) \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Dean Heller (R-NV) urged his colleagues on the Veterans\u2019 Affairs Committee to support the Veterans Benefits Claims Faster Filing Act (S. 1148) and the Military Family Relief Act (S. 1573).\r\nHeller Veterans Legislation Considered by the Committee today: \r\nVeterans Benefits Claims Faster Filing Act (S. 1148) - This legislation, which Heller introduced with Senator Heinrich (D-NM), is a bipartisan bill to help reduce the veterans disability claims backlog. The bill would require the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) to provide veterans with accurate information for faster filing options.\u00a0\r\nSpecifically, the bill would require the VA to track and post the average turnaround time for veterans when they are filing their claims. Filing claims online through the Fully Developed Claims (FDC) program, instead of filing a paper claim, accelerates turnaround times and makes processing more efficient. The bill would require the VA to inform veterans that under current law, when they file a FDC, they are eligible to receive up to an extra year of benefits.\r\nMilitary Family Relief Act (S. 1573) \u2013Senator Heller is an original cosponsor of this bill introduced by Senator Jon Tester (D-MT). The bill would authorize the VBA to automatically provide Death and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) and death pension benefits to the widows and widowers of fallen service members and veterans for up to six months.\u00a0 Currently, these widows are ineligible to receive benefits until they file a claim and it is approved, a process that can often take several months.\u00a0\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.heller.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/videos?ContentRecord_id=9a28ecd8-3174-4c07-b4b7-75f3693df7fc"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9434167295694351, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}