Utah Attorney General urges Congress to protect veteran benefits

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes has joined 43 other attorneys general in signing a letter urging Congress to support an act that would protect veterans from financial exploitation.

The Aug. 8 letter was penned in support of Governing Unaccredited Representatives Defrauding VA Benefits Act. If passed, HR1139 and S740, known as the G.U.A.R.D. VA Benefits Act, would impose criminal penalties on anyone who charges veterans money to help them with their benefits applications through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Those who charge veterans money to help with their benefits applications are required by federal law to be accredited by the VA Office of General Counsel — but penalties for violating that law were removed in 2006.

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In their letter, the attorneys general urge Congress to reinstate those penalties and to protect veterans from "predatory actors who seek to profit from veterans' service and sacrifice with total disregard for the laws designed to protect those veterans and their benefits."

"Our veterans deserve to be honored, not disproportionately targeted for financial victimization," the letter states.

The recent passage of the PACT Act, which just celebrated its first anniversary Aug. 10, has led to a greater number of veterans applying for benefits, the attorneys general pointed out in the letter. The Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxins Act expanded health care benefits for veterans who suffered toxic exposures from burn pits and Agent Orange in Vietnam, the Gulf War and post-9/11 combat, helping to ensure more veterans will get help for health problems related to their service.

The attorneys general wrote the VA received 124,127 claims related to the PACT Act in the first six months after it became law, making veterans an even larger target for individuals looking to take advantage of them.

"Unaccredited actors see this potential influx of claims, especially those associated with the long list of new presumptive conditions, as a target-rich environment and an opportunity to further exploit veterans and their families without fear of punishment or reprisal," the letter states.

The letter was sent to U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

HR1139 has 118 bipartisan cosponsors, and S740 has 17.

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