Following Senator Hassan’s Push, Veterans Service Record Backlog is Now Cleared

WASHINGTON – The National Archives and Records Administration has cleared a backlog of veterans record requests from the National Personnel Records Center, which at one point numbered more than 600,000 during the pandemic, thanks in part to continued efforts from Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH). With the backlog now cleared, veterans should be able to receive their separation documents in less than a week and other records in less than 20 days, according to the National Archives.

“The least we can do for the veterans who have sacrificed for our country is to ensure that they have timely access to their own records, which are often crucial to obtaining a wide range of services and benefits that they have earned and deserve,” said Senator Hassan. “It was unacceptable that this backlog happened in the first place, but I am glad to see that it has finally been eliminated, and I will keep working to ensure that another backlog like this will not happen again.”

Senator Hassan has worked for years to help veterans more easily access their service records. Her office has helped individual veterans and their families from New Hampshire to get their records, and veterans who are still experiencing issues with accessing their records can contact Senator Hassan’s office here.

As the backlog built, Senator Hassan called on the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) to safely speed up its processing of veterans’ records. The NPRC responded that it needed more resources to tackle the growing backlog of cases. As a result, Senator Hassan helped negotiate and pass into law legislation that included $50 million to the National Archives, which houses the NPRC, and then urged the NPRC to immediately use that funding to address its backlog of veterans’ record requests. Senator Hassan has also introduced bipartisan legislation to identify the root causes of the backlog, to help ensure that it never happens again, as well as bipartisan legislation to digitize veteran service records and create an online portal to modernize how veterans obtain their service records.

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