Veterans Administration officials insist they are making progress in reducing the time those who have served our country in uniform must wait for decisions on disability benefits. The claims backlog allegedly has been cut by 40 percent during recent years.

But the agency has a backlog of 368,000 disability claims that have been pending for four months or more. House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, has pointed out that last year, 23,919 veterans from his state waited an average of 265 days to have claims processed.

That is unacceptable.

Americans owe our veterans much.

Members of Congress should demand that more effort be put into expeditious handling of disability claims.