[inaudible conversations] next day here in looking how veterans are transitioning to civilian life. In a washington journal segment on the destruction of chemical weapons and later a discussion about brain injuries and the elderly. A lot of people dont know how difficult it is. I dont know one person may be in this room that can juggle the things me and my husband have to juggle every single day with having three children on medical disabilities going back and forth to work sometimes maybe having too taken under the table job just to bring in extra money. There isnt a lazy bone in my body. There are many people that live in the inner city under the Poverty Level that are not easy. We want to be a part of the conversation. We want to have fulltime jobs and go to school and go to college and things like that and i actually believe that certain people just put the stamp of sleazy on us and to put a smoke screen that could not can not be able to see what is really going on. To point the fi
Friday night for a couple hours and welcomed the director of the hartford Va Regional Office as well as the director of the Va Connected Health care system to listen to our veterans, and not just about the delays, but the more fundamental gaps in care that we have right now that we are all working hard to fill. Just one example, k. Robert lewis, a veteran Service Officer from the veterans of foreign wars, shared with the audience very compellingly his understanding that many veterans with the vfw has received outstanding service, but that there is a lack of providers, nurses, doctors, staff that have caused the delays and hindered veterans access to care. I know that the veterans access to care act authorized 5 billion to enable the va to hire Additional Health care providers and clinical staff, but secretary mcdonald, you have identified the practical obstacles to meeting the needs and hiring more doctors and other professionals, and that is one of the central challenges of our time,
Thank you all for coming. I want to thank our panelists for what is going to be a very important hearing. The rules will be that i will make some opening remarks, senator burr, the Ranking Member will make opening remarks, members will have three minutes, and i will keep people to three minutes because it will be a long hearing it, and that we will go to secretary shinseki, and the undersecretary. Excellent second panel and a very good third panel as well. It will be a long hearing, and we will get through it. Let me begin by just making a few basic points. Serious allegations have v. A. Personnelt in phoenix and other locations. I take these allegations seriously, as i know every member of the committee does, which is why i have supported an thependent investigation of v. A. Inspector general, and they are in phoenix doing a thorough investigation, and my hope is the report will be done as soon as possible. What i have stated and i will repeat right now, is that as soon as that report
Chairman, for holding this hearing. I certainly echoed the concerns of my colleagues and the need for structural and systemwide changes. Healthcare system is a promise that we made to americas veterans that we will take care of them in return for their service and sacrifice. The close to 10 million veterans that access care through the v. A. Systems need to trust that they are receiving high quality care when they need it, and i do note that 10 million veterans signed up for the healthcare huge here that is greater than the population of a number of states, including the state of hawaii. When we fail to provide proper care for our veterans, we not only fail them, but their families as well, and these families have also sacrifice for our nations security, and provide essential care and support for our veterans. While the immediate focus might be on the phoenix case and similar allegations regarding a hospitals,ther v. A. It is important to see what is happening systematically at the v.
To do so. Though i still may have preferred to make a portion of the draft more neutral, what we are voting on today asks about a number of alternatives which will allow for a wellrounded record to develop on how best to protect the public interest. Second, today, we are voting only on proposed rules, not final rules. This item is an official call inviting interested parties comment to discuss pros and cons of various approaches and to have a robust dialogue about the best path forward. When the chairman hits the gavel after the vote is cast on this item this morning, it will signal a start of 120 unique days of opportunity, each of you have, in shaping and influencing direction of one of the worlds most incredible platforms. The feedback up to now has been nothing short of astounding. But the real calls to action begin after this vote is taken. Comments are due on july 15, and theres ample time to evaluate any of the proposals and provide meaningful feedback. You have spoken, and i am