[inaudible conversations] good morning, everyone. The committee will come to order. I welcome our witnesses in person at those appearing distantly. We look forward to the testimony and getting a better understanding of where the department of Veterans Affairs and the thirdparty administrators are in administering the mission act. Also very interested in hearing more today about the caregivers implementation as well. Almost every member of our committee though not physically present at the moment, some are joining us in person and others will be joining us almost every member of the committee will be participating. The focus of todays hearing is the implementation of title i under the mission act by the department of Veterans Affairs, relating to the Veterans Community care program and the program of comprehensive assistance for family caregivers. Io i scheduled this hearing because of my dissatisfaction with the pace of mission implementation. While v. A. Officials were invited to part
V. A. Is absolutely held accountable for how to help care for our veterans, and im continuing to press them on that issue. We must work tirelessly to restore hope in the institutions that have asked so much of our nations heroes. Plain and simple, veterans must have reliable, quality mental and physical health care. There is no option. Folks, as we take a moment to reflect on the work weve done and continue to do in congress on behalf of these men and women, we should also pause as we do every year on veterans day to simply honor their service and the sacrifices theyve made for our country and for our freedom. Serving in the military provided me some of the best years, the best friends, the best experiences, and the best memories of my life. Each year veterans day serves as a stark reminder of the daily sacrifice made by those who have served this country bravely and selflessly. Veterans in iowa and across our nation, you have my support and my deepest gratitude today and every day of
Day and what the day means to them personally. War ourresident, having great nations colors in operation freedom, veterans hold a special place in my heart. Some of my favorite moments in iowa are centered on honoring our veterans and their families with the metals and recognition that they have earned. Heroesmes, these humble do not want to step forward and receive the honors they are due. Glenn is a great example of that. Ii anderved in world war phased some very, very dark days. The 11 out of of survived the0 that massacre. In 1941 andptured he came home to iowa in 1945. Early was not until the 1980s that he started speaking about his military experience. War,he returned home from he did not skip a beat in his service. He quickly joined the iowa state countyand then the polk sheriffs office. Glenn lived a very full life of service yet his heroic actions in uniform would go unnoticed for so many years. I am so grateful that his family got in touch with my office and we were able to t
Welcome back to the washington journal this morning. An hour next hour, we are talking about the Biden Administrations military and veterans policy. We are joined this morning by tyler and mary. Mary, i will begin with you. What is your group, what are your goals, and i will have you that answer the same question, tyler. We are a progressive Veterans Organization founded in 2006 by veterans of the iraq war. We now have over 1. 5 million veterans and military supporters. We work to advocate for progressive policies that benefit u. S. National security. Host give me some examples. We are strongly supportive of President Bidens authorization to end the war in afghanistan and it repeal the use of force in iraq, which has been used to authorize wars in far too many countries. We are strongly supportive of strong u. S. Support for ukraine and our nato allies. Host tyler, same question to you and how do you differ from this Progressive Group . Should think it thanks for having me on. Concern