militarizing law enforcement act does. and that is to stop that flow. and return control of the process of accusation of acquisition back into the hands of civilian authority. that's the first thing that we need to do. and the second thing with need to do isening sure a good analysis of the personnel that we have doing the law enforcement, because as i said, if you have been to a war zone, the statistics show that many of those who return from the battle suffer from post-traumatic stress and other illnesses that affect the mental health of the people. and so, we must take better care of the mental health of our law enforcement personnel. be they having or having been deployed or not, being involved in law enforcement is very stressful and sometimes that mental health can break down and people start making bad decisions. and so we must get a handle on that in this country. and then, once we get a handle on the militarization, there are structural issues that need to be dealt with, loss of confidence in the criminal justice, i.e., the secrete grand jury process. and what has become clear whenever there has been a killing of a civilian by a law enforcement officer it often results or most often results in a finding of justifiable homicide. and indeed most killings by law enforcement are justifiable. there is no question about that. but there is no question about the fact that some of the killings are unjustifiable. and when they are unjustifiable they need to be dealt with in accordance with the law and that means prosecution. and the problem we get with law enforcement officers who have acted outside of the law and have committed a killing, what we get is a finding that the killing was justified despite the clear evidence to the contrary. and i'm not going to cite any specific cases, but i will say that these cases are well known to the public. they appear on video. and even if yoush eyes deceive you and the killing was justified, you are justified not having confidence in the process by which the finding that the killing was justified was rendered through. and basically i'm talking about a secret grand jury process. that's why i filed the grand jury reform act to get at this process and to bring transparency into the process. now, what usually happens and what is the course of conduct in a police killing case is that the killing itself will be investigated first and oftentimes only by the very law enforcement agency that employs the officer involved in the incident. what you have is friends and co-workers investigating each other. and so when that happens, it tends to not to be impartial but bias in favor of the accused and what usually happens is despite what may be clear about the facts, it's always the decision always comes down as a justifiable homicide by the law enforcement agency that is rendering the decision against its own. and then the case goes to the local grand jury or to the local prosecutor who is well aware, well known and knows well the law enforcement agent involved who may be the subject of the investigation. they know each other. they work together regularly to bring cases before the grand jury. and so when an officer is brought before the grand jury, often that officer is known to and by the district attorney and even if not known the fact that they are law enforcement gives them an inherent benefit and gives them correct and gives them a positive edge with the prosecution. and so the prosecutor then takes the investigation by the law enforcement agency that knows and loves the officer, takes that investigation before a grand jury in a secret proceeding. no one is in there from the public to understand the quality of the evidence being presented whether or not there is any evidence being presented. we have to rely on the results that comes out of the grand jury proceeding because the grand jury proceedings are secret by law. nothing that happens inside can be revealed. and so it's a process that usually results in what we all are awaiting andicson ration of the police officer despite the evidence to the contrary. and once you have that determination, it's a closed case. and so when you have that happening repeatedly over and over again over the course of time it erodes public confidence and so my legislation, the grand jury reform act would mandate that whenever there is a killing during the course of a policeman's use of his or her authority in the line of work, in the line of the duty, whenever there's a killing then there would have to be appointed an independent law enforcement agency, the top law enforcement agency of that particular state to take over the investigation and to perform the investigation. that would give it a little more sense of being more impartial. and once that impartial investigation has concluded, then the matter would be presented to a judge in open court by a special prosecutor appointed by the governor who would then be charged with presenting that independent investigation to a judge in a probable cause hearing in open court and that judge could then make a determination of whether or not probable cause existed. and if it did or did not that judge would issue a written finding of fact and deliver the case back to the local prosecutor who would then in acordance would proceed through the secret grand injure process or whatever process was available to that district attorney. who is elected by the people by the way. and so this probable cause hearing would unable there to be transparency so that the public would understand and hear the evidence and see the evidence and then there would be accountability that would be established on behalf of the people based on what the elected prosecutor decided to to do with the case. so it's hard to hold a local prosecutor accountable after a secret grand injurey process and the only thing you can rely upon is the earnest presentation in a press conference by the prosecutor that we did our best, we presented the evidence and the grand jury came back finding that the grand jury was justified. we need more than that. we saw that in the case of michael brown in ferguson, where they did release the grand jury transscripts and you could see where the evidence of boat load or truck load of evidence was dumped on the confused grand jury members who were charged on a law that wasn't even applicable and given bad law to decide the cause case. we saw what happened what happened in the grand jury proceeding. and that, ladies and gentlemen, is not the only time that i'm sure there has been abuse within the grand jury room, but we'll never know because it's secret. lastly, i have filed a bill, which is called the police accountability act and what it would do would be to provide another tool for fd prosecutors to be able to prosecute law enforcement officers for the offense of murder and all of the lesser included offenses. should it appear that the process within the state did not work and for those three bills, i have discussed and now i see my colleague has arrived sheila jackson lee out of houston texas, has ascended to the top spot, the ranking membership on the crime subcommittee on the judiciary committee upon which i also serve along with her. and with that, i yield such time as she may consume to the gentlelady from houston. ms. jackson lee: let me thank the distinguished gentleman and maybe i should find out how much time is remaining. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from georgia has approximately four minutes remaining. ms. jackson lee: let me thank the distinguished the gentleman from georgia. we serve on the judiciary committee and he serves as the ranking member on the antitrust and commercial law committee. and i have the privilege of working and serving with him on the subcommittee on crime terrorism and homeland security. and although we have been working on these issues for a number of years he is a practicing lawyer law and we are now in a significant moment of significant of history and if i might use language that is not particularly legislative, we can't fool around. there are issues that the american public, that i believe want remedies for and that is persons who are civilians and persons who are law enforcement officers. the police accountability hearing that we just held, mr. speaker, held in front of the judiciary committee on tuesday and we thank chairman goodlatte and ranking member conyers for heeding our voices asking for this hearing. and it was a hearing of information. but i think it did evidence that there is a divide that must be bridged. . tonight i stand on the floor to honor, mr. johnson, a fallen officer in my district and none of us want to consent to actions against law enforcement officers in the line of duty protecting our communities and our nation. at the same time, i believe that we have the opportunity to do some serious issues or confront serious issues developing a road map for better police community tissue better police-community relations. so in addition to the legislation that i know mr. johnson has already elaborated on and i support him in his efforts, we will be looking at legislation that deals with holding the standard matrix to provide a road map of training for police officers and law enforcement officers from de-escalation to ideas of interaction with community, professional training, educational training, we'll also hopefully pass a cadet bill which talks about gathering the appropriate data related to excessive force being used by civilians or police officers and using that material to be able to formulate the right kind of approach to protect all. in addition, i just introduced today the private prison information act which indicates that the same requirements for the federal prison system should be for the private, nonpublic prison system providing reports of injuries or behavior that should be reported and we hope that bill will move quickly. we've also introduced a good-time early release bill that argues for the early release, dealing with incarcerated persons responding to mass incarceration which we believe is very important. this deals with a certain age but i'm also introducing, mr. johnson, a bill that indicates one day for one day. you have 54 days of good time, then you get 54 days. that is not the case. let me just say this, as i yield back a moment to you, we will not pass legislation unless we can all understand each other's pain. the horrific pain of losing law enforcement officers and them going -- them not going home to their family, i mourn. and the horrific pain of a michael brown, eric fwarner tamir, walter scott, any number of others and of course fred gray. what we need to do is in understanding that pain, not be accusatory. and get bills before the judiciary committee to make our system the best justice system in the world. that's what i would like to see happen. i know that you as a practicing lawyer who have addressed this issue would like to see that happen as well. i would like to join you on the floor over and over again for these kinds of special orders to speak to our colleagues about getting something done, passing comp reshensive -- comprehensive criminal reform, getting it done to answer the pain of all americans. and we honor those who have lost their lifes and we honor the men and women in uniform who wear the uniform on our behalf to be able to walk alongside of us in dignity. with that, i yield back to the distinguished gentleman. mr. johnson: i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. pursuant to clause 12-a of rule 1, the house will stand in recess subject to the call of the chair. >> we're joined by lindsay mcpherson who covers tax issues. who benefits from this tax credit and why is congress taking it up to make it permanent? >> congress was to make it permanent because it has been renewed on a temporary base is for a couple of decades now. it is a credit a lot of businesses use. some don't take it when they would be able to. >> john boehner tweeted the bill makes it easier for businesses to invest, innovate, innovate and create more jobs. what arguments will be here against that? >> to make rest will not argue against the policy of the credit. it is one they support as well. their argument against the bill on the floor today is that it costs too much and it is not paid for. it is $180 billion over 10 years , and the democrats add to the deficit. >> that is -- the bill takes the wrong approach, adds $180 billion the deficit. senior staff would recommend the president veto the bill. the white house has its own tax credits they would like to see that were a gift in their budget proposal. >> yes. specifically the white house would like to make permanent the expansions of the earned income tax credit and the child tax credit. those credits don't expire until the end of 2017. congress has time to act. last year when they were negotiating with republicans on whether to make those credits permanent they were pushing for those three. >> the house took up a similar bill. the senate took no action. what is this discussion about these tax credits leading to? >> it is ultimately leading to a debate on tax reform, which is moving slowly this year. it will probably be similar to last year we're where they tried to negotiate a larger package of extenders. republicans are in a slightly better position. >> in your article the hide headline that it could kill some tax extenders. there are some areas where members are talking about tax breaks for racehorses and rask nascar tracks. some agree the tax provisions may see an end at some point? >> yes. all the tax credits have been lumped together. each has their constituency. some have lesser support like the nascar credit. if there is a debate, and we expect there will be to make some permanent they may be renewed temporarily or remain expired. >> back to the r&d bill, the white house expressed opposition , it will likely pass on the house floor. any indication mitch mcconnell will take it up this year? >> the senate i don't believe will take of the individuals. the house passed extender bills for charitable provisions a wild back in the senate stripped that and use the legislative vehicle for one of the trade bills. the senate's intention is to have a debate. the larger package, then move a big bill to make some permanent. >> lindsay mcpherson, read more at cq.com. follow her on twitter. thank you for the update. >> the house of representatives approved an extension of the research and development tax credit. the bill makes a few changes to the way the r&d tax credit is calculated. the congressional budget office estimates the bill would cost $182 billion over 10 years. the white house has issued a statement saying it poses the bill because the cost is not offset. the house passed a bill to authorize $33 billion in programs for agencies involved in scientific and industrial research. later members consider debate rules for a fishery conservation and management bill. tomorrow the house will take a commercial spaceflight legislation. coming up tonight, a joint house and senate the a committee hearing on priorities for veterans care. then president obama speaks to kos card graduates about national security. senators mccain and graham on the fall of her mahdi. john boehner took to the house floor to express his anger. he blamed the administration for the lack of firing of those involved in the health care scandal that led to the resignation of eric shinseki last may. here is a look. speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. boehner: next week marks the one-year -- the speaker: next week marks one year since general shin sec key resigned as leader of the veterans affairs department. at the time, the president promised reform. he said, and i quote the number one priority is making sure the problems get fixed. but instead, at the v.a., we're seeing more of the same. last week congress gave the v.a. secretary new authority to fire employees. but while some 110 v.a. facilities kept secret lists to hide wait times gist one person has been fired. one. what the hell happened to the rest of them? some got to retire with their benefits, some got transfers, some got paid leave, some got a slap on the wrist. all of them went on collecting checks from the taxpayers. if only the veterans administration did half as good a job of taking care of the bureaucrats as they do our veterans, we'd be in a lot better shape. in fact, congress also gai the v.a. more than $16 billion to improve care and to shorten waiting times. and yet the number of patients facing long waits is about the same. the number of patients waiting more than 90 days is is -- more than 90 days has doubled. on this day, the v.a. can't even build a hospital. just about every project ends up years behind schedule and hundreds of millions, if not billions, over cost. and just last week, the public learned that the v.a. is spending $6 billion a year illegally. an internal report exposed examples of overspending on conferences, improper gifts, inappropriate purchases and promotional items. again, if only v.a. bureaucrats did as good a job of taking care of our veterans as they do themselves. the author of the report at the v.a. and i quote doors are swung wide open for fraud waste, and abuse and these actions may potentially result in serious harm or death to america's veterans. that's our own expert saying this. this isn't the run of the mill incompetence. it's arrogance and it's arrogance that allow ours veterans to be lied to, ignored, and frankly left to die. my colleagues, it's almost memorial day. that's when we slow down and reflect on the debt of gratitude that we owe to our heroes. and i commend chairman miller and all of the members of the veterans affairs committee for striving every day to fulfill this obligation. congress will continue to pass legislation to hold the v.a. accountable, but only the administration can change the culture from within. the president owes the american people a real, long-term plan to fix the v.a. not a promise, not a pledge not rearranging the chairs on a deck. a real plan to clean up this mess. and i'll keep coming back to this podium until the adm >> wednesday the sitter hearing about what they believe are the most pressing issues for veterans including veterans health, suicide prevention, and budgetary issues. this is two hours. >> ranking member blumenthal. there will be an opportunity for remarks. hearing no objections, so ordered. our witnesses will include the paralyzed veterans of america colonel robert norton patrick little commander of the military the witnesses here today and the organizations they represent serve a necessary and admirable role to ensure men and women of our armed forces have the care benefits, and opportunities they deserve when they come home. i'm thankful for the dedication and the noble service of each of the organizations represented here today and their representatives have worn the uniform themselves. a returning war fighter deserves the best. i'm honored in my position as chairman of the house committee to work alongside these groups to make sure that is exactly what they get. i would like to personally welcome everyone who is made the trip here. raise your hand if you are from the sunshine state. feels like home out there. yesterday was like the panhandle of florida. much different today. glad to have you here with us. i want to welcome the members of each of the organizations auxiliary. thank you for their work behind the scenes. each organization today has its own legislative priorities but if everyone has a common goal to ensure that the president and future veterans of this great nation are in fact afforded the best care for the selfless service that they provided. over the past year we have uncovered severe problems within the department of veterans affairs that have required tremendous efforts from dso's like yours to improve access to care and to dismantle the diseased coulter in the department that has allowed certain employees to escape much-needed accountability. i introduced legislation that would improve accountability. hr 473 would make three important changes and give the secretary the authority to reduce employment retirement pay if they are convicted of a felony related to their work performance, ensuring they are not being rewarded for their misdeeds. similarly the performance evaluation program are subject to reforms to prevent bad acts from being covered up by the undeserved high reviews. this bill would prevent employs from being on initiative leave for more than a 14 day time. placing an employee on open-ended paid vacation as reward for bad behavior instead of removing them. next, hr 571, the veterans affairs retaliation prevention act would improve the process for whistleblowers within the department to report waste fraud, and abuse, to correct problems at the lowest level in the agency possible. perhaps more portly it would expand accountability of supervisors who would seek to retaliate against employees who report wrongdoing. also, require the v.a. to undertake more training procedures to ensure employees are well aware of their rights and methods to report wrongdoing, and supervisors know there are serious consequences. it is a massive substantial support focus on whistleblower protection. i introduced hr 94. it would give the secretary the ability to remove any employee in a similar process that found -- that was found in a choice act signed into law last summer. also our protections to ensure this process is not apply to whistleblowers, an extension of nonmedical employee probationary periods and requirement that gao conduct a study of the a time space, and resources devoted to labor union activities. i encourage those of you today if you have not already research this legislation, please do so. we would welcome your support of these crucial pieces of legislation. i look forward to hearing from each of you today, and the groups that you represent. i now yield five minutes to the senator from georgia, my good friend mr. isaacson. senator isaacson: i want to do laughs because i was late. i apologize. i will follow-up briefly on what chairman miller said. we are delighted to have you today. we appreciate what they do for the veterans. we have a lot of challenges but the chairman of the house and i have committed that we are not just caretakers of the status quo but instigators of improvement. we think v.a. health care is important. we want veterans health care to work. we want veterans to have the best health care they can get. what happened in denver should never happen again. every time you overspend on one hospital you understand on another. men and women invested their lives. we appreciate your presenting the veterans today and look for it your testimony. >> i yield to the ranking member, miss rice. senator rice: i want to thank all of the witnesses for coming today. i would like to echo everything that chairman isaacson and chairman miller said. i will hold my remarks and reserve the balance of my time. senator miller: mr. blumenthal for five minutes. senator blumenthal: thank you to you, chairman miller and chairman isaacson for your leadership on this committee. most especially for your support of the suicide prevention bill. i want to thank everyone of the panel who are here today for your support and your leadership on this critical measure that was led by senator mccain and myself with the help of representative walsh and others on the house side. just as an example of the fact that we can get things done breed we can help veterans. we can make a difference. i knew you are making a difference as leaders of your organization. as we focus on health care, we should never lose sight of the other challenges before us. veterans homelessness, veterans underemployment, and veterans needs for skills training and education, and jobs. some of the scams that prey on veterans both around military bases and elsewhere. they explode -- exploit g.i. bills. all of these challenges we will face on this committee and broaden our attention from strictly health care related. senator isaacson is right that the debacle in denver should never happen again but in some sense it has happened again because of cost overruns. the need for reform is not only in denver but more broadly on v.a. construction programs. very likely taking away that responsibility or having them overseen and supervised by the corps of engineers. let me finish on this note in terms of the health care challenges ahead, we need to face the fact that the health effects of toxic exposures in this war, these wars, and others can impact not only servicemen and women who are exposed to the waste dumps, and nerve agents and other battlefields exposures, but also to their children and grandchildren, the toxic exposure research act that i introduced earlier this year with senator moran will provide for a national center at a v.a. medical center to engage in critical research on this issue, and also if not more important mandate government disclosure. the declassification of documents that need not be classified. but will provide critical information to men and women who risk their lives for this country, and deserve to know what the exposures have been on the battlefield to possibly toxic substances, impacting the only their health but the health of their families, and their children and grandchildren. thank you for your leadership. thank you for giving me this opportunity. senator miller: thank you. if all members will hold their opening statements. i will begin by apologizing. i'm going to have to leave. i need to meet with the speaker. and the secretary. we will try to work towards some resolution of what is going on at the hospital in aurora, colorado. i think we have all stated and can all agree they should never have occurred. we are trying to find a pathway for word. we are looking for people who were help us. if we have to drag the department kicking and screaming through this process we will do that. i'm not afraid of them. i think our veterans not only in colorado but the united states of america deserve nothing less than appropriate expenditure of federal dollars with proper oversight and management. with that, mr. kovacs is recognized. senator kovacs: i appreciate the opportunity to testify today. -- mr. kovacs: i appreciate the opportunity to testify today. pva is a concern of the funding levels in this appropriations bill that passed the house of representatives. the funding levels outlined in this critical bill suggest that congress is not committed to addressing the internal capacity problems the v.a. faces. first and foremost, the spinal cord injury and disease service line. moreover it reflects an attitude that suggests how to do more with less. take care of veterans on the chief was never part of the deal when our country mortgage its future on the lives of the few who came forward to protect it. if congress is serious about fixing the problems with timely access to high-quality care, it needs to get serious about the funding levels that would provide for the v.a. pva's dismay congress has continued to allow the inequity of the comprehensive family care giver law to stand. the v.a. only provides comprehensive benefits to caregivers of service-connected veterans injured after 9/11. no reasonable just the location can be provided as to why veterans injured prior to 9/11 should be excluded from the caregiver program. no single group of veterans understand the necessity of caregiver support better than pva members. men and women fought for our country in earlier times who rely on caregivers yet their service and sacrifice has been devalued by time induced amnesia. imagine being a veteran who incurred a catastrophic injury facing saddam hussein during the first gulf war. tell that veteran and his family caregiver that they are not eligible for the caregiver program because congress has chosen not to pay for it. while we are grateful for the benefits provided to post 9/11 caregivers we believe all veteran caregivers deserve the support. it is a part of the cost of serving service members into harms way. don't force caregivers to pay your entire debt. pva is concerned of the construction problems that plagued the v.a.. we are disappointed that the appropriations bill slashes funding for major construction for $580 million. there are valid concerns about construction projects such as denver orlando and new orleans all other construction projects and the veterans whose access to health care rely on their completion are being punished by the congressional decision. we call on congress to restore the dollars that you have stripped from the construction request. none of these failures is more egregious than the problems in denver. the problem with the denver v.a. construction program our years in the making. many staff members remain at v.a. bear responsibility for the problems that have plagued the project to the tune of $1.7 billion. this is a case right for accountability measures being considered. in the end, these committees need to consider what is best serving veterans in denver, colorado, and surrounding states, and not what better service their interests. -- and other conditions which are time is of the essence. for our members, that choice by a mile would be denver. we are encouraged by the v.a. memo on denver outlined a way forward and hope that committees will address this request with urgency and seriousness it deserves before reaching the authorization gap. we urge congress to give senator mcdonald the opportunity to fix this problem which he has inherited from his predecessors. i would like you thank you again for the opportunity to testify today and will be happy to answer any questions you may have. >> thank you. >> mr. chairman, on behalf of a quarter million members, we appreciate this opportunity to share our legislative concerns and comments on issues important to all veterans. guided by our core principles of patriots and volunteers, we seek to enhance the benefits of all men and women who served or have served honorably and selflessly in our armed forces. through leadership, advocacy and service. the leading advocate of veterans rights as well as one of the four authors of the independent budget, one of the claimant voices of american veterans on capitol hill. while military action continued to decline in afghanistan, there is a increase in emergency emerging threats from around the globe. even as we look ahead to future threats, we must not forget the legacy of unmatched damage to the physical and mental well-being of those who serve in the most recent conflicts. it is both your responsibility and hours to make sure veterans receive any and all appropriate health care and other benefits in a timely confident, compassionate and efficient manner. our top priorities in these stations are federal government reform, toxic wound, veteran discrimination. federal government reform, the accountability including extended advanced appropriations to remain discretionary and mandatory. we fully support the following legislation. hr 575, stop wasteful bonuses in the department of veterans affairs. the act of 2015. hr 658, v.a. regional office accountability act. hr 571, veterans affairs rehabilitation prevention act. hr 502 veterans health administration improvement act. hr seven 473. increasing the department of veterans affairs accountability to veterans act of 2015. dod including auditing the pentagon and fiscal matters, including getting better control of the national debt spending. amvets supports hr 119, budget and accounting transparency act thrift act of 2015. hr 522, commission on accountability and review of federal agencies act. toxic wounds. this is an issue for amvets this year since we are chairing the national toxic wound tax force -- task force. we plan to take every opportunity to advocate for all veterans suffering from the effects of forms of toxic wounds. toxic exposure. amvets supports hr 7069 . hr 35, low-dose radiation research act hr 969, the bluewater navy the anon veterans act hr 994, the radiation exposure compensation act amendments 2015, continued funding for the cdr illness research program at leicester's level of $20 million. we also support legislation to restore the oversight components and research advisory committee on gulf war veterans illness. >> thank you. colonel norton, you are recognized. colonel norton: thank you. thank you to the ranking members and members of the committee. it has been a distinct honor for me to testify on behalf of our 395,000 members for 18 years. my statement includes recommendations on specific bills under the jurisdiction. the leadership and support of the committees and congress for our nation's veterans has been very gratifying to us, especially over the last 13 years of war. we thank you for all of our nation's military. i will begin with the challenges veterans face accessing the a care. the a has outsourced care for years but the process remains cumbersome for veterans providers, and the v.a.. last year, prior to the choice card program enactment, v.a. spend $5 billion on purchase care. last week's hearings brought into focus the challenges of integrating purchase care into an overall plan for delivering care to all of our nation's veterans. we liken it to a wobbly three layered cake, the first layer is local purchase care contracts previously can layer is the pc three contracts that have primary care and sing -- icing added on to the specialty care contract. the third layer is the rule rule veterans and those stuck on waiting lists. the v.a. is competing against itself because of the lack of coordination between local purchase care contracts and the choice program network. this results in poor customer service to our nation's veterans. outsourced care for veterans as a complement to direct care is here to stay in some form. the question is how to best plan for it for the future? we regard this question as a trinity -- as an opportunity to engage the with the care established in the choice act to map out a long-term strategy for v.a. care in the 21st century. we agree with our service organization partners that the commission should have one year, not just 180 days to do its work. we urge the v.a. to continue to build internal capacity in three areas. hiring and training providers fixing the scheduling system, and reengineering clinical along the lines of leading civilian health care entities. women veterans are the fastest growing cohort entering the v.a. system and the v.a. must step up its game by becoming more responsive to their needs. our state of points out that american society at large is struggling to recruit and train sufficient numbers of mental health providers. the v.a. has a critical role to play in this. 70% of our nations physicians. that training needs to include training on the unique cultural environment of military service. in the benefits area we are pleased to see a steady decline in the backlog of initial claims and we endorse bipartisan legislation sponsored by senators haller and casein aimed at improvements of the claim system. it is also time to reengineer the appealed claims process. those claims take upwards of three years to resolve. turning to the g.i. bill, we replaced to see the military compensation and retirement modernization and doris a long-held position to sunset the montgomery g.i. bill and in favor of the post-9/11 g.i. bill. we asked the committees to recon a five the reserve montgomery bill into title 38 from title x or it has languished for the last 15 years. we also ask that you modified the price scholarships of that surviving spouses who lost military spouse early on in iraq or afghanistan will have sufficient time to complete their education under the new benefit. we support extending caregiver services to severely disabled veterans of all conflict areas and we thank senators murray and collins, and other members for the bipartisan legislation. i met alexis courtney and her caregiver husband jason at one of the press conferences on a bill to extend caregiver services. alexis suffered a severe traumatic brain injury while serving in the coast guard. because she was injured in 1999, she is ineligible for caregiver back services and support. there is no policy reason to exclude alexis and jason from caregiver act benefits and we urge the committee support on this issue. as a vietnam veteran i want to offer support for blue water navy legislation, veterans who served on navy vessels off the coast of vietnam were exposed to agent orange according to many confirmed studies and deserve the same benefits for that exposure as their comrades who served boots on the ground. we support bipartisan legislation to honor veterans career reservists have not been called that under federal active duty orders. i want to conclude by saying that we work closely with all of the groups here at the table and many others, to advance the needs of veterans across the country. i thank you for the opportunity to present our recommendation to the committee and look forward to your questions. thank you. >> thank you. mr. little, you are recognized. mr. little: good morning. as a national commander of the military order of the purple heart, it is an honor and privilege to appear before this body revisiting members of our organization. as my testimony will be entered on the record i would like to hit a few of the the military order of the purple heart is unique among veterans service organizations, and that our membership is comprised only of veterans wounded in combat by enemies of the united states. not just in the battlefield or a broad, but now even at home as the global war on terrorism has brought the to our own shores. it was they suffered, each member would receive a purple heart medal. since created in 19 32, the military order of the purple heart has been the original wounded warrior organization. to our national service program, which consists of 87 service officers and 41 print support personnel, we proudly serve all veterans of all wars at no cost by providing tangible benefits to those veterans and their families who require assistance. in the past, 18 months, our service officers have assisted veterans and their families in filing 22,563 claims which resulted in monetary awards. at the same time, 1335 of our members donated $142,000 as the a volunteers, which the v.a. evaluated $3.8 million including $500,000 in cash donations. in addition to funding the national service office is, and other programs of the military order of the purple heart, our service and asian helps finance research and assistance to tackle the unseen wounds and things like ptsd, traumatic brain injury, suicide, and sexual abuse. through grants and outreach programs, we lend support to other organizations. as well as make small contributions to veterans facing exceptional difficult financial challenges. before i discuss the current concerns and priorities, i would be remiss if i did not acknowledge the good work of the previous congress or passing legislation that has made such a positive impact on the lives of veterans and their families. on behalf of the military and the purple heart, i would like to think the previous congress for passing legislation that was good and made a positive impact on the lives of veterans and their families, particularly the veterans access choice and accountability act of 2014. the advance funding for additional nba -- additional v.a. counts is also appreciated. i would like to thank the congress for patching a chart 203 -- hr 203. we all agreed something must be done immediately to ensure that those who are willing to risk their lives for this great nation i given both the mental and physical health care needed upon the return from the battlefield. the purple heart order believes whatever physical problems facing nation, it should not have any bearing on the level of health care or other benefits provided to those as a result of honorable military service. as i mentioned before, the military of the purple heart legislative priorities for 2015 is spelled out in detail. i would like to take a few minutes to highlight a few. the a claim -- va claims is something everyone has struggled with for years. there has been some progress but more remains to be done. they report as of january 2015 a back load of claims older than 125 days is over 200,000. that is good when compared to 600,000 in 2013. while we have some improvement there are still veterans who have fighting the system for years to receive benefits they earned. the v.a. needs to continue to be transparent and work with congress to make this move forward. tbi is a signature injury of modern combat, and makes up 20% of the wounded in iraq and afghanistan. we have heard that some cases are being diagnosed as pts. we recommend the v.a. screens all iraq and afghanistan veterans for tbi and provide those who screened positive with the latest treatment. mr. chairman, i would be remiss if i did not use this opportunity to raise an issue of serious concern to the military of the purple heart. during the armed services committee in 2016 national defense or is -- authorization act, a commitment was an amendment to award a purple heart medal to victims of the 1995 oklahoma city bombing. we are dismayed by and opposed this amendment. while the military of the purple heart is sympathetic to the losses of the oklahoma city bombing, especially those who are serving at the time in the armed forces, it cannot support or concerns -- or condone for the act of pure domestic violence. the attack on oklahoma city federal building was carried out by timothy mcveigh and terry nichols in retaliation for perceived federal government mishandling of the 1993 siege of ruby ridge. it was time to coincide with the second anniversary of the deadly fire that ended the season in waco, texas. his concludes my testimony. i will be pleased to answer any questions. thank you. >> thank you mr. little. >> good morning everyone. good morning senator. dr. owen is right. i want to focus on two things. first, 901 hr 1769, the exposure research act of 2015. we want to thank the senators for introducing this important legislation. and the senators and representatives who have and will cosponsor. we are disappointed that hr 1769 was withdrawn for tomorrow's markup section. we understand there is concerned the bill has not been scored yet. it is our estimate that the course might be as high as 20-25 million based on appropriations for the gulf war resource center. we would be happy to discuss this with staff or members. and we urge the committee leadership to expedite this review. what is disconcerting however, is the disinformation campaign that emanates from various staff at the v.a. this is typical of the reaction of the reaction vietnam veterans have received from the first day we raised the specter of orange. delay and deny until they die. unfortunately your efforts have succeeded. all too many vietnam veterans have said that's passed away without confirming what it was that killed them until it was too late. we have 75,000 members. this month veteran 200 members passed away. this is not uncommon. one example, that 62, heart attack. 77, part of that. 70, lung cancer. 69, ischemic heart disease. that 69, parkinson's. 67, bring cancer. 66, als. another, jerome o'donovan, type two diabetes, liver and renal failure. he was a marine officer in vietnam, and was a former republican minority leader of the new york city council. in their testimony at the subcommittee hearing, the v.a. says this bill would duplicate research efforts in other federal agencies. while other entities may stay particular illnesses, nobody has studied us or our offspring and not in conjunction with military service. was it in there trying to focus on causation while studies focus on the degree of association not causation. va cost athersys -- are -- cost are a lot. it sounds like a lot until you realize that the v.a. has allocated between 660 and $700 million per year for research and has never done a study on the effects of agent orange. 50 years and. -- 50 years and no studies. this should not be up to the whims of the eight researchers and university counterparts. interestingly, one study is the national vietnam veterans likely to total study completed last year and has yet to be publicly released. why? by the way, the gulf war resource center is an example of how the v.a. bureaucrats have eliminated those who care and hijacked valuable resources in order to ensure nothing is wrong stance continues despite the fact that 48% of gulf war veterans are listed as disabled. the other thing we want to touch on is the appeals process. in order to lower the backlog on claims, the review officers in regional offices have been taken off regular work and as a result the appeals process has broken down. this has been compounded by the staff at various parts being told they are not have contact with dso's. -- dso's, thus eliminating any chance to get things done at the regional level. this is exacerbated by the failure of the regional officers to -- complete the required paperwork, leaving veterans in limbo. our appeals staff has seen a distinct drop in claims because of these actions. in puerto rico, our staff found some appeals languishing for as long as seven years. seven years. this is seven years where a case was moved to appeal but was never formally certified. it's not common in a regional offices or the board of veterans appeals. that case does not exist until somebody certifies it. this is criminal in my opinion. this intolerable situation must be rectified. we win 70% of clients we service at the appeals level. this is my 10th year. in 10 years, we have been doing the same thing every year. we win 70%. 50% remand, 25% direct readings. that is unbelievable. there is no other business in the world that would lose 70% at a time and stay in business. 70% of the time. and we are not alone. the other folks at this table run around the same numbers. the lowest is about 55-60% and it goes up from there. all of that means is a veteran has to wait many years to get what is due them. and to many find all kinds of issues with poverty and everything else. the whole system needs to be blown up, quite frankly. congress needs to take a serious look at this issue. thank you. >> thank you for your testimony. you are recognized for five minutes. >> thank you chairman isaacson, chairman row, ranking member brown, members of the panel. one of the issues i would like to bring up on behalf of blinded veterans and the blind veterans association and our president is senate bill 171 and has resolution to 88. what those bills asking for our transportation for the catastrophically disabled veterans to one of the many v rehab centers we havea. there are 13 blind rehab centers and 26 support injury facilities. the legalize rape, section 10 let -- the way the law is written, the secretary will only grant members who are connected to catastrophically disabled. most of our members in the blind veterans association, their blindness is due to age-related illness. but they do not qualify for travel to these blind rehab centers. rehab centers right now have 70% that occupancy. that is because we cannot get veterans to the blind rehab centers. there is no cure for blindness. we had rehab. and we need to get these blind and had her eyes -- blind and paralyzed veterans to facilities so they can once again be active members of the community. approximately, i think three quarters of the beds are only filled. right now, it costs on average for a veteran to be housed in a state veterans home, between 70-90,000 dollars a year per veteran. a one-time round-trip plane ticket is $500-$800 to one of these facilities. i'm not a mathematician but i think spending $800 one time is better than spending $70,000-$90,000 a year per event to house them in a state veterans home. they say if you get a man a fish, you can feed him for a day and if you train him to face, he can eat for a lifetime. that is what this bill is doing. we want these individuals to get rehab training necessary so they can continue to be part of the community, and better themselves. another issue that we are looking at is 508 compliance. 1973, the ada law was enacted stating the federal government all information technology will be accessible to those individuals with disabilities. since 1973, the department of veterans affairs still is not at all compliant with the 508 laws. meaning, blind veterans and paralyzed veterans who utilize screen readers, dragons, and other computer technology cannot access the v.a. websites. our service officers at the v.a. are also blind veterans. when they file claims for our blind veterans, they cannot complete the claims because they are not 508 compliant. the v.a. wants to eliminate the filing claims with a paper trail. i think that is wonderful and more speedy, but guess what? that hinders the blind veteran population because we cannot utilize the computer technology and the online forms the v.a. is pushing. thank you. also the kiosks throughout the v.a. they are a great tool. once again, they are not finally compliant or it blind veterans cannot utilize them. we would like for the house and senate to look at the v.a. and pressured them to become finally compliant. lastly, the public law 111 163 was passed in 2010, which stated the secretary of veterans affairs was to provide scholarships for individuals who want to get into blind rehab. since 2010, not one scholarship has been given. and it has never been advertised either. it is granted $500 million per year. where is that $5 million per year going for the past five years? we have lost one third of our blind rehab -- lists at the centers over the last decade and we are planning on losing another third 15 date -- third this decade. we would like to convince the panel to tell the set -- the secretary to see that the money has been appropriated is actually still there and being utilized for this. that is my statement. thank you very much. i will answer any questions at the end. thank you. >> thank you. mr. rieckhoff: on behalf of veterans of america, thank you for the opportunity to share our priorities. this time last year i can do for you to sound an alarm about the issue of suicide. the response was called to draft, introduce, and has suicide prevention for american suicide. despite -- bipartisan effort to get it passed with historic. it showed america what congress can achieve when we are united. the road was long, but together we got it done. we sincerely thank you for your support. but the fight is far from over and the stakes have never been higher. 2015 will be the most important year ever for iraq and afghanistan veterans. the v.a. scandal left us betrayed. unemployment is high and suicides continue. our country seems to could -- forget we are still at war. in washington we see in congress divided. with election looming, it will only get worse. veterans can be the one thing that unites you. and all americans. we need you to put politics aside, listen to the community and get to work. the 2015 iab has extensive recommendations have a blueprint for how you, the white house the president, governors, mayors and all americans can support iab veterans. our plan is led by four priorities. we look forward to working with you to pass a clay hunt style comprehensive piece of legislation. number one, continuing to combat suicide. the save act was just the first step. we lose our brothers and sisters every day. of all generations. now that the a needs to swiftly impertinent -- swiftly implement the save act. the save act 2.0 focused on access, supply and quality. number two, invest in the success of women veterans. it is time to get focused. female service members make up the fastest-growing segment of the veterans. there are 35% of our leaders. research department recently conducted a survey of almost 2000 women and a seven c2 are hosting focus groups. they highlighted the huge challenges e-mail veterans continue to face -- female veterans continue to face. they highlighted multiple occasions were just being recognized as a veteran was a challenge. receiving letters addressed to mr. or letters -- medical charges where they are listed as male. our analysis shows only have of the v.a. employees treat women veterans with respect. just half. that shows how far we have go. progress has been made, but the v.a. and the nation at large is still far behind in recognizing and supporting women warriors. we must strengthen public awareness and research and improve employment, housing, and childcare. number three, reform the v.a. and dod for the veterans. after the scandal, the problems became clear to the whole world. the crisis was preventable and predictable it the leaders had listened. but in this moment there is an opportunity to finally reform a broken system. the new v.a. system -- president -- secretary must be given the tools to succeed while being held accountable. the president must be involved as well. additionally, funding and key structures must be protected from shortsighted cuts and political posturing. this is a year we can work together to create a system tailored to meet our needs. it is no secret challenges exist. almost daily reports surface outlining problems at the v.a. almost did not happen under secretary mcdonald's watch, he must deal with them aggressively. that is why we supported chairman miller accountability act to give him the authority to remove the bad actors. since he has been on the job the v.a. has improved. the claims plot has been reduced. homelessness is down and veterans crisis monitor remains a critical resource and key partner. but it is not enough here it we must finally end the backlog transfer care, defend troops against sexual,, and support the survivors of sexual assault at the v.a. we knew this would be a long road and bob mcdonald is the right man for the job. but you must give him the funding and its ability to reform to be a -- and flexibly to to reform the v.a.. we have sent over one million veterans to college. we continue to get e-mails and tweets by the day of folks who are grateful for that in a advantage. but predatory actors in the school sector continued to take advantage. congress must close loopholes that reward that actors for targeting vectors -- veterans. we must strengthen regulations for career goals and help right away. the on the big four, we must also continue to support families of the fallen, focus on appointment -- employment, support our military families, expand on the success of veterans course and and veteran homelessness. it is a long list by veterans deserve it. after a decade of war, they have waited long enough. our veterans are not a charity they are an investment. it is time to double down on the investment and stay focused. days before memorial day, it is time to stand as one and get to work. thank you for the opportunity should -- to share today. >> thank you. colonel nora knows this, i now recognize the highest ranking major. >> thank you mr. chairman. to our distinguished committee thank you for what you do. mining is jean overstreet. and the president of the noncommissioned officers association. we would like to thank you for that. i am here today to urge you and to commit your continued commitment to our armed forces. the reason i say that is each of you visited our hospital, when you visit bethesda or fort sam or burn centers, you see the commitment of our servicemembers to this nation. i think we should have no less commitment to them and taking care of them. obviously being at the end of the row here, most of the priorities have been outlined. and our written testimony the priorities were testified. i would like to talk in center -- some general terms. it seems that -- first of all i would like to say thank you for your continued commitment on over watch for the v.a., what you are doing in denver and all of the bills and everything else. you need to know that everyone at this table monitors those every day and we applaud your continued success and support on that. we would like to say it is done, but we know there are many other things left to be done and we appreciate moving forward with you. some would say that they should paint all federal workers with the same brush which would have all the same benefits and same pay. but i totally disagree with that. just down the mall here, there is a piece of black granite with 58200 and 56 names. i think that is a little different from the average federal worker. in a few days, many of you certainly myself, will be over at arlington cemetery to see the commitment our servicemen and women have had thus far. that is the ultimate commitment. once again i don't think we should do anything less for them. it is kind of a risk reward scenario and we need to know which to apply for each of those. the mc rcm report, even though it does not directly affect you will have a trickle down effect. a lot of things will come to you sooner or later. one thing i'm kind of perplexed that, we had no enlisted guys on there. we even have some who can do numbers, but nonetheless, i'm a little concerned because it deals with compensation and medical. it depends -- all of those things are within that. it actually kind of suggests that the military compensation and pay and benefits are broken. i kind of disagree with that. i don't think it was totally broken. i'm not saying we couldn't do -- get a little steer and make it better but i don't think it is completely broken. i think there are a lot of things that have happened in our years of combat here. between 1950 and 1999, we had 30% of our veterans on some kind of disability. the last 14 years, that has raised to 47.7%. unbelievable. when you look at the number we are getting at, 8.5. that has gone up to over 19%. absolutely crazy. some say it is not about money. it probably is about money. and has a lot to do with that. we interviewed a kernel and the san antonio express news. the colonel said he could do less, take less, not go to the commissary, and he would be willing, but i don't have to remind you that everybody did not retire asa a colonel. i was talking to it a good friend of mine, and i said, what does a gun sergeant make today if he wanted to retire today with all the bells and whistles? he said, about $25,000 a year. and when he or she are contributing to their own military benefits and everything else, that is not going to reach. that is not going to reach if we are going to change this and make them contribute to the medical and things of that nature. we are changing that around. at some point in time, it is going to come to you. sometimes when we rush into those decisions, like the early outs i know a lot of them who have taken early outs and they regret. t it. as we look at all of these major changes, maybe we need to slow down a little bit and hold them up to the light and see if this is really good for the veterans and what long-term affect this is going to have down the road. i realize my time is over and once again, i want to thank all of you for what you have continued -- your continued success and what you do for sgt. major overstreet: we stand by to answer any questions you may have. >> thank you. i appreciate you being here and your testimony. i will yield myself five minutes for questions. before we start, i have a special guest. today is foster youth shadow program. i have a young woman, who is shadowing me. there are 63 people young people who lived in foster care. if you would stand up wherever -- i know you're here somewhere. in the back. mr. roe: these young people overcome tremendous obstacles. i want to congratulate her for being here. if there are any tennesseans here, i know there are. if you would hold your hand up. i would appreciate. the volunteer state didn't show up today. that's not good. i want to start by saying it's been a privilege, my six years and change i have been on the veterans' affairs committee. i share a frustration all of you-all share. when i got here we were spending about $100 billion a year, which is a lot of money, on v.a. care and administration and benefits. we have gone up 74% since i have been here where the other part of spending, discretionary spending in our government has stayed level. 74% in the six years i have been in this congress. and how we are spending the money is absolutely driving me crazy. it's almost impossible to make a politician speechless, but the v.a. succeeded. and i look at things like the aurora, colorado, v.a. that's been promised for years from the time of construction to now, it's a billion, that's 1,000 million dollars over budget. you mentioned about the care, i could not agree with you more. it's an arbitrary date. we could be spending that money on health care for people. on custodial care. all those things are very expensive. i have a mother who is 92 now that we are doing that. it is very expensive to do. all those things that could have been spent on veterans health care that we overspent, bungled, whatever, the veterans choice card. just last week, the first $500 million that's been spent on that program, 60% was on administration. i looked at the number of visits that actually had been scheduled for veterans, 43,000. that's only $11,000 per scheduled visit. that is ridiculous. and i looked at my own medical group, after i left -- i told the chairman, after i left the hearing, i started thinking, there were 11 of us in our group, in our practice, and we saw over 40,000 people a year. i can promise you if we had been paid $500 million, i would be on a yacht somewhere, not here having a speech today in front of you-all. what can we do, chairman coffman is here, what can we do in the v.a.? i can assure you as long as i am allowed to stay on the veterans' affairs committee, i am going to keep an absolute laser focus on this, the money that's wasted because that means when you waste money, moving a senior v.a. official from washington to philadelphia to the tune of $300,000. how in the world can you get up and look in the mirror this morning and not throw up when that happens? i just ask you-all, i throw it out to anybody who wants to take it, what should we do in the congress? we are going to support many of these bills that you mentioned. but to keep wasting the valuable resources the taxpayers give to take care of veterans when we all know they are limited. yes, sir. mr. rowan: swear everybody in that comes before you. mr. roe: we are doing that now. i would have never thought in my lifetime when i came up here that anybody would come up in front of a congressional committee and deliberately mislead us. maybe i'm naive. probably am. but the truth always needs to be told in front of these committees. and mr. rowan we are doing that. mr. rowan: when you look at your budgets, pare away the administrative overhead. it's ridiculous. the divisions just got fat with administrators. they are not health related people. you need to get the v.a. to break down their staff which they don't do very well at all. between administrators and health providers. i think if you start seeing that in your accountability aspects you get a much clearer idea what's going on. mr. row: the other thing that we have to do and the v.a. has had the capacity to allow veterans to go off, i saw -- as a physician i saw veterans in my office. and they absolutely make it so hard it's unbelievable you would make it so hard for a veteran who wants care to get outside the v.a. system. that is mind-boggling to me. if you have a service that's provided in the community, the veteran wants to go there, they can't get the service at the v.a., let the veteran do that. mr. minney, you are absolutely spot on. i as one congressman want to help you make sure we can get those blinded veterans, whether they were service connected or not. you are right. i work with the blind at home closely. you are correct. it's much cheaper to do what you're talking about doing than institutionalizing a veteran. my time has expired. senator isakson, you are recognized for five minutes. senator isakson: sergeant major overstreet, you may have been last, as a former staff sergeant, we all know the n.c.o.s run the military. we appreciate what you do very much. million reickhoff, i want to associate myself with your testimony. the focus on secretary mcdonald, a lot of the problems at the v.a. were not of his making. solving them has been put in his lap. he's going to need a lot of support. the last conversation i had last night about 11:00, by cell phone was bob mcdonald. we are trying to work through the difficulty to get us through the denver project and get v.a. out of the construction business and back in the health care business. let the corps of engineers do the constructing and make sure we learn from the bad mistakes in aurora. your testimony was telling. alexis was injured as a coast guard, serving in the coast guard, is that correct? was injured in 1999, is that correct? >> that's correct, senator. senator isaacson: there are no caregiver benefits to her? >> that is correct. senator isakson: if she had been injured after 9/11, 2001, what would her benefits be? mr. kovach: she and her husband would be eligible for the special benefits and services and support. that includes training, respite care, champ v.a.a. whole range of benefits that are eligible, available, only to the post 9/11 era, severely disabled veterans and their full-time caregivers. senator isakson: mr. kovach, you represent the paralyzed veterans. and paralysis was the signature of the vietnam conflict? mr. kovach: that is true. senator isakson: but the infliction is any bet as those given after 2001. mr. kovach: my wife speaks three languages and two college degrees and put her career on hold to care for me. when i pass away, she has no benefits. everything goes away. she's never paid into social security. she's never paid into a 401-k. all my benefits go away when i pass. she has nothing. there needs to be a safety net for our caregivers. i'm thinking about the ones you are talking about that 65 and 70 veterans of the vietnam war. they need a break. you can imagine 65-year-old woman trying to get a man into the bed or transfer him into the shower or get him dressed. that's hard work. they need support. senator isakson: both your testimony and that of colonel norton help. i don't know we can do it overnight. that's something we need to focus on because it's a telling line of demarcation that's leaving out a lot of american veterans and caregivers. that's not right. we need to try to see what we can do to address that one way or another. mr. rowan, thank you for your testimony. do you think putting them under oath will get us the truth? mr. rowan: wouldn't hurt. senator isakson: if we put one in jail for violating the truth -- mr. rowan: that would really help. i only go on this in the past life i was an investigator for the new york city council. when they started doing that they had a whole lot of different testimony coming out of people, especially when we did talk about sending somebody to jail. senator isakson: the reason i mention that is, we all, dr. roe and i know, members know, the accountability in the v.a. is something we try to focus on. being accountability accountable for the decisions they make. but accountable for the information they let out. cast as light on the v.a. that may or may not be the best light or correct light. i think everybody needs to be held accountable. both those who are responsible to carry out duties, as well as those who are dropping information in the media to cast the v.a. in a bad light. they ought to be held accountable for the truth in that testimony. it's about time we got to the bottom of the barrel at the v.a. found out where the root cause problems are and root them out because in my personal opinion 90% of the employees at the v.a. are just great. they are doing a hard job. they are doing a good job. they want to help veterans like their health care. but that 90% is being hurt by the 10% or less who are here in a fiefdom they want to protect or just want to have mischievous activities. that's overemployment and under productivity. your testimony was very helpful. i want to thank you for bringing that out. mr. rowan: if i might add, senator, i would suggest to you that the difference in the employees is the difference between those who are providing health care, who are the one that is we meet where the rubber meets the road doing the hell of a job, as compared to administrative types who get themselves into all kinds of trouble. senator isaac: as my pastor says in the church, amen. thank you-all for your service to america and for your testimony today. mr. row: thank you, mr. chairman. ms. brown, you are recognized for five minutes. ms. brown: let me thank each one of you for your service. i was late today because i went to the women's memorial. we have that service and we have had it every year for 18 years. and colonel started that program and done an extent job. let me just say i'm a little uncomfortable when i see all of you military people there and not one woman. women are the fastest growing group of service, and as we move forward with our planning and the schedulers, whoever makes these decisions, i would like to see that we have females veterans, service representatives here with us. i feel that i need to make that statement, particular after i just left the women's memorial. now let me just say that we can blame the v.a. for a lot of things, but it's our responsibility as members of congress as i stand here today on the 24th of this month, the denver project is scheduled to shut down. i am going on the 29th. and it will be an interesting time because there will be -- it will be shut down. and it's going to cost us $20 billion to shut it down -- and $20 million to shut it down and $2 million a month to protect it. to me it is a waste of taxpayers' dollars. now, the problem with denver didn't start overnight. and it didn't start with this administration. it has had several additional administrations involved in it and several different congresses. now, we need to step up to the plate and come up with a solution and not waste taxpayers' dollars and not disenfranchise those veterans from denver. i represent florida. i am happy to say that on this friday we are going to open up the veteran cemetery in florida and on the 29th -- the 26th, we are going to open up the v.a. hospital in orlando, florida that i have been working on. and we as a delegation have been working on for over 25 years. right, we shouldn't take 25 years to do it, but it will open up. i want your comment about what's getting ready to happen in denver. and the congress lack of whatever, not being able to work together to get this problem solved. it is unacceptable in my opinion. you want to say something about it, mr. chairman? yes, sir. i yield my time. senator isakson: i won't take all the lady's time. all the women must have been there. ms. brown: they were there. senator isakson: three of these men said good things about health care. i appreciate everything that representative brown said and ranking member brown said. she's correct. but as we speak, the reason jeff miller is not here, he's at the house working on this denver situation. my last phone call last night at 11:00 was with secretary mcdonald working on the situation. we don't want the money to go to waste. we don't want what's happened to be something repeated in the future. we talked about accountability mr. rowan. it is time, if we are going to bury the hatchet, we bury it in the truth and plan for the future and do it right. we are trying to make sure everybody at the v.a. comes together with everybody in the congress with the right road forward on completing the denver hospital. nobody is going to waste the taxpayers' money at this point. but we got to make sure the wasting of taxpayers' money that's taken place in the past stops. that's what we are trying to do. i appreciate you calling attention to that. ms. brown: thank you. i take my time back. i do have a question. it pertains to the g.i. bill and also the veterans court. i have gone to several of the veterans' court programs. they are very successful. we have several in my area. but they are not available to veterans all over the country. what are some of your recommendations? >> first off, we prioritize women's veterans at the v.a. 20% of our membership is female. 35% of our leadership, which is an indication of the potential women represent for this community. and we are looking forward to working with you on making that a priority for this committee, but for this entire country. mr. reickhoff: the women are being wounded and serving on the line. ms. brown: that's a growing group. mr. reickhoff: denver, just briefly, we hope you can get in a room without us and the cameras and work this stuff out. ms. brown: i thought we had done that. mr. reickhoff: apparently not. we have provided feedback and we will continue to do so. but the squabbling and grandstanding has to stop. our veterans need results. ms. brown: i'm with you. i'm on that page. what happens when failure is not an option? we get it done. mr. reickhoff: we haven't been getting it done as a group. that's part of what our testimony revealed. we hope we can work together on that and move forward. ms. brown: i do my part. mr. reickhoff: yes, ma'am. >> we are focused on the g.i. bill as well. look forward to working with you. mr. reickhoff: we hope this is the beginning and not the end. ms. brown: i want to talk about the blind that's very important to me. my sister-in-law is blind. they do have equipment but you are saying the v.a. don't have that equipment for the use of the veterans? i think we met and talked about that. mr. minney: we did meet. in the hallway, actually. the equipment is there. it's at the blind rehab centers. the problem is is getting the veteran to the blind rehab centers. if they are not service connected, the v.a. will not pay for their travel to get there. and blindness does not discriminate between service connected and nonservice connected. ms. brown: you're saying that the secretary doesn't have the authority to do it. it's the legislative -- mr. minney: the way the law is written, title 38, section 111 the secretary will grant travel to the service connected veteran. that's what we want in s. 171 and h.r. 288. we want that word in part g, service connected removed, and catastrophically disabled blind and paralyzed be added. ms. brown: we will definitely work on that. i visited one of those centers. they are doing an excellent job. in addition to that, i visited some of the prison systems that actually train the dogs that work with them. there are a lot of good, supportive partnerships going on. thank you-all again for your service. i yield back the balance of my time. mr. roe: i thank the gentleman for yielding. oversight and investigative subcommittee chairman, mr. coffman, you are recognized for five minutes. mr. coffman: thank you. first of all are there any folks from colorado, please raise your hand. mr. roe: they are working on the hospital. mr. coffman: thank god for that. i want to thank ranking member corrine brown, chairman isakson, chairman miller, ranking member blumenthal for their help and their leadership in trying to get this hospital done, which is in my district. i think it's unfortunately seems to be emerging as more of a parochial issue, as if somehow this is a rocky mountain region or colorado issue. it's really not. because the men and women that utilize this hospital didn't serve the state of colorado, didn't serve the rocky mountain region. they served this nation. and they served this nation in uniform and made tremendous sacrifices on behalf of all of our freedom. so this needs to be recognized as a national issue and not local thing. i just think that's very important going forward. let me ask you-all this question. first of all, mr. kovach, we have an incredible spinal injury center in the state of colorado. what's your view about allowing veterans to have access to that facility should they choose so for their treatment? mr. kovach: we certainly support choice and that choice should be the v.a. hospital. i have plenty of friends that rehab at craig, i know what they got and it's not as good as the v.a. i can say that fairs hand. mr. coffman: whose decision should it be? patient or v.a.? mr. kovach: patient. if you ask the patient whether or not they want to go to craig or the v.a., they want to go to the v.a. mr. coffman: good. one issue that i'm concerned about is the transition from active duty military into civilian life. on the enlisted side as an n.c.o. and also on the officer's side. but enlisted army n.c.o. officer marine corps. i had an easy time going from enlisted army to civilian life because i actually went to college under the g.i. bill. it was much tougher as a junior officer leaving the united states marine corps and going into civilian life. i wanted to be in business management but didn't have a business degree and had an in the army and marine corps infantry and i was so frustrated at one time instead of putting on my resume that i had been an infantry officer in the marine corps, i put down i was involved in international real estate specializing in the acquisition of beachfront property. that didn't work. i had to start my own business. coy do that because i was a young person, officer, i had more savings than had i been an enlisted person. what do you all envision being able to broaden opportunities under the g.i. bill in terms of o.j.t., apprenticeship-type training to make it work related than going to school? would anybody like to comment on that? >> i might take a shot at it. mr. rowan: let me say one quick thing. the g.i. bill is an education program this time. you need to go back to what your colleagues did in 1944. the g.i. bill encompassed a whole series of things, not the least of which was getting people ability to start a business. you couldn't have a business, almost, if it didn't say veteran taylor, veteran construction veteran something, often funded by small business loans going through the g.i. bill. those need to be resurrected as well. thank god they brought back the education part of that g.i. bill, but they need to look at some of the other aspects of it as well mr. coffman: colonel norton. colonel norton: there is a proposal in the hopper that would require all military people to go through the g.i. bill education track as part of their tap program. we think that's really important that they have that initial exposure to the importance of education and training opportunities that the g.i. bill affords. another aspect of this issue, i believe, is that d.o.d. is gradually moving forward with getting service members, civilian credentials, and licensing in fields that they are getting trained on on active duty. that's extremely important. so that they will have more options when they come out the door. if you are an avionics repairman on active duty, you should be able to get that civilian license before you leave so at least you have that option moving forward. there is a number of other things that we have recommended in our statement. thank you. >> may i address that, sir? our members use the g.i. bill at an incredible rate. we worked with many of you to help create that. the employment environment education environment is pretty dynamic and rapidly changing and the g.i. bill isn't keeping up. mr. reickhoff: three recommendations we made is post-9/11 bill to allow veterans to use their remaining entitlement to repay student loans. loans are a huge challenge for our community. but continually we hear the veterans want to cash in their benefits to use it to start a small business. they ask us over and over again is there flexibility to allow to us start a small business, career, they are incredibly entrepreneurial and we'd love to work with your team on expanding and exploring that because there is desire to grow and create small business at a very high level. also other issues that i want to highlight is allowing medically discharge veterans and retirees to transfer their unused benefits to spouses and dependents. there are a number of upgrades we make this year with the g.i. bill with the lessons learned where we see a whole crop graduate. mr. roe: senator blumenthal, you are recognized for five minutes. senator blumenthal: my thanks to each of you for being here. i apologize i was away because i had to attend a legislative markup at another committee. i want to just pick up on your point, mr. reickhoff. i think that college affordability, college loan issue is one of the paramount issues of our time, particularly as it relates to veterans. and i hope that you and others on this panel and your leadership and members will give us the benefits you have used on this issue so we can get education benefits both more flexible and more effective. i say that as a dad who has two sons, one who served in afghanistan, another serving in the military now. as well as two other children not in the military. i want to focus for the moment on the issue of the disability claims backlog. in the congress, in the media there are issues du jour. so the denver aurora facility right now is the issue du jour. but this issue of disability claims backlog so far as i'm concerned continues to be a major challenge. i wonder if that is true in your experience as well and whether you could comment on whether the v.a. is doing better -- the numbers say there's been some progress in addressing the backlog, but still we have a long, long way to go. in fact, we are seeing a growing appellate workload at the board of veterans appeals and the regional offices, which means that like the proverbial snake that swallows a mouse, we can see the backlog problem moving at a different place in the system. sir. >> senator, good to see you. mr. rowan: i talked about that and i'd like to focus again, the reason why the backlog is coming down is twofold. one, the hump we had that was caused by both returning veterans of the recent wars, as well as the number of vietnam veterans applying for compensation for diseases that have now been recognized, just created this huge demand. that's curving downwards. they took all their resources and put it into initial claims. and i focused on the decision review officer as a key point person on these regional offices. they have taken them out of their regular job to the detriment of the appeals process. because now they are not doing the certifications that are necessary to take a veterans appeal from the regional office to the board of veterans appeals and they are in limbo. oftentimes for many years now, which is just short-circuiting the whole situation. more importantly, what's concerning to me at least, talking to our service reps in the field, it's like the v.a. is considering us the enemy. many regional offices our people are not allowed to talk to anybody. if you have an issue on a claim that's come back, you can't talk to anybody. you have to take it and deal with it. too bad. i was a service rep -- i retired in 2002 until i got this job in 2005. i worked for three years as a service rep in manhattan v.a. regional office. if i had an issue on a claim that came back to me, i could bring it to the rater never mind the decision review officer, to go over, if i saw an obvious error. can't do that anymore. they are like, don't talk to us. plus, they want to create superregional offices to take it even further away from the regional offices and the cases further away from us who work in the field. all the v.s.o.s in the regional areas. so we don't get to see anybody can't talk to anybody. it's like we are the enemy. instead of working with us, we are working against us. and this -- i really-- what's going on right now is criminal. this whole idea that a veterans claim doesn't go anywhere and is not counted as a bad mark on the regional office and is not counted in the board of veterans appeals cue, yet can sit there for years. we know once it gets to bd-8, it still takes years to adjudicate. as i pointed out time and time again and i'll point it out again, we win 70% of the time. that means that veteran waited anywhere from three to five to seven years because the regional office basically screwed up and didn't do the right thing by them the first time. that's unconscionable. i think this issue that's going on because of the leadership is just, frankly, criminal. somebody can sit on something that should take them 10 minutes to fill out. and wait years and years to get it done. and frankly i have been trying to get a letter out of my operation to go to the undersecretary on this whole issue. frankly, we found situations in puerto rico that was just object seen. if they don't resolve these, some of these heads have to roll. mr. blue men tall: i thank you for that. >> still a problem. we have to put this in context. yes the v.a. has dropped the backlog. they drove the car into the pitch. mr. reickhoff: they drove it into the pitch and want to be congratulated for partially pulling it out. we still see hundreds of thousands of folks facing an adversarial system. john appropriately addressed that. i would encourage everyone watching and listening to go to the way we carry dot org is a site that allowed veterans to show how long they have been waiting. by state, region, individual stories and see how long they have been waited so we can look ahead and help predict the next phoenix and prevent the next phoenix. but the key issue i encourage this committee to address, we know they are working on it. what do veterans do in the

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