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▶ 0:15:38hello good morning everyone can I get everyone's attention please thank you for those of you unfortunately we don't have enough seats that is due to anyone in wheelchairs that due to fire Haz it however that said the chairman has designated uh the committee room 360 which is down the hallway as an overflow room we will have the hearing on the TV so if you want to sit and don't have a seat right now but care to go to the Overflow
▶ 0:16:08room we have staff Aiden one of my colleagues he's raising his hand please follow him to 360 we have seats more than welcome to sit there if not and you care to stand of course that is your choice but nevertheless the chairman has designated 360 as overflow room thank you very
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▶ 0:18:26good morning the hearing will come to and good morning to everyone thank you all for being here and uh I would like to uh welcome uh my Senate colleagues uh chairman Moran ranking member uh Blumenthal before we get started I would like to acknowledge our visitors present from the greatest state state of Illinois anyone out there yeah all right well just so you know
▶ 0:18:56when I said this yesterday I am from Southern Illinois um which is a little different as far as Illinois is concerned if you're really from Southern Illinois you capitalize the S um and it's not a separate state but sometimes we feel that way um but I want to thank you all for traveling here uh from from Illinois I know that's not an easy travel I do that on a regular basis uh but if you would could you just please stand those of you that that can thank you for being here
▶ 0:19:34and it is an honor to be here with all of you uh my f fellow legionnaires I'm a marine veteran and a notice we we Marines say that Ur right the army people they say that different um but I'm I'm a proud member of Murphy's Boro post 127 and though we're busy I want to tell you a little NE neat things about Murph bro post 127 it is the Paul Stout post
▶ 0:20:04and Paul Stout uh was actually fought uh as a marine I know this he fought in bellawood then he fought in the Battle of Bella and then he was killed in the next he was a private but on his 100th anniversary of his death we actually at the Paul Stout post because we have a local uh Craft brewery we actually they made a Paul Stout and so it was wonderful to do that so I am very happy to tell
▶ 0:20:34talk to you about my post now before you check I want you to know I'm got my dues paid up so uh just Commander what let know my dues are paid all right you know the American Legion has a dutiful work on behalf of those who have served our country for more than than 100 years and it is a privilege to be part part of that organization with that being said
▶ 0:21:05I also want to welcome Mr James lorier the national commander of the American Legion and his spouse Lisa thank you for being here today I'm looking forward to continuing our partnership to better serve veterans across the US the American Legion does an outstanding job of sharing their perspective and concerns of their
▶ 0:21:35members with our committee our work here on the committee is greatly assisted by their dedication to the mission it's our honor it's an honor for me to be here today serving as a house committee Veterans Affairs uh in the in the chair it's my second term as chair and I never thought this Corporal would ever have an opportunity to do that this mission of the VA committee has always been personal to
▶ 0:22:05me um if you were around yesterday when we had uh the other other panels before us you know that um so my father and his brothers were all Army Korean War had a grandfather who was uh Navy second world war had a grandfather who was Marine Korean War I had an uncle that was a marine uh Vietnam V victim of the ultimate oxymoron Friendly Fire uh he did survive and he's doing very well today thanks
▶ 0:22:36to a lot of help from the VA um so uh then me uh non-combat Marine um and my son who's a lieutenant colonel today uh is actually a reservist but was active for many years um he is uh a Jag in the core my grandson who just got out of the Corp who was an F-18 mechanic so as you can see it's really really personal to me uh when it comes to our
▶ 0:23:06veterans now every time I sit at the Das and uh we're getting into debate whether it's with the VA or the other side of the aisle I'm always thinking veterans and I told this story yesterday and I'll tell it again to you if you've ever been around uh here in DC and see me walking up down the halls or seen me on the floor or seen me here I wear this bracelet and this bracelet has the colors of my core and um it was given to me by
▶ 0:23:36a Vietnam veteran honest to goodness he just went by Lieutenant Dan and Lieutenant Dan gave it to me uh 11 years ago whenever he found out that I was going to be on the VA committee and he said Mike I want to give you this and I'm going to give you a couple of them because if you wear them all the time you'll get them dirty you'll wear them but he said I want you to wear it because I want you to look down and remember who you're there serving and that way I don't forget I don't think
▶ 0:24:06I'd forget anyway but this helps for me it's about the veteran it's not about protecting government bureaucracy and I know the sacrifices each of you have made each of you has fought to protect our constitutional rights we had many important accomplishments last Congress but many issues still remain and I'm grateful for this opportunity to learn more about what we as Congress can
▶ 0:24:37help our nation's veterans do veterans should have the freedom to use the V benefits of va offered in exchange for their service to meet their needs and they shouldn't be spending hours driving in their cars to get them or combing through wonk paperwork for months on end are needlessly waiting for a phone call to get a simple answer you know where
▶ 0:25:07the VA is falling short as do I and you know where we need to push the agency to bring it out of the Stone Age and into the new age you have my commitment that as long as I'm in charge we will continue to fight for you and the voices you represent the hundreds of thousands of veterans outside this DC Beltway who just want their Health Care on time and their benefits when they need them
▶ 0:25:37this old Corporal takes this seriously and I know my friend and our secretary of the VA Doug Collins does too under President Trump's leadership I know we're going to put you the veteran and the VA Services back at the center of the VA mission and when the bu bureaucrats try to get in the way I will continue to be the first to hold them accountable and get answers for you we made great
▶ 0:26:08progress with the passage of the Dole act and I am incredibly grateful to the American Legion for their support in getting this bill across the finish line and I am committed to improving va's ability to hold their employees accountable so that the veterans have access to worldclass care I'm grateful to the American Legion for their support of the restore accountability Act of 2025 which would do just that we must
▶ 0:26:38deliver for our veterans to protect their health care Choice expand economic and education opportunities and streamline benefits and get it and get it done I promise to keep up the fight we are all in together now it's time to take it's not not time to take our foot off the gas I look forward to uh completing our mission alongside of you thank once again thank you for being here today and I want now recognize the chairman Moran
▶ 0:27:09for his opening statement Mr chairman thank you as I said yesterday I'm pleased to be with you and my colleagues from the house and the Senate as we uh examine uh the desires of a number of vsos for their agenda for this new Congress and I thank you for uh uh the commander commander I thank you for your presence uh here this morning and all the American Legion ACC companying Witnesses I recognize uh the role that the American Legion plays at home in Kansas and here in Washington DC as we advocate for the well-being
▶ 0:27:39uh of veterans today and in the future and I uh welcome many canans in the audience and welcome canans at home who are paying attention uh to this hearing today uh I want to thank the American Legion for their and this and many of the of the folks on the second panel for their support for the Elizabeth Dole 21st veterans health care and benefits Improvement act uh we must make certain that we don't just pass legislation but it's implemented in a way that actually serves veterans and we are continuing to make certain
▶ 0:28:10that we take every step to see that's the case in this legislation uh the American Legion and others testifying here today have also extended their support for the access act the Precision Precision brain health research act the veterans second amendment protection act and my National Guard GI Bill parity act all of which which been have been introduced in this Congress as I said yesterday the policies and programs that we will discuss today depend upon a strong and effective Workforce at the VA to deliver the care and benefits that veterans
▶ 0:28:40deserve I'm committed to working with the vsos with the American Legion and others and my colleagues on this panel to make certain that the necessary VA Workforce is preserved as the VA implements new federal Workforce Guidance the VA must be forthcoming and transparent with congress with the vs o and the public about how it's implementing Workforce changes and work to avoid or correct actions that could undermine veteran access to care and benefits uh thank you again uh Commander lorier
▶ 0:29:11uh for being here I look forward to your testimony and I yield back thank you Senator I now recognize ranking member Tano for his opening statement well thank you Mr chairman uh today we continue our annual series of joint hearings I'm pleased to welcome our first panel the national commander and representatives of the American Legion as well as our second panel representatives from Minority Veterans of America Jewish War veterans the National Association of County Veteran
▶ 0:29:41service officers the Military Officers Association of America National Association of State directors of Veterans Affairs The Institute for veterans and military families at Syracuse University and the Wounded Project I'd like to extend this very special welcome to the American Legions National Commander James lorier Jr from Connecticut and the national auxiliary president Trish Ward from Kansas
▶ 0:30:11now before I begin my remarks I have to ask are there any Californians in the room morning right on thank you you can do better well let's move on um these hearings are important because they're a great opportunity for us to hear from from the vsos about issues impacting veterans in their daily lives it was at these hearings in 2022 when the vso stood in solidarity calling on Congress to pass the honoring our PCT
▶ 0:30:41Act without you we would never have pass the largest expansion of veterans health care and benefits since the Vietnam War Without You millions of veterans would still be struggling to access health care for the toxic exposures they experienced in service to our country and I always be grateful to the vsos for helping us get it done now as I've said all along the pack Act was never meant to be a one and done there's still so much more work to be done
▶ 0:31:11because the pact was not only about toxic exposure it was also about our promise to ensure that veterans have access to their care and benefits and that we do everything we can to end veteran homelessness and Veteran suicide address new categories of illness and injury associated with military service for example blast injury and Military traumatic brain injury finally achieve guard and Reserve parity ensure that VA is welcoming to All Veterans
▶ 0:31:42who have earned the right to be there ensure that va's infrastructure can support its Mission and so much more unfortunately I'm not optimistic under this Administration I have grave concerns about how president Trump's executive orders are being carried out across the Federal feral government most especially at the Department of Veterans Affairs and how they're going to impact veterans we learned on Monday that VA indiscriminately fired an additional 1,400 employees that means we have lost more than
▶ 0:32:122400 VA employees just in the last two weeks many of them veterans and this doesn't just even account for the folks who took the questionable fork in the road buyout offer I question how purging the workforce firing the Watchdogs and making VA hostile to certain veterans is helping VA serve veterans better I think serving veterans is why we are all here it is certainly why I'm here and why I serve on this committee because I think there is no higher
▶ 0:32:42calling or honor than to serve those who have served now since he was sworn in I have requested information from secretary Collins about his implementation of the executive orders and his employment actions against VA employees none of which he is resp responded to this is very troubling I'm also concerned about the administration's attacks on inclusion and accessibility and its focus on intentional exclusion president Trump's remarks are making VA
▶ 0:33:12a less welcoming place for millions of veterans in fact one of his first actions was to close the VBA VBA office of equity Assurance the office tasked with eliminating disparities in the award of this ability benefits as a product of discrimination it was it is absolutely necessary having a negative impact on access to care and benefits for our our nation's most underserved veterans this Administration has
▶ 0:33:42turned Dei into a bogeyman to distract from the fact that they have no real solutions to the issues that Americans are struggling with whether it's eggs and gas are getting more expensive and not cheaper Medicare and Social Security are at greater risk than ever before and this Administration is tooo focused on tax breaks for El Elon Musk and his billionaire friends to care now the chairman is quick to claim that we want to choose bureaucracy over veterans and I dispute that claim what about the
▶ 0:34:12veterans who lost their jobs to the Trump administration's indiscriminate firings of federal employees what about the black veterans who were unable to access VA home loans due to redlining what about women veterans whose service is still still not valued as much as their male peers and are now worried about the loss of gender specific Care at VA what about the lgbtq plus veterans whose health is in Jeopardy because of the administration's denial of their very existence ensuring the institution is there
▶ 0:34:42to serve veterans is putting veterans first it is our job to ensure access to world-class health care and benefits to All Veterans who have earned that right and I take that responsibility very seriously it is my hope that I can count on the vso community to help us hold VA accountable to All Veterans and that you will also hold Congress accountable by making sure we walk the talk that we are carrying out our constitutional oversight
▶ 0:35:13responsibilities by asking tough questions demanding answers and taking legislative action when needed we cannot waver in this because we know that veterans are depending are depending on us thank you Mr chairman I yield back thank you ranking member we now yield to the ranking member of the Senate Mr Blumenthal for his opening statement thanks for being here again thank you Mr chairman uh I'm honored to be here with fellow legionnaires thank you all for coming today and the record
▶ 0:35:43will reflect that we're standing room only today and some of the folks who attended had to be siphon to a different room your being here sends a powerful message about how much you to care and how you will be a voice for veterans we can make the speeches from this platform but you're the ones who get it done and I'm proud to be a member of the American Legion in Connecticut very proud to
▶ 0:36:13welcome my fellow legionaire uh Jim lorier and your wife Lisa and thanks to all of your family we know that in the military and in the vsos families serve spouses and children serve as well as we do and of course to my uh colleague Joe Courtney thank you for being here to do the introductions uh we know that service in the military these days very much
▶ 0:36:43a matter of family less than 1% of our entire population these days have anything to do with service in the military my two sons who have served of my four children my son Matthew whom some of you know a Marine Corps veteran served as a infantry officer in Afghanistan my other son Michael a Navy SEAL uh but they come by it because they have looked to you as role models
▶ 0:37:14and uh I'm very proud to have been in the Marine Corps Reserve myself uh service in the vsos and uh advocacy for veterans is a bipartisan Tas ask let me just stress it always has been and it must continue to be I'm proud to serve with Senator Moran uh and to introduce with him just recently the National Guard and Reserve GI Bill party act which would expand the GI
▶ 0:37:44bills eligibility to guard and Reserve members every day in uniform or account for those kinds of well-earned benefits and with uh Senator bosan uh the caring for Survivor act which would increase the dependency and indemnity compensation payments to surviving spouses uh we have to continue that bipartisan tradition and uh I want to thank um the veteran service
▶ 0:38:14organizations for blowing the whistle on what is happening these days they literally every day uh you heard some of them from representative t U and I quoted yesterday from the Veterans of Foreign Wars uh commander lipart who said that the administration is engaged in indiscriminate
▶ 0:38:44firing I'm quoting him of veterans in the government Workforce I am also calling on BFW members to March 4th and join me on March 4th when he will be testif ifying and I'm quoting him I want to see hats in the hallways of our Capital as our legislative committee members engage with lawmakers in demanding that they honor the contract the government made with those who have already served and sacrificed so much for America and their fellow Americans
▶ 0:39:15it's time to apply pressure and stop the bleeding end quote that's on us all of us to be there for our veterans to be there their voice and face in protesting 2400 firings that have already occurred at the VA across the government 6,000 veterans have been fired from their jobs in government agencies just last night
▶ 0:39:45the secretary of the VA announced cancellation of 875 contracts worth $2 billion he began his message quote I got some big news for you end quote and then he had a happy Talk video which assured us that no problem nothing to see here they're all just Consulting contracts
▶ 0:40:15well in fact I have a spreadsheet uh I'm going to ask if there's no objection Mr chairman that it be made a part of our record without objection uh this is a partial list partial list of those 875 contracts that provide direct service to Veterans for Cancer Care for recruiting of doctors for
▶ 0:40:46decontamination of facilities that are polluted this list was provided to my office by officials within the VA it contain curement sensitive information it's a description of some of those contracts and input from VA officials on why they are needed to help serve veterans and taxpayers and I'm asking the secretary to provide us with a clean copy a full copy full disclosure
▶ 0:41:18transparency and I will ask that it be made part of the record when it's furnished I've asked a bunch of questions without objection representative uh Tano has I have yet to receive answers let me just conclude by saying and I'm going to quote the VA secretary in his video quote don't let name nameless sources even senators and house members who want to scare you and
▶ 0:41:49media who want to perpetuate the line we are taking care of the veterans that is bellied by those cuts by the hiring ing freezes by the firings that are occurring in real time right now and they are having a real impact in Connecticut where veterans are coming to me and saying for example the Veterans Line has been impacted making a difference in
▶ 0:42:19people's lives saving veterans from potential suicide I want to thank uh all of you for being here today and providing that kind of face and voice which is so essential to making sure that our veterans are represented that their interests are protected and that we stop the bleeding thank you Mr chairman thank you ranking member now once again my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are
▶ 0:42:49choosing to put fear over facts last night uh they erroneously announced that the VA is canceling 8 175 contracts hoping to create panic and score political points cont contracts should be reviewed if they are outdated redundant or ineffective that's good government you want good government this is about responsible stewardship to each one of you as a
▶ 0:43:19veteran who have fought to make sure that the facilities and and the VA is providing for your needs at the best possible dollar because not only are you veterans you're taxpayers not only are you taxpayers but you're also this country you have fought to make sure our country remains free and if we don't sensibly handle our budget in this nation and China owns our debt you will all have fought for not now think about that last night secretary
▶ 0:43:49Collins announced termination of contracts valuing $2 billion while we do not know the final number of termin contracts it is not 875 and reviewing the contract is a best practice that we all should support you would do it in your household why in the world wouldn't we do it at the VA one because it usually makes something work better and two because it usually makes room for something better to take its
▶ 0:44:20place it's about ensuring every dollar spent by the VA directly supports veterans not was ful bureaucracy and on a couple other issues when the those who have received uh the slips of uh being laid off receive those slips in their slip it says that if you think your job is essential you can appeal to your supervisor and immediately have a review and there's due process in place
▶ 0:44:50to make sure that no one is lost through that process and when it comes to the um the uh hotline for our veterans experiencing the fear of of possibly suicide there were a few back room employees that unfortunately were included in that list and they have already been put back on the job we are doing the thing that we need to do for you as veterans and for you as taxpayers
▶ 0:45:21and with that we need to move on with the committee and with that I want to now yield uh to our friend and colleague representative Courtney to introduce the American Legion Commander great well uh good morning and thank you uh chairman boss chairman um Senator Moran ranking member uh blumthal my friend and colleague from Connecticut and ranking member Tano uh and again it's a a great privilege and honor to be here today to introduce the new National commander of the American Legion Jim lorier who is a constituent from planfield
▶ 0:45:51Connecticut in the second congressional district and also a good friend we've known each other for many years it's an exciting moment for Connecticut it's been 71 years since uh a um legioner from Connecticut has held uh the position as National commander and um he's somebody who who's gotten there the oldfashioned way he's really earned it he's Air Force veteran served in the 1980s served overseas in uh Grenada and Lebanon uh honorably discharged and is uh again
▶ 0:46:21uh after he left the service began a 7 27-year Journey uh to to get to where he is today as as National Commander um his post post 91 in planfield Connecticut is a very activist post uh very healthy Post in terms of membership uh put on a lot of uh veterans events uh in the district um actually uh Connecticut in Eastern Connecticut has the highest concentration of veterans in New England we um again are um a district that has
▶ 0:46:52the oldest submarine base in America the graten submarine base 9,000 Sailors and officers and uh sometimes people don't think of New England necessarily is a high concentration veteran area but um the opposite is true and as I said Jim uh you know both as a a local commander and also working in the State Department of American Legion in in Connecticut uh again has just been a really passionate advocate for advancing uh the goals both at the state level on Hartford and here uh in
▶ 0:47:22Washington DC but even more importantly we've worked together on individual case workk um with veterans who have been struggling in terms of getting the help uh that they need and again I just cannot think of a a better person uh to to Really uh take on the the the tough job um of of leading this this great organization the American Legion a lot of people are very cynical these days obviously about Washington DC they think the only way you can ever get anything done down here is by hiring lobbyists or having super packs the American Legion
▶ 0:47:52is actually the true rebuttal of that in terms of just the Grassroots advoc y with individual members coming to um members of Congress office to Advocate year in and year out and again as we've heard from many of the um speeches earlier this morning I mean there have been some really tremendous success that kind of defy the conventional wisdom that you can never change anything here uh in Washington so again it's my honor to to again introduce and yield to uh Jim and
▶ 0:48:22uh wish him all the best in terms of his um service in the next year as National commander and uh again I think he's going to do great things for our country and with that I yield back thank you thank you congressman and I would I would now like to recognize Commander uh lsky to introduce the individuals on the panel
▶ 0:48:53so Jim is uh uh joined today by Julie Mattis uh from the legislative uh Department of the American Legion uh director Cole Lyall from the VR chairman Jay Bowen also from the vanr chairman Matt jabal from great state of Maine uh as the and director Joseph sharp uh vene and chairman Matt Schuman of legislative and welcome to all of them for being here this morning thank you all for
▶ 0:49:25here and command Commander you are now recognized for 10 minutes for your statement thank you chairman boss and thank you for the very kind introduction our Congressman Courtney I would also like to give a special shout out to Senator Richard Blumenthal also from Connecticut chairman boss before I begin with your permission I would like to introduce a few very important people to me so sons of the American Legion National Commander Joseph DTI of New Mexico
▶ 0:49:55American Legion auxiliary National president Trish wart of Kansas American Lee and National officers serving with me this year and past National commanders of the American Legion and lastly my incredible wife Lisa chairman boss ranking member Tano chairman Moran ranking member
▶ 0:50:25Blumenthal I'm on behalf of nearly three million members of the American Legion family who proudly serve communities States and our nation every day we deeply appreciate the opportunity to discuss our legislative priorities for the 119th Congress your distinguished committees Focus almost exclusively on our nation's sacred obligation to ensure that Veterans of the United States armed forces receive the best health care disability benefits and respect they
▶ 0:50:55deserve after their service service but what I want to put that obligation into a slightly different context it begins with military service we are all aware of the recruiting challenges our branches of service have faced in recent years one frequently stated reason directly points to our work in support for veterans a propensity to serve military service is an important commitment
▶ 0:51:25a major part the American legion's purpose is to make sure that commitment provides worthwhile during and after time spent in uniform over the decades the American Legion has fought to establish and provide continuous oversight for the Department of Veterans Affairs to ensure care for all who have borne the battle we drafted and fought to pass the GI Bill and to improve it regularly over the years so it stays relevant for new generations to empower those who
▶ 0:51:55served with opportunities to succeed we created a network of trained accredited service officers to represent veterans in matters with the VA to ensure that veterans understand the laws that have been passed to help them with health care and disability benefits they earned deserve the American Legion demanded accountability for those who were sickened or died due to toxic exposure and we work to reduce any stigma
▶ 0:52:26of associated with seeking Mental Health Care the American Legion believes that each one of us can and must be the one to help just one other veteran overcome suicide risk peer-to-peer support put simply it's what we do if we fail to live up to these important covenants the thanks of a Grateful Nation to those who have sacrificed so much simply Falls flat young people have been told that military service will leave
▶ 0:52:56them broken or unsupported in the end will think twice about their propensity to serve it all and that is a matter of National Security we need to change the narrative we can change the narrative service in the United States armed forces is hard enough that service should not create hardships We Stand by federal efforts to create a more efficient coste active
▶ 0:53:27VA we must also look closely at connections that can be made better before discharge because they weigh heavily on life afterward among our legislation priorities has been the case for many years is completion and implementation of an electronic health records management system that documents deployment and medical history from the Day Of Enlistment throughout a veteran's life as chairman boss has stated veterans are also
▶ 0:53:57taxpayers and billions of our taxpayer dollars have been spent on this the result is been delays unsuccessful pilot programs flawed infrastructure and the continued inability of the Department of Defense and VA to make a transition seamless as possible for those leaving service and entering their lives as veterans another concern we hear continuously from the newest generation is the in effectiveness of an outdated
▶ 0:54:28transition assistance program also known tap members of the Armed Forces deserve the chance to convert their military training and skills into meaningful careers and that takes an effective outcom driven tap program a program that takes into account all the challenges of transition from Financial knowledge to career opportunity to Mental Health otherwise all that training and
▶ 0:54:58all those skills in the United States invested in these service members are left behind when they could be helping Drive the United States economy forward veterans left to confront difficult transitions without proper preparation are at risk for a number of bad outcomes not the least of which is suicide according to the va's own research veterans are most at risk for suicide in the first first 12 months
▶ 0:55:28discharge additional research has shown that Financial strain accounts for 20% of the top 20 risk factors for suicide a hard look at tap which needs to begin earlier for those nearing separation can lead to a stronger model that will ease transition and Advance the propensity to serve military service becomes more worthwhile Pursuit when the rewards of that service are valuable
▶ 0:55:58chairman boss there may be no greater incentive to serve in the United States armed forces than the GI Bill there were 10 planks in the original GI Bill not just free college tuition also included were Health Care the ability to affordably purchase a home business opportunities and occupational Training for the severely disabled so they could reenter civilian life empowered with purpose many said the GI bill would break the
▶ 0:56:29treasury in fact it returns $7 for every tax payer dollar invested it built the American middle class which our nation has enjoyed for over half a century and still enjoys today and now as we continue to seek congressional action to provide GI Bill parody for National Guard and Reserve veterans we must ask why wouldn't we all we have is proof that it works
▶ 0:56:59we can change the narrative about the outcomes of military service we can change it with tangible steps such as highly efficient VA health care and benefit systems that are easier to access and navigate regardless of whether you live in a big city or in rural Kansas or Illinois using tah Health Community providers or traditional VA facilities mental health support without stigmatization and Advance what we call post-traumatic
▶ 0:57:30growth to empower those so effective to not only recover but to thrive a tap program and GI Bill that truly live up to the promises our nation has made to those who have chosen the path of military service a propensity to serve simply means understanding the value of the commitment I and my fellow Legion in this room have made it's a lifelong commitment and we
▶ 0:58:00are all proud of our service because we know America is worth it we are Duty bound as veterans who believe in a strong America to do all we can to show that worth in the American Legion we don't just talk about these issues we live them so far our academic partner Columbia University the American Legion have trained more than 12,000 people Nationwide to identify risk for veteran suicide
▶ 0:58:30and take the right steps to prevent it through our be the one Mission last year American Legion service officers held more than 1.2 veterans free of charge with their VA disability claims resulted in 21 billion doar in awarded claims to Veterans each year the American Legion at the local local state and National levels is involved with more than 1100 career
▶ 0:59:01events to help veterans and families in transition the American leged family also spends millions of volunteer hours and donates millions of dollars annually to support VA facilities Nationwide we also Mentor thousands of young people each year and award millions of dollars in scholarships to help them become productive responsible and when natural disaster strike from hurricanes in the Carolinas
▶ 0:59:31to wildfires in Los Angeles our members lean into Harm's Way and provide relief American leged Family post squadrons and units been vital Partners in recovery for from disaster for over a century like you we all took an oath to support and defend the Constitution the United States of America we work with our government of this great nation that pledged our lives to defend
▶ 1:00:02because we want to see America continue to prosper on behalf of the nation's largest veteran service organization I thank you for the opportunity to share these thoughts with you and look forward to working with this new Congress especially as we draw near to the 250th anniversary of our great nation's Independence chairman boss chairman Moran I thank you for the opportunity to address your critical committees and I look forward to answering your questions
▶ 1:00:33you or other members may have thank you Commander
▶ 1:01:03larier thank you for your very forceful testimony thank you for your presence and your colleagues here today um we're going to have a round of three minute questions uh and I'd ask my colleagues because of the length of the of the day that we work hard to stay within that three minutes and I now recogn recognize myself for that first three minutes uh Commander are you here hearing concerns from veterans whose conditions are not covered by presumption of service connection or whose
▶ 1:01:33locations or years of service are not included in existing presumptions if so are you voicing these concerns to the VA and what are you being told by the Department of Veterans Affairs chairman Moran the American Legion cares deeply about this and how it impacts our veterans but at this time to give a more clear response I'd like to turn it over to director Cole L of VR director thank you Commander
▶ 1:02:03uh and thank you Mr chairman um the American Legion obviously lobbied very hard for the passage of the pack act I think the greatest uh mechanism that The Pact Act created was the ability for the VA to consider new presumptive conditions in a faster uh timelier manner so we don't uh get into another agent orange situation where veterans have to wait years and decades uh to receive the benefits and health care that they deserve from specific
▶ 1:02:33conditions uh I am not aware of any specific conditions not currently covered uh by the list of presumptives Under The Pact act but I'm happy to take that for the record let me uh thank you for your answer let me follow up with uh a reminder that title two of The Pact act uh established a new framework to make decisions regarding new presumptions and of service connection which hopefully intended to make it easier for non-toxic exposed veterans to file for receive and and
▶ 1:03:04and receive compensation over two years after the enactment of The Pact act uh I would ask if the VA is utilizing that Prospect uh process in consultation with you and other vsos to give you the opportunity to provide that information uh thank you Mr chairman so the the VA is supposed to have quarterly briefings and updates in collaboration with the veteran service organizations um they have not been occurring on a regular basis and we have expressed concerns to VA officials
▶ 1:03:34about those meetings to uh continue to have a collaborative discussion on new presumptive conditions thank you I will do the same thing uh Commander uh could you speak to the important role that state veterans homes play in caring for our nation's veterans and why in at least in my view it's critically important to increase resources for the creation of new homes as well as well as renovate and expand existing homes chairman Moran again thank you very much for that question
▶ 1:04:05because the American Legion cares about this uh with our veterans and how they're impacted by it uh for more clarity I'd like to turn that back over to uh director Cole once director uh thank you commander and uh thank you Mr chairman State veteran homes obviously play a critical role uh in the um long-term care and Health Services of of our our nation's veterans um you know the American Legion will continue to advocate for funding and for the creation of
▶ 1:04:35uh State veterans homes in support of our nation's veterans uh thank you I now recognize the ranking member of the house uh representative Tano thank you uh chairman Moran Commander laier have you seen the VFW statement related to va's indiscriminate firing of veterans ranking member tono no I have not uh read that yet but I I did hear about that and I uh after this conference I will uh look into it and then uh I'll discuss it with our uh DC
▶ 1:05:05staff thank you um do you agree with some of the sentiments in that statement that the loss of thousands of va employees many of them veterans is troubling ranking member Tano uh because the American Legion fights to protect and uh oversee the uh care and well-being of our uh veterans on a daily basis once again I'd like to turn this back over to uh director Cole thank you director than thank you Commander um and thank
▶ 1:05:35you for the question ranking member Tano obviously there's a lot of uh anxiety about this in the in the veteran Community um we two days ago uh spoke we we held a leadership panel with senior career officials of the VA um who actually did Express uh uh happiness with the liberal exemption policy as they they put it um the firings themselves we spoke with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs yesterday today our testimony is our statement uh that we
▶ 1:06:05did have a conversation with him and concerns about the clarity in which these uh firings were occurring and that we would like to have a productive conversation with him and with your committees going forward uh about how it would impact veterans but the career officials that we spoke with I I asked this direct question and said do you anticipate any impacts of these firings on veteran direct Healthcare and benefits and they did not express any concern that they would um
▶ 1:06:35but we will continue to have productive conversations with them what about the veterans themselves who have had Stellar performance records uh but whose the memo which stated that they were fired because of their performance is one of the reasons do you have any concerns about actual veterans who were dismissed with such memos sir I I am not aware of any specific cases I'm happy to take that for the record work with your office on those specific cases but I will say the American Legion
▶ 1:07:06um you know whether it be government employees or private sector employees uh stands ready to assist veterans dealing with unemployment Financial challenges uh and other things well thank you um uh Mr Commander Laos I see in your written testimony the American Legion recognizes the importance of balancing the use of community care with VA direct care and that va's agent infrastructure is a contributor to the misbalance we're seeing how do you think we should address this
▶ 1:07:36to ensure that there's always a VA for veterans to go to ranking member to C in all respect and the save on time I'm going to turn that over to director Cole again please thank you commer um Community Care uh and the codification of of access um I think is or the American Legion thinks is is the right way to go to ensure veterans can get the care they need when they need it um I think to a large extent infrastructure obviously plays a huge role
▶ 1:08:06in the va's internal capacity to be able to care for them um and we have expressed uh a desire for increased Appropriations for major and minor construction uh an increase in flexibility of leasing uh so that the VA is able to handle uh ably get the Care at the VA rather than sending them out into the community But ultimately the veteran must come first and that decision must be between a veteran and their provider
▶ 1:08:36based on their best interest Senator Blumenthal thanks Mr chairman uh I quoted earlier secretary Collins who said that you should disregard senators and house members members who want to you we're telling you the truth and it scary and I urge you to ask
▶ 1:09:07for the facts about those VA employees who've been fired employees with years of service who have good performance reviews and more important than even their fate they serve veterans they the ones who process those benefits under the pack act one of the most common constituent complaint I receive and you as legionnaires probably with your
▶ 1:09:38fellow veterans here is the delay in processing benefits these are gifts they are not charitable handouts you've earned them under the pack act under all the government programs that keep promises to you the VA is breaking those promises and it isn't even the VA it's Elon Musk who is using algorithms
▶ 1:10:08and AI formulas his Tech Bros are applying them to decide well so and so is dispensable this benefits processor these doctors we need to reestablish the kind of oversight and supervision that they are eliminating through abolishing and firing the inspector's General I want to thank you uh Commander for your
▶ 1:10:40quote uh the hiring freeze has the potential to impact millions of veterans particularly those waiting on adjudication of claims post pack act that indicates to me that you share this concern do you know of veterans uh commander who have been delayed in terms of benefits received rank M bontha
▶ 1:11:10thank you very much uh for that question and everything that is a topic that we are very concerned about because we do care about the well-being of our veterans and their families but at this time to uh once again I'd like to defer it over to uh director Cole thank you Commander um and thank you ranking member Blumenthal uh we again spoke with those uh VA officials and raised similar concerns uh I know the uh last year VA officials said that they
▶ 1:11:40were aiming at VBA and the board of veterans appeals to get back to pre-pandemic L Levels by the end of 2025 I asked them uh in consideration with all the uh Personnel changes uh the hiring freeze return to work uh all of them if they anticipated any negative effect on veteran benefits um and they indicated uh that it would not affect their ability they said that that goal to get back to pre-pandemic Levels by the end of this year was still the target well let me suggest that
▶ 1:12:10you apply a high degree of skepticism yes sir to the Happy Talk and smiley faces of the VA who obviously have a party line to espouse and talk to your members talk to Veterans talk to real people who are suffering real impacts not just on the processing of benefits in a timely way also Veterans Crisis Line that save
▶ 1:12:41people from suicide recruiting of doctors there shortages I'm willing to bet in most of your VA facilities doctors and nurses they need to be recruited and retained go down the kinds of services that are essential to health care and benefits you can't fire 2400 people without there being an impact I you back uh thank you Senator uh representative R wagan of American samoya has
▶ 1:13:11recognized thank you chairman and ranking members talofa lava uh I want to thank you for holding this important hearing today as well as thanking the uh panel for being being here thank you for your sacrifice and uh service to our nation and my home district is almost 10,000 miles from Washington DC so I'm just wondering if we have a veteran or two who has traveled all the way in from the Pacific Islands
▶ 1:13:41probably not but I thought I'd ask all right thank you so much I wanted to say that just uh a few weeks ago I traveled by car down south and uh visited eight military installations and uh I also invited the American Legion to come along and I so we
▶ 1:14:12were able to visit nine uh American Legion posts and I was honored to spend time and have little town hall meetings along the way with uh hundreds of of veterans and uh so I want to thank your leadership for uh helping to put this together and uh my special thanks to American legance Ariel De Jesus uh for uh accompaning my husband and me
▶ 1:14:42on this uh rather lengthy trip uh commander commander lorier the American Legion supports the restore VA accountability Act of 2025 why is it important to provide additional tools to address poor performance and ensure that VA is serving all veterans with the highest
▶ 1:15:14standards Commander thank you for that question M rwan the American legan once again we we do care about the care and well-being of our veteran I'd like to turn this back over to director Cole again thank you commander and thank you congresswoman I know that Ariel uh very much enjoyed his trip with you through those uh States eight military bases uh the American Legion has several resolutions in support of uh accountability
▶ 1:15:45and U efficiency at uh the Department of Veterans Affairs we believe that the VA should be an agency that is accountable to the veterans that it serves uh we know that last year the office of Inspector General uh produced 10 and some odd reports to the tune of about $9.2 billion in in monetary impact um so we know that it exists there's efficiencies to to be made um and we have supported the accountability act
▶ 1:16:15in the past thank you Mr chairman I yield back the balance of my time thank you representative uh Senator Tillis is uh thank you Mr chairman uh welcome to all of you and thank you for your service and continuing to serve I I I think it was Senator Blumenthal that said that that real people are suffering with real impacts did that just start three weeks ago in the VA real people suffering real impacts
▶ 1:16:46or do we have unacceptable weit times and U fewer options for members who are in stress so in other words is this a new phenomenon or do we have work to do that predated the the Commander Senator TS thank you very much for uh that uh question and everything and I I'd like to start but by just saying that any wait time is unacceptable is unacceptable that was an unfair question because no no no
▶ 1:17:16but but we would like to respond to that in a professional am from the uh American Legion well good let me just REI revise it what I'm what I'm particular interested I don't know and like I said yesterday in the DAV hearing that I'm a very boring Management Consultant that's driven by facts so what I want to know is of the terminations that we have seen or the separations today have they been stratified in a way to where I know if they're physicians physical therapists nurses people on the front line
▶ 1:17:46critical positions if they're in the customer facing organization I just simply I'm asking for that information and if we found some bad separations I'll make it known I'm just wondering whether or not y'all have access to that information yet and uh Miss Mattis I'll leave it to you thank you Senator tson thank you Commander we do not have that information in hand right now we have intention to be in close dialogue with the VA but also with the veterans to find out exactly what
▶ 1:18:16the issues are and to monitor what will be the impacts it does matter to us I want that as Qui I mean you've got the eyes on the ground and if if there is a a Personnel separation that has had an appreciable impact on serving veterans then call me be I'll be the first one to go to the senate floor and say this has to stop uh but what I think is unhelpful is when we just have this incoming going in in every direction people are only talking about the Topline political comments that get you on TV they're not talking about trying to measure
▶ 1:18:47whether or not there are real impacts that we need to worry about uh whether or not we need to communicate that if there are any further reductions in force or realignment we need to be advised on it very very quickly so I would really you all are extraordinary organization I'm I I see some familiar faces and friends here at the Das that I wish I had more time to speak with but as we go through this transformation I'm holding out the hope that this is all about getting the most critical people the most important service levels for veterans improved there's
▶ 1:19:17a thesis here that this is somehow it just seems odd with for me to accept just on its face that this is all with an intent to degrade opportunities for veterans to get a receipt get another payment on a debt we can never repay why does anybody think that that is politically or operationally sustainable so to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle that want to focus on the top line that's fine we're in a Committee hearing there are TVs on and and and cameras on but behind the scenes
▶ 1:19:47why don't we look and really determine to what extent if any these reductions are having an appreciable impact on the service levels that I believe that every veteran deserves they should be top quartile and I thank you all as you get information make sure you report back to me God bless you all and anybody in and around North Carolina out there there you go thank you thanks Senator uh Congressman Conway you're recognized for three minutes well I I think I just realized how to recognize
▶ 1:20:17someone from North Carolina um thank you uh chairman Bost and uh thank you certainly to um uh the American Legion as a federal legionaire I'm certainly very pleased to be with you today as a doctor I'm troubled and greatly disappointed by the actions taken by the VA to terminate nursing assistants Supply technicians schedulers who support doctors in their work and their shared work to provide life-saving treatment to Veterans without adequate support staff Physicians will be overwhelmed
▶ 1:20:48with scheduling paperwork and other administrative tasks leaving them with less time to care for veterans and we've heard that we've lost lost a contractor that had great success in recruiting uh much needed phans into the Workforce uh and of course uh these uh terminations um go to the very heart of the wait times that that all of us find so unacceptable uh my staff met just yesterday with uh with employees
▶ 1:21:18um who um who worked as Trainers for the many persons who were discharged terminated from the veterans uh crisis line now we know and we've heard testimony written testimony from uh Commander aler that um uh we're seeing marked increases in the use of the veterans uh Crisis Line uh many calls are coming in today and I heard in my office just yesterday uh from local uh um
▶ 1:21:48uh American legionaires about the 22 men that we losing and women that we're losing every day uh to Suicide so it's particularly concerning uh um to hear about and understand that these Cuts have taken place uh so could you um elaborate um commander on the implications of understand of Staffing the crisis line and what impact do you think these cuts are going to have on Veterans and family not only in the crisis line but in these
▶ 1:22:18critical um service areas that support uh the work uh that uh the VA does to provide care Congressman Conway thank you very much for that question as we stated earlier the American Legion we do care about all of our veterans but we also care that they get the proper care in a timely manner that they deserve and we need to continue the peer-to-peer support and making sure that they have the right tools
▶ 1:22:48that they need with v uh with Healthcare we are aimed and focused on reducing ing veteran suicide every matters we care about that that's why we have our be the one Mission but to G give more definition to your question there I'm going to turn it over to uh director Cole thank you sir thank you Commander um and thank you Congressman for the question uh as the commander stated suicide is uh one of the American legion's top priorities with the be the
▶ 1:23:18one Mission um we at local posts don't hear we we hear often from V veterans who have been personally affected by this so it's something we're very passionate about I would say in terms of the veteran Crisis Line uh you know we did hear about the two employees that uh were fired and then reinstated two days later um there have been some concerns about how some of the executive orders uh work in concert with each other uh
▶ 1:23:48for instance the hiring frees vcl crisis responders were Exempted uh but return to work was not Exempted which will make it harder for the VA to to hire those folks and they'll have to potentially take silent monitors what are called Silent monitors and place them as uh crisis responders so there there could be a capacity issue we have not seen anything currently uh and we are working collaboratively and we will communicate with
▶ 1:24:19uh the department and uh with your committees about this issue going thank you and thank you Mr chairman thank you uh Senator Hassen you are recognized for three minutes oh thank you Mr chair and to uh our chairs and ranking members I'm grateful for this hearing and um commander and all of your colleagues and all of the veterans in the room welcome um I honor my dad's World War II service and his memory by being a member of the auxiliary so um thank you for welcoming
▶ 1:24:49me uh to that as um and uh any graned Staters out here out there anybody from New Hampshire excellent thank you and welcome um and and look uh I I don't have a question about um the recent events at the VA I will just say this first the administration fired the Inspector General at the VA then they laid off 2400 people now we're seeing uh all of these contract cuts
▶ 1:25:19that may in fact impact essential services to Veterans um my job is to ask why and my job as a former Governor um is to say you don't make indiscriminant Cuts you don't churn employees you don't just do categories of cuts willy-nilly uh you study you look at ways you can uh coordinate and streamline services and you look at the impact before uh you make this kind of layoff and take these kinds of
▶ 1:25:49actions and the Inspector General of course is the person who's charged with going after waste Fraud and Abuse and to fire that person right away is really troubling to me so I hope we will have some more transparency I hope the secretary will come and uh I hope he will explain what they have done and why he thinks it's good for the VA and more importantly good for our veterans uh Commander I did want to ask about improving VA facilities I want to start by thanking the American Legion for your continued advocacy on behalf of all veterans in your written
▶ 1:26:19testimony you discussed the fact that the VA medical facilities are an average roughly 60 years old and in need of significant repairs that's something we're very familiar with in New Hampshire the Manchester VA Medical Center is almost 75 years old and twice in the past eight years pipes have burst in the medical center causing significant damage and delay of care for veterans cancellation of entire procedures I've worked with the VA to help address this issue and I'm going to keep doing that but we all know veterans in New Hampshire veterans
▶ 1:26:49around the country deserve the best care at the best facilities they've earned that so Commander can you please discuss the need for robust commitment to improving va's infrastructure and how that will benefit veterans M hon thank you very much for the question and the statement as well the americ legent we do uh truly care about the conditions of our facilities because that affects the uh well and carebe for our veterans as patients and everything and that that's the reason the American Legion
▶ 1:27:20we have the system wor saving but to give more defined answer I'd like to turn it back over to director Cole again thank you Commander um and thank you senator for the question um obviously the infrastructure problem in in recent years has U been exacerbated by uh Community Care in the sense that more veterans are eligible to uh receive care in the community because the VA can't provide the care in a certain reasonable time or distance um preferably you know the VA
▶ 1:27:50is a One-Stop shop for veterans and and VA facilities that are in need of modern ation um should be modernized uh I think historically the recent administrations uh have submitted budgets to Congress in the neighborhood of2 to three billion do for major and minor construction infrastructure projects and obviously in a budget constrained environment the VA has to make some choices about where that occurs U so I think there's definitely room for improvement uh in terms
▶ 1:28:20of congress's commitment to VA infrastructure particularly with codification of access standards thank you very much and Mr chair I'll follow up with the witnesses about uh some uh issues with CMP exams that I know we're all concerned about thank you thank you um representative uh H thank you Mr chairman and uh as a member of the American Legion Post 107 in Phoenix Arizona it's an honor to be with all of you here today and
▶ 1:28:50I know you're continuing your service by being a voice for so many veterans so thank you all for coming and thank you for all the volunteers now Commander president Trump in his last Administration Champion veterans choice and healthare and I know it's a top priority in his administration right now but we continue to hear stories about veterans facing long wait times and denials for Community Care how can the VA ensure bureaucrats can't arbitrarily deny veterans their right to seek Community Care thank you
▶ 1:29:20U Mr Robin for that question and everything because uh we we do care about the uh care and well-being of our veterans and everything uh that is a uh priority topic for us and everything but for more clarity I'd like to turn it over to our director Cole thank you and I am actually going to defer to my chairman chairman Jay Bone thank you thank you thank you Cole and thank you sir for the question uh we certainly do care about ensuring our veterans get the care
▶ 1:29:51that they need when they need it and where they need it that's Priority One for the American Legion if that's through Community Care that's good as long as we have the VA providing the oversight necessary to ensure that the standards are kept and what are you hearing from veterans about their ability to access mental health care in their communities under the va's current approval process we're hearing we're hearing very good and very and not so good it just depends on the region of the country and the the VA Medical Center in the community care area
▶ 1:30:21uh it's probably like any other uh place and civilian care too you can hear very good and you can hear very bad those when we hear anything that is not up to standards we certainly investigate and we work towards getting that fixed working with the VA to get that done right but it's you know veterans should be treated well no matter if they're from the inner cities or from the Suburban areas or from rural areas and uh I think we need to make sure that we have a common standard across the country I know that's a top priority
▶ 1:30:51for you all thank you Mr chairman i y back thank you now recognize a person that uh formerly was in the house and served on our committee in the house but now is in the Senate and he looks really good in the Senate uh and my neighbor representative bank or Senator Banks sorry thank you Mr chairman it's an honor to be back and it's an honor to be the first hooer to serve on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee in a long time so I I spent six years serving with chairman boss thank you and I want to thank all the
▶ 1:31:21hoer legionnaires who are the room thank you for coming all the way from Indiana to be a part of this hearing and to all of you when you come and educate us on your priorities it helps us fight hard to make sure that our nation's Heroes uh get the service uh that they they have earned from this country and uh your work here today helps us in a big way to do that uh Mr Commander La corer as you know Indianapolis is going to be hosting the national veterans Creative
▶ 1:31:52Arts Festival in May uh presented by the American Legion and the VA uh this Festival is a great opportunity for veterans to Showcase their work and these creative projects are an important part of many of our veterans re Rehabilitation can you tell us more about the event and the value that it provides Senator Banks thank you very much for that question the Creative Arts
▶ 1:32:22Festival is that actually a very huge highlight you know it brings out the best of the best of our veterans that sit back and they use their uh creativity in various facets whether uh artistic painting playing a piano whatever the case may be it's another form for them of their therapy their therapy that they must need to decompress and deal with mental health in various aspects mental health as we all know is a very large scope
▶ 1:32:54and if they can sit back and find a way to Tunnel it in in their way without using drugs anything you know or anything along that scope because we sat back in years back we we sat back and we medicated our veterans they came home they seek mental health assistance they'd go to the VA receive a bottle of pills be sent home that's not cutting that we want
▶ 1:33:24our veterans to be able to think clearly but we also want them to survive they can help us grow the economy by being on this side of the earth so yes the American legiance uh creative arts program to me is a very high-profile and great program because it's for all veterans very very well put Indiana is very proud to host this event in May and we thank
▶ 1:33:54the American Legion for providing that opportunity for our nation's veterans look forward to highlighting it thank you for choosing Indianapolis as the uh the destination for that event in May Mr chairman I back thank you Senator we now recognize uh Congress Chef McCormick for three minutes thank you Mr chairman I'm going to start by echoing the comments that I made yesterday any cut that has the potential to hurt just one veteran must be taken off the table immediately our
▶ 1:34:25veterans deserve better than to be collateral damage from Hasty cost cutting measures such as misguided efforts with not only burden American taxpayers with greater expenses but also deprive our brave men and women of the services that they rightfully deserve let's prioritize our veterans and ensure that they receive the PRI the support and the help that they've earned for example The Taking of the vet the take to take the Veterans Crisis Line last week it was reported that Doge fired employees who worked
▶ 1:34:55the Veterans Crisis Line and then subsequently scrambled to rehire them in fact a large majority of our veteran Crisis Line workers are in fact veterans themselves who have lost their jobs this to me is appalling and ridiculous Mr Lauer is firing workers for the Veterans Crisis Line in line with your recommendation under the B1 campaign to train a 100,000 people within Suicide Prevention Miss mcmi thank you very much for that
▶ 1:35:25question because we do care about our veterans and everything but I also want to not waste your time I'll give you a clear answer I'm going to turn that over to director Cole please thank you commander and uh thank you congresswoman um there's been a lot of changes very quickly in in the last month um we're encouraged that all critical um essential Personnel have been Exempted and the va's four agencies have assured us uh that the uh exemption policy
▶ 1:35:56is very liberal if a u supervisor at the VA sees one of their personnel in a mission critical position uh that they have the ability to go to leadership and uh that position to be Exempted uh I think vha's 300,000 so far uh VCA has uh 15 occupations dealing with families and maintaining cemeteries um particularly with the Veterans Crisis Line it's a critically important tool uh for Crisis Intervention uh it
▶ 1:36:26to attack the veteran suicide issue um and we have not heard of any direct impacts to Veterans based on the uh Personnel actions by the administration but as we mentioned earlier uh we are closely monitoring those and we will work with this committee and with the VA to ensure that there is no direct harm to Veterans now do you believe we should be investing more in growing the actual staff to deal with the veterans Suicide Prevention line and to deal with veterans Health
▶ 1:36:57health uh thank you congresswoman um you I think the the veteran crisis line is an important tool in Crisis Intervention but I think the broader problem of Suicide Prevention uh the point of be the one is to get uh non-traditional approaches Upstream problems solved before the veteran even gets to that crisis Point um so I think our efforts are focused in be the one and uh more broadly in government policy um to ensure that the VA is starting to attack those Upstream problems
▶ 1:37:27like Financial stress relationship stress um housing Transportation things like that before uh it gets to the point where they need to call the veteran crisis line or they need to go to the emergency room for an emergency mental health appointment if I may add to that M yes um we are also very engaged in growing peer-to-peer support and we are also um the American Legion very much supports the fox grant program for these alternative methods community-
▶ 1:37:57based methods to get um veterans who are in crisis or or perhaps maybe just foundering a little bit connected with other veterans who can help put an arm around them and and maybe bring them back to a little bit safer ground we are a big fan of the veteran to veteran and peer-to peer support so whatever programs um that these committees can support to do that we we will do our best on this side to push that out to the greatest reach we can get thank you thank
▶ 1:38:28you well thank you everyone for your service and for being here and we're committed to make sure we're investing in those programs that would help all of our veterans thank you very much Senator King you're now recognized for three minutes thank you the first thing I want to do is thank everyone for being here the legion has never had a more important moment than this one uh to defend our veterans to defend the Veterans Administration to defend the service that's being provided to Veterans we need your voice yes it's early in this process we don't know where it's going we don't know how many more firings
▶ 1:38:58there will be you've got to let us know what's going on on the ground that's a very important role that you have and Matthew I'm delighted to see main at the table thank you for being here sir uh let me put this into a little bit of perspective we know we've had 2400 firings in the last two weeks but don't forget we had a hiring freeze and with normal attrition we probably lost another 2,000 people so we're really talking about almost fourou 5,000 out of the VA service and it bothers me when people talk about bureaucrats they say we're
▶ 1:39:28going to protect the doctors and we're going to protect the direct service workers if nobody's there to answer the phone when a veteran calls for an appointment that's a denial of benefits and so these this idea that bureaucrats aren't important uh really Galls me and the the secretary the other day said after all these cuts um in fact veterans are going to notice a change for the better it reminds me of the old country song who are you going to believe me or your own
▶ 1:39:58lion eyes I want you to tell us what's actually happening um the pack act backlog is not going to be helped by removing people who are in the service of of of other veterans U now I do want to talk about transition for a minute be the one is one of the most important initiatives going on in the country right now thank you for Staffing that for setting it up and for making it actually happen
▶ 1:40:28I've thought I have a simple formula for transition I think the defense department should spend as much money on transition as they do on Recruitment and uh one of the one of the things that we're working on here is something called the tap prom motion act which would bring vsos into the process of the
▶ 1:40:58transition we've got to have a warm handoff I think you quoted a a number the the the bulk not the bulk but a very large percentage of the suicides are in the first year or two after transition that's a place where we really need to to give some effort Commander uh tell me about how important you think transition is Mr King thank you very much for that question the tap program is very critical uh it's a very important element that they get their full
▶ 1:41:2830 365 days to transition and educate themselves on it as we all know the more knowledge you have and it gives much better sense of direction on where to go uh for what you need but it also serves you in the right direction for a uh gainful uh future employment you know uh as we all know employment you know also stir you in the direct uh right through direction for stability with your family and it also helps drive the economy forward too often
▶ 1:41:59we sit back and they don't know where to go for assistance when they got out of the military I'm not just saying that the second you get out of the military you need assistance but down the road you may need that assistance they need to be forwarded all the tools and resources where they go you know to even get a start in their uh next career you know as they take off the uniform well my vision is someone meets you at the airport when you come and says welcome home here's what the VA can do for you here are the programs give me a call if you need any
▶ 1:42:29help that's where things like to be the one program can make such a difference thank you again for what you're doing be our eyes and ears let us know what's happening out there so we can protect and defend the most sacred obligation this government has which is to its veterans thank you Commander thank you MMS thank you very much uh chairman OST uh for holding this meeting thank you to all of our Witnesses uh as a 24-year military veteran
▶ 1:42:59married to a 30e military veteran whose father was Air Force Five of her siblings were either in the Army the Air Force or the Marines uh I thank you all for your service and the ability uh for you all to be here defend our democracy uh and allow us to to actually have this hearing today on what we're doing uh for our veterans and the debt that of gratitude that we owe them um let me just ask a question are you all glad the koskas are coming
▶ 1:43:32back it's one of the times when uh you know people in Washington DC don't listen to their veterans plan a program and then find out that it backfires on them because what they thought was a good idea really wasn't a good idea for the population that we serve uh I too I've heard a lot about them so we're glad that uh that the VA has reconsidered um mmath this uh let me also thank you for mentioning uh the fox grant program it's a program that um uh uh the uh bill that
▶ 1:44:02um I'm sponsoring uh as chair of the health subcommittee one of those things that it's very important and you're mentioning of the peerto peer support uh and I say this we have a Quad City veterans outreach program uh in Davenport Iowa so these are veterans serving veterans or you know family members of veterans serving veterans who has done a great job in um you know allowing a platform for veterans to come and just talk to other veterans and I thank you for underscoring the importance of that and
▶ 1:44:32then uh Mr Lor you mentioned on suicide prevention and how um how challenging it is and can you ask or tell us you know what other the things do we need to do in Congress to help you all um and did you think it was appropriate we had a um a health subcommittee hearing here and found out that the VA did not consider residential mental Healthcare or residential substance uh abuse disorder treatment to fall within the 30-day window or 40m window of the mission act
▶ 1:45:02and so these patients were refused did you think that's something that helps us to uh deter uh you know uh suicide uh and also treat PTSD or substance use disorder Dr thank you very much for that question as we we did mention earlier the American Legion we truly do care about uh every life of of a veteran and the care and well-being uh suicide is something that we truly take to heart and uh we're trying to monitor that but to
▶ 1:45:33give a direct answer to you I'd like to turn it over to director Cole thank you Commander I think um in in our testimony uh and the American legion's efforts in be the one you know there are several changes I think the fox grant program is is a great example of a program that gives uh resources to local and uh state level organizations that may not be Suicide Prevention per se but they help attack those Upstream problems that uh financial assistance
▶ 1:46:03uh that I mentioned earlier um I think programs like that but I also think that the americ the American Legion thinks that we should look at Suicide Prevention uh just differently right now the um office of suicide prevention is housed within the VHA uh and mental health and the VA says it's their number one clinical priority uh when we know that there are a lot of things that the veterans benefits Administration that directly touch on a
▶ 1:46:33veteran's spiral uh to a crisis point so um there are several recommendations that we have we're happy to follow up and and work with your office uh to address this problem thank you very much I know my time's expired but let me just say I thank all of the V vsos and all of you here for being our eyes and ears on the ground and the uh number of lives you've saved from suicide among our veterans is uncounted and unknown so thank you very much I Y back thank you Dr
▶ 1:47:04dector thank you Mr chair thank you Mr chairman and to the ranking members um for convening this important hearing thank you to our Witnesses for being here and for continuing to advocate for our veterans I echo my colleagues um words of how important it is right now in this moment that we hear from you um and just as a physician who served in the VA took care of patients in the VA for years I'm deeply grateful for the work that you are continuing to do
▶ 1:47:35last Congress thanks to your tireless advocacy The Senator Elizabeth Dole 21st century veterans Healthcare and benefits Improvement Act was a was passed a major step forward on many fronts including in tackling veteran homelessness over the past 15 years Federal Investments have cut veteran and homelessness in half but our work clearly isn't done last year nearly 34,000 veterans in the US including more than 1,400 in my home state of Oregon were still without a home
▶ 1:48:05just last week I held a round table with veterans VA leadership and advocates in Oregon and effectively addressing houselessness and mental health are their two top priorities the Dole act increased per DM rates for transitional housing and ensured the VA could provide basic necessi like food transportation and hygiene products for our unhoused veterans these are essent essential life-saving Provisions yet Congress has failed to to fund them Commander lorier can you
▶ 1:48:35speak to how impactful it would be to fully fund the Dole act programs for veterans exper experiencing homelessness Dr thank you very much for that uh question and everything and yes the American Legion we're static to see the do act get across the hurdle and everything when it comes to veteran homelessness we we care about veteran homelessness as much as we do about suicide but veteran and homelessness are two words that should never ever be
▶ 1:49:05used in the same sentence you're talking about the troops that protected and served for this country and almost every veteran that's ever served serve this country will continue serving the country even after they take the uniform off so we are trying to do everything we can to help reduce well let me take that word back to eliminate veteran
▶ 1:49:37homelessness thank you and yes we will do anything we can to work with your committees and work with Congress and like I said in my testimony remarks we're here to work with Congress thank you thank you so much commander and I couldn't agree more and that's exactly the sentiment I heard back in Oregon that we must end veteran homelessness so we have a bipartisan majority who are in agreement that these programs are necessary we passed the bill but we still haven't found the um impetus and the prioritization
▶ 1:50:07successfully to actually fund it and that's unacceptable we must agree that housing is a fundamental right as you said no veteran who has served this country should ever be a threat of being houseless so I hope that my colleagues can stand with us to make sure that we end this and prioritize our veterans over potentially taxpayer um or tax breaks for millionaires we have the resources we just need the political will thank you I yield back Mr chair
▶ 1:50:37thank you we now recognize the senator from Illinois Duckworth thank you Mr chairman um when my colleagues and I passed a PCT act in 2022 we helped create the largest expansion of veterans benefits in decades but I remember when I was State Director of Veterans Affairs and I just been appointed to that position and I had one of the pilots that was a Vietnam pilot Vietnam veteran who was dying
▶ 1:51:07from agent orange related exposure and I did everything I can to try to get him his benefits um this was a man who used to give me check rights and terrified me because the pilots the Huey pilots who got back from Vietnam they knew what they were doing they didn't take GFF from the from us Young Bucks um and he used to terrify me annually when he would give me my check rides but I remember trying so hard to get him his benefits and he ended up dying before he received his benefits and we were to get benefits to his spouse but it were not for you it were not for vsos
▶ 1:51:37fighting for a Vietnam veterans we would never have passed the presumptive conditions that then set up the stage for The Pact act so I just want to tell you how critically that fight was for over 40 years and the key that through that is the fact is that with the packed act we think we're adding benefits now um we think we know what those conditions are now but I'm going to tell you that some of these conditions are going to take 20 30 40 years to manifest themselves like they did with agent orange exposure it's going
▶ 1:52:07to take a while for neurological conditions it's going to take a while for some of this it may be 20 30 years after exposure before the veterans are um showing signs of their toxic exposure so that is why it is so critically important that we get veterans enrolled and get them into the system I remember flying into Baghdad and and we two pilots would take turns holding our breath because that scuzz layer of polluted Air Above Baghdad was so toxic it would burn my lungs and we would actually our eyes with water coming in for landing I remember thinking man those poor suckers down
▶ 1:52:38there what are they living under but then I lived in bad downwind from the the burn pits and so I'm here because you have always been at the Forefront forcing this nation to live up to our promises to Veterans but I will tell you that right now president Trump and Elon Musk firing all of these Veterans Affairs employees is not helping the case and I know the Secretary of Veterans Affairs came out and said that no vitto employees were fired I personally took care of two Veterans Crisis Hotline employees
▶ 1:53:08who were fired and worked hard to get them reinstated they were fired on on Valentine's Day these are people who were answering the phones and now I just heard another case yesterday of another Crisis Line employee who was fired this was a supervisor somebody who did a good job and was promoted to help train other crisis hotline employees and because of that they're probationary in that new position so they were just fired we cannot let that happen um Mr Lori um did I say that correctly Mr oh Commander
▶ 1:53:38that's way better commander in your assessment how would the firing of so many employees from the VA affect your members Senator Duckworth thank you very much for that question question and details you just laid out before us uh I would like to turn this over to our director Cole sure of course thank you commander and thank you Senator good to see you again um I think uh there's a there's been a lot happening uh recently uh quickly I think every few
▶ 1:54:09days uh we're learning about something new and trying to determine how it will potentially impact uh veterans and have any negative impact so that we can assist uh this committee and the VA in mitigating those impacts uh to Veterans specifically with the veteran crisis line or other critical Mission essential to make sure that veterans are getting the care they need when they need it um we were encouraged about the number of exemptions uh that the VA announced for the VHA the VBA
▶ 1:54:39uh and the board of veterans appeals U we've also been told by career officials at the VA um not politicals that they were happy with uh the uh what they called a liberal exemption policy uh and we will continue to work with you uh and legionnaires on the ground to identify those those potential impacts and bring them to you and the VA as soon as possible I would appreciate that and I would ask all of your members if you know of cases to bring them to me because as I said and I have personally been involved in at list three and I have the receipts because I have letters that they
▶ 1:55:09received and these were people answering the phones when a veteran calls that crisis hotline has a 9-second response rate and that is critically important uh and and Commander lorier what I actually say about homeless veterans is anytime a veteran must lay down his head on the streets that he defended we are all Dishonored thank you for your assment are you back Mr chairman Congressman McGarvey you were recognized for three minutes thank you very much Mr chairman thank you all for being here today um
▶ 1:55:40we are seeing drastic massive Cuts right now at the VA 1,400 people fired this week the VFW has spoken out against it policy makers have spoken out against it our veterans are speaking out against it because of the feared impact it is having on the services we must be providing the men and women who served us just last night I had a telephone Town Hall a gentleman named Allan called in served in the Army he was at the VA getting healthc
▶ 1:56:10care and one of the things he told me about he said the people here are scared morale is down they don't know if they're going to have their jobs we may made a promise to take care of our veterans we have to fulfill that promise I want to make sure we do we will not back down on this committee I want to ask you guys a few questions uh related to the workforce at the VA Commander do you have numbers on how many veterans work at the VA 440,000
▶ 1:56:41Mr Garvey thank you very much for that question I I'm going to turn I I I I believe it's approximately 400,000 but I'm going to turn that over to I want you they have the honest answer I want to turn it over to our director Cole you um thank you Commander thank you sir um I don't have a specific exact number that I can give you right now but uh I believe it's it's in the neighborhood of 360,000 amazing do you know what percentage that is a va's Workforce uh va's total Workforce
▶ 1:57:12is 469,000 employees um that has increased from I believe about uh 49,000 and F f y fy1 um so significant increase a huge percentage of veterans work at the VA y um we have not been able to track down a solid number for how many veterans have lost their jobs in these Mass firings do you guys have that number we do not sir okay um about how many military spouses have lost their jobs in these firings
▶ 1:57:42we haven't been able to track that down either no sir right and part of the reason we don't know this is because of how this was done there was no impact analysis done before they they laid off all these people no impact how it would impact our our service members currently with their military spouses our veterans and the people we were supposed to serve um we got 30 seconds left I told you about what I'm hearing from my veterans in Louisville Kentucky what are you all hearing from your members about the impact this is going to have um thank you
▶ 1:58:12sir I'll just go ahead and follow up um I think the lack of clarity which which we did discuss with the the secretary in our meeting yesterday and then with uh VA officials uh on Monday from all four administrations um that we would we need more clarity on uh who specifically is being impacted uh and we encourage them to proactively uh message with us uh the Committees and and veterans in the country uh about those impacts but
▶ 1:58:42as of now we don't have that information yeah that was a very nice way to say that we're afraid this might be screwing our veterans let us know we're going to keep that from happening Mr chairman are you back Congressman we had five veterans seven uh people fired at our veterans hospital in Maine yesterday's five for veterans five of the seven were veterans so be clear when you hear a thousand people laid off three or 400 of those veterans representative Morris thank you Mr chair I began my remarks
▶ 1:59:12Yesterday by expressing my grave concern about the ongoing assault on the Civil Service and VA employees shortly after yesterday's hearing I learned that these Mass fire ings hit Minneapolis VA which serves over a 100,000 veterans in the Twin Cities and surrounding areas we're talking about public servants with records of strong job performance many of whom are vets themselves who now find themselves out of a job all without notice or cause many of the VA employees who are just laid off in Minneapolis are
▶ 1:59:43veterans themselves men and women who made The Honorable decision to serve their fellow vets even after they completed their own military service I find it hard to believe that these Mass firings won't affect the care and services that our veterans uh have earned um Commander I'm grateful to you and your fellow legionnaires for being here today I was honored to meet with a strong delegation from Minnesota yesterday I'm grateful to them for traveling all this way uh to the halls of Congress I want to thank you for sharing your stories
▶ 2:00:14and for your advocacy on behalf of your fellow veterans last year henpen County which is Minnesota's largest county by population achieved functional zero status for veterans homelessness I'm incredibly proud of my home Community for making such significant strides thank you that does deserve a round of applause um I'm really proud of my home Community for making such significant strides and caring for our veterans and it gives me hope that Minnesota can be a model for the
▶ 2:00:44whole country in the fight to end veteran homelessness Commander I I'm wondering how Federal investments in housing and other wraparound services will help to fight the veteran homelessness crisis Dr thank you uh very much for that question increasing the number of Hud Vash vouchers that are made available you know and working with the ssvf you know that along can impact and reduce our veteran
▶ 2:01:14homelessness uh it also uh give give them the peace of mind that the government is actually working with them what I found I myself I'm going to share a personal very quick and I'll make it quick outside of the American Legion I'm currently on years's leave of absence but when I return back to Connecticut after my year I go back to working for the soldier Sailors Marines fund which is a fund that the American Legion handles for the state of Connecticut which is temporary financial assistance and what we find out uh traditionally towards
▶ 2:01:44the latter part of the year in the fall time which is a critical time of the year now we're starting to fall short on the Avail availability of the HUD Vash vouchers everything so in my opinion to answer your question directly if there's a way we can increase maybe based on veteran population you know uh on the states and everything thank you that's helpful um just really quickly I was excited to see in your testimony you made reference to the outstanding work happening at VA
▶ 2:02:14Vet centers as you know they provide a variety of counseling and Transitional services but in a more relaxed less clinical environment there's a vet center in my district in inoka Minnesota and I'm hopeful that we can expand these Services across our entire State can you share just to briefly your perspective about why vet Center's community-based approach to support services is so successful again Dr Morrison thank you very much for that question right away I'm going to turn that over to our chairman of veterans deployment
▶ 2:02:45education m sorry could you repeat the question of course um just how um the importance of vet centers um and why their their community- based approach to support services is so successful I'm sorry about that Dr Morris my mistake I I was looking at the uh the wrong chairman I'm going to turn that over to our chairman uh Jay Bowen thank
▶ 2:03:15you commander and thank you ma'am for the question we do appreciate it and as you stated the vet centers are are critical to veterans care because they do operate in a more relaxed environment and once you put the veteran in a relaxed environment they're more apt and more likely to then open up and talk about the issues that they have and once they talk about the issues and it gets out on the table then we can identify fix thank you so much and before I finish I just want to say as the wife of an army combat veteran and a proud American I want to thank every
▶ 2:03:45one of you in this room for your service so I will apologize that I had to leave at the beginning I normally to ask questions first but we didn't save the best for last but I'm going to be the one that asks the last questions if that's all right um Commander look I'm you know I'm very grateful for the American legion's past support of my bill HR 1041 now that's the veteran Second Amendment uh protection act is the legislation something
▶ 2:04:15that the American Legion will continue to support chairman boss thank you very much for that question the American Legion we have and we always will stand by the Constitution of the United States of America thank you that so one other Bill I've got out there is HR 740 the veterans access Act of 2025 which expands uh access to Community Care can you explain why the veterans need
▶ 2:04:45access to Community Care chairman boss I'm going to turn that question over to uh director Cole uh thank you Commander thank you Mr chairman I think over the years since the Phoenix weight list scandal in in 2014 and then the passage of the veterans Choice Act and the passage of the mission act um Community Care has expanded because more veterans have become eligible under the regulatory guidance um to be able to get an appointment within a certain time or distance uh in
▶ 2:05:16a lot of areas the VA is unable to provide that care in housee we have seen credible evidence of U VA administrators at the visen and the VC level uh basically disregard some of those access standards and cancelling appointments or uh canceling existing referrals shortening the timeline of authorization um so the access act the codification of access standards would take the va's ability to to do that out if the veteran and their provider
▶ 2:05:46decide it is in their best medical interest to go seek care in the community um so so that number one but number two the very important provision is often times we hear from uh veterans across the country that um you know they're happy with the care that they get at VA they're happy with the quality they're happy with the care they get at uh their Community provider they're frustrated with the referral process and the scheduling process and the hurdles they have to overcome and the communication between those Community providers so
▶ 2:06:16the second important provision in in that bill would seek to streamline the scheduling process which uh is why we've reviewed it and supported it thank you thank you real quickly Commander uh before my time runs out here and we do go to our closing I just want to let you know that I know you brought up the tap uh programs uh remember I'm a veteran that that left the Marine Corps in 1983 back then we did get a tap it was a tap from the colonel Sayan hey nice to see you thank you for your service um but we are on our committee wanting to work
▶ 2:06:46very closely with uh Hask with the the the U because it is under dod's control the scheduling but we need to get that coordinated and the sad thing is is that like a VA if you've seen one tap program you've seen one tap program they need to be uniform we need to be able to get the information to our veterans so as they separate that they know what's available to them for every issue but
▶ 2:07:17mostly so that they know what mental health issues are available to them so that we don't lose them in being part of that whether it's 17 or 21 or whatever that number is one is too many with veteran suicide so we we make that commitment we'll be working on that with you so with that I now want to recognize uh the ranking member Mr cono for his closing statement thank you Mr chairman um regarding the access act I just want to say
▶ 2:07:47that it does nothing to enhance uh the shortage and under Staffing at community care coordination offices uh among the many many uh vac's across the country and part of the bottleneck with the referral process uh is the understaffing of those offices uh and I don't know that they were exempt uh from the firing or the freeze um that um your organization uh you know inquired about
▶ 2:08:17with a senior uh career official officials what I'm troubled by is the acceptance from these career officials these career officials about the whole policy uh was the question asked uh was there an analysis performed uh not only about the impact about the necessity for these firings what was the purpose of these firings uh waste Fraud and Abuse is bandied about uh as a justification
▶ 2:08:48but where is the justification prior to these firings it seems to me they occurred willy-nilly and indiscriminately and the evidence is in the many many uh people many veterans that have answered our survey about and VA employees uh generally who've replied to our survey and I would urge that uh a similar survey be done by your own organization about the veterans who have been fired I would assert that there's
▶ 2:09:18no credible justification waste Fraud and Abuse uh is just an excuse that has been put out there in fact the very people who are responsible for Waste Fraud and Abuse investigations were the first people fired by this Administration they fired the Inspector General who has been uh who has held tough investigations against both Republican and Democratic
▶ 2:09:49inspector generals I've just reviewed some some reports from the Inspector General uh on President Biden that were not President Biden's VA secretary that were not very flattering so it's not credible to me that waste Fraud and Abuse motivated these Mass firings at VA now Mr chairman before we just before I I I end I wanted to say uh I'd like to share something to yesterday and today you've accused my Democratic colleagues and me of fear-mongering and
▶ 2:10:19you say that we're not aware that you're we not aware of any Direct effects on patient care due to va's Reckless firing of 2400 employees and Counting well you've repeatedly invited folks to share examples with you so I'd like to share one with you now on Monday two clinicians who performed mental health intake at the Cleveland VA Medical Center were dismissed this is already wreaking havoc on patient care and patient safety at that
▶ 2:10:49facility additionally Prosthetics and supply chain staff have been fired this directly affects patient care because these employees play a critical role in procuring the medical devices veterans need and equipping surgical suites with necessary supplies I met with this particular employee uh fired employee yesterday they were in attendance at the hearing and uh they also indicated that it could mean that veterans who need Prosthetics
▶ 2:11:19could be the the supply for them could be delayed now this is a very urgent matter and I don't think we can sit around pretend to believe senior officials who are under duress by the senior leadership who tell you uh oh they're they're comfortable with the exemptions and that should be accepted at face value there is primary faci evidence I'm presenting to you now that that you should you should face that with skepticism
▶ 2:11:50I will not stop talking about these Mass firings until I get answers until I get answers and so far there are no answers and everything that Senator Tillis brought up uh uh the information is not forthcoming is not forthcoming Mr chairman will you commit to uh to VA to us for the that we get from VA the details of these firings to ensure as you have repeated repeatedly claim that these firings will not affect patient care because my
▶ 2:12:20my staff and I are already uh are already hearing about such instances and I hope that we'll have a hearing about these firings specifically we will take it under advisement I don't he a commitment I will take it under advisement I have actually been meeting with the secretary know what the conversations have been also know that each person that's been let go in their letter it says that they can appeal to their supervisor immediately to find find out if that there are and and then I would ask those who have come before
▶ 2:12:50you I mean I you've all stuck on your on your uh your talking points very very very well and I appreciate that but that being said to say there's not waste for and abuse I don't do talking points Mr chairman that's an insult well I'm I apologize if you feel it is an insult Senator because I'm going to tell you something I've listened to it over and over again we're 20 days into we're one month into this Administration that was clear send a clear message to try to cure the problems that exist in government
▶ 2:13:20today even the former Administration admitted that they over hired after Co now we need to make sure that we are streamlining doing the job that is necessary and we do have the commitment from the secretary that no one's services are going to be lost you as a vsos please come forward to me and tell me if those are done you obviously mentioned that you met with the secretary yesterday as this goes on we are one month into this I appreciate that you have an a
▶ 2:13:50an opportunity to argue the political point I am telling you that I will stand for veterans like I always have I will continue to stand for veterans I've always foret did not hear you I did not hear you I have just told you we will take it under advisement Mr take under advisement we not hold a hearing on 14, uh 2400 people we are one month into this and I don't know which things to commit to because as of yet we're still studying it ourselves and so with that I will tell you that I will take it under advisement and my position
▶ 2:14:21as chair I will do that I you don't need to tell me how to take my position as chair I didn't do that when you were chair and you I don't appreciate it in front of this group you doing it now so let me explain this to you it amazing to me that during this time you're bringing up this but when we had sexual situations occurring in our VA where they were running a Sex Room you said nothing about firing those when we had superintend when we had when we no I'm I'm going now you
▶ 2:14:51you you held a hearing I advised you to allow the internal investigations to proceed with the internal with theor we have one other that we I did not I did not bring I did not subpoena one single official as when I was chairman when when President Trump was a president uh you issued several subin your dog onone right I did because the people need to know well I think the people need to understand ad individuals fired 24,000 people this Administration has answering
▶ 2:15:21those questions not only they have not provided a single bit of information about why they why the justification and when you put up the when you put up the letter yesterday you put half the letter up you did not put the respon with the opportunity for the employee to do the appeals process so I understand that you're concerned I'm glad that you've got the platform you're doing a great job of grabbing hold of that platform my job is to make sure our veterans are taken care of as it is yours and we're going to do that well please hold a
▶ 2:15:51hearing that's all I'm asking you to do I understand that with that welcome to VA committee that's so bipartisan look I want to thank the American Legion and all the witnesses for being here today we share your values and I want to thank the audience members for coming in from every corner of this United States to be here today let me tell you for purposes when
▶ 2:16:21this panel is excused if you would because we know this room so well all right if you could go out that door while we're bringing the new panel in because it it just kind of helps the flow Commander I do want to say thank you I do want to say to thank to you to each one of you and all my other uh all thank you uh legionnaires and I thank you that I'm part of your organization uh it's been a pleasure to serve you and we'll be continued to serve you uh and we will work through any of the issues as they come forward thank you so much
▶ 2:21:49e e
▶ 2:22:33take her seats we'd like to uh welcome the second panel and thank you for being here we have a lot of important organizations to hear from on this panel so let's get right to it today we're joined by Major Gary Ginsburg of the Jewish War uh
▶ 2:23:03veterans uh Lindsay Church of the minority Veterans of America uh Mr Michael mlin of the National Association of County Veteran officers uh Commander Renee campost of the military Officers Association of America Mr Timothy Shepard of the National Association of the State uh directors of Veterans Affairs uh Mr Raymond uh Tennyson of
▶ 2:23:33uh Danielo Institute for the veterans military families um Syracuse University and Lieutenant General Walter Pat Uh at of Wounded Warrior Project again welcome to all of you uh uh for the and and and and also to the members of the audience so let's get started um sergeant major Ginsburg uh you're now recognized for five minutes for your opening statement thank you Mr chairman
▶ 2:24:04chairman Moran chairman Bost ranking members Blumenthal and Tano members of the House and Senate committee on Veteran Affairs and my fellow veterans ladies and gentlemen I'm Gary Ginsburg United States armor reserved command sergeant major and the 93rd National Commander of the Jewish War veterans of the United States our mission is clear to support America's 17 million veterans and family members regardless of race religion or gender we have a Jewish War veterans organization because quite frankly
▶ 2:24:34we might be the only veterans organization whose loyalty to this country is sometimes questioned we remain opposed to hatred bigotry and anti-Semitism wherever the source whomever the target our leadership was pleased to meet with the chairman last year in submission isues are still being addressed we urge the committee to help slay the dragon of hatred bigotry and anti-Semitism with executive branch oversight with a little bit of education training and
▶ 2:25:05prevention recently I've become aware of another issue affecting veterans the jwv is concerned about food insecurity amongst American veterans research shows that about 8% of our veterans right now over1 million persons are food insecure we urge Congress to look at this and exercise appropriate oversight we also recognize that right now veterans are facing challenges with employment this year veterans are an asset to our
▶ 2:25:35nation and serve in many capacities often inspiring the next generation of young men and women to step forward and wear the cloth of our nation we are concerned about some of the cutbacks and Staffing although we know it's still early in the administration we we think that some of this is very Hasty we think that cutbacks should be more precise and quite frankly maybe the train needs to slow down just a little bit we encourage again congressional oversight with respect to this situation
▶ 2:26:05because veterans are about 30% of the VA and some of the veterans are being affected with the Staffing cutbacks the jwv the Jewish War veterans we have long supported the major Richard star act and we urge Swift passage because now is the time now is the time to un to address the unfair pay offset facing almost 45,000 combat injured veterans to receive their appropriate DOD retirement pay
▶ 2:26:36and VA disability compensation we also are concerned about veteran suicide in the current trends we know about 20 or 22 veterans a day suicide but in in fact veterans are up roughly 6% of our nation they comprise approximately 15% of the suicide cases in recent years recently we have learned about a new bill introduced into the current session of the house HR
▶ 2:27:07439 while we are still reviewing the details it is entitled the veteran foreign milit foreign medical coverage equality Act of 2025 the jwv the Jewish War veterans urg urges the committee to review this legislation quickly and take appropriate action concerning our our service connected disability veterans who reside overseas we probably have American citizens who reside in virtually 24 time zones around the world and I know
▶ 2:27:37we have many veterans that reside overseas we have some of our own members for example that reside in Israel and we want to see them receive the appropriate support as they've served honorably in defense of this nation the jwv is also concerned about women veterans in some of the unique situations there they're the fastest growing group of veterans in the VA system we support addressing some of the specialized Health Care with respect to our women veterans whether it's in increasing cancer screenings
▶ 2:28:07improving mental health accessing infertility assistance and of course reducing intimate partner violence we urge the VA to fully Implement all portions of the Deborah Samson Act as I get to my concluding remarks I'm reminded in 1945 following the Battle of eima a Navy chaplain Roland gson offered a statement during the memorial service for the Marines that fell
▶ 2:28:37at eima that per that bipartisan spirit is necessary today I also urge the committee going forward every decision you make please consider it as if it was your own son or daughter family member or best friend at this time I thank you for the opportunity to testify before the Joint Committee of the house and the Senate I thank you very much and that concludes my comments I look forward to any questions thank you sergeant major I would now like to recognize Lindsay church for her five
▶ 2:29:07minutes for opening statement sorry microphone there you go I'm still learning um chairman mirand and BOS ranking members lenthal and Tano and members of the Committees I sit before you today as the voice of millions millions of veterans who have served the this country with honor only to be met with indifference discrimination and systemic barriers when they hung up their uniforms
▶ 2:29:37veterans who despite their sacrifice find themselves battling for the most basic of Rights health care that meets their needs a roof over their heads and the dignity to live free from a political attacks on their very existence I also sit before you as a third generation Navy veteran and a proud transgender American my family has dedicated their lives to Ser to service in and out of uniform I brought them with me today in the form of that of dog tags
▶ 2:30:08we have fought across generations for an America that is barely recognizable the state of veteran services in this country is imperal we are watching the betting of the Department of Veterans Affairs an institution that is supposed to be the backbone of Veteran care thousands of va employees many of them veterans themselves have been indiscriminately fired overnight jeopardizing the quality and accessibility of care for Millions veterans are
▶ 2:30:38being turned into collateral damage in a war of political posturing this is not governance this is NE negligence at best willful cruelty at worst our community is under attack minority veterans those who are black indigenous Veterans of color women LGT lgbtqia religious minorities immigrants disabled are being told through policy and practice that our service our sacrifices and our lives do not matter
▶ 2:31:08executive orders and legislation are being wielded As Weapons to strip away our rights Critical healthc Care is being gutted gender affirming care reproductive health health services and mental health support are being dismantled under the guise of government efficiency and let's not pretend this is about efficiency this is about eraser we refuse to be
▶ 2:31:39erased minority veterans have fought and sacrificed for this country often serving in times when we were denied full rights and recognition it is our nation's Duty to uphold their rights and ensure we have access to healthare benefits housing employment opportunities and protections against discrimination gutting the very institutions designed to support veterans will only widen existing disparities and push more people into crisis so
▶ 2:32:10today I ask the committee will you continue to allow veterans to be used as Pawns in a game we never signed up to play or will you fight for us the way we fought for this country we are not here to beg we're here because the stakes are life and death we're calling on Congress to act boldly and decisively reinstate VA staff and protect its Workforce stop the roll back of critical healthc care services ensure that every veteran regardless
▶ 2:32:40of their identity has a safe place to call home fund programs that actually prevent suicide rather than just offering lip service while cutting the very services that Save Our Lives all veterans swore an oath to the constitution of this great nation and in return this nation made a promise to its veterans that promise doesn't come with an aster it does not make not come with conditions and it does not disappear when it becomes inconvenient we're here to make sure you keep
▶ 2:33:10it thank you thank you I would you would now like to recognize Mr Molin for five minutes for your opening statement thank you chairman boss Moran ranking
▶ 2:33:41members Tano and Blumenthal and distinguished members of the committee behalf of the National Association of County Veteran service officers or nacvso I extend our deepest credit ude for the opportunity to address this session as you are aware nacvso is a unique organization and that all of our leadership work as accredited VA representatives advocating for veterans and their dependence in their local communities we comprise the va's biggest local partner Resource as governmental veteran service officers or gvos that helps ensure as a nation we
▶ 2:34:11continue to care for those who have served we understand the veterans experience as well as how to better support the VA furthermore our members are often the first point of contact for your very own Congressional offices as you assist your veteran constituents it is through this lens that I offer this testimony and hopes that together we may better support our nation's veterans and acso wishes to express our gratitude for the passage of the Senator Elizabeth Dole 21st century veterans Healthcare and benefits Improvement act this legislation
▶ 2:34:42includes several Provisions aimed at improving services for veterans and their families notably section 302 the commitment to veteran support and Outreach act or cvso act marks a historic first step in providing funding for local gvos this acknowledges what nacvso has long known that delivering veteran services is most effective when it collaborates with experts at the local community level while we appreciate this progress funding alone isn't enough stronger Partnerships between the VA and local Advocates
▶ 2:35:12remains essential one immediate step would be to ensure that the veteran benefits Improvement Act of 2024 section for is completed expeditiously this report can serve as a road map for transforming veteran services into a combined arms effort by mobilizing all levels of government to meet the needs of veterans efficiently and effectively as VA accredited Representatives our members work tirelessly to help veterans submit the best claims possible however there have been growing concerns about the overdevelopment of disability
▶ 2:35:42claims an issue that delays decisions and waste taxpayer dollars through the unnecessary scheduling of disability exams we appreciate that VA leadership has engaged with stakeholders on this we recognize that these challenges stem from many complex issues and is not intentionally done by VA we encourage this body to amend how VA is required to implement toxic exposure risk activities or Terror exams for example by ensuring that when a veteran has a confirmed terara it does not automatically trigger an unnecessary Tera
▶ 2:36:13examination while other forms of service connection are obvious VA can reduce expenses while also streamlining a aable outcome for the veteran similarly we urge greater adherence to the fully developed claim or FDC process which is designed to improve efficiency and reduce the number of exams nacvso stands ready to work with VA and this body to improve Tera and restore the FDC process to ensure that claims and decisions are timely accurate and fiscally responsible while it is not
▶ 2:36:43me immediately an issue before this body navso would like to publicly oppose any future policy or legis ation that would seek to means test a VA disability a veteran service connected is not tied exclusively to economic impediments but also considers social and familial impairments I'm a veteran and the proud son of a Vietnam veteran who was severely wounded during the Ted offensive those wounds led to the amputation of his leg with prosthetics provided by the VA my father was able to find and secure employment
▶ 2:37:13all while waging daily battles to prepare himself physically and mentally for work each day an economic means test would have penalized him for his decision to seek employment my father and many other veterans paid the price for their country every day and this price continues what cost can we assign to my father's inability to teach his daughter how to swim or ride a bike can we name the price for his six-year-old son knowing what Phantom paines are for a leg that no longer exists in addition to incentivizing Veterans to seek Vocational
▶ 2:37:44Rehabilitation any policy intending to means test these disabilities disregards the true price that veterans and their families have paid a price they will pay for the rest of their lives such means testing would break our country's sacred promise and shatter President Lincoln's commitment to care for him who shall have borne the battle his widow or his orphan which is why nacvso stands firmly against any such future proposals lastly n acso ask this body to continue to work working alongside VA
▶ 2:38:14to prevent and hold accountable claims Consultants who continue for-profit representation of initial a claims we believe that no person who has taken the oath of service to this country should ever have to leverage their earned benefits to Simply gain access to those benefits as such we humbly implore this body to look at every means possible to provide agency reform and increase support for prob bonal access to these Services chairman ranking members and members of the Committees on behalf of nacvso thank you for your attention to these matters
▶ 2:38:44I look forward to our continued work together to better serve our nation's veterans and their families thank you Mr mcin now I'd like to recognize Commander Campos for five minutes for her opening statement chairman boss House and Senate Veterans Affairs committees I invite MOA members here and our staff today to stand they represent over 350,000 members whose voices strengthen our advocacy
▶ 2:39:15we thank you for the opportunity to share our veteran let me Begin by commending your work last year in the Dole act it a testament to the power of collaboration and bipartisan support in achieving meaningful reforms yet much remains to strengthen support to Veterans here's a short list of moa's priorities for veterans health care it's supporting veteran
▶ 2:39:45caregivers by passing the veteran caregiver re-education re employment and retirement act just as veterans answered the call to serve their Nation their caregivers also answered the call to step up and serve them these caregivers sacrifice their own Futures giving up Financial Security career advancement and personal well-being to care for our nation's Heroes yet when caregiving ends whether it's due to
▶ 2:40:15ineligibility to Veterans uh services or the passing of their loved one many are left struggling to rebuild their lives for example one son cared for his Vietnam father for a decade when it role ended he faced difficulty re-entering the workforce due to outdated skills and employment gaps a returnship program as proposed in this bill would provide crucial re-employment opportunities this act fulfills
▶ 2:40:46our nation's promise to those who sacrifice so much it empowers caregivers financially while potentially reducing long-term Reliance on federal assistance we urge Congress to pass this legislation we also seek action to strengthen support for women and under other underserved veterans by eliminating barriers to Health Care these veterans face limited provider availability
▶ 2:41:16lack awareness of benefits they experience long longer wait times and disparities in healthc care outcomes and they face challenges due to income education and other systemic barriers that create inequities in accessing vital Services MOA urges Congress to pass the improving menopause care for veterans act to advance research and to enhance Care for Women veterans and to reintroduce the saves act to expand care and
▶ 2:41:46benefits for survivors of MST for veterans benefits we ask your support and ending the weight for the toxic exposed veterans by codifying framework for the presumptive process the pack Act was certainly historic but veterans still wait decades for recognition of toxic exposures since World War I only 30 exposures have been recognized taking an average of 34 years to establish
▶ 2:42:17presumption MOA and dav's ending the weight report highlights the urgent need to improve the presumptive process we urge Congress to codify a framework that acknowledges exposure and its risk concedes exposure when Justified and commits to ongoing research linking exposures to healthc outcomes this framework is an essential first step to delivering the health care and benefits earned additionally we encourage
▶ 2:42:47Congress to focus on improving the transition Services um for vet for uh service members by including vsos in the tap process we all know Financial stability is crucial to a smooth transition to civilian life the benefits delivery a discharge program helps expedite claims process but excluding vsos from Taps increases unnecessary risk as both a vsso and an MSO
▶ 2:43:18Moa leverag es its expertise to bridge the gap between the military and civilian communities including vsos in tap would provide transitioning service members with the ESS essential guidance they need we ask Congress to reintroduce and pass the tap promotion act finally we urge Congress to immediately pass this year's VA funding and secure FY 2026 Appropriations by October 1st predictable sufficient funding is
▶ 2:43:48vital to sustaining va's health and benefit systems meeting the growing needs of veterans and their families and fulfilling Congressional mandates disruption MOA thanks you for your leadership and commitment to those who have served and we stand ready to work with Congress to hold our nation's promises and ensure every veteran receives the care and benefits they earned thank you and I welcome your question thank you Commander now recognize
▶ 2:44:18Mr for 5 minutes for your opening statement thank you Bast uh I am Tim Shepard president of the National Association of State directors of Veterans Affairs or NASA for short please accept our submit submitted written testimony for the record NASA was founded in 1946 following World War II to unite VA leaders from all 50 states five US territories in the district of columia
▶ 2:44:49NASA is tasked and held accountable by our respective Governors state boards or commissions to address the needs of our veterans although each state or territory is unique in its organizational structure programs and resources we are Frontline advocates for our nation's 18 million veterans with the common goal of conducting Outreach and serving them importantly we partner with the federal VA vsos and Community Partners the relationship
▶ 2:45:20between Federal VA and nzva is formalized by a standing memorandum of understanding which we will have signed later this summer with secretary Collins the two most important VA Grant programs with VA are the state veterans home construction program and the veterans cemetery grant program the state veterans home homes provide more than 50% of the total VA long-term care
▶ 2:45:51171 operational homes with over 30,000 beds of care there are 81 priority group one projects which requires roughly 1.3 billion for the federal 65% match both our association and the National Association of State veterans homes recommends increased funding from the proposed budget of only 147 million to at least 600 50 million to address the increasing
▶ 2:46:21need for nursing care and fund at least a half of the pending Grant request Additionally the operational cost warrant an increase in pum rates to enhance the quality of care in the face of chronic shortages of Health Care Professionals rising cost of medications and the increase in the complexity of care for the Aging veterans population for Memorial Affairs the Veteran Cemetery grant program provided roughly
▶ 2:46:5143,000 interments in 2024 which is roughly 24% of the total number of burials by NCA and Grant cemeteries there are 122 State tribal and three territory grant-funded cemeteries that support va's goal that 95% of veterans have a burial option within a 75 mile radius of their home county the FY 2025
▶ 2:47:22budget proposal is only 60 million priority Group 1 projects are for expansion and Improvement of existing cemeteries in totals more than 100 million the funding is insufficient to award grants for new state or tribal cemeteries the program needs an increase to at least 120 million to address priority group two establishments for the 9 million veterans receiving VA healthc care we recommend
▶ 2:47:53continued emphasis by VA to ensure veterans are provided timely access we recommend the external provider scheduling program be expanded nationally to include Direct Care availability which gives the veterans a comparison between VA and Community providers the focus should be on the veterans medical needs whe whether in-house VA or by Community Care which in essence
▶ 2:48:23is VA care the scheduling of appointments needs Improvement and reimbursements to Providers should be prompt the coordination of available care is the key we support congress's oversight to hold VA accountable for the roll out of the electronic health record modernization it's a complex software but it's taking too long to deploy VA needs to address both current system challenges
▶ 2:48:54highlighted by users and Future IT issues VA should continue to conduct operational assessments and have a strategic road map for completion in conclusion I want to reemphasize again that we are government to government partners with the federal VA and we are second only to them in the Direct Delivery of Services distinguished committee members we sincerely respect and appreciate your work to
▶ 2:49:24improve the well-being of our nation's veterans it is our honor for us to be part of the mission thank you and Hur you army guys Marines we just do different Mr Tennyson you are recognize for 5 minutes for your opening statement thank you chairman Moran and boss ranking members Blumenthal and Nano and members of the Committees I'd like to thank you for the opportunity to present the 2025
▶ 2:49:54policy priorities of the Danielo Institute for veterans and military families at Syracuse University our nation's all volunteer Force relies on our shared commitment to ensure that veterans and their families not only survive but truly Thrive after service to achieve this we must address the complex challenges they face with proactive interventions strong public private Partnerships and rigorous evaluation most critical the va's recent National
▶ 2:50:25veteran Suicide Prevention annual report confirms that the rate of death by Suicide remains unacceptably High we know that Health economic and housing challenges rarely occur in isolation instead each additional stressor compounds the risk of suicidal ideation over the past decade initiatives like our America serves program have been vital data shows that nearly 70% of veterans supported through America serves are also enrolled in VA Healthcare
▶ 2:50:55a clear sign that when communities and the VA work in tandem they can address stressors more effectively and reach veterans who might otherwise be overlooked equally important is the role of programs like the staff sergeant Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention Grant as this program comes up for reauthorization we value your commitment to enhancing it with improvements drawn from both grantee and Advocate feedback such enhancements will Empower communities to act decisively
▶ 2:51:25before it's too late additionally these Comprehensive Mental Health interventions demand stronger accountability and we urge Congress to establish enhanced standards for data collection and evaluation across the VA and its Community Partnerships by setting clear outcome-driven benchmarks we can ensure that every dollar is spent where it will have the greatest impact transitioning from military service presents its own unique set of challenges data shows us that although most veterans
▶ 2:51:56pursue employment after service including those furthering their education 62% remain underemployed 6 and a half years after leaving the military meanwhile the federal government spends over $13 billion annually on transition programs primarily focused on education spread across 46 Federal programs managed by 11 different agencies a recent Rand report found that few of these programs have undergone rigorous independent evaluation with 27 of the programs
▶ 2:52:26releasing no performance data at all in contrast nonprofit initiatives can deliver and show significant results our hward to opportunity program provides skills training and credentialing to over 10,000 transitioning service members veterans and Military spouses each year as the only program evaluated by a third party o to O stands is evidence that community-led efforts can offer often operate more efficiently than their counterparts we encourage Congress to
▶ 2:52:56allocate additional resources to nonprofits that demonstrate measurable positive outcomes and to require evaluation of federal programs data from the veterans metrics initiative a comprehensive longitudinal study of post 911 veterans by Penn State University could be an instrumental guide in these much needed reforms navigation of services remains a critical challenge findings from our latest blue star families lifestyle survey reveals that 36% of Veteran
▶ 2:53:27spouses access transition resources through tap this underscores the need for formal channels to complement informal networks especially for spouses who often manage household finances and family goals legislative measures should should simplify resource navigation shifting our Focus from reactionary fixes to long-term economic and career prepar preparation that prevents crisis and secures lasting stability our veterans bring tremendous value to Industry Central to America's prosperity
▶ 2:53:57for instance memory chip giant Micron Technology is investing in a military Talent pipeline through our oo program to help staff what will be one of the largest semiconductor manufacturing facilities in the country all of this shows that targeted initiatives can bridge the gap to high-tech careers and bolst in our nation's energy and Technology infrastructure in closing ensuring that our veterans and their families Thrive is essential to the strength of our all volunteer Force this Mission Demands a coordinated whole
▶ 2:54:27of nation approach one that cuts through bureaucratic hurdles forges robust Partnerships and is driven by clear data-backed results The daniello Institute remains steadfast in its commitment to rigorous research and proven programs so that every veteran receives the support they deserve thank you and I look forward to your questions thank you very much General uh pet you are recognized for minutes chairman Boston Moran ranking members Tano and Blumenthal and distinguished
▶ 2:54:58committee members thank you for today's hearing and for the honor to join you on behalf of Wounded Warrior Project and the Warriers and families we serve over 20 years ago when the first wounded service members returned from the battlefields our organization made a promise to be there for these Warriors no matter what that promise is our why it's the reason wound Warrior Project exists to bring every Warrior fully home mind body and soul and
▶ 2:55:28connect them back to a path in life of Hope and purpose today our promise endures but the future of service will require more Warriors will continue to defend our country Warriors will struggle more will be asked of our Grateful Nation more will be asked from all of us no matter what is required ired we must keep this promise it's an extraordinary commitment in return for sacrifice as we look to the Future Wounded Warrior
▶ 2:55:58Project remains committed to working with you your invaluable support will make all the difference in helping our nation's wounded veterans thrive in life following military service next week 100 Warriors from Wounded Warrior Project will be coming to Washington DC to visit all of you these Warriors will bring with them the experiences of struggle and uncertainty but they will also bring with them the power of Hope and healing they are the voices for their communities and will help deliver the
▶ 2:56:28message of how we can best support them they will specifically address three issues Mental Health financial wellness and traumatic brain injury our Warriors will share how you can support their mental health needs they will ask for your help in passing a veterans access act which will set access standards for Vaas mental health residential Rehabilitation treatment programs these intensive care programs provided changing lifechanging mental health care
▶ 2:56:58to over 30,000 veterans in 2023 and we appreciate all who have made this critical issue of priority our Warriors will also tell you how you can best support their financial Wellness they will once again Ask Congress to pass a major Richard star act which will expand concurrent receipt policy to more than 54,000 military retirees whose careers were cut short due to combat related injuries allowing them to collect their full compensation through the VA and DOD that they earned
▶ 2:57:29and deserve our Warriors will also tell you how you can support veterans living with traumatic brain injury they will ask for continued investment in research that explores the course of neurological and cognitive functioning after TBI and builds evidence to expand access to effective treatments in community based support TBI is a complex injury with a spectrum of short and long-term conditions we must continue to support the study of impacts on repetitive low-level blast
▶ 2:57:59injuries on Veterans mental health as we have with efforts like the Precision brain health research Act of 2024 I'm grateful that so many of you on this committee have made time to meet with these Warriors next week where they can share their experience with these issues and a lasting impact your support has had on their lives their families and their communities I sincerely thank you for the honor to testify and for all you do in your part in helping us keep the promise
▶ 2:58:30thank you again for all you do I look forward to your questions General thank you and thank you General thank you and thank each one of you for your testimony we're now going to go to questions uh I recognized myself for 3 minutes uh Commander Campos uh why is is it so critical to hold VA accountable in its efforts to improve access to residential options chairman thank you for that question well
▶ 2:59:00it's really important um that VA expands its services to our RTP programs um most of the VA can't and is unable to deliver those Services completely through its own system so we need that care in the community so those services are vital and that's um where the veterans are and it's especially important in rural areas where VA does not have a footprint so those programs are very very important and uh we would also like to see
▶ 2:59:30some other expansions even in terms of mental health uh with the vet center so it's more in the community um it's very well received by veterans they feel comfortable going to those centers and we'd like to see that continued expansion thank you Mr Shephard um there is a currently a major focus on providing adequate care for our veterans both within the VA system and throughout the community care providers how has legislation such as a mission act
▶ 3:00:00been beneficial to strengthen ties between VA and Community Care Providers thank you for that question chairman BOS um I you know I I just I will speak uh my own situation um I find that Community Care is uh incredibly important and available um if there's if there's one thing I've seen between Care at the VA versus Community Care the
▶ 3:00:30the process for scheduling is a little clunky but I think the VA has gotten better at that um but more importantly uh the the the quality of the community care has been outstanding um and I see it uh Across the Nation that we continue to grow and improve in our ability to work those two together and with the idea
▶ 3:01:00that hey it's the best interest of the veteran get them to the right care and get them there as quickly as you can thank you General uh in the past veterans Readiness uh and employment and V VR and E has been called the Crown Jewel of the VA by members of this committee recently however the vr& has had a serious issues relating to Staffing and modernization what steps should
▶ 3:01:31Congress take to bring vr& back to the level that the veterans deserve thank you for the question and thank you for all you've done with this issue I think just continued support there and I think leverage on out of the vsos as well I think we all have a role to play in here on employment for our veterans to get access to this care I think it's a lot to ask for the VA to do it all on their own but we believe continued pushing of that act will will continue to bring the the services our veterans need and deserve thank you Dr deer you are
▶ 3:02:01recognized for three minutes for questioning thank you so much chairman Bast and thank you for holding this important hearing once again thank you to our Witnesses for being here your advocacy is inv valuable as hopefully each of you know um I thank you all for what you do each and every day being Advocates is a work of passion it's a work of commitment and I think right now it is also critical to acknowledge the extraordinary courage it takes for some to be in this space Lindsay I just want to be
▶ 3:02:31clear that I'm grateful to you for your dedication I'm clear your courage is extraordinary at this moment in time and it's a Beacon of Hope for many veterans across this country each and every veteran deserves equal respect
▶ 3:03:02and I hope all Advocates will agree that every veteran earns that respect and will stand with you at this time when I speak with veterans veteran service providers and vsos in my district one priority comes up a time again and again preventing veteran suicide and the reality is Stark Lindsay the system is consistently failed those you represent and it has led to devastating Health outcomes including unacceptably High suicide
▶ 3:03:33rates Lindsay can you share how the Trump administration's recent executive orders and mass firings have impacted the mental health resources available to your members um thank you you're going to make me cry um thank you for your remarks and for the question providers who serve transp patients are deeply uncertain about what they can do um how they're expected to treat us and how they're going to be forced to discuss our care my providers
▶ 3:04:03are unclear if they can even use the appropriate pronouns to address me um non-consensually transgender veterans have had their birth sex returned to their to their records meaning that my birth sex has been revealed to everybody including a dental schedule my gender identity is a deeply personal part of my identity and it's a part of my health it's a part of by Health profile um transgender veterans are making impossible decisions about whether or not to continue to use Care
▶ 3:04:34VA my own provider can't even guarantee that I can be safe to continue to use care I have to seek care outside of va because I don't trust that I'm going to be safe from Doge data collection I had my gender identity removed from my records because the libs of Tik Tock flagged it for a doge and the Secretary of VA and the next day it was gone it's unacceptable we already had a transgender Veteran die by suicide on January 27th in
▶ 3:05:04Syracuse New York in a parking lot like most of our veterans suicide draped in a trans pride flag we are dying and we're going to keep dying because the government is trying to erase us we won't be erased but we will suffer unnecessarily and our providers have no idea what's going to be inbounds it's not only unethical it's also a First violation telling
▶ 3:05:34people that they have to misgender us is unethical it's against their code as a doctor you know this it's unacceptable and it's inhumane we're people trying to get access to care we deserve it we shouldn't have to beg and gravel to be treated as a regular person we die by Suicide at a higher rate than anybody at this table why are we being eradicated thank you thank
▶ 3:06:07you thank you um Congressman KY you're recognized for three minutes first of all Lindsay thank you for that very powerful message uh to all our our veterans thank you so much for being here thank you for your service to our country thank you today uh folks for testimony uh in Buffalo New York we are dealing with a very
▶ 3:06:37specific issue as it pertains to veteran Care at the VA Center and following a chaotic administrative issue there were two leaders of that hospital that were pulled by the VA removed because not just of a lackluster performance but of abhorent administration of the
▶ 3:07:08work that they were sworn to do to help our veterans get the health care that they have earned and deserve and so In This Moment I am heartbroken to see what's happening with cuts in the jobs at the VA across this country 1,400 of which
▶ 3:07:38happened in the last few weeks when by the va's own account there was already a short of 40,000 staff members it's unconscionable this should not be happening but it is under this Administration in the efforts of unelected billionaire Elon Musk who's running Ru shod over our
▶ 3:08:09Constitution and our veterans both those that served our country and then decided to go into including service disabled veterans a third of the workforce in this country is made up of our veterans half of them are service disabled we owe it to our veterans to
▶ 3:08:39prioritize their well-being their livelihood their place in the workforce of America and treat them like the heroes that they are not the way they're being treated and so to hear what I'm hearing today and to know that these services are going to be cut it is painful it's unacceptable and we as a country are better than this I you back
▶ 3:09:09R member you now recognized r m you're recogniz for three minutes everybody else has ask questions yeah so my my first question is for uh Mr Laughlin of of uh the nacvso um Mr Laughlin I want to thank you for thank you and your colleagues
▶ 3:09:39for the important work you do and connecting veterans uh with VA and their earned health care and benefits it's crucial work I read in your testimony uh about the importance of uh strengthening Partnerships uh and between VA and Advocate such as yourself what is needed to achieve these strong relationships and how can Congress help you thank you for that question uh ranking member Tano uh one of the big things uh that we're asking for is increased collaboration and communication
▶ 3:10:09between all levels of government um right now uh we appreciate the relationships that we have with our state partners that we have with our federal part Partners but it is uh very much uh siloed uh and so uh looking at that that report as part of the the vbi ACT uh that is uh directing VA to report back to you all with recommendations on how we can increase Community Frontline resources for veterans not at a regional office not at a medical center where the veterans live
▶ 3:10:40uh counties States and municipalities are where our veterans live they don't live at the medical center they don't live at the regional office so increasing that collaboration and and formalizing the relationship similar like our uh department of justice has with our County attorneys and our sheriffs and our local law enforcement um if we can get together on board as united front federal state and local uh on that front I think our veterans are owed for us to coordinate all efforts uh on their behalf well thank you
▶ 3:11:11um Lindsay uh you and I have discussed many times va's issues with gender based harassment and your concerns how can our committees best impact the prevalence of of harassment of vaa thank you for the question um the greatest thing that this committee can do is oversight um Deber Samson act 5303 which is the preventing gender-based harassment first and foremost not removing gender is a really important part about being able to report on gender-based harassment second of all gender-based
▶ 3:11:41harassment and discrimination claims are up 106% last year that's a that's a travesty that this committee has focused heavily on so continuing that oversight making sure that we strengthen provisions of Deborah Samson focusing on strengthening the reporting mechanism and how do we report in a system where we don't trust the environment that we're going into discrimination cases are going to continue to go up so our harassment cases in a culture that's permissive of it continuing to do oversight making sure that the reports from NRA Samson are actually independent of the
▶ 3:12:11um of the complaint there's two two reports that they tried to that they tried to consolidate making sure that the reporting on Deborah Samson is pure making sure that we can see the data and we can see the facilities that are in trouble we continue to see an obscured amount of data if you have fewer than 10 inst instances at a VA facility which you should be in remediation we can't see that so making sure that we have proper oversight over the entire mechanism is very deeply important to to addressing the issue of harassment thank you thank you I'm done I'm done
▶ 3:12:42yeah I want to thank all of you for being here today you know that concludes includes today's vso hearing and I want to thank uh I think it's clear that the committee is collaborating with VA and have had more work to do in services to our veterans and their families and we will continue to carry out that work I ask unanimous consent that all members shall have five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and included any extendus material hearing no objections so ordered this hearing is now
▶ 3:13:16adjourned for