▶ 0:00:28uh good morning everyone the here will come to order uh I welcome everyone in the room and certainly welcome the commander I thank my colleague from the house chairman boss along with ranking members Blumenthal and Tano and the rest of my Senate and House colleagues for joining us here today in this joint hearing the final of three hearings our committee hosted this year I of course specifically welcome Commander Al lipart his wife Carol and the rest of his team at the VFW I also
▶ 0:00:58welcome all of the organiz ations represented on the second panel and those who have traveled here from across the country to represent veterans service members caregivers families and survivors I also want to give a special hello of course to kons and the audience and those watching at home the VFW is a major and important organization uh in our state I appreciate the relationship I have with them the work we do on our committees would not be possible without the work and the dedication of the vsso community
▶ 0:01:30our accomplishments are a result of your advocacy and the efforts to hold Congress and the VA accountable for doing what is in the best interest of our veterans and military communities one example of this is the Elizabeth Dole 21st century veterans Healthcare and benefits Improvement act which was signed into the law last Congress and supported by the organizations all of the organizations we will be hearing from today we are working to make certain this legislation is implemented in a timely manner and it adherence with Congressional intent so that it lives up to the promise
▶ 0:02:00for veterans caregivers and survivors all of the policies and programs that we will discuss today depend upon a strong and effective vsso community and a strong and effective VA Workforce to deliver and care to deliver the care and benefits veterans and their families deserve as the VA implements new federal Workforce guidance and we work together to root out any waste I am committed to making certain that the necessary VA Workforce is reserved
▶ 0:02:31in that regard it would be useful to retain the Inspector General to work to help the department and Congress better inform our decisions the VA must be forthcoming and transparent with Congress vsos and the public about how it's implementing Workforce and contract and other changes the VA must also work to avoid or correct actions that could in any way undermine access to care and benefits that veterans and their loved ones rely
▶ 0:03:01I again thank you for you all being here today I look forward to the testimony of the Witnesses on both panels and I now yield chairman Bost for his opening remarks thank you chairman rant good morning want to thank you all for being here and I want to thank you to the uh my Senate colleagues chairman Moran ranking member Blumenthal for hosting us this week and I would like to thank the bsw's national Commander Alfred lipart
▶ 0:03:32for being here today thank you Commander I would also like to give a shout out to the VFW auxiliary National Commander Brenda Bryant thank you for being here and I'm pleased that there are folks here from the great state of Illinois and if you would I just want you to stand if you can or raise your hand or be recognized there they are thanks for being here
▶ 0:04:03and I want to thank you all for traveling here to your nation's capital for such important issues this Congress marks a decade on this sacred committee for me and it's my second term as chair it is an honor to serve all of you the mission of va committee has always been personal to me I grew up in a home with veterans um and many of you have heard
▶ 0:04:33it before but I'm still going to say it again it's my dad and his brother's Army more my my grandfather won was Navy second world war other grandfather Marine uh Korea Uncle Marine Vietnam V victim of the ultimate oxymoron Friendly Fire uh but because
▶ 0:05:03of va has had a very successful life and he's up in his years now I peacetime Marine my son is a lieutenant colonel a reservist now but was active for many years um and my grandson the daughter or the son of my daughter uh just got out of the core about six or eight months ago he was an F18 mechanic so as you can tell it's kind of personal to me but it's an honor to serve
▶ 0:05:34you and every time I sat at the dis when we're getting in debates whether it's with an agency or another side of the aisle my focus isn't on the person I'm discussing it's on the veterans we're serving it's always about you it's always about the veterans because that's why the VA was created not for bureaucrat rats but for the veterans now I know the sacrifice
▶ 0:06:04each of you have made because my family made them each of you have fought to protect our constitutional rights I'm particularly proud of the work VFW has done to improve transition from active duty to CI civilian life you wrote in your testimony about the transition assistance program can be improved and how it can be improved ensure all transitioning service members are connected to to benefits and resources as soon as possible and I'm looking forward to working
▶ 0:06:34with you on making improvements where we can to modernize the delivery of care and services at VA and DOD when we're using the tap program now under my leadership we've listened to the men and women serving around the world who just wanted a simple program that meets their needs there is more to do through legislation to increase the ability of DOD and make their
▶ 0:07:04their accountability but to make DOD accountable to putting the tap program in the right PRI as a right priority for those people who are leaving service I'm optimistic that with our new leadership in the Pentagon this will finally happen I do want to let you know though uh in 1980 1983 when I left the Marine Corps they had a tap program the colonel tapped me on the shoulder said see you later that was it so we are doing our
▶ 0:07:34job to make sure that we help you but remember like we talk about the VA if you've seen one VA you've seen one VA if you've seen one tap program you've seen one tap program we have to have the ability to help these service members as they leave to make sure they know and understand what's available to them VFW will play a vital role and important role in making sure we advance Common Sense proposals and conduct oversight to meet the needs of the entire veteran community no matter where they live or where
▶ 0:08:04they want to work veterans should have the freedom to use the benefits of va offered in no matter where they're at to meet their individual needs and they should be spending shouldn't be spending hours driving in a car to get there or combing through wonky paperwor for months on in to figure out what's available to them are needlessly waiting on a phone call to get a simple answer you know where the V VA is falling short and you
▶ 0:08:34know where we need to push the agency to bring it out of the Stone Age and into the Modern Age we cannot cannot let the bureaucracy continue to grow without concrete results for you the men and women who serve you have my commitment that as long as I'm in charge with the and will continue to fight for you and the voices that you represent the hundreds of thousands of veterans outside the DC Beltway who just
▶ 0:09:05their benefits when they need them this old Corporal takes this Mission seriously and I know our new VA secretary and my friend Doug Collins does too under president's Trump's leadership I know we are going to put you the veteran the VA Services back at the center of the VA Mission and when the bureaucrats tries to get away get get in the way I'll continue to be the first one to hold them accountable and get the answers for you
▶ 0:09:35we made great progress throughout uh through the Dole act to provide support for homeless program to ensure VA continue to lift veterans out of homelessness and get them back living fulfilling lives my door has and will be continue always to be open we must deliver for our veterans to protect their health care choices expand economic opportun and education streamline benefits to move VA and the services it provides forward
▶ 0:10:06now I promise to keep up the fight together with you and I look forward to completely completing our mission alongside of you now I want to thank the uh Senator again for having us here today and with that I yield back chairman boss thank you you said as long as you're in charge I just want to remind you you I'm in the Senate now true I'll be on my best behavior uh we look forward to that uh I now yield to the ranking
▶ 0:10:36member of the Senate commit stop the bleeding I quoted you last week at both of our hearings extensively and I put your statement into the record and I think your leadership at a time when others perhaps kept their heads down is typical of the VFW and provides a a Guiding Light for other similar organizations and an alarm a wakeup call sounding
▶ 0:11:07that alarm is a real Public Service uh it's tough to on efforts and legislative priorities when so many of our previous efforts are being rolled back without consulting Us in other words how do we go forward with new legislation when the priorities can simply be ignored and the legislation violated for instance on hundreds of contract
▶ 0:11:37secretary Collins proudly announced that he had cancelled a number in fact 875 and we're confused now as to which of those cancellations has been rescinded there was an announcement I think just in the last 24 hours that perhaps now the number's been reduced to 600 I've demanded information and clarity as to those
▶ 0:12:07contracts I believe others on the committee may have done as well we have been informed that one of those canceled contracts is the veteran directed Care Program something we codified and expanded in a bipartisan manner with the Dole Act this program allows aging and disabled veterans to receive care in their home a cost-effective alternative to nursing home care
▶ 0:12:37it's absolutely integral to the va's continuing of longterm care services but it's just one of the hundreds of contracts that secretary Collins seems intent on cancelling contracts that provide critical services to Veterans and their families and allow the VA it's self to identify waste Fraud and Abuse we can't confirm that this specific contract
▶ 0:13:08is on the list of 585 that he cancelled last night or the 875 he announced he would cancel last week because he won't share the list with us he just wants to use the numbers for his press release No transparency no accountability no consultation in the process he continues to claim that abruptly cancelling hundreds of services will not impact veterans care and benefits
▶ 0:13:39in any way if that sounds un if that sounds realistic to anybody in this room I'd like to talk to you Mr chairman uh I would like to submit for the record an article from the Kentucky public radio published on February 25 titled Kentucky business among hundreds losing veteran service contracts amid Trump Cuts I have it here without objection thank you Mr chairman in this article
▶ 0:14:10Army veteran Neil Riley is quote secretary Collins said specifically that it wouldn't impact veteran health care or benefits in any way and that is specifically a lie end quote Mr Riley's company is a federally service disabled veteran owned small business that had all of its VA contracts cancelled last week all of them cancelled last
▶ 0:14:40week and it's just one of dozens of veteran-owned small businesses who had their contracts cancelled and were forced to lay off hundreds of employees many of those employees were veterans themselves these contracts help ensure the safety of low-income housing for Veterans who are homeless or transitioning from care it isn't simple waste it isn't waste at all
▶ 0:15:10it's not hypothetical it isn't abstruse or abstract it's one of many human examples of impacts of this administration's actions and it's not happening on some imaginatory mind it's happening in real life it's just the tip of the iceberg we've also heard directly from VA employees and veterans
▶ 0:15:40that the VA has terminated critical researchers plan to cancel a Packa Enterprise program management office contract that could derail implementation of the pack act it's delayed facility openings and reduced inpatient beds it's canceled 50 patient appointments at a VA facility last week due to staff shortages it's fired Veterans Crisis Line employees in one wave of terminations
▶ 0:16:11rehired them after receiving the backlash and then fired even more during a second wave not to mention the thousands of other VA employees and Veterans fired without cause I will introduce later today a resolution I'll see unanimous consent for it asking that these firings be reversed each of them has their own story they are men and women serving alongside
▶ 0:16:41your doctors and nurses they process your disability compensation claims they ensure veterans have a final resting place that honors their service to a Grateful Nation many of them are veterans who choose to continue their service by Serv ing their fellow veterans they've been callously discarded Chief your testimony says that VFW members prefer the VA to remain the primary
▶ 0:17:12provider of their health care we need your help to ensure the VA has the workforce and capabilities to provide that health care which is the rock of our VA Health Care system and I want to thank you for staying being true keeping faith and being a powerful and eloquent advocate for our veterans we need you now more than ever thank you Mr chairman thank you I now yield to the ranking member ranking
▶ 0:17:42member Tano for his opening remarks thank you Mr chairman thank you chairman Moran today we close out our annual series of joint hearings with the veteran service organizations and I'm pleased to welcome our first panel the national commander and of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and its auxiliary as well as our second panel representatives from the Paralyzed Veterans of America Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America student Veterans of America the tragedy assistance
▶ 0:18:12program for survivors the Elizabeth Dole foundation and the National Coalition for homeless veterans and I'd like to extend a special welcome to va's commanderin-chief Mr Al leart and National auxiliary president Miss Brenda welcome um before I begin my remarks I have to ask are there any Californians in the room just had to do it um
▶ 0:18:43I grew up with the stories I just want you know I grew up with stories about my three great uncles who served in World War II in the famed 442nd Infantry Regiment and one of my uncles who fought in Vietnam sadly died by Suicide when I was young since joining this committee I have had the honor of visiting the graves of the Fallen around the world at cemeteries managed by the Department of Veterans Affairs and the American
▶ 0:19:13Battle Monuments commission I urge all Americans watching this hearing uh to put it on your bucket list to visit to visit some of these amazing Hollow grounds that we meticulously keep and uh it is for those service members and Veterans and for all of you that I fight to ensure that our country honors the debt that can never be repaid honoring that debt means listening to Veterans
▶ 0:19:43voices about issues impacting their daily lives and how we can address them and one of the ways we do that is by holding these hearings with veteran service organizations it was at these hearings 2022 when the Vos stood in solid calling on Congress to pass the honoring our PCT Act without you we would never have passed the largest expansion of veterans Healthcare and benefits since the Vietnam War without VFW and
▶ 0:20:13countless other vsos millions of veterans would still be struggling to access health care for the tox toxic exposures they experienced in their service to our country I will always be grateful to you for helping us get it done The Pact Act was never meant to be a oneandone there is still so much more work to be done because our pact with our nation's veterans is not only about toxic exposure it is also about our promise to ensure that veterans
▶ 0:20:43have 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 in military traumatic brain injury finally achieve guard and Reserve parity ensure that VA is welcoming to all and I mean all veterans who have earned the right to be at a VA facility ensure that va's infrastructure can
▶ 0:21:13support its Mission and so much more now instead of focusing on these critical issues facing veterans we being distracted by unnecessary chaos I have grave concerns about how president Trump's executive orders are being carried out across the federal government most most especially at the Department of Veterans Affairs and the impacts that these orders are already having on Veterans under the Trump Administration more than 2400 VA employees have been illegally fired and many more have opted to leave
▶ 0:21:43rather than put up with the chaos and uncertainty that has been inflicted upon them the worst part is they're not done yet we expect the administration to continue its efforts to further dismantle the federal Workforce I question how purging the workforce firing the Watchdogs making hostile making VA hostile to women and minority veterans is helping VA serve veterans better now I've sent a numerous I've sent numerous letters uh
▶ 0:22:13to VA seeking information on the Department's implementation of President Trump's disastrous executive orders and have had zero zero meaningful responses from secretary Collins and this is extremely troubling I was grateful to receive VFW statement supporting federal employees especially the veterans who have been unlawfully terminated by this Administration VFW continues to be a leader when it comes to standing up for veterans uh and what they need so
▶ 0:22:44I am hardened to see that the courts appear to be paying attention last week a judge in my home state called these firings illegal while it's unclear how this ruling will impact the thousands of federal employees who have already lost their jobs I am hopeful the courts will continue to stand in the Constitutional role of providing relief for all the damage that the Administration has done and yes damage has already been done cuts at the Cleveland VA
▶ 0:23:14Medical Center have made it harder for veterans to access mental health care and Prosthetics among other services restricting access to these crucial Mental Health Services while we are fighting the crisis of Veteran suicide is the height of tone deafness arguments that veterans are taxpayers too are tan amount to asking veterans to sign up to die for their again this is unacceptable I've been accused of putting bureaucracy over veterans but I dispute that what
▶ 0:23:44about the veterans who lost their jobs to the Trump administration's indiscriminate firings of federal employees what about black veterans who were unable to access VA home loans due to redlining what about women veterans whose services 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 lgbtq plus veterans whose health is in Jeopardy because of the administration's denial of their very existence ensuring
▶ 0:24:14the institution is there to serve veterans is putting veterans first it is our job to ensure access to worldclass health care and benefits to all all veterans who have earned the right and I take that responsibility very seriously it is my hope that I can count on vso community to help us hold VA accountable to All Veterans and that you will also hold Congress accountable by making sure that we walk the talk
▶ 0:24:45that we are carrying out our constitutional oversight responsibilities by asking tough questions demanding answers and taking legislative action when it is needed we cannot waver in this because we know that veterans their survivors and caregivers are depending on us thank you Mr chairman and I yield back thank you ranking member Tano uh I'm going to in a moment um recognize the senator from Georgia Senator ooff I was going to indicate while the committee
▶ 0:25:15members are here when we were in the house we were C we called on uh members to ask questions based upon their senority in the Senate I don't know whether it's more egalitarian than the house but we call on people uh in order of their arrival time so if you came here and started here and you were early you get rewarded for good behavior maybe it's just the Senate needs some kind of incentive for good behavior in that regard let me recognize our colleague from Georgia uh oof
▶ 0:25:45well thank you chairman Moran and Bost ranking members Blumenthal and Tano for the privilege of addressing the Joint Committee today and the privilege of introducing to you a great J an American hero a friend of mine and someone I deeply admire Al lipart who is commander-in-chief of the Veterans of Foreign Wars born and raised in Hamilton Ohio Al moved to Georgia shortly
▶ 0:26:16after enlisting as an infantryman in the United States Army in 1965 and while training in in Georgia he attended officer candidate school and was commissioned as an infantry officer during his time on active duty Al earned his VFW eligibility through two combat tours during the Vietnam war from 1967 1968 and from 1970 to 1971 and through his distinguished service he received a combat
▶ 0:26:46infantryman's badge bronze star with a V device the Purple Heart and numerous other Awards concluding his service at Fort mcferson Georgia in 1979 with the rank of Captain after his military service Al devoted himself to a life of servant leadership in charitable and fraternal organizations he also received his Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Pacific Western University in 1990 in 2002 Al joined
▶ 0:27:16the VFW at post 122 in North fton Georgia as a charter member and maintains his gold Legacy life membership in VFW Post 2667 n in Georgia that's kawi County right out yes sir along with his family members who are also VFW Department of Georgia auxiliar Post 2667 life members Al has served and elected and appointed positions at all levels of leadership through the organization
▶ 0:27:46earning the coveted Triple Crown award achieving All-American Commander status at his post district and Department levels and at a moment that brought great honor to the state of Georgia out on August 1st 2024 you were elected as 116th National commanderin-chief of the VFW we are so proud of you and so grateful for your service throughout your life and he has been on the road taking the pulse of veterans Across the Nation service members military families alike
▶ 0:28:17traveling across the country visiting with veterans and their families in nearly all 50 states and visiting veterans and our men and women in uniform living and serving overseas in Europe and in the Indo Pacific he lives by the words believe in what you do and do what you believe in Al is a great American uh and it's a privilege for the Senate and the house to have him testifying today and I would be remiss chairman and ranking members if I didn't conclude uh by noting and honoring
▶ 0:28:47the tremendous record of bipartisanship bipartisan commitment to Veterans uh that has been a Hallmark of the Veterans Affairs committees in both Cham members of Congress and I know I speak for veterans in Georgia and people of all political Persuasions today who are deeply alarmed by the unnecessary chaos that has been brought to the VA in Georgia and across the country in the last few
▶ 0:29:17weeks and I humbly urge you to sustain that bipartisanship that's been a Hallmark of your work and conduct the rigorous apolitical oversight uh that you're oblig to do beginning today with hearing from these distinguished American Heroes again a pleasure to introduce my friend Al to the committee and chairman and ranking members thank you so much for the honor of being here today Senator a oof thank you for your introduction of this great American and uh and hero veteran I hold in highest regard
▶ 0:29:47our veterans and maybe slightly higher than that veterans who serve other veterans and clearly the description you gave of Al lipart demonstrates he's that so so may I now recognize the 116th National commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Al lipart for his testimony Commander thank you chairman Moran and Bost
▶ 0:30:18ranking members Blumenthal and Tano members of the Veterans Affairs committee it is my honor to testify today on behalf of more than 1.4 million members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and its auxiliary America's largest War veterans organization while the benefits we afford our all volunteer Force may seem generous to those who've never served these benefits are simply the warranty of the service contract each of us signed before we put on
▶ 0:30:48the uniform in addition to the service members obligations each contract explicitly entitles service members to certain benefits as a result of honorable service this is why the VFW calls on our nation to honor the contract the basic enlistment contract reads my enlistment agreement is more than an employment agreement it affects a change in status from civilian to military
▶ 0:31:18member of the Armed Forces and one line that stands out on contract as a member of the Armed Forces of the United States I will be entitled to receive pay allowances and other benefits as provided by law and regulation this is not charity this is a contract everyone who served honorably like every member
▶ 0:31:48of the Veterans of Foreign Wars met our end of this agreement we demand our leaders do the same by contract you must ensure the VA has the resources and staff to provide veterans their full earned benefits this is not an Ask honor the
▶ 0:32:24contract the historic passage of the PCT act in 2022 provided health care and benefits to a tremendous number of veterans and survivors some of whom had waited years for Relief the VFW is grateful to these committees for Drafting and passing this critical legislation the PCT Act is not the end of the journey for toxic exposed
▶ 0:32:55veterans and their survivors this leg legislation was enacted to address health conditions related to burn pits and agent orange exposure just as important the PCT act included a framework for va's evaluation of toxic exposures not included in the legislation veterans frequently tell the VFW about their health conditions resulting from exposure the military is inherently hazardous
▶ 0:33:25profession and we must take care of our K2 veterans those who served at Fort mlen veterans exposed to radiation forever chemicals and others the VFW urges Congress to conduct oversight of va's PR presumptive process because veterans cannot keep waiting
▶ 0:33:58the transition from military to civilian life is a critical moment that requires active participation by both the Department of Defense and VA veterans can face difficult transitions including housing in security under employment and health concerns we know that the first year from separation has the highest rate for suicide VA currently includes accredited claims representatives in its portion of tap classes
▶ 0:34:29and the VFW leads the way in providing critical assistance on major installations across the country the VFW urges Congress to pass legislation like the tap promotion act to codify this practice ensuring that service members receive their benefits at the earliest possible moment furthermore the
▶ 0:34:59VFW believes that military commanders must prioritize transition Services the VFW urges Congress to establish an under secretary of defense for transition this position is essential for Effective management and accountability improving transition has the potential to enhance Recruitment and Retention lowers risk for suicide and sets veterans on a path to
▶ 0:35:35success many veterans live with PTSD VA most often provides anti-depressants and other medications combined with therapy veterans are concerned the VA may be overprescribing these medications while these treatments are are successful for some individuals many veterans report experiencing only temporary relief adverse side effects and difficulties when going off medications not all
▶ 0:36:06treatments work for all veterans which is why the VFW is working with Grunt Style urging Congress and VA to research and provide alternative non-conventional solutions for veterans and break the cycle of over treatments that have shown potential include hbot
▶ 0:36:36medical cannabis MDMA and other PL plant-based uh alternative therapies um the VFW believes there are additional ways to effectively treat PTSD VA should receive funding to research and deliver those treatments today now on
▶ 0:37:06to our favorite subject sharks the BFW continues its fight against unaccredited predatory claims Consultants that we call claim sharks charging Veterans for initial claims assistance is prohibited by law claim sharks often CH charge veterans the equivalent of 5 to 10 months of their future
▶ 0:37:36disability payments this could put them in debt simply for trying to access their earned benefits some claim sharks obtain fraudulent medical opinions from their providers access veterans login credentials for VA websites and call centers which are egreg practices anyone who assists veterans with the preparation of va8 claims should adhere to federal
▶ 0:38:12law the VFW understands that some veterans are willing to pay for claims help but these companies cannot be allowed to line their pockets with taxpayer dollars at the expense of disabled veter an the VFW would support Common Sense legislation to require that everyone who charges Veterans for claims is accredited veterans should never go into debt to access their
▶ 0:38:43earned benefits the service of National Guard and Reserve members is still overlooked despite a stark increase in deployments since in September the 11th 2001 though they have served alongside active duty service members both domestic and abroad they do not earn their VA education benefits at the same rate this inequity has been Amplified in recent years during the
▶ 0:39:13frequent activations due to natural disasters the covid-19 pandemic and border security missions the VFW urges Congress to pass the guard and Reserve GI Bill parody Act of 202 5 to allow any day in uniform for which military pay is received to count towards post 911 GI Bill eligibility this is a joint legislative priority for both the VFW and the student Veterans of
▶ 0:39:43America the current VFW SVA legislative fellows have advocated on their college campuses around the country to bring awareness to this issue the time has long passed for parity this inequity must and now for more than two decades Congress has failed to address the long-standing Injustice of withholding military retirement pay from disabled veterans
▶ 0:40:13retirement pay and disability compensation are separate benefits earned for different reasons Congress continues to wrongly treat their concurrent receipt as double dipping the VFW has advocated for the major Richard star act and other legislation to provide full concurrent receipt to all deserving veterans Congress passed the Social Security Fairness Act in the last session ending a similar unjust offset for Social Security recipients it's time to correct this Injustice
▶ 0:40:44for our military retirees the VFW calls on Congress to fix this now lastly I'd like to end with a solemn reminder of what it's at stake when we go to war I'd like to recognize five members of my unit with whom I served in Vietnam private Lewis Sloan of East Point Georgia Corporal Kenneth Adams of Santa
▶ 0:41:14Barbara California Corporal Philip Adams of croen Falls New York private first class Robert wadell of bavia Ohio and Corporal Rodney lman of Newar New Jersey I would ask these men to stand and be recognized but they can't their names are on the Vietnam Wall along with all those who gave the last full measure of Devotion to this acknowledged by the contract that
▶ 0:41:44we signed they died on November the 23rd 1967 Thanksgiving Day their names and the recognition of their Supreme sacrifice must never be forgotten our nation must never forget our war Fighters This Is Why We persistently call for the full funding of DPA Mission proper recognition of expeditionary American forces deterring our
▶ 0:42:14enemies abroad and proper support to overseas veterans who augment their these critical missions chairman morand and boss ranking members Blumenthal and Tano members of the Committees thank you for the opportunity to discuss these important issues my team and I are ready to answer any questions that you may have thank you
▶ 0:43:14National Commander thank you for your U your thoughtful and solid testimony your compelling testimony we're now going to have that opportunity for us to ask you and your team questions we are going to begin a round of three minute questions um and uh I'll begin Those Questions by highlighting a couple of things that you said uh the first question I was going to ask you about and am going to ask you about you highlighted first and that's the PCT act you act you highlighted that it was not
▶ 0:43:44a oneandone deal and that there was more to come and that there are veterans that are not yet receiving the benefits that some now are eligible for because the packed act re requires further action by the Department of Veterans Affairs we established a framework to make decisions regarding new presumptions of service Connection in an attempt to make it easier for toxic exposed veterans to file for and receive disability compensation and access to VA
▶ 0:44:15Healthcare what are you hearing from VA and from veterans about this new presumptive decision process what are you hearing uh about concerns from veterans who conditions are not covered by presumption service connection or whose location or years of service are not included in the existing presumption would you please share that with me and the committee than you very and second you very much sir and I certainly uh
▶ 0:44:46we all but I'd really I'd like for our uh to for Mike figoli from our national veteran service to more fully answer that on in detail Mr Figi thank you commander-in Chief uh thank you again for the passage of of The Pact act we have said before it's it's a framework that needs to be looked at needs to be updated that needs to be kept up with we are aware that some veterans are not covered by those Provisions uh we have attempted to engage VA we had not really had many meaningful engagements about uh
▶ 0:45:16upcoming disabilities or presumptives that might be involved we haven't been able to discuss with them the conditions uh that are being reported to us uh there hasn't been much discussion about uh what conditions they plan to review related to uh any other exposure uh we've seen Federal Register notices that have uh been published without stakeholder input and there's been a severe lack of transparency from VA which has been required by the pack act so we are aware of other maladies diseases we keep hearing about these things that VA needs to
▶ 0:45:46consider but they have been less than forthright than coming to the table thank you for uh your testimony it's something that we clearly in cooperation with you need to follow up to make sure the VA follows the law uh let me ask next about the guard and Reserve GI Bill parody act also which you highlighted National Commander I appreciate strong support of the VFW uh can you please go into
▶ 0:46:16uh any greater detail on why this bill is needed what gaps in education benefits National Guards and Reserve components are currently experiencing and how it uh pardon me impacts Recruitment and Retention thank you very much again sir well I I could answer that question for you I'd rather turn it over to miss uh Miss Keenan uh who's our
▶ 0:46:46national legislative director for more detail Miss Keenan thank you Chief um I served in the National Guard myself and even though I deployed twice I only earned 60% of my post 911 GI Bill benefits and we know that Garden Reserve members are deploying more overseas but also domestically to support um natural disasters border security and other missions um and currently um a lot of that service does not count
▶ 0:47:17toward GI eligibility uh so we just want parody that every day in uniform where a service member is receiving pay counts toward their eligibility for post 911 education benefits thank you thank you thank you for your answer uh I now recognize chairman Bost thank you chairman um Commander last year matter of fact just before Congress was leaving town uh VA
▶ 0:47:47reported a massive budget shortfall that claimed that would impact the delivery of benefits for our veterans scared our veterans okay around the now we know though that that was not the case so moving forward do you think it's necessary for fa to receive annual Audits and report to Congress to prevent another claiming of a shortfall scaring people uh do we do you think we need to do that thank you very much
▶ 0:48:17sir and and the answer to that question in one word is yes but to answer it a little more fully and then I'm going to ask Mr Murray to follow up uh we need to ensure that the VA is fully funded and fully staffed that needs to be taken care of first so chairman Bost we we're very appreciative of Congress stepping in uh to take care of that emergency funding when needed however it turns out it might not have
▶ 0:48:47been uh we we fully support transparency from VA and making sure that our taxpayer dollars are being accounted for properly thank you uh Commander for veterans suffering from substance uh use disorder admitting they need help and showing up uh is the the foundational U moment in the road to recovery do you think the VA currently commu uh Community Care process enables VA to get them into
▶ 0:49:17the immediate treatment that they need thank you very much sir uh I'm gonna ask Pat to give you more detail and then I'll I'd like to follow it up so it simply no uh the the access act uh and the Elizabeth Dole Home Care Act had a provision to to help try to address that we want to make sure that there's someone there to take care of that and not send them away or make them wait months Drive far too long all those things will hopefully save
▶ 0:49:48veterans lives so then I'll follow up with that because the passage of HR 740 the veterans access Act of 2025 would eliminate that red tape do you agree that we hope so thank you Commander ba must uh be held accountable for care and benefits that your veterans that our veterans receive we would also like to see the Committee conduct more oversight of the department to drive uh improved services to our veterans would you like to see
▶ 0:50:18that in a word sir absolutely thank you we want to thank you for being here today and I will yield back um I will I will yield back and I will yield to uh Senator Blumenthal thank thank you uh Mr chairman uh I want to say very enthusiastically I support the goals of the Guard act I've been working and fighting for it
▶ 0:50:48likewise the parody legislation that is so important to our reserve and National Guard they should be treated equally there's no question that it's a matter of fairness uh Chief lipart you referred to that contract that we made when anyone in this room went into the service they raised their right hand and they swore allegiance to the Constitution
▶ 0:51:19and laws of the United States that contract is legally binding on the United States of America on this Congress and we owe it to our veterans to keep our promises and follow the law and that is why I am
▶ 0:51:49so angry and disappointed that the VA is firing workers who are integral to implementing the pack act and terminating contracts that are essential to provide those benefits under the pack act would you agree with me that those workers and contracts should be reinstated so that the pack
▶ 0:52:19Act is made fully available on a timely basis to every veteran deserving of care and benefits because of their toxic exposure thank you very much Senator and and uh we certainly agree that the contract must be honored we deployed when ordered we served when I was wounded in
▶ 0:52:50Vietnam uh I was wounded in the neck and and the and the arm left arm was was but instead of just taking my arm off the Medics took the time to just pick out the pieces that's the way that we need to be addressing uh these uh issues it needs to be with a scalp Po and and not just a saw we must take time to look
▶ 0:53:21at what's what's happening who it's happening to uh so yes I do I I think that is a very very powerful statement of the way waste should be eliminated in the VA not with a meax but with a surgeon's scalpel cautiously and carefully and right now my fear is that veterans are regarded as trash on the road
▶ 0:53:51to some waste removal indiscriminate ly and Draconian actions that in fact involve taking off the va's arm in the name of eliminating waste and abuse in fact creating bigger costs as a result I have two sons whove served one in the Marine Corps in Afghanistan the other is a Navy SEAL and I worry about the VA being there for them for our
▶ 0:54:21young people for our future generation I know the VFW is seeking to attract more younger veterans and I think your powerful advocacy is going to be a beacon for them I thank you for being here well thank you sir and and veterans are not numbers we're people we're people that put ourselves out there to take this to
▶ 0:54:52secure this nation and uh we deserve to to have uh the VA fully funded fully staffed so we can receive the best care available period so thank you again Senator thank you R member Tano you're recognized for three minutes thank you Mr chairman Commander Le part as I can mentioned in my opening
▶ 0:55:22I applaud vfw's statement calling for an end to the industry discriminate firing of federal employees especially veterans who make up roughly a third of the federal Workforce I'm worried that these halfhazard cuts and discriminate cuts are going to have on the immediate and long lasting impact on Veterans and uh you know you know it seems like it's uh fire first analyze after cancel contracts first analyze after I commit to working with you and
▶ 0:55:52other vsos willing to stand with us to undo these illegal and unconscionable firings so commander leart recently VA announced the termination of $2 billion worth of contracts and one of those contracts was the program office at VA tasked with the implementation of the PCT act how important is the PCT act and toxic exposures to the M Senator
▶ 0:56:22Tano military service is inherently dangerous I think could all agree on that one of the dangers is exposure to toxins I'd like to take this moment to ask our members in the audience to stand up if any of them have been exposed to toxins at any point during their military wow there's your answer
▶ 0:56:57as you saw our members uh as you saw from our members this issue is very important to us these are the men and women who place themselves between the weapons of our enemies and these Shores we need to be cared for thank wow all I can say is we owe you we owe you to honor the contract to honor The Pact thank you sir sad to see so
▶ 0:57:27many affected but this highlights the importance of the PCT Act and why we cannot allow the cost of War toxic exposure fund to be dismantled we owe it to these veterans to ensure that the funding to care for them will always be available Commander as I mentioned in my opening I applaud uh VA VFW statement calling for the end to the indiscriminate firing of vetal employees um I am worried um that these halfhazard Cuts while already did that um
▶ 0:57:58um you highlighted the the results of va's last survey on the VA Healthcare uh that show that veterans are still overwhelmingly preferring to get their care from VA when available I absolutely agree that there's a time and a place for community care and I'm concerned that continued growth in its utilization is having a catastrophic impact on va's Direct Care budget what can Congress do to protect va's direct provision of care where the key is is consistency of
▶ 0:58:28care and I'm going to ask um um Mr Murray to expound on that Mr Tano we support Community Care as VA care we believe it is a necessary supplement to to VA care we'd never want that to supplant vaare though what we want is consistency when veterans do need to access Community Care like our members from uh Center Hassen state New Hampshire are all automatically eligible for community care because they don't have those facilities so when veterans need to access
▶ 0:58:59it they expect consistency they expect to be told upfront what to expect that's what we want with our community care not necessarily more we want it to be better congresswoman radwagon you recognized for three minutes thank you commander lipart in vfw's testimony you mention inconsistencies in service members reporting to tap on time can you please expand on the barriers service
▶ 0:59:29members face when trying to go through the tap program thank you ma'am and I I'd like to ask Miss Keenan to expound thank you for the question um we've heard from veterans that say that they have they were not able to get to tap on time because of mission Readiness um so not not all service members have the ability to choose when they have their free time because of because of the mission um so we want to be able to ensure that commanders
▶ 0:59:59at DOD take transition seriously that there's some accountability and that they can get all of their service members who are leaving and 80% of the of of the force leaves before retirement make sure they get to those transition uh courses and that they get there on time Commander lipart how can this committee best support veterans to ensure they have the opportunities and resources to Main main
▶ 1:00:32employment thank you m'am for the question uh we need to codify that contract thank you Mr chairman I yield back the balance of my time Senator Hassen you're recognized for three minutes for your question well thank you so much Mr chairman and I want to thank you and chairman Moran and our ranking members for this hearing I want to acknowledge and thank all the veterans who are here today especially esally those from the granite state um my dad was a World War II veteran who survived the Bulge
▶ 1:01:02uh so uh I try to make sure that I honor his memory as best as I can uh in my work here and Commander lipart thank you for testifying here today and for your military service I'll add my thanks to those of Senator Blumenthal for your advocacy for veterans especially those who are federal employees the recent Mass layoffs within the federal government have a direct impact on both the veterans who have lost their jobs as well as on the service that they provide to our citizens
▶ 1:01:32including to our other veterans um and to your point about honoring contracts um we talk about honoring veterans the best and the best way we can do that is with actions and not words which means keeping our commitment just as you all kept our commit your commitment to our country the country needs to keep its commitment to all of you and I'm committed to doing um and I'll
▶ 1:02:03add my my dad would have said um that when uh a country begins ignoring contracts or laws it begins to lose its freedom and so I thank you all for fighting for freedom and we all have to be together in this pursuit of maintaining it um Commander I had two questions for you um as has been discussed your written testimony discusses the vfw's most recent Health survey which showed that veterans prefer using VA medical facilities
▶ 1:02:33but they have concerns about appointment availability and travel distance to VA facilities I've been working with Senator Boseman on a bipartisan bill to help address this very issue and I want to thank the VFW for their support of this bill under the va's current process it can be difficult for veterans to coordinate all of their appointments for the same day something that's especially important for Rural veterans who may have have to travel long distances to receive their care so this bill that Senator bosan and I have would ensure that veterans can
▶ 1:03:03view available VA appointments and fully schedule them in one easy step either by going online or placing one call can you please discuss the importance of making sure veterans have easy reliable access to VA provided Care thank you for the question ma'am and I'm gon to ask Pat Murray thank you Murray ma'am in an Ideal World veterans uh can access carrot VA facility all in one shot right be able to go to your primary care
▶ 1:03:33be able to stop by you know an Orthopedics appointment then be able to swing by the pharmacy on the way out that's in an ideal ideal world that is tough to do to try to schedule all that in one our our ask though is in developing this scheduling tool to the best extent possible to buy it instead of trying to develop their own because va's it it development is not good I hear you and I thank you and uh Mr chair with just one other quick point I want to highlight the work that the defense P Mia accounting agency
▶ 1:04:03does um for those who don't know this agency Works to repatriate and identify American Service members who've gone missing solemn work to show that Americans never leave a fallen comrade behind the agency has accounted for almost 3,500 missing Americans since 1973 and I will submit a question for the record but as the um Administration is looking at cutting the pentagon's budget I am concerned that the mission of the defense P Mia accounting agency
▶ 1:04:34could be undermined or hampered and I hope we can all come together to prevent that from happening thank you thank you man Congressman hammonday you're recognized for three minutes thank you Mr chairman first off thank you to our distinguished guests from the Veterans of Foreign Affairs Foreign Wars as a fellow veteran I deeply appreciate your organization's vital work and ensuring we fulfill our promises to those who have sacrificed so much for our country today
▶ 1:05:04I've been particularly interested in discussing how we can improve access to Quality healthc Care for veterans especially those in suburban and rural areas within Arizona we must ensure that all veterans regardless of where they live have timely access to the care and benefits they've earned I appreciate your insights on these critical issues and how Congress can better support the VFW mission to serve veterans now Commander the VFW has been a strong advocate for concurrent receipt can
▶ 1:05:34you elaborate on how the concurrent the current offset between military retired pay and VA disability compensation impacts veterans thank you very much sir for the question and uh uh it's not a a compatible thing that the it seems like that we are combining the retirement pay with compensation retirement pay is for
▶ 1:06:06compensation is for those service connected dis disabilities that we've incurred as a result of our service they are two separate distinct things and the time is is now to stop it needs to be separated I agree and uh what specific legislation do you ask Congress to support regarding it
▶ 1:06:37I'm going to ask Mr Murray for the specifics will you start by passing the rich star act there are other uh there are other parts of concurrent receipt that need to be addressed as well including uh those who have uh lower than a 50% disability rating those who received uh separation pay from their services those are all being offset by current VA disability compensation plans we want to eliminate all those but major
▶ 1:07:07Richard star act would be a good start 75% of Congress co-sponsored that last year and it never saw a single vote we need to stop that put it on the floor pass it get it to the president's desk very good and Commander I know you alluded to earlier the PCT act but what feedback has the VFW gotten from veterans about their experiences accessing the newly expanded benefits in healthcare
▶ 1:07:38uh our national veterans Service uh director Mike figoli uh sir if you'd please respond to that thank you commander-in Chief uh thank you for the question uh you know like ba there continues to be challenges with with weight times access scheduling traveling to and from from facilities uh generally are comfortable with the pack act but those challenges still remain we still got to invest in it systems that allow people
▶ 1:08:08access to handle their own case management allow them to get into the facilities quicker and make sure that everything is fully staffed and fully funded thank you Mr chairman i y back Congressman papus you have three minutes for questions well thank you very much Commander thank you for your testimony I want to welcome all the veterans who are here today this is an impressive show of force not just for VFW but for veterans all across our country and I want to give a special shout out to any veterans from the Live Free or Die State of New Hampshire who
▶ 1:08:38are joining us here I was really glad Commander oh there we got a couple back there all right Commander I was really glad that you mentioned the guard VA benefits act which as we know would reinstate criminal penalties for these claim sharks who are charging unauthorized fees for assisting veterans with their their claims I have to say we have uh educated our colleagues on this issue you have uh we have gained a significant number of co-sponsors on a bipartisan basis for this bill this is going to be the Congress where we get this across
▶ 1:09:08the Finish Line we've got the claim sharks on the Run let's finish job thank you for your help in that regard and your leadership it's so important I wanted to ask about another issue you mentioned about breaking the cycle of over medication and mentioned a number of alternative therapies that I think are groundbreaking for veterans to improve quality of life and outcomes um one thing that I hear from veterans is about the
▶ 1:09:38benefit of alternative therapies like acupuncture and massage therapy that can be really game-changing in terms of alleviating physical pain but we know that therapy providers face obstacles due to VA reimbursement policies that sometimes limit their ability to care for veterans so I'm wondering if you could discuss um the uh need to be able to focus on alternative therapies like massage therapy and the difference that that can make for veterans thank you sir I
▶ 1:10:08I'm going to ask uh our national legislative director were were were chair uh we're very lucky to have him on the panel today uh he is uh very very knowledgeable in this area to include his his work with Grunt Style so I'd like to ask uh Mr Fuller please uh take that thank you commander Chief and Congressman thank you for the question and you mentioned three great Alternatives and and many veterans suffer from post-traumatic
▶ 1:10:38stress disorder and physical injuries if PTSD is not treated the effects can be detrimental many ways including risk of homelessness substance abuse relationship problems Financial instability difficulty difficulties in transitioning back to civilian life or even the worst case suicide veterans show a willingness to confront mental health challenges with the alternative treatments that you mentioned and we're also advocating uh for more access to other alternative modalities so we can address our own mental unique mental and physical
▶ 1:11:09health challenges these include psychedelic such as MDMA silus and ibigan ketamine infusion and cannabis which includes medical marijuana and hemp derived consumables which were made legal by the 2018 uh Federal Farm Bill our ask here is simple we ask the VA to give veterans every option in the toolbox move Beyond merely studying the effectiveness of these tools and if they work and we're confident that they do start executing the
▶ 1:11:39implementation of these options the pharmaceutical cocktail is the loan as the lone default option causes harm for many of us in this room and those that watching this must end our lives are at you thank you very much for those comments and Commander you said it not all treatments work for all veterans and we've got to be working together uh on an
▶ 1:12:09evidence-based uh approach to make sure we're opening doors of opportunity for veterans to get the care that works for them I yield back my time thank you sir Senator tuberville you are now recognized for three minutes for your questions oh thank you very much uh and thanks to all the veterans here for your service especially those traveling from Alabama we got anybody from Alabama here
▶ 1:12:39we got to get louder than that come on also the uh all the veteran service organizations thanks for what you do uh a lot of times your work goes unnoticed you our VA operates the largest Health Care system in the United States is one of the largest systems in the world and as a member of these committees we must ensure our veterans are receiving the best around the world now we have got to get rid of the fraud we got to get rid of the waste I know president Trump's
▶ 1:13:09taken a hit from a lot of people but folks we're not going to have a country if we don't get this mess all straightened out we are in trouble our veterans are going to be in trouble if we don't get this straightened out we've got to get it going in the right direction uh Commander you mentioned in your testimony dis dissatisfaction among veterans with the community care referral process I too am very dissatisfied I get more calls on that than anybody we're 60% rural
▶ 1:13:40in the state of Alabama and we have almost 500,000 veterans uh the red tape is disastrous veterans must cut through this red tape and we need to be provided Community Care would you say your members receive mental health care more frequently through the VA directly or the Community Care n network Mr Commander for a a a more complete answer sir I'm gonna ask Pat okay Mr Murray
▶ 1:14:10yeah and that one Senator we'll we'll take for the record and get back to uh we actually don't know the the breakdown of the mental health uh care they receive in the community verse at VA but we would be more than happy to learn more about that I believe there's a bill uh coming up the Senate Veteran Affairs committee next week that looks to maybe address that well Mr Murray let me ask you this if when if a if a veteran gets denied Community Care what is your uh advice to these veterans if they get denied Community Care and are told hey you got to drive three
▶ 1:14:40hours to a VA what what is your advice to them my advice would be to uh urge that if they are eligible for Community Care based on drive time or wait time access to press that issue because that is what the mission act uh put in place that is the law we want VA to adhere to the law when applicable Community Care is incredibly helpful so if a veteran will receive better care through the community If instead of driving three hours for example then yes we want that to be the case yeah there there's no
▶ 1:15:11doubt in a lot of States Community Care is going to have to be a necessity because veterans can't drive for hours and hours um uh Commander uh lipart in your testimony you mentioned the importance of veterans having accessible treatments I've got a bill on the floor uh hyperbaric chambers where veterans can use a hyperbaric chamber I am being fought at every turn what is your thought on that thank you very much Senator I'm going to send it back to M Fuller thank
▶ 1:15:41you Senator as you may have heard me say earlier we we advocate for all Alternatives like the hyperbaric oxygen chamber and which is proven to be effective treatment for traumatic brain injury PTSD and tissue reach regeneration which can prevent amputations uh it is proven very effective and I would I would bet you have a good understanding of TBI and CTE as a former football coach exactly so it it it it is effective and it's something that we will advocate for it helps football players it helps anybody with concussion
▶ 1:16:11sir and it Dam sure would help veterans and we need to get that done yes sir thank you very much yes sir and I and I'll I I just would like to add one thing to that and it's kind of a a general uh for all our conversations this morning uh I I don't think there's any group of people that appreciates effort more than a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars actually all veterans appreciate
▶ 1:16:42effort but you know it is achievement that we can celebrate until it's done it ain't done and we have got to get it done representative Morrison you are now recognized for 3 minutes for your questions thank you madam chair thank you commander lipart and all the witnesses for being here to testify today I just want to start by saying as the daughter-in-law of a disabled Vietnam veteran
▶ 1:17:13and the wife of an army combat veteran I want to offer my profound gratitude to every veteran in this room last week I received uh the devastating news that the va's mass firings hit the Minneapolis ba which serves veterans in my district my team and I have heard some truly gut-wrenching stories about employees who are terminated combat veterans disabled veterans people who put their lives on their on the line to defend our country people who may not have served but we're honored to work for those who
▶ 1:17:43did all of them terminated without cause through no fault of their own in my view there are two big problems here first the impact on va's ability to deliver care and benefits to our veterans the Minneapolis VA is already dealing with Staffing shortages the last thing we should be doing is firing people for no good reason and as a doctor let me tell you the whole team plays a role in optimizing the delivery of care from the provider to the facilities workers to the person who greets the veteran
▶ 1:18:13at the door my second point is one that I think we need to be talking about more veterans make up a tiny percentage of the population but 30% of our federal Workforce are veterans so if you slash a thousand federal jobs odds are you're putting about 300 veterans out of work and at the VA we're talking about firing veterans who made the conscious decision to serve their fellow veterans after serving their country so regardless of whether or not you agree with the wave of terminations we're seeing across
▶ 1:18:43the federal government I think it's clear that these actions will disproportionately harm veterans which is incredibly troubling to me so commander libart my first question for you is simple do you think firing thousands of va employees will be helpful or harmful for your members with all due respect ma'am it it's gon to it's going to kill
▶ 1:19:14us of course it's going to it's going to us to me there's nothing more sacred than taking care of those who who have served this nation who who who stopped their own lives to give service to this nation and uh it's got to be fixed it's got to be fixed we we while we have 1.4 million members those are our members that's not who we represent we represent 18
▶ 1:19:45million 18 million veterans all veterans all veterans need to be respected need to be treated with respect they've been honorably discharged thank you ma'am you sir if you'd allow me one more brief question I can say confidently that preventing veteran suicide is a top priority of every member here today House and Senate Democrat and Republican we know that access to Mental Health Care is essential
▶ 1:20:15but can you share a little bit more about how transition assistance and housing access can also have a role to play in eliminating suicide thank you man' I'm going to ask Pat CU he's got Mr Murray because he's got some examples of what what's happening thank you thank you Commander ma'am we know that there's more to combating veteran suicide than simply Mental Health appointments we've heard too often that at VA is their number one clinical priority needs to be their number one priority period we are very focused
▶ 1:20:45on also the benefits that can uh that can help alleviate that including housing things like a roof over your head food on your table being gainfully employed money in your wallet can be preventers to help veterans from starting to to take that negative slide and ultimately make a fatal final decision so housing is one of the key components that we see as keeping veterans not just from uh you know Dying by Suicide but helping launch them forward for success that's really what we want to focus on making veterans the best American that they can be
▶ 1:21:16thank you very much and shout out to any Minnesota vets out there chair now recognizes Senator Sullivan thank you Mr chairman and uh commanders veterans uh great to see you this last year I retired after 30 years on active duty and in the reserves in the United States Marine Corps so uh I knew that would get a y a shout out um so I'm I'm now
▶ 1:21:46joining another esteemed group of Americans and alaskans I'm officially a United States veteran I that I'm a proud member of VFW Post 9785 and Eagle River Alaska now I know my fellow alaskans we travel far for these meetings I I know we have some here I hopefully in the audience any any alaskans by the way Alaska has more veterans per capita in the state in the country do
▶ 1:22:16I have some of my fellow Alaska veterans in the audience how about a round of applause for them traveling the furthest way maybe with the exception of Hawaii um Senator Sullivan with all due respect you have three minutes time I'm just very happy to see everybody um let me Begin by an issue that I know the VFW the American Legion have all really uh supported and I I just want to thank you but I want you to keep an eye on it
▶ 1:22:46this is the camp leun act that pass you're seeing ads on TV Relentless ads they're not helpful ads cuz that we pass that act to help sick Marines and their families from camp leun and the TV ads are all these law firms that are charging 60 to 70% contingency fees to take the money from the Marine sick Marine families and put it in their pockets that's one of the most disgusting things I've seen in my 10 years in the US Senate
▶ 1:23:17Commander can I just get your commitment working with all the vsos the Department of Justice and others to not allow that to happen where these law firms were doing these ads billions of dollars of ads by the way not to help Marines but to take their money can I get your commitment to the the law firms will get paid a certain degree but not 60 and 70% contingency fees that's highway robbery Commander can I get your commitment on that stay with us absolutely the BFW is committed thank you all
▶ 1:23:48right thank you got to take care of sick Marines and their families not law firms that don't need money um one final question I have I know it matters to a number of my colleagues Senator King and I are actually working on legislation with Senator Kramer uh that we're going to be introducing soon called supporting rural veterans access to health care services in big States like ours that are very rural uh our veterans who live in rural communities have a
▶ 1:24:18harder time accessing their services but they have earned their benefits just like anyone who lives in a big city so can we work with the VFW once we introduce it to get your support on this bill that really tries to emphasize making sure every veteran whether you live in a big city or a small little community in rural Alaska or rural Maine gets the benefits that they've earned can I get your commitment to work with the VFW uh on this important bill absolutely sir we will
▶ 1:24:49certainly be uh be honored to work with you great thank you thank you very much Mr chman Senator Sullivan thank you and thank you for your service now representative Conaway I thank you thank you Mr chairman uh as a um veteran myself uh I want to haing from New Jersey I want to express um my gratitude for you Mr lipart for your testimony
▶ 1:25:19uh for your colleagues here who have offered valuable information to this committee uh to uh help our deliberations uh as members of Congress uh it is our responsibility to ensure that every veteran receives highquality Medical Care and Mental Health Services now we heard today uh you don't leave a comrade uh in the field and I fear that across um many administrations we've been doing exactly that and it's shameful it needs to end I would add uh we don't leave an ally in in the field either and sadly we are seeing that
▶ 1:25:50as well increased enrollment and VA care uh it's important that we prioritize equipping our medical facilities with tools and Technology of the 21st century uh so that veterans can get uh the care they richly uh deserve we've heard about councel contracts we've heard about Mass firings across um various facilities uh in our country uh and as a practical phys myself I cannot help um and worked in hospitals for uh uh much of my career
▶ 1:26:20uh I understand fully well how important it is that a team is there and ready and willing to take care of those who present themselves for care uh and we know uh that um many veterans particularly as they're leaving the service uh have um suffer from uh PS uh PTSD might have experienced military sexual trauma anxiety and stress and other um mental health and addictive disorders just to name a few
▶ 1:26:50um what uh is your thought about uh the shortfalls that we are seeing in health services for our veterans is um that do you agree with me that we are seeing sort Falls and and uh are there particular things that you'd like to see the VA do uh in respect uh to those deficiencies thank you very much sir and uh again for a a more detailed answer I'm kind of the big picture guy I'm not the detail guy
▶ 1:27:21so I'm going to ask Mr Murray always with one that's a good idea Mr Murray thank you Chief uh sir we've already heard uh for many years that VA has been struggling to to fill all of its vacancies there are tens of thousands of open positions that VA cannot fill what we've seen in the past few weeks is the indiscriminate firing of people not for for performance but simply because they're in a probationary status in order to get those services that that veterans
▶ 1:27:51have earned it needs to be a fully staffed and fully funded VA there are examples all across the country in fact we're joined here uh by uh Mike Slater who gave us this picture at the vet center in Springfield Massachusetts due to abrupt and unplanned staff shortages we are not able to greet you at this time if you have a scheduled appointment your counselor will be out to get you at the time of your appointment if you were here for any other reason please call and leave a message we apologize for this impact on your care that's reducing
▶ 1:28:21services for veterans vet centers are critical points of contact for VA if we want to improve Services we got to make sure that people are there to actually answer the phones and greet them at the door when they show up for that care and yet we've seen the the um indiscriminate cancellation of contract design to make sure that we're recruiting uh uh health care providers in into vaare and of course as we've heard
▶ 1:28:52and I think it needs pin needs to be put in this if you cancel contracts and nor statutes and nor constitutional uh mandates then you don't have your freedom and uh we've got to make sure that that stops uh thank you Mr chairman I appreciate it thank you veterans hono thank you Mr chairman I am glad to join my colleagues from both the House and Senate today and it's good to see all of the veterans out there I think every state is represented from what I heard
▶ 1:29:22in the time that uh I've been here but of course I want to acknowledge um I hope the presence of the people from Hawaii I hope you're still out there okay you deserve to get get a shout out you know each of us sits on a number of committees I sit on five but one thing about the veterans committee is that we each have a commitment to listen to and working with the veterans to be of assistance so I can't say that about every committee that I sit on
▶ 1:29:52but this is one committee where uh we are united in wanting to U be of service to all of you who have been of service to our country uh so we have through so much of the advocacy that you have presented to us uh made some major legislation most recently of course the PCT act but we have the Dole act we've had the Isaac sroe act we've had a number of very significant pieces of legislation that have uh served to to help
▶ 1:30:22veterans and that is so much because of your advocacy and your continuing pointing out to us that more needs to be done in terms of for example the area of PTSD care suicide uh women veterans women veterans yes finally acknowledging that women veterans should have H care that is very special specialized to them so thank you very much
▶ 1:30:52we are in the midst of thousands of people getting fired and as mentioned every U every group that gets fired because right now they happen to be in probation probationary status includes a lot of veterans and so it is not just the VA that fired most recently 1,400 people who are on probationary status but you have the dod Department of Defense you have the Department of Justice thousands of people are getting fired not because of
▶ 1:31:22Any indication of a fraud or waste but indiscriminate firing so there is chaos and fear all across the country at the moment this is not the way to run a government this is certainly no way to treat federal workers of whom many are veterans and at the same time that, 1400 people from VA were fired we get a notice that some 300,000 job openings need
▶ 1:31:52to be filled at the VA and in Hawaii just in the Hawaii in our system we have 5,000 vacancies now there are a lot of other departments that are have had to deal with a hiring freeze but because of the hear and cry and the need for the veterans that the hiring freeze was lifted for the VA but uh we're talking about hundreds of thousands of vacancies the word crazy
▶ 1:32:23comes to mind so as we continue to work with you I just want you all to know that as so many of us have been here to uh reinforce our commitment uh to work with you I will continue to to do so because obviously there uh is a lot more that needs to be done and I want to thank the chairs of both the House and Senate committees for this hearing and each one of you and Commander thank you so much for coming here with your team Aloha
▶ 1:32:53R thank you thank you and I recognize Senator King thank you Mr chair I I don't think it's been noted yet that this hearing happens to fall on a very appropriate day the only day of the year that's a military command March 4th and we should be we should be marching forth on the guard act on the Richard star act and on protecting our veterans that work for the United States government marching forth
▶ 1:33:25now uh I I want to go ahead Mr Commander I I was just going to say thank you for your invitation to come back yes sir anytime we remember 1930 anytime anytime um these Staffing Cuts now we've talked about 1,400 actually there have been 2400 firings at the at the VA but then there was the hiring freeze which left a couple of thousand places open so we're really down 5,000 people in the last month at the ba and here's how
▶ 1:33:55it's how random it is they first they were going to have the hiring frees apply to doctors and and nurses and men and then they said oh no those are direct care workers we're going to exempt them if nobody's there to answer the phone when a veteran calls for an appointment that's a denial of benefits yes sir and I think the point's been made about 30% of federal employees are veterans so when you see a headline that says a thousand people fired at the CIA or wherever
▶ 1:34:25it is those are that's 300 veterans in in our uh Hospital in togus in in in Maine we just had seven people laid off five were veterans that's a hell of a way to treat somebody who's put their life on the line for this country absolutely so the other piece that you ought to realize they'd say they're hiring people firing people who are on probation and probation meaning the go to work in the last year or two in the federal government if you're promoted you're on probation
▶ 1:34:55so you can have somebody that's worked for an agency for the VA for 10 years they get promoted they happen to be on probation and they're getting fired and I hate the picture of that guy with the chainsaw laughing about firing people from our government fact you you put it really well in your statement I love it you said I was wounded in combat during Vietnam I'm thankful that Medics who treated me chose not to take my whole arm for the sake of efficiency I
▶ 1:35:25had I took a trained eye a skillful hand and human intuition to fix me up and get me back in the fight here's the here's the quote in my experience those operating with a scalpel have a better chance of saving limbs than those who operate with a chainsaw thank you Mr Commander for making that statement another point is transition in my view we should be putting as much money time and effort into the transition out as as we do on the recruiting in
▶ 1:35:55yes sir that is a real disservice to Veterans absolutely and finally my wife says I say finally too much it gets people's hopes up but finally your voice your voice is more important right now than perhaps it's ever been we need to hear from the Veterans of America they need to speak up about what's going on and how we protect those who as I said when they signed up for their job
▶ 1:36:26put their lives on the line for this country so thanks to the VFW thanks for your advocacy keep at it we need you Senator you thank you very much and please know that the Veterans of Foreign Wars has changed the direction we are moving forward you are going to hear from us and you're going to see us a lot more so thank you
▶ 1:36:56Senator King thank you Senator Banks is recognized uh thank you Mr chairman and thank thank you to all of you for being here as the only hooer on the house or Senate Veterans Affairs committee um the the work that goes on in this committee is so important but we can't do our job without the help of all of you so on behalf of all the hooers in the room it's an honor to represent you and all of the fellow veterans who are here thank you for your important work um Commander I'm roll I'm rolling I'm new to the Senate I served
▶ 1:37:26in the house for eight years I served on the house uh committee for six of those eight years I'm rolling up my sleeves and I'm I'm getting to work on a lot of issues important to Veterans and all of you so re real quickly I'm preparing to reintroduce legislation that I worked on in the house to refund certain veterans their Montgomery GI Bill contributions who later became eligible for the post 911 GI bill is that something we can work on together uh in a word sir absolutely i' I'd like to call on uh Miss Keenan
▶ 1:37:57for some detail again legislation very good Miss Keenan yes thank you thank you for the question we're happy to work with your office um to look at that and that kind of money back for student veterans can be really beneficial at a critical time where they're going to need that funding so love the idea and happy to work with your office thank you very good secondly Commander I'm also working on legislation to make sure that veterans can always be buried with their spouses uh regardless of what kind of burial they choose is that something we can work on
▶ 1:38:27together as well again sir thank you very much and the answer is absolutely I look forward to that and I appreciate that very much uh Commander the VA has been cooperating with nonprofit mental health organizations and public private Partnerships to prevent veteran suicides since Congress passed the commander John Scott Hannon act that you all were such a big part of helping us get over the Finish Line and other legislation what results have we seen from those efforts and how can we expand them thank you very much sir
▶ 1:38:57and I'm going to ask Pat to to respond for the specifics thank you Chief uh Senator Banks we we know that uh some of those Community connections whether it's with mental health or whether it was with transition that's where you know the rubber meets the road that's what we want to see because they're the folks that are in the community that know these things VA can do a great job for a lot of these but they can't do it for everything we want to really focus put resources into some of those great uh organizations in the community that can really affect change uh the commander John Scott Hannan act uh provided
▶ 1:39:27that we want to make sure that that those connections those contracts and that funding stay in place for that critical Mission very good my my last question uh Mr Commander the the VA has been resistant to new approaches when it comes to Leasing and construction it takes the VA about five years to lease a clinic and 10 to 20 years to build a new hospital similar to The Innovation and mental health how do you think that the VA should be partnering with local governments and private Health Care Systems to develop
▶ 1:39:58new uh medical facilities again sir thank you very much and I'm gonna again ask Pat to respond thank you Commander Senator uh VA construction is behind if you look at the the $130 billion do worth of backlog there's a lot that needs to be done they need to to figure out more Dynamic ways to do that like the private sector does if you look at other major health systems like Kaiser they put 3% of their operating budget into their infrastructure VA is closer to 1% there are certain things you can do
▶ 1:40:28to move the process along so you're not bidding or sorry designing then bidding then building there's an integrated way you can do that it will hopefully shorten the length of the overall construction contracts but we need to make sure that VA also has proper Staffing at uh at central office for those uh the project management positions we often talk about doctors and nurses but there are people that oversee the building of va facilities they need some help there as well I agree I look forward to working on that with you and all those other issues thank
▶ 1:40:58you again for being here God bless I yield back c banks thank you gayos thank you and Senator Banks I would join you because I'm one of those veterans actually that uh got paid into the GI but never used the modern GI bill so you got to co-sponsor there uh thank you again for veterans of foreign war for being here uh there you go look at that things get done what problem Sol uh I'm glad my dues are going to some this I'm a member of of uh chapter 720 uh in Scottdale so thank you
▶ 1:41:28again for everything you do um I'm honestly I am concerned like the guys I serve with are relatively young you know we were in Iraq in 2005 uh they're in their early 40s many of them committed their lives to service they left the war and then came back and they they were working for different parts with this DOD VA and other parts of the government and they're scared they feel like they're being disrespected uh they have they passed up good lucrative careers in the private sector because they wanted to have a mission oriented uh job that would still in service to the
▶ 1:41:58country and now you know some of them are questioning about whether they're going to be able to pay the rent if something goes bad or the mortgage and the fact that veterans are being treated this way in such a disrespectful manner by you know the guy with the the chainsaw and you know a bunch of 20-year-old kids that probably have never served or even gotten close to a weapon in ever in their lives uh really scares the heck out of me so I really encourage obviously us to worry about our veter an that are being serviced in the VA but when 30% of the workforce is Veterans
▶ 1:42:28and we know at least from my experience coming back from the war the thing that was the most stabilizing for me coming back with PTSD was that I was able to get a job right away but the fact that 30% of our Workforce is potentially endanger getting fired you could really put these men and women uh into a very hard situation uh but more to the VA Commander leard what concerns do your members have about the way these cuts are being handled and what would you ask those making these types of Staffing and budget decisions to take into account before acting
▶ 1:42:59uh on VA Cuts or layoffs or even just like the reprogramming of contracts that are very important for veterans and Veteran Outreach and hotlines thank you very much sir I'm going to uh ask a member of the panel here who uh I I believe sh shared the same dirt that you did while while you were deployed and that's Mr Murray so thank thank you Chief Senator uh I believe we probably just crossed path where there are 06 uh
▶ 1:43:30the uh you have our commitment to to make sure that that these Cuts uh these firings are stopped we often care about unemployment if we don't care about veterans not having jobs then what are the Veterans of Foreign Wars doing here that's something that we have to make sure stays in place because while every position may not be deemed essential you know per government shut down rules they're very important positions as we highlighted just people who answer the phone we need to make sure that these veterans are
▶ 1:44:00gainfully employed and the ones who are high performers are not let go indiscriminately okay thank you thank you Senator Senator Cassy hey thank you thank you all for being here a happy MRA for my people from Louisiana and for everybody who wishes you were from Louisiana if only on M go day um um Mr um
▶ 1:44:30in your testimony you talked about how investing in technology can help with the backlog for veteran benefit applications way back when multiple secretaries ago I remember asking him something and he said the main point we we should be about is the veteran and so so with that spirit I thought about how AI could take a stack of papers required for someone's application for you name it in five minutes it's done everything that has to
▶ 1:45:00be done for a human to sit there and review it intelligently wouldn't that be great because I think I've learned that it can take up to 40 days for the VA claims management system to Simply register a new claim submission if 40 days is shrunk to five minutes or 30 seconds how much better is it for the veteran that's kind of where I'm coming at this from um so and by the way we know that if you miss the deadline then everything
▶ 1:45:30starts over and so if you can catch the deadline even if you suddenly realize that there's something else you have to add and it can just quickly put it back in how much better for the veteran is there anything else and and I'm and I'm struck I don't want mean to offend you but you might be like the oldest guy on the panel so I'm struck that maybe the oldest guy is the one who talking about using Tech in order to make things work better for the veteran what other ideas do you have or anyone else has how
▶ 1:46:00we can do this so that we can kind of Channel it into our conversations with secretary Collins uh to maybe up the game I I thank you very much sir and and I guess the uh my first comment relative to that is that it's 2025 technology is here we need to use that's how we're we we're we're going to move ahead uh the Department of Defense has implemented it it's it's
▶ 1:46:31about time that the Veterans Administration adds it I'd like for for Pat to uh be a little more specific Mr Murray uh Mr F the thank you thank you commander chief um Senator we are looking at AI we understand its value and it's processing times will will be reduced for claims especially when VA is processing more claims than ever VA is using AI in some areas already for certain disabilities uh looking at that evidence trying to get that claim
▶ 1:47:01granted as quickly as possible so I I it's not out of the question it's it's here as the commander-in-chief said it's it's the way of the world uh very similar to electronic health records and and other advancements um AI on the way uh getting those claims processed faster absolutely uh you know then we have the transformation with the electronic health record which is another electronic initiative I think that needs to be completed as well um but again if we don't look forward we end up looking backwards
▶ 1:47:31and we need to keep pushing VA forward to invest in it infrastructure make sure the programs are up to date people are trained on them and those programs are fully funded so the we so I'm a physician as well so you discussing I'm over but I'll quickly finish up um you also bringing in the electronic health records part of the problem and some of the uh is this related to service activity or not is there's so much noise and you got to get the signal and I think what I I think what you're saying is that if we use Ai and we couple it
▶ 1:48:01with our massive amount of electronic health record data we could pick out the signal of that which is my gosh this is service related after all we were never able to detect it before and that's one more way we can serve the veteran I agree with that but and we also the at the same time you know it fully run and AI may not be be exactly it you know people still make mistakes machines make mistakes we're good with AI I think it it has its place but it also needs to be subject to human review human
▶ 1:48:31has to be in the loop totally with you on that yes sir thank you all for your service once more happy MRA Senator Cassidy thank you um before we close out this panel and transition to our second panel uh let me again thank you Commander I often give uh my Witnesses the chance to uh provide any additional momentary thoughts things that you wanted to correct if you made any errors or anything you'd like
▶ 1:49:01to make certain that you reiterate Commander thank you very much sir uh I I would like to just again comment about the contract you know contracts are contracts there's an obligation there I wish we could go back to shaking hands CU my word is my is my bond it's it's the only thing that belongs to you it's the only thing that belongs to me our word must
▶ 1:49:33be honored and that's all we're um as as the senator ooff introduced my life's Mantra is believe in what you do do what you believe in and I know that's what this committee does I know that that you are dedic ated but again where are we frustrated here as veterans efforts appreciated
▶ 1:50:03but we got to we got to get across the goal line I'm an army guy I remember the Army Navy game from a couple years ago Navy had the ball on the goal line it was like six inches away and a touchdown it would have changed the game but they made a good effort but they didn't get it across the goal line and so armies celebrated that's we celebrated so so I I'm so honored to have been here I
▶ 1:50:33I'm so honored that the uh uh that uh we have uh so many of our members as well as others here in the room it just I think is is a testimony to the the passion that we feel and the change that that we're making to better serve um help serve you Commander we also feel that we thank you and your members and your leadership team for being with us today I uh I smiled when you said what you said
▶ 1:51:03because occasionally I'm complimented occasionally I'm complimented for my efforts and my standard response is someday I'd like to be complimented for my results there you go and we are about absolutely uh we're going to take a brief recess Commander I'm going to come down and shake your hand in the days of uh shaking hand meaning something important it still means something important to me but we're going to recess we would ask the
▶ 1:51:33VFW audience as they depart to depart on this side and your colleagues with other vsos we'll see if this works will come in the room on this side uh let's see a lot of organization from the VFW we are we stand at
▶ 1:56:51e e
▶ 1:57:40I'm not yet quite calling the hearing back into order but I am trying to see if we can get some order um give us just a moment and we'll be back in session for
▶ 1:58:40the committee will return to order and we will um proceed to a second panel of witnesses and we are as we said earlier delighted that you're here we'll say it again in this setting uh thank you very much for your presence for your members and other veterans who are joining us today in this hearing room and uh this uh is our final panel of uh of four panels for uh the the joint sessions that we've had for a long history um with us
▶ 1:59:10today our second panel consists of Mr Robert Thomas the national president of the Paralyzed Veterans of America Miss Allison JLo chief executive officer officer of the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America Mr Jared lion National president of and chief executive officer for the student Veterans of America major Bonnie Carroll president and founder of tragedy assistance program for survivors Meredith Beck vice president for
▶ 1:59:40government Community engagement at the Elizabeth Dole foundation and Miss Katherine Monae chief executive officer for the National Coalition for homeless veterans I looked at the list of of Witnesses on this second panel before I attempted to pronounce your names and there was no one that I thought I was going to have any difficulty with but my takeaway in in addition to that relief that I know how to pronounce your names is there's no one on this panel that I don't know no one on this panel that this committee hasn't
▶ 2:00:10worked well with and we are delighted to have the opportunity to hear from each of you today um with that let us begin uh to do so and I now recognize Mr Thomas Paralyzed Veterans of America thank you thank you chairman Mor chairman Boston members of the Committees thank you for the opportunity to testify on behalf of the tens of thousands of veterans with spond cord injuries and disorders today I
▶ 2:00:40want to focus on pva's top pres priority preserving VA Specialty Care System specifically the va's preeminent system of care for veterans with spinal cord injuries disorders on more than one occasion I have testified before these committees about our concerns that the seid system of care is being slowly starved of Staffing infrastructure upgrades and funding needed to ensure its survival not for the sake of vaa
▶ 2:01:10but for the sake of the veterans it serves my friend rck a fellow PVA member received care in the community for eight years for his seci until he was introduced uced to the va's SD system of care once under VA care his health improved he believes he would have died if he hadn't begun to receive specialized Health Care from VA medical professionals who understand our injuries and illnesses despite best intentions
▶ 2:01:41Community healthc Care Providers aren't as well equipped to meet our complex needs that's why so many veterans like myself choose care provided by the VA the entire model was designed with us in mind that's why thousands of PVA members and their families and supporters have signed a petition opposing any effort to dismantle the va's seid system of care and the lifes saving Services it provides we
▶ 2:02:11choose VA unfortunately this system is facing challenges of epic proportions and the consequences if not addressed now will proed devastating for veterans with specialized Health Care needs for example one of the 25 SD centers can only use half his beds because Staffing vacancies exceed 50% the leadership there recently denied again the center request to backfill
▶ 2:02:41a resignation as a result overtime is increasing and we expect additional resignations due to burnout Andor closures of additional SCI beds Staffing shortages in the system aren't new the SD system of care has been short hundreds of nurses for years with Total Staffing vacancies are hovering around 35% the department has been concealing its vacancy problems through the use of overtime
▶ 2:03:12which if taken away May reveal much more staffing issues without proper Staffing veterans may be forced to accept care in the community even when it's not the quality of or type of care they would receive at a VA facility and most importantly when it is not their decision to do so in addition to Staffing shortages the system also contines to suffer from infrastructure deficiencies the average age of an fcid Center
▶ 2:03:42is nearly 40 years old consequently we saw major incidents at several centers last year for example a plumbing system failure at one facility flood it half with the center it took one month to repair the system restore the impacted areas and move patients back into the seid center we call on Congress to invest the necessary funds to ensure sufficient Specialty Care Staffing and address infrastructure
▶ 2:04:13deficiencies to meet the demand for care for those of us with catastrophic injuries VA is the Cornerstone of our care here the cost of an action is clear the lives of veterans like Rick and myself and thousands of other veterans with seid are at stake in recent weeks there have been many changes in federal government Staffing and funding while we understand and generally support the underlying desire for veterans to streamline
▶ 2:04:44access to care and benefits the arbitrary and halfhazard way that these efforts are being approached is failing that mission and veterans PVA members are concerned that VA provided care won't be available in the future and that the life saving research will be curtailed even though many clinical providers may be protected by Staffing changes not all are included including recreational
▶ 2:05:15therapists who help teach veterans with seid how to re-engage in the social part of community following and catastrophic disability they are equally concerned about access to benefits like home modifications being delayed because of new Staffing shortages how can we expect Physicians nurses claims Raiders vocal rehab counsels and other staff to be focused on their mission to care for the veterans while their Spectre
▶ 2:05:45of losing their jobs hangs over their heads they carry the workload of multiple positions can't as the body charged with VA oversight I urge you to act before veterans are harmed any further I would be happy to answer any questions you may have Mr Thomas thank you m chlo chairman Moran CH chairman Bost ranking members Blumenthal and Tano
▶ 2:06:15and members of the committee on behalf of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America and our over 425 ,000 members and supporters Nationwide thank you for the opportunity to represent our nation's post 911 veterans here with you today being the CEO of Iva has been the privilege of a lifetime the young second Lieutenant who boarded a plane and route to Iraq a little more than 20 years ago certainly didn't Envision that this is where I'd be today but here I am and for every day that I've sat in the seat I've sought to bring it for my generation of
▶ 2:06:45veterans I've done my best to show up for our members regardless of where they live in the country or what their racial ethnic background is or how they vote I could also spend my time here today articulating a list of legislative priorities for you so that you and your staff could effectively Pander to our community along with the rest of your colleagues but as our staff and our Cavalry that are sitting behind me today know at this point that's not really my style one of the most profound experiences I've had in my life was being appointed as a summary courts officer
▶ 2:07:15following uh fellow platoon leaders death in Iraq in 2005 I'll never forget our battal paralal looking me in the eye that same day as he handed me his orders and said this is the literal definition of soldiering on ma'am the following morning I entered that Lieutenant's Quarters on our base in taji Iraq with a non-commission officer that was also appointed to help me inventory his belongings packed them up and shipped them to do Air Force Base behind his body my soldiers were also soldiering on that day back on the road
▶ 2:07:46providing security to convoys dodging roadside bombs and ducking Small Arms fire and continuing the mission that their country had asked them to see through even if it no longer made any sense soldiering on is something that many of us who've served have gotten good at it helped me get through a second 15-month deployment in Iraq and even after I got out of the army it's a mindset that served me well as I sought to be a force of good in places like this very body where we find myself today I may well be good at soldiering on at this point in my life but frankly I'm
▶ 2:08:16tired of it and I know our members are tired of it too we're tired of soldiering on after we learned that another one of our buddies has taken their life because they just couldn't deal with the torment that war had inflicted on them anymore we're tired of soldiering on when the rest of America seemingly doesn't notice and we're tired of soldiering on as our elected leaders give us lip service instead of the leadership we deserve our nation is at the hell of a crossroads right now and our members while they may want care for the cancer that they got from prolonged exposure to a burn pit
▶ 2:08:46in Afghanistan or the ability to use cannabis to be to bring relief to their wartime wound what they really want is what the rest of America wants they want leadership and not just from their president but also from the rest of their government including this Congress that has abdicated so much of his authority in recent decades whether it be its War power's Authority as post 911 generation veterans have gotten deployed over and over again without question or the simple need to tell a president even if that president is from their own party
▶ 2:09:16that they've crossed a line that the average citizen knows they shouldn't crossed it then makes wonder what the hell we fought for if you ask many of us who served in wartime we likely tell you that despite the complicated politics of the conflict we found ourselves in what helped us Soldier on in battle was our commitment to the men and women to the left and right of us that was true for me when I was a 22-year-old platoon leader and it remains true today but I wish it weren't the case I joined the army because I love my country and what we stand for and was
▶ 2:09:46willing to put it all on the line to defend it but what I didn't realize back then but do now is how much that made me and my fellow postn veterans unique what I also didn't realize as a young naive Lieutenant was how different it made us from the very people who sent my generation of veterans to war despite the fact that we all swore a similar oath that many of the same people who asked us to risk our lives in defense of our country were so lacking encouraged themselves that they are unwilling to risk their political lives to do the same
▶ 2:10:16and that should weigh more heavily on your conscience than it seems to you these days so if you really want want to get the backs of post 911 generation veterans how about you stop asking us and our fellow Americans to keep soldiering on when none of us is satisfied with the leadership we have in this country right now how about you follow my generation of veterans lead and make sacrifices on behalf of our country that prove that you're worthy of the office that you hold and if you really care about our troops who are still serving in uniform and this country we all love you'll do so starting today
▶ 2:10:46later this evening the entire the eyes of the entire country will be focused on this building and watching to see who is and who isn't meeting the moment tonight our ieva Cavalry members will be watching too and have every right to judge and judge harshly if you want their stamp of approval going forward it's my recommendation that you meet what the moment is asking of you tonight and of the days ahead the time for asking us a soldier on has come to an end thank you for your time
▶ 2:11:30thank you Miss jow I assume that is directed to members of this committee and the United States Congress yes sir all all 535 we need we need you to be specific forceful and direct as you've been and to name name names uh Mr Lions you're recognized for 5 minutes chairman Moran and Bost ranking members Blumenthal
▶ 2:12:00and Tano as well as members of this committee thank you for inviting student Veterans of America to share our legislative priorities this year I'm honored to represent the 840,000 students using their GI Bill and are over 1600 chapters worldwide building stronger communities for student veterans military connected their families caregivers and survivors research shows that belonging is essential to Student Success be that in a traditional
▶ 2:12:30College environment online learning or vocational training this is especially true for veterans transitioning to campuses that may not fully understand the value of their military service SVA chapters Foster that sense of community offering mentorship peer support and clear Pathways to academic and career ACH achievement if you are here with SBA today I'd ask that you please stand or raise your hand so we can recognize your
▶ 2:13:09commitment thank you our mission is to empower veterans to succeed to through and Beyond higher education that goes beyond earning degrees and certificates it's about strengthening our our Workforce fueling Innovation reinforcing our economy and elevating Civic life for student veterans that are here today and the thousands more who couldn't be in Washington this week meaningful success depends on financial stability a sense of belonging and access
▶ 2:13:39to rewarding careers like many veterans I followed a path postmilitary service from Community College to a State University and then earning a masters all well juggling work obligations family obligations and my experience taught me that earn benefits must work seamlessly to encourage further engagement with VA Services when benefits fall short delays in housing payments or stagnant book stiens veterans lose their trust they may walk
▶ 2:14:09away entirely that's why we ask for these committees to see the GI bill as the front door to the VA for recently separated service members we thank Representatives sisman Stanton stanbury and Van Orton for introducing the expanding access to online veteran students act last Congress we urge support for legislation that mandates the monthly housing allowance ensuring veterans aren't penalized for enrolling online where many pursue coursework while working full-time
▶ 2:14:39raising children or managing their service connected disabilities a full national average mha for online Learners would move us toward true parity we also request an increase in the annual book stipend which hasn't been updated since 2009 many veterans in science technology engineering mathematics or law programs see material
▶ 2:15:09costs that easily surpass $1,000 per semester we appreciate those in Congress who've already championed raising this to a more realistic level nearly 75% of student veterans are working while they're attending school often in jobs that are unrelated to their degrees modernizing VA work study to include career relevant placements such as cyber security accounting engineering or Health Care would open doors for veterans balancing academics and employment we applaud the bipartisan efforts to reintroduce
▶ 2:15:40legislation that supports this goal these women and men bring discipline life experience and Leadership to the classroom and their campuses they often outpa civilian student peers in GPA and graduation rates and they graduate into Fields where American employers urgently need talent by investing in them Congress boosts our economy our campuses and our communities working with Congress the VA DOD Department of Education and Department of Labor helps SVA power
▶ 2:16:10scholarships leadership training research and professional development for thousands of veterans annually when universities partner with SVA chapters through veteran centers collab collaborative programs and flexible policies they create a culture where student veterans Thrive benefiting the institution our full written testimony goes further into areas like bridging Child Care gaps for student veterans ensuring parity for National Garden Reserve benefits and expanding accountability in higher education
▶ 2:16:40we encourage you to review it for a more complete picture of our policy recommendations at SVA We Believe ensuring veterans receive earned education benefits transcends politics this is about fulfilling America's promise to those who serve and we know that promise yields tremendous returns for veterans schools employers and communities alike thank you chairman Moran and Bost ranking members Blumenthal and Tano and members of these committees for your leadership your work rein enforces
▶ 2:17:11that this nation truly values service and the interests of those who wear your uniforms I welcome your questions thank you thank you Mr lion um chair recognizes um major Carol chairman Marana Bost ranking members Bloom withal and Tado and distinguished committee members the tragedy assistance program for survivors is grateful for the opportunity to share issues of importance to the 120,000 plus
▶ 2:17:41surviving family members of all generations representing all services and with losses of all causes of death who Taps is on honor to serve as a gold star spouse of Brigadier General Tom Caroll I want to express tap's deep gratitude to Congress and this committee for passing the bipartisan Senator Elizabeth Dole 21st century veterans health care and benefits Improvement act this important law included multiple long-term priorities
▶ 2:18:11for surviving families many of whom were caregivers first such as expanding eligibility for the fry scholarship and Provisions within the love lives on act a top legislative priority for Taps is ensuring surviving spouses are allowed to remarry and retain benefits at any age not wait until age 55 today surviving spouses are often widowed in their 20s and 30s yet the law forces
▶ 2:18:42them to wait decades sometimes have a lifetime to remarry without losing their earned benefits grief does not expire and love after law should not come at the cost of financial stability Taps urges Congress to end this unjust penalty and honor the sacrifice of our nation's young widows with fairness and dignity Taps is proud to work with chairman Moran Senator waro and 22
▶ 2:19:12original Senate co-sponsors along with Representatives Hudson ngus van Orton Morrison Latrell and Conor and the love lives on act and we urge Swift passage of this legislation Taps has advocated for many years to strengthen dependency and indemnity compensation stringent limitations on DIC payments have widespread negative impacts on finances housing employment Transportation food security and the medical
▶ 2:19:42and mental health care for surviving families raising DIC from 43 to 55% of the compensation paid to 100% dis permanent disabled veteran will DIC by an average of $454 a month and provide long overdue parity with other Federal survivor benefits tap strongly supports the caring for survivors act and thanks Senator Blumenthal and Boseman and representatives Hayes
▶ 2:20:12and Fitzpatrick for reintroducing this important legislation Taps is also working to expand champ vaa coverage for eligible surviving children up to age 26 to align with private insurance plans surviving families who have lost loved ones as a result of military service should be provided the same access to Affordable Health Care and Mental Health Services as their civilian counterparts tap strongly supports the champ
▶ 2:20:43VA children's care protection act and appreciates ranking member Blumenthal and congressman brownley for their leadership on this issue as a leading voice for the families of those who have died a result of illnesses connected to toxic exposures Taps was instrumental in the passage of the historic PCT act though a tremendous Victory the work does not stop of the survivors seeking our care in 2024 37%
▶ 2:21:13or more than 3,200 were grieving the death of a military loved one due to illnesses Taps is working with Congress to ensure packed act implementation and funding and to expand presumptive conditions we fully support the aviation cancers examination study Act and the ensuring Justice for campers Jun victims act and creating a presumption of service connection for all conditions from K2 deployments
▶ 2:21:44ensuring timely Comprehensive Health Care and mental health support for our nation's benefits their families care and survivors is not just a priority it's a moral imperative that will uphold the sacred promise we make to those who serve and sacrifice we thank chairman Moran abas for introducing the veterans assuring Critical Care expansions to support service members Act of 2025 which will improve health care
▶ 2:22:14and mental health outcomes military service exposes individuals to Unique stress ERS and potential traumas the presumption of service connection for veteran suicides would acknowledge that mental health challenges veterans face are often a direct consequence of their service Taps strongly supports the introduction of the service connected suicide compensation act Taps has Stood
▶ 2:22:45Beside more than 27,000 survivors grieving the death of devastating loss of a military or veteran loved one to Suicide these families not only endure unimaginable grief but face stigma and Bure bureaucratic barriers that compound their trauma requiring them to prove service Connection in the their darkest moments is unjust and unnecessary we can do better on
▶ 2:23:15behalf of our survivor Community Taps urges Congress to take action remove these burdens and honor the sacrifice of our nation's Heroes and their families thank you for the opportunity to testify I look forward to your questions thank you um I now recognize Meredith Beth Beck thank you very much sir members of the committee thank you for the opportunity to testify today as many of you know the Elizabeth Dole Foundation recently commissioned ran to conduct a new Landmark study
▶ 2:23:45updating us on America's military and Veteran uh caregiver Community who they are are how they're Fairing and what they contribute to our nation the report identified that while caregivers provide a minimum of 119 billion dollar in unpaid care to Veterans they also face serious impediments to economic stability lost wages and inability to plan for retirement and unforeseen out-of-pocket expenses often result in financial and mental health strain there are several actions Congress can take
▶ 2:24:15to relieve some of this burden recently the VA released the newest proposed rule for the program of comprehensive assistance for family caregivers while we appreciate that the rule was finally published after almost 2 years of financial limbo we have numerous concerns the rule is still far too complicated and would would be incredibly difficult to implement in a standardized and transparent manner additionally we are concerned that those with significant mental health and cognitive disabilities would be excluded EDF asked Congress to exercise its oversight authority
▶ 2:24:46to minimize further turmoil and ensure that Those whom Congress intended to support are included EDF also asked that Congress grandfather the Legacy cohort of pcafc participants those post 911 caregivers who were admitted to the program prior to September 30th of 2020 these caregivers have repeatedly been found eligible and endured multiple pauses regulation and Leadership changes lack of previous program standardization and questionable assessments grandfathering this relatively small population would allow the VA to focus
▶ 2:25:16on its mission of supporting all generations of caregivers by ending this year's long struggle in addition to pcafc the VA has many programs that benefit both veterans and caregivers the veteran directed program has incredibly High satisfaction rates and notably costs less than other VA clinical Support Services in theory veterans can use the program to hire individuals familiar to them to provide care pay for transportation to appointments hire skilled care when needed and all without paying the overhead of the cost overhead cost of an
▶ 2:25:46agency unfortunately gaining access to these programs is often incredibly difficult in many instances the veteran is subject to a case miix tool ensuring that they are not receiving redundant Services while this makes sense generally the current system does not allow complimentary programs for those who need them most Shawn Lopez a Maryland Dole caregiver fellow cares for his 100% service disabled father in addition to other diagnoses Sea's dad battles stage four cancer suffers from Progressive dementia and requires constant supervision for safety
▶ 2:26:17If Shawn were not providing around the-clock care his father would require very costly institutional care for which the VA were to be responsible because Shawn is enrolled in pcafc the case mix tool was employed to determine his dad's eligibility for additional support even with his serious health diagnosis and despite his constant need for supervision Mr Lopez scored far too low to qualify him for concurrent enrollment in pcafc and VDC after much research Sean learned that the scoring algorithm is weighted so heavily toward those with physical needs
▶ 2:26:47and mostly excludes consideration for those with cognitive mental health needs it was not until Shawn's father fell and broke five ribs that he even came close to qualifying after a significant amount of advocacy Mr Lopez was eventually rated at the necessary level but if he improves in only one ADL he will no longer qualify leaving Shawn to support his dad on his own or find an institution not only is it wrong to deny family caregivers the support services they need to care for their loved ones it doesn't make any fiscal sense Sean
▶ 2:27:17sipen through pcafc is approximately $4,000 a year whereas a skilled nursing for facility is far more expensive approximately $160,000 a year in Maryland therefore EDF asked Congress to work with the VA to provide oversight to this vital program to ensure veterans are able to stay in their homes as long as medically appropriate while much work remains to be done many of these issues outlined in the Rand in Rand were addressed in some way with the Dole package that that Miss Carol mentioned
▶ 2:27:48the foundation thanks committee members and their staffs as well as leadership of both parties for their hard work to find common ground and Achieve final passage however we are deeply concerned that the current seemingly arbitrary Federal Staffing reductions the previously identified VHA budget shortfall cuts to research funding and contract pauses and cancellations will greatly impact the ability to the va's ability to provide its direct vital services to those in need and implement the Dole act the VDC program was fortunately
▶ 2:28:18expanded in that Dole package however to continue current operations much less expand the program must ensure that providers are certified and recertified periodically in accordance with Mission act requirements unfortunately the contract that provides for those certifications was recently halted leaving the future of the program and those enrolled in Jeopardy let me be clear we agree that the realignment of resources and staff is often necessary we are concerned however that the process does not allow
▶ 2:28:48for the careful review implementation necessary to ensure that Services especially those for the most most vulnerable are not interrupted thank you and look forward to your questions thank you Miss Beck Monet chairman ranking members and distinguished members of the Committees on Veterans Affairs thank you for the opportunity to join you nchv is the resource and technical assistance center for a national network of community- based service providers and local and state governments that serve thousands of homeless at risk and formerly homeless veterans annually
▶ 2:29:19we thank thank you for your leadership and passage of the Dole act we encourage you to focus on implementation of the homeless Provisions within the bill of note we urge you to ensure that authorizing caps and Appropriations levels are sufficient to allow VA to pay for increased PDM rates authorized under this legislation and to fund section 4201 assistance our written testimony includes Appropriations recommendations for other critical programs veteran homelessness dropped to the lowest level ever recorded last year 32,8
▶ 2:29:50882 veterans On Any Given night the 2024 HUD point in time count data for veterans needs a little bit of context so I'm going to give it to you this represents a 7% decrease since 2023 and a 55% decrease since 2009 compared with increases across the board for every other homeless population across the same time frames while the pit is not a perfect measure of homelessness it's the best national measure we have for comparison's sake we are and we have been reducing
▶ 2:30:20and homelessness consistently in the last seven of 10 years counted this is no mistake as VA staff and partners across the country have dedicated time and talent towards this Mission and have had the discipline to research iterate and Implement evidence-based and other promising practices along the way in spite of these efforts we know that we can do more to ensure that our crisis response homelessness prevention affordable housing and Supportive Service programs can be what veterans need and we look forward to doing that with all of you here Congress is a
▶ 2:30:50major role in this and my written testimony presents nv's priorities for your consideration before I dive into them I would be remiss if I did not mention the vast uncertainty that has been created as our federal Partners have moved quickly to make changes across the government the speed and doubt that have resulted have made it hard for grantees across the country to focus on homelessness rather than issues that impact their ability to work including the potential implications of Grant pauses shifting Grant operating requirements reductions in ba staff
▶ 2:31:20including in those who serve homeless veterans and other Federal reduction en initiatives further while we're still learning more about last night's wave of contract cancellations we know at least one cancellation was related to the enhanced use leasing program to a sdvosb that managed oversight including things like lead pce testing evaluating life safety issues in these facilities and ensuring that veterans in UL housing get the case management that they need we do have concerns that quality of care will falter
▶ 2:31:50as a result and we urge you to work with the administration to ensure that contract cancellations do not result in adverse outcomes for veterans these factors have really complicated the already hard work of ending veteran homelessness and so we do want you to collectively keep your eye on everything that we've seen so far and all of the changes that we know are to come to ensure that there is minimal impact not only to Veterans but the community that serves these veterans VA has been an essential partner in work on veteran homelessness and that has to
▶ 2:32:21continue I'd like to Pivot a little bit back to homelessness priorities and I have three major ones that I'd like to discuss today the first is HUD Vash utilization we need your help to ensure that VHA and ph's public housing authorities are appropriately resourced and we need you to codify Federal guidance exempting VA disability compensation from eligibility requirements for HUD bash and lch funded affordable housing for far too long homeless veterans who needed assistance the most would with the highest levels of
▶ 2:32:51service connected disabilities were being excluded from these benefits because of their disability income we absolutely unequivocally support legislation that would codify this change for the program and we also encourage the reintroduction of legislation that would codify these changes for the low-income housing tax program second we urge you to ensure that veterans with other than honorable discharges and those who served in the garden Reserve without being activated can access all homeless programs the chv program currently does not serve this
▶ 2:33:22population and we request that you expand its eligibility criteria to make it uniform across all programs third our nation's housing affordability crisis has all but guaranteed that rents are un unaffordable for everyone including veterans in most counties across the country economists agree that a person earning the minimum wage is not able to rent a one-bedroom apartment without being severely cost burdened and we know that only one in four people eligible for Section 8 receive them because of IC underfunding of that program
▶ 2:33:52we support legislation that would create a voucher program for all extremely low-income veterans and legislation to prohibit source of income discrimination so that people can actually use these vouchers thank you for the opportunity to join you today um I'm open to any questions you may have thank you very much I'm going to recognize um ranking member Tano for his questions thank you minutes CH thank you chairman Moran and let me just say that um I've been impressed with many of your comments over the past two weeks especially uh your interest
▶ 2:34:22uh in doing oversight on the internal process that VA does to establish new presumptives I really want to thank you for those comments my first question is uh for Miss Monae uh you have been stewarding the progress to end veteran homelessness in your year years of work at the National Coalition of homeless veterans and during the Biden Harris Administration we saw homelessness reach new lows unfortunately secretary Collins seems to think this progress wasn't real
▶ 2:34:53he recently told the military times quote we have spent millions of dollars and added countless programs to the homeless situation and to Suicide Prevention and seen nothing he said end quote I am and quote I'm ready to see results and I'm ready to take whatever we have and say what can we do better end quote Miss Monet was the progress we saw during the Biden Harris Administration real and to what do you attribute it what roadblocks do you foresee
▶ 2:35:23arising that could prevent further progress so the progress we've seen was absolutely real VA programs help hundreds of thousands of veterans every day well not every day across the course of a year I'm sorry but you know there are things that we can do to improve and I think I laid out a few of them in my testimony today uh when I think about roadblocks I do think a lot about things that are not really tied to V a right we don't have a lot of affordable housing
▶ 2:35:53we know that people are struggling to stay employed we know that veterans are over represented in a federal Workforce that is getting fired at a very rapid Pace uh there are these challenges that we have to contend with and within VA there are some things that we can do right we can connect services to Veterans a little bit better we can be thoughtful about prevention and how we really learn about preventing homelessness and the risk factors there there's so much that we could but I I think that we can do it if we commit to it
▶ 2:36:23right yes yes well thank you so much for your response I I would like to ask M uh Mr lion um I met with many of your student veteran members from SVA yesterday and I I was Disturbed to hear um stories about many contract uh employees who serve as counselors uh we are can you tell us about the situation before um these recent firings in terms of the number
▶ 2:36:53of counselors and the vital role they play uh and and they oddly enough play a role in terms of preventing waste Fraud and Abuse with the vr& program so tell me the VR program by the way is a program for veterans uh student veterans who are not who is not about the GI bill it's about about their service connected disability and being able to get them education which will make them gainfully employed Mr L we just want to respond thank you very much for the question sir
▶ 2:37:23um and and you're right uh we've had many conversations um with uh the highest levels of va from appointed officials to senior uh government employees um about the impact uh that terminations are having which I think have been well addressed by the first panel this morning and my colleagues up here today uh but in particular when we continue to hear that mission critical roles are not being um cut uh we're seeing in particular with the vr& program uh a program that was already um
▶ 2:37:54chronically underst staffed and had delays with not only approving benefits uh but then also addressing concerns for these service connected disabled veterans while in school um have been exacerbated by some of the recent terminations and some of the cancelling of contracts the very contracts that were Staffing uh some of the oversight uh for fraud waste and abuse in the program uh but also approving uh this is causing in many instances weeks if not multiple months of delays just to hear
▶ 2:38:24back from the initial claim of a vr& claim well that's meant delays uh you know really incredible delays and sometimes students not been able to get their courses hardships on families student veterans families I yield back chairman uh thank you representative Tano uh representative Ramirez thank you chairman and thank you ranking member really grateful that we're holding today's hearing I want to start by acknowledging and thanking the veteran
▶ 2:38:54service organizations that are joining us today for all the tremendous work you do every single day on behalf of our veterans the work that we do uh the legislation that we pass to bring more veteran benefits none of that could happen without your help so I just want to thank all of you for being here and each time we come together I think it's important uh for us to rehearse our why or at least for me I I believe it's my responsibility to ensure that every veteran has full access to the full spectrum of benefits
▶ 2:39:24they've earned frankly that they deserve as a non as a former nonprofit Community director of an organization uh that served people who were unhoused people experiencing homelessness including many veterans I understand that often the gap between our ability to fulfill our mission and the realities on the ground are often about resources for many housing and homeless service providers federal grants are an essential part of the resources layered together to meet the needs of our neighbors particularly our veteran neighbors
▶ 2:39:55so I'm clear that to ensure that every veteran has full access to the full spectrum of benefits they've earned and deserve we have to make sure that the programs and servic the VA offer are fully funded and we know that fully funding our programs can make an impact on veteran homelessness um Miss Monae you were just talking about it over the past few years there been a record investment on veteran homelessness addressing veteran homelessness and as a result in the National point and time count data that I've participated in the past as a executive director of a shelter not only have we
▶ 2:40:25made progress in reducing veteran homelessness but veterans are the only population across the country that has seen a decline in rates of homelessness according to this count so miss mon I want to follow up on that I want to ask you if there's a freeze on the grants that serve UNH housee veterans or that support that veteran permanent housing is needed what impact do you think it would have on the ability to end veteran homelessness and let me give you a follow-up to that
▶ 2:40:55um more broadly what I'm interested in hearing is what would those freezes mean for the organizations and the communities that depend on federal resources so when we experienced the last freeze it was chaotic organizations were sort of pushed to the brink and a lot of them were really running numbers looking at their budgets thinking really intently about cash flow and questioning the level of commitment that the federal government has to this initiative
▶ 2:41:25um at nchb because we have a toll-free referral line we got calls from veterans who were upset that they had been looking for housing for 3 or four weeks finally found somewhere that would take their subsidy but couldn't get their check cut because of the funding free we got calls from medical center staff who said that their ssvf provider didn't have enough cash flow to cut checks for a whole community of veterans come February 1 and they were looking for other funds to support and you know
▶ 2:41:55there were a lot of instances where our members were facing this uncertainty and trying to figure out how do we work through this what does this pause actually mean what activities will be acceptable or not acceptable and really thinking intently about that versus serving the veterans in front of them and that's not what we want them to be doing thank you Miss mon I know my time St so I just think in summary what you're saying is freezing funds means our veterans are at risk of homelessness it's chaos and it means it takes us back
▶ 2:42:25when in fact we should be doing more for our veterans thank you I yield back chairman thank you representative um Mr lion uh we have a long history mostly related to covid uh and student access to education during those difficult times um I really appreciate uh your strong support your organization strong support for the National Guard GI Bill par act um based upon your focus
▶ 2:42:56the organization's focus on the success of veterans explain why this change is needed and how the bill if signed into law would impact the outcomes of National Guard and reservice thank you very much sir and um I really appreciate the question when you look at the service uh of those in uniform regardless of its active duty guard or Reserve um every day in uniform should count equally with regard to your benefits and unfortunately as
▶ 2:43:26the GI bill is a benefit that requires specific and nuanced related Service uh as pertains to guard and Reserve members wearing that uniform um they're not equally eligible uh there are countless instances in which we hear from student veterans uh that have been activated for any number of supports from overseas deployments uh to work down on the board uh to natural disasters and when they are their service doesn't count equally for their ability to be eligible for
▶ 2:43:56the GI Bill if we're able to get this done and pass uh this bill uh we would be able to say uh in indefini ofely that every day in uniform counts equally and so this would be exceptionally impactful for those uh members of the garden Reserve that find themselves as student veterans the disadvantageous um circumstance for those in the garden Reserve is a result of the law not a result of interpretation of the law or bias toward
▶ 2:44:26those not in active duty it's the law that needs to be changed is that true yes sir um major Carol um thank you and your team for ongoing work with Senator waro and I in act in advocating for love lives on act uh as you know we've uh been challenged Ed by the expense of this legislation it's not a reason not to do it and we're fully committed to its implementation uh
▶ 2:44:57passage and implementation uh but do you have suggestions of how we can advance uh we we Advanced several steps of this legislation uh any suggestions uh as to what we do next love lives on is incredibly important to our surviving families it's probably the top priority for those it's something that our families are already receiving compensation for all of those who are receiving those benefits the DIC
▶ 2:45:27are already getting them it is only when uh they remarry that that is taken away the rate is so low right now and our team has done extensive work into that looking at that talking I know to your team to many members on exactly what that would mean but it would allow our families to be whole to allow our children to be raised in a two parent household it would allow our families to move
▶ 2:45:57forward with their lives and uh we are very very hopeful that the amount required will be recognized as an amount that is owed to these families who have sacrificed so much for this country uh you and others associated with you are such um valuable uh advocates uh even what you said uh just now it suggests to me how would one say no uh it is hugely important for us to
▶ 2:46:27have success and more rapid success as I indicated earlier it's nice to be thanked I suppose for your efforts but this is one it would be great to be thanked uh for um major Carol do you have recommendations for how the VA and Congress can better work with the vsso Comm to reach survivors and make certain that they are aware of the benefits and resources that they may be entitled
▶ 2:46:58to absolutely we have surviving family members who uh receive some benefits diic but through our networks through public awareness through Community efforts through other vso Partnerships we are reaching out to surviving families one of the ways we do this is also through the national cemetery Administration where we reach all those uh who are survivors of anyone buried at a national cemetery or a state Cemetery we're very active with the national Funeral
▶ 2:47:28Directors to reach all of those whose loved ones lives included service to this country to ensure that they have the benefits that they have earned and that their families will never be forgotten for that service uh thank you uh speaking of national cemeteries um Mane um there are 156 National cemeteries across our country and the NCA runs the cemetery Apprentice program which offers training and employment
▶ 2:47:58in either a caretaker or an administrative position to Veterans who are or at risk of becoming homeless would you speak to the importance of program absolutely at nchv we think that employment is an important part of solutions for veteran homelessness it gives folks the Dignity of a job some income connections to other people and a network and the cemetery caretaker program is absolutely an important part of that um
▶ 2:48:28I think that we would love to see that program expanded and we would love to see more opportunities for supportive employment of veterans within VA and other federal agencies uh thank you um and Miss Beck you indicated you I'm I wrote down learning more and what you I think were saying before I got all my notes and Place learning more about contract cancellation what's the level of what what happens that you're going to learn more so where are you getting information and
▶ 2:48:59um what can you tell me about those sources the information that we have at this point sir is that the new round of contract cancellations I believe it's 585 um is that that is a reduction in the contract and the number of contracts from last week that they said we're going to be reduced we certainly hear from a number of those contract providers who are very concerned about their ability to continue to be able to provide those Services um and then we certainly hear from caregivers who are concerned about that as well
▶ 2:49:30as Miss Monae indicated we don't have any visibility on what the actual contracts are that will be included in that 585 but there is definite concern especially about the one that I mentioned from our perspective about the veteran directed care perspective the other piece of it that is of concern that we hear about quite a bit is from the research perspective not just the funding cuts to to the research but also the Staffing freezes and how that impacts the ability to execute active con contracts and research initiatives
▶ 2:50:00that are ongoing that we are hearing from um those at uh naare the National Association that represents the uh nonprofit community that supports the research done within the VA and those would be programs and services and clinical trials that are incredibly important for pack act implementation and otherwise have you had any success in Outreach to the VA uh either you're asking them or they're telling you um what's
▶ 2:50:30transpiring no sir we' have not let me ask um both um Miss JLo and Mr Thomas I don't want you to feel left out of my questioning anything that you would add to the the knowledge base as to what's happening in regard to contract consel cancel ation or pause Mr Thomas so well with the contract cancellations you
▶ 2:51:00know we we're hearing a lot of uh fear from our members that the the sah grants and things like that are being cancelled and you know our members with ALS you know needs their housing and everything done now they can't wait because this is something that you know is demand demanding upon them to be able to get around and move in a house that's really really accessible for them so you that that is something that's really
▶ 2:51:30hard canceling those contracts on S agents so is the only any the only knowledge that is U that anyone has is coming from their members uh or from uh contractors who are in the circumstance of either fearing or experiencing a contract cancellation so the information that we're getting is coming from our members they had their they're in the process of getting their sh
▶ 2:52:00Grant and then they're calling the individual that they're in contact with and then all of a sudden that individual is not there so this again this makes them go back through the entire process all over again which is causing many delays understand um as my usual practice is there anybody any or all of you who have anything you want to make certain is clearly put on the record before we close this hearing sir just wanted to make one point relative to the data um in particular uh
▶ 2:52:31va's enrollment manager um we're reporting issues particularly those individuals in chapter 35 uh that uh did not receive their February payments um in addition we've gotten reports specifically from Alabama California North Dakota uh that also have payment issues um so we're both getting it from specific members but also the school certifying officials um within the system they can show on their end that the enrollment manager demonstrates uh that the payments have been processed
▶ 2:53:01but then they cannot see the distribution and then we're also getting the input from the actual veterans um it currently numbers less than 1,000 veterans impacted um but impacted nonetheless and and the the what that's a consequence of what that the payments are not being made they show on the record but not actually being fulfilled and what has transpired that causes that to happen uh the school certifying officials are reporting Staffing challenges
▶ 2:53:31at the VA yes sir okay um anyone else Miss Beck yes sir I was just going to say that for example again with that veteran directed contract which is of great concern to us you know many of us advocated for the passage of the Dole Act and the Elizabeth Dole act home care act itself based off of that that and other homebased services that the in that particular example the the contractor was on the previous list to be terminated and also has a stop work order in place as the only
▶ 2:54:01contractor who does that certifying work to bring on new contractors for expansion and so I think that is where we were seeing the information that was coming from is having that stop workk order in place and that's still true until we get clarity on this new 500 on the new list it is in place as of the moment yes sir you uh Mr JLo sir I just would be remiss if I didn't take the opportunity to thank you for your leadership on the pack de specifically um that continues to be an important law
▶ 2:54:31to our entire Community um you're looking at somebody who slept next to Camp trash can for 15 months on my second deployment um and we all know that it almost didn't get across the Finish Line um so I just want to make sure that I thank you on behalf of our members for your leadership on that important law that will be an important law not just today but for many many years as we all Age and and understand the consequences of our toxic exposure so thank you thank all of you for your efforts in regard to convincing members of the Senate and House that
▶ 2:55:01uh the pacted Act was something of value and important to pass um I think that concludes the hearing um trying to think I'm I don't to leave out uh it does uh I oh I know what I was going to say I knew there was something there Miss Beck you get to um you don't have to advocate for the Elizabeth Dole act because everybody else advocates for it for you uh
▶ 2:55:32it seems just consistent constant it it's a benefit of being in a very supportive Community sir uh it uh it demonstrated again this morning um the record will remain again let me thank you all for your advocacy uh the record will remain open uh if uh we ask additional questions please respond quickly and uh with that the hearing is adjourned thank you