[Senate Hearing 118-174]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



                                                        S. Hrg. 118-174

                     TO CONSIDER THE NOMINATION OF
                           TANYA J. BRADSHER
                        TO BE DEPUTY SECRETARY,
                     DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

=======================================================================

                                HEARING

                               BEFORE THE

                     COMMITTEE ON VETERANS' AFFAIRS
                          UNITED STATES SENATE

                    ONE HUNDRED EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS

                             FIRST SESSION

                               __________


                              MAY 31, 2023

                               __________

       Printed for the use of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs





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        Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.govinfo.gov

                               ______
                                 

                 U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE

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                 SENATE COMMITTEE ON VETERANS' AFFAIRS

                     Jon Tester, Montana, Chairman

Patty Murray, Washington             Jerry Moran, Kansas, Ranking 
Bernard Sanders, Vermont                 Member
Sherrod Brown, Ohio                  John Boozman, Arkansas
Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut      Bill Cassidy, Louisiana
Mazie K. Hirono, Hawaii              Mike Rounds, South Dakota
Joe Manchin III, West Virginia       Thom Tillis, North Carolina
Kyrsten Sinema, Arizona              Dan Sullivan, Alaska
Margaret Wood Hassan, New Hampshire  Marsha Blackburn, Tennessee
Angus S. King, Jr., Maine            Kevin Cramer, North Dakota
                                     Tommy Tuberville, Alabama

                      Tony McClain, Staff Director
               David Shearman, Republican Staff Director











                            C O N T E N T S

                              ----------                              

                              May 31, 2023

                                SENATORS

                                                                   Page
Hon. Jon Tester, Chairman, U.S. Senator from Montana.............     1
Hon. Jerry Moran, Ranking Member, U.S. Senator from Kansas.......     2
Hon. Patty Murray, U.S. Senator from Washington..................     4
Hon. Sherrod Brown, U.S. Senator from Ohio.......................     9
Hon. Tommy Tuberville, U.S. Senator from Alabama.................    11
Hon. Margaret Wood Hassan, U.S. Senator from New Hampshire.......    13
Hon. Richard Blumenthal, U.S. Senator from Connecticut...........    17
Hon. Angus S. King, Jr., U.S. Senator from Maine.................    18

                        INTRODUCTION OF WITNESS

The Honorable Tammy Duckworth, U.S. Senator from Illinois........     8

                                WITNESS

Tanya J. Bradsher, Nominee to be Deputy Secretary of Veterans 
  Affairs........................................................     3

                                APPENDIX
                          Nomination Material

Tanya J. Bradsher, Nominee

  Prepared Statement.............................................    25

  Response to Pre-Hearing Questions for the Record submitted by:

    Hon. Jerry Moran.............................................    27
    Hon. Jon Tester..............................................    34

  Response to Questions for the Record submitted by:

    Hon. Marsha Blackburn........................................    37
    Hon. Kevin Cramer............................................    47
    Hon. Jerry Moran.............................................    49
    Hon. Kyrsten Sinema..........................................    54
    Hon. Dan Sullivan............................................    56
    Hon. Thom Tillis.............................................    57

  Response to Additional Questions for the Record submitted by:

    Hon. Jerry Moran.............................................    60

  Questionnaire for Presidential Nominees........................    71

                        Statement for the Record

Hon. Kyrsten Sinema..............................................    91









 
                     TO CONSIDER THE NOMINATION OF
                           TANYA J. BRADSHER
                        TO BE DEPUTY SECRETARY,
                     DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

                              ----------                              


                        WEDNESDAY, MAY 31, 2023

                                       U.S. Senate,
                            Committee on Veterans' Affairs,
                                                    Washington, DC.
    The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 3 p.m., in Room 
SR-418, Russell Senate Office Building, Hon. Jon Tester, 
Chairman of the Committee, presiding.

    Present: Senators Tester, Murray, Brown, Blumenthal, 
Sinema, Hassan, King, Moran, Cassidy, Blackburn, and 
Tuberville.

            OPENING STATEMENT OF CHAIRMAN JON TESTER

    Chairman Tester. Good morning. I want to call this hearing 
to order to examine the qualifications of the President's 
nominee to serve as Deputy Secretary of the Department of 
Veterans Affairs.
    Ms. Bradsher, I want to first acknowledge your service to 
this country, both in uniform and in government service. This 
includes your national security and public engagement work at 
the White House, your public affairs work at the Defense Health 
Agency, and at the Department of Homeland Security, and your 
tenure supporting our Nation's veterans at the VA.
    I am especially proud to welcome you before our Committee 
as the first woman nominated to this top position, a crucial 
moment for our Nation's veterans and our country.
    Today we will determine whether you are the right person to 
be the VA Deputy Secretary. If confirmed, you will have 
specific accountability to manage several large programs, 
including the big one, electronic health records, which has 
been an area of major concern of this Committee, and I think 
you know that. You also will have broad responsibility for 
strengthening the DoD-VA collaboration as the agency works to 
implement the PACT Act.
    In your role as Chief Operating Officer you will run the 
day-to-day operations of the Department, a position for which 
you have prepared by serving as the VA's Chief of Staff. I 
expect the Committee is going to want to know what you have 
learned in this role, how you have helped improve the delivery 
of health care and benefits to veterans, and your plans for the 
Department moving forward. And while the electronic health 
record will take up a good portion of your time, VA needs a 
leader who will not lose sight of the other critical management 
responsibilities and service delivery functions of the 
Department.
    The bottom line is the VA needs a Deputy Secretary who will 
improve collaboration and communication across the Health 
Benefits, Cemetery Administration, and Chief Operating Officer, 
all while ensuring those three entities are meeting the needs 
of veterans and their families.
    I hope your answers to the members' inquiries on these 
matters will help this Committee make the determination whether 
you are the right person to be confirmed as Deputy Secretary. I 
very much look forward to our dialogue today, and I want to 
thank you for your willingness to serve in this very, very 
important role.
    With that I will turn it over to Senator Moran for his 
comments.

            OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR JERRY MORAN

    Senator Moran. Chairman Tester, thank you very much. Ms. 
Bradsher, welcome. I will start by saying how much I appreciate 
the many years you have spent in service to our country, 
particularly in the United States Army. I am grateful for, 
since leaving the Army, that you have spent your time serving 
in the White House and the House of Representatives and now the 
Department of Veterans Affairs.
    On this Committee we know that military service is family 
service, and in some way high-level government service is 
family service as well, and so I also want to recognize your 
mother Linda, your husband John, and your three girls, 
Charlotte, Catherine, and Christine. Thank you all for being 
here. It was nice to shake most of your hands. Thank you.
    The role of Deputy Secretary at the Department of Veterans 
Affairs is a tremendously important one. The Deputy Secretary 
serves as the VA's Chief Operating Officer and leads the 
electronic health record modernization effort, which we have 
needed leadership and which we have been working on for a long 
time. That project is at a critical juncture now.
    If confirmed to this position, Ms. Bradsher, millions of 
veterans, caregivers, survivors, and dependents across the 
globe will be counting on you to deliver the timely and high-
quality health care, benefits, and services that they need. 
Hundreds of thousands of VA staff members will be counting on 
you as well to provide a high-performing, safe, and accountable 
place for them to come to work each and every day.
    I want to hear this afternoon how your experiences prepared 
you to take on these responsibilities and how you would achieve 
success where your would-be predecessors have struggled. I also 
want to hear how you would make certain that the actions you 
take and decisions you make, if confirmed to this position, 
would put the needs and interests of veterans above any other 
consideration. That includes making certain that VA officials 
from the Secretary and the Deputy Secretary on down to the 
newest entry-level staffer in a VA medical facility, regional 
office, or cemetery follow both the letter and the intent of 
the laws of Congress, and that they are responsive and 
transparent to veterans and their families and with this 
Committee and with our colleagues in the Senate and House.
    I will be listening to your testimony this afternoon, and I 
know my fellow Committee members as well. Thank you again for 
being here and for your willingness to be considered for this 
role.
    Chairman Tester, I yield back.
    Chairman Tester. I would like you to stand and raise your 
right hand as you receive the oath of office.
    Do you, Tanya Bradsher, solemnly swear or affirm that the 
testimony you are about to give before the U.S. Senate 
Committee on Veterans' Affairs will be the truth, the whole 
truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?
    Ms. Bradsher. I do.
    Chairman Tester. Let the record reflect the nominee 
answered in the affirmative.
    Hang on for just a second.
    Okay. Well, we are going to do this a little differently 
than what we had planned. The good Senator from Illinois, 
Senator Duckworth, will be here to introduce you, but she is 
going to introduce you after you get done with your opening 
statement.
    You may proceed.
    And by the way, I would love to have you, if it is not in 
your opening remarks, introduce your family so we know who is 
who. With three girls I get the names confused.

                 STATEMENT OF TANYA J. BRADSHER

    Ms. Bradsher. Absolutely, Senator. I have with me my mom, 
Linda Keene, my daughter, Charlotte Bradsher, my husband, John 
Bradsher, my middle daughter, Catherine Bradsher, and my 
youngest, Christine Bradsher.
    Chairman Tester, Ranking Member Moran, and distinguished 
members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to 
testify before you today and for your dedication to veterans. 
And thank you, Senator Duckworth--oops, she is not here yet.
    I would like to take a moment to express my gratitude to my 
family, friends, colleagues, and mentors. To my late father, 
Sergeant First Class Vaughn Keene, and my mom, Linda Keene, you 
have always been my guiding lights. To my husband of 25 years, 
Retired Colonel John Bradsher, and our three daughters, 
Charlotte, Catherine, and Christine, your love and unwavering 
support as we have served in Colorado, Korea, the Pentagon, and 
both of our deployments to Iraq mean everything to me. And to 
my uncle, late grandpas and great-grandpa, who served in World 
War I, World War II, and the Korean War, your service and 
sacrifice will never be forgotten.
    As a fourth-generation Army soldier, it is a true honor to 
be nominated by President Biden and Secretary McDonough to 
serve as Deputy Secretary of the Department of Veterans 
Affairs.
    Our mission at VA is to care for those who have served in 
our Nation's military, and for their families, caregivers, and 
survivors. I know the importance of this mission firsthand, not 
only because I have served as VA's Chief of Staff for the past 
two-plus years but because I have lived it. I have seen what it 
looks like when one of my fellow soldiers transitions out of 
the military and gets the support they deserve from the VA, how 
they live happier, healthier, more fulfilled lives.
    But I have also seen what it looks like when that does not 
happen--with my own dad, who did not get the support he needed 
and who, because of that, never quite found his way after 22 
years of honorable service. Simply put, I know that VA can make 
all the difference in the world for our Nation's heroes. I know 
that it is VA's job to ensure that no veteran--no veteran--ever 
slips through the cracks. And I promise you that if I am 
confirmed as Deputy Secretary, I will do everything in my power 
to ensure that every veteran gets the world-class care and 
benefits they deserve.
    Fortunately, throughout my life, I have been blessed with 
opportunities and experiences that have helped prepare me for 
this role. During my time at the VA, I know what it takes for 
VA to deliver more care and more benefits to more veterans than 
ever before.
    From my 27 years of public service in Congress, the 
military, and the executive branch--under Republican and 
Democratic leadership--I have come to understand the critical 
nature of the partnership between the Hill and the VA. And from 
my deployment, I have even seen firsthand the importance of the 
PACT Act. I was exposed to burn pits within Iraq, and I am so 
grateful that because of you, veterans' toxic exposures are now 
recognized and cared for.
    The bottom line is during each of those experiences I have 
strived to lead with compassion and integrity, creating teams 
that perform well under pressure, and above all else, deliver. 
And that is exactly what I hope to do as Deputy Secretary--
deliver for veterans.
    To that end, I have three primary goals, if confirmed.
    First, I will focus on transition. We need to ensure that 
our military service members have access to all the tools they 
need before they depart the service.
    Second, I will ensure that we continue to build an 
electronic health record system that improves care for 
veterans, and that we only deploy it when it is fully ready.
    And third, I will continue to build or rebuild trust with 
veterans. I want to ensure that VA is reaching untethered 
veterans--veterans who have never come to VA before--and 
getting them care and benefits, including through the PACT Act.
    As Deputy Secretary, I would do all of that and more with 
one north star in mind, the same north star that Secretary 
McDonough set forth when he was confirmed, to fight like hell 
for veterans, their families, caregivers, and survivors--
because they deserve the very best.
    Thank you again for considering my nomination and for your 
partnership. I look forward to your questions.

    [The prepared statement of Ms. Bradsher appears on page 25 
of the Appendix.]

    Chairman Tester. Thank you for your statement. I will yield 
to the senior Senator of the Senate, Senator Murray.

                      SENATOR PATTY MURRAY

    Senator Murray. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, and Ms. 
Bradsher, thank you for being here. Thank you for your service. 
Thank you for everything you have done for our country. Thank 
you to your family for allowing you to do this and for, I know, 
all the sacrifices they have to make in order for you to do 
this, because it really is an important role. So thank you.
    I want to start by talking about what I know will be a very 
large focus for you if you are confirmed to this role, and that 
is the electronic health record modernization. Now as you know, 
the staff in Spokane and Walla Walla, where the EHR has been 
deployed, has really worked hard and tirelessly to learn this 
new system, and as you know it has really put a strain on our 
providers and on our veterans. They are the current experts on 
this system. But I continue to hear from people on the ground, 
in my communities, that their feedback is not being taken into 
account or even heard.
    So I wanted to ask you, in this role you will have the 
responsibility to oversee EHR implementation to make sure we 
get this right. How will you make sure that our veterans 
themselves and the providers are being heard and their feedback 
is actually taken into account during this modernization 
effort?
    Ms. Bradsher. Senator, thank you very much for that 
question. First and foremost, the Deputy Secretary is 
ultimately responsible for the electronic health care record, 
and if confirmed, that responsibility will fall fully on my 
shoulders.
    First and foremost, we have to ensure that our veterans get 
the health care record they need. When I retired I hand-carried 
my medical records from the Pentagon to my VSO, and we simply 
have to have the electronic health care record that our 
veterans can rely on.
    So first and foremost, going on, boots on the ground is how 
I have always led. Go to all five sites, listen to our 
veterans, do listening sessions, along with listening to our 
clinicians. I agree with you--our clinicians have not seen the 
results of their comments come back and executed within the 
electronic health care record. So we have the opportunity now, 
with the reset of the five sites, make sure that we are able to 
incorporate those recommendations enterprise-wide, because we 
cannot have five different records. We need to have enterprise-
wide changes and ensure that we hold Cerner Oracle accountable 
so that those changes actually happen. And then be able to make 
those changes and also scale to a large, because right now we 
are at medium and small facilities. We need to be able to also 
scale it to a large facility.
    Senator Murray. And as you mentioned, we are in a reset, 
and I just want to know how you are going to use your oversight 
role during this reset period to make sure we can deliver the 
care that we have promised.
    Ms. Bradsher. Thank you, Senator. First and foremost, what 
we have with the reset is being able to hold Oracle Cerner--we 
have 30 times stronger penalties. So for any challenges we 
have----
    Senator Murray. In the new contract.
    Ms. Bradsher. In the new contract. I am sorry. On May 16th, 
we have a new contract. Also, we have five 1-year contracts. 
That allows us to hold them accountable each year and to make 
sure that we set those markers that we need for them and then 
go to the next contract. So those are the two great changes 
that we have with this new contract that will allow us to hold 
them accountable.
    And also the changes that we will make do not just benefit 
VA. They will also benefit DoD, and being able to ensure, 
especially with the outages--we have had definitely some issues 
with consistency and keeping the system up--we now have much 
tougher penalties for those outages.
    Senator Murray. Okay. Well, as you know I will be in very 
close touch with you on this as we work through it. But I just 
want to make it very clear, staffing cuts are unacceptable, and 
I hope and expect for there to be a timely resolution to the 
concerns on the ground from the providers that we are hearing 
about that as well.
    Ms. Bradsher. Yes, Senator, if confirmed.
    Senator Murray. And just real quickly, as you know women 
make up nearly 17 percent of active duty military forces and 19 
percent of National Guard and Reserves. That number is rising. 
Talk to us about how you are going to use your role to make 
sure that VA is accessible and responsible to our women 
veterans.
    Ms. Bradsher. Thank you, Senator. Even this nomination 
hearing right now is historic, and if confirmed to serve as 
Deputy Secretary, I would take reaching out to all veterans, 
first and foremost, but especially for our women veterans. I 
have met so many women in the last couple of years who do not 
recognize their own service, who minimize their time, who tell 
me, ``I only did 4 years. My husband did 20,'' and they will 
fight for their husband's benefits more than they fight for 
their own, or they will not even acknowledge their own service.
    So one of the things is being creative, reaching out to 
platforms that VA has not touched into before, and I hope, if 
given the opportunity, that would be first and foremost, is 
doing that outreach.
    Senator Murray. Thank you very much. I really appreciate 
it.
    Ms. Bradsher. Thank you, Senator.
    Chairman Tester. Senator Moran.
    Senator Moran. Chairman, thank you. Ms. Bradsher, tell me 
how your nomination came about. What happened at the Department 
of Veterans Affairs? What was the process by which you were 
chosen to be the nominee?
    Ms. Bradsher. Senator, Deputy Secretary Remy had let the 
Secretary know that he was looking to move on, and so the 
Secretary asked me if I would be interested in serving, and I 
told him yes, and then the White House worked it from there.
    Senator Moran. Pretty straightforward. Let me ask a couple 
of process questions. If you are confirmed, do you agree to 
testify before this Committee and our counterpart committee in 
the House whenever you are asked to testify?
    Ms. Bradsher. Yes, Senator.
    Senator Moran. If confirmed, do you agree to make certain 
that requests for information from Congress are fully responded 
to in a timely manner without regard to political party or 
committee status?
    Ms. Bradsher. Yes, Senator.
    Senator Moran. Thank you for that answer.
    If confirmed--this is a substantive question--if confirmed, 
would you commit to preserving or expanding the access to care 
that veterans have currently, including the options given to 
them under the MISSION Act and the existing access standards, 
and to take no action that would restrict a veteran's ability 
to choose the provider and care setting of their choice and 
make their own health care decisions?
    Ms. Bradsher. Yes, Senator. If confirmed, I will definitely 
look into being able to expand the care for our veterans as 
much as possible.
    Senator Moran. I am not trying to trick you into answering 
a question differently than you want to answer it, but I am 
trying to make certain that you have an appreciation for the 
value of the MISSION Act and its ability to serve veterans in 
rural and other circumstances, special need care. And so the 
crux of that question I will ask in this way. I want to make 
certain that you will work to preserving and expanding the 
access to that care under the MISSION Act.
    Ms. Bradsher. Yes, Senator, I will.
    Senator Moran. And is there anything that--and let me do 
one more. If you are confirmed--this is important. I bring a 
complaint or concern to the Department of Veterans Affairs, and 
I get an answer that is certainly pleasing to me, either a 
problem we solve, something that is being incorrectly handled 
at home or at someplace else across the country is occurring. 
Policy does not work well. The VA, the leadership offices here 
tell me that it has been corrected. I then discover that that 
communication apparently has not occurred back to the state of 
Kansas or to the local VA hospital.
    So I would indicate that there is a significant opportunity 
for the VA to make certain that the decisions it makes here in 
Washington, DC, which I hope are informed by input from those 
at home, that once the decision is made, a correction has 
occurred, that the folks at the local community health clinic, 
the folks at the VA hospital, and the folks in the benefit 
world, that they then conduct themselves based upon the 
policies that I have been told are corrections that have been 
made.
    So if confirmed, how would you help break down the silos 
between the VA central office in Washington, DC, and VA 
entities across the country, to make certain that the 
directives from program offices and leadership officials are 
responsive to the needs of, and faithfully executed by the 
field staff?
    Ms. Bradsher. Senator, thank you very much. If confirmed, 
one of the areas, obviously, and you see Secretary McDonough, 
who is on the road today, going out in the field, is the 
absolute best way to get that real-world information and making 
sure that the policies we are setting are actually being 
executed on the ground. Obviously, we cannot get to everything 
immediately, so one other way that I want to break down the 
silos is similar to what I have done as Chief of Staff, and 
that is I have taken all the chiefs across the administrations 
and the directorates and we meet weekly to have conversations, 
to make sure that implementation, best practices, any issues 
that we are able to handle at the lowest level possible, I want 
to replicate that same platform across the deputies and being 
able to ensure that we are getting that information down.
    But having an open door for you, for our staff, and for our 
leadership to make sure that we say that communication piece. 
It is definitely a challenge with 427,000. But it has worked so 
far with the chiefs. I would like to try it also with the 
deputies.
    Senator Moran. The question I asked makes sense to you? I 
mean, the circumstances I described you would understand that 
they happen too frequently. That makes sense to you?
    Ms. Bradsher. Yes.
    Senator Moran. I would indicate that what I generally know 
about the concerns and needs of veterans is what I hear when I 
am walking down the street or the email that I get, the 
conversations I had on Memorial Day. And it is important, one, 
to make certain that when a correction, a solution is found 
that it is actually implemented, so it is not just conversation 
to me. We have taken care of the problem. And then secondly, 
usually those problems are something experienced by many other 
veterans. In many instances it is not an isolated instance, and 
we need to make certain that the rest of the VA, across the 
country, is complying with the fix. Again, that makes sense to 
you?
    Ms. Bradsher. Yes, Senator, it does.
    Senator Moran. Thank you, ma'am.
    Ms. Bradsher. Thank you.
    Chairman Tester. Thank you, Senator Moran.
    We have now been joined by the honorable Senator from 
Illinois. Senator Duckworth, you have the floor for a post 
introduction.

            INTRODUCTION BY THE HON. TAMMY DUCKWORTH

    Senator Duckworth. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I apologize 
for being a little bit late. It would have never happened in 
the Army. It happens all the time in the Senate, though, 
unfortunately.
    Chairman Tester and Ranking Member Moran, thank you for the 
opportunity to speak before the Senate Committee on Veterans 
Affairs today. I am so deeply honored to introduce today's 
historic nominee, Ms. Tanya Bradsher, who is nominated to be 
Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
    In a moment you are going to hear her explain why she 
answered the President's call to help lead the VA in fulfilling 
one of our Nation's most sacred obligations--caring for 
America's veterans, their families, caregivers, and survivors. 
But first I would like to address why Ms. Bradsher is the right 
choice to help lead the VA as we seek to modernize the 
Department to best serve multiple generations of veterans.
    Like many military families, including mine, the history of 
military service in Ms. Bradsher's family runs back 
generations, both on her father's side, where she is a fourth-
generation soldier, and on her mother's side, where her 
grandfather's service so inspired her mother that her mother 
was the driving force behind the nominee's military service. In 
fact, a mom encouraging her daughter to speak with recruiters 
and, in turn, Ms. Bradsher's mother supported her daughter's 
family when Ms. Bradsher deployed to Iraq.
    Like her mom, Ms. Bradsher is also a military spouse, and 
she raised her children while on active duty as well. In fact, 
Ms. Bradsher was pregnant with her second of her three 
daughters and in the Pentagon on 9/11 itself.
    Ms. Bradsher and her family have never shied away from 
serving our great Nation. In the course of her service she 
earned numerous awards, including the Legion of Merit and the 
Bronze Star, among other commendations. I mentioned these 
achievements and tributes not just because they outline her 
unique experience, but because they demonstrate how her own 
service in uniform enables her to understand the challenges 
facing today's generations of post-9/11 veterans.
    As veterans of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars continue to 
grow older, the VA must proactively reach out to these veterans 
and bring them into the VA system. Though some veterans may 
minimize their service or shift focus to others they may see as 
more deserving, we need to make sure that the VA properly 
recognizes historically underserved veteran populations and 
draw them in.
    Our VA must serve all who served. Tanya Bradsher is just 
the combat veteran to make that happen. Though it is not the 
reason for her nomination, if confirmed, Ms. Bradsher would be 
the highest-ranking woman veteran at the VA, ever. The first 
woman, the first woman veteran, the first woman combat veteran, 
the first woman of color to be Deputy Secretary of Veterans 
Affairs.
    Public servants like Ms. Bradsher do not take on these 
challenges. They do not answer this call because they want to 
be a first, or in Ms. Bradsher's case, many firsts. Though she 
may pave a path for those who come later, it is a selfless 
commitment to serving others that motivates people like Tanya 
Bradsher. For the past two years, she has served as the 
Department's Chief of Staff as the VA delivered an 
unprecedented level of benefits and health care services to our 
veterans and began to implement the historic PACT Act.
    I am proud to introduce Ms. Bradsher today, and I am 
confident that she is ready to serve as Deputy Secretary. Thank 
you again for this opportunity, Mr. Chairman, and I strongly 
urge this Committee to support this impressive and patriotic 
nominee. Thank you.
    Chairman Tester. Thank you, Senator Duckworth, for those 
kind remarks about the nominee, and you are welcome to stay as 
long as you would like. We might even throw you in for a few 
questions if you really want.
    Senator Duckworth. I do not know. My adult supervision is 
right here, and they are probably going to pull me.
    Chairman Tester. I will now take the Chairman's privilege--
sorry, Senator Hassan--to recognize Senator Brown.

                     SENATOR SHERROD BROWN

    Senator Brown. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Two American heroes 
sitting in front of us, so thank you both for serving in 
slightly different capacities but serving this country, so 
thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    The Chairman mentioned the PACT Act, as did Senator 
Duckworth. When we talked earlier, Ms. Bradsher, on the phone, 
you told me about a conversation with a young veteran, a woman 
whom you met in a store, who told you that she, quote, ``used 
to be a veteran.'' Talk to us, if you would, how we help ensure 
that veterans, particularly women veterans, understand the VA 
is there for them. I hear repeatedly from people from the 
roundtables I do on the PACT Act, that, ``Well, somebody else 
deserves it more than I do. I do not really need these 
benefits.'' So talk about that.
    Ms. Bradsher. Thank you, Senator. There are so many 
veterans who, for many reasons, think that if the apply for 
their benefits then it is taking benefits from someone else, 
and the only way I have been successful in getting them to at 
least listen a little bit is for them to realize that it is 
also for their families.
    Veterans definitely have a mission and purpose, and they 
have that from the military, and when they get out some of them 
really have these misperceptions on what the VA offers. And so 
working through that, the PACT Act has been helpful. We have 
been able to have unprecedented numbers. We are at a 30 percent 
increase for claims, and we are also seeing a great uptick for 
the toxic exposures. But we still have veterans who think that 
because they did not go to war, they do not qualify for VA. We 
have women veterans who think that because they only served one 
term that they do not qualify for the VA.
    And I know you talked about the roundtables that you are 
doing, Senator, at home. I do the same thing. I go out and 
speak as much as possible, and I am always surprised at how 
many women just do not recognize the service that they have 
provided, and they minimize it. So it is definitely a 
challenge.
    I did a roundtable at church, and I had a gentleman who had 
a Navy hat on, and I said, ``Well, have you applied for PACT 
Act?'' and he said, ``No, no. I cannot apply for VA because I 
never went to war.'' And I said, ``What do you mean? Of course, 
you did how many years?'' and he said, ``Seven years in the 
Navy.'' I said, ``Well, seven years, you definitely qualify.'' 
But even--and I will not mention any of the members--even staff 
who have served here, who have deployed to Kuwait, did not 
realize that her time in Kuwait, even though she is a 
Guardsman, qualifies her for PACT Act.
    It is a conversation, and working through and trying to 
figure out unique ways to communicate with our veterans, it 
cannot just be through just MSOs and VSOs. We are going to have 
to get creative, and we are going to have to reach the veterans 
where they are.
    Senator Brown. Thank you. Thank you for that answer, Ms. 
Bradsher.
    You had talked about your own transition--I know Senator 
Murray asked about that too--from service to veteran status, if 
you will. I am particularly concerned about veterans' mental 
health during the transition process. We are working on 
legislation. I would just like a commitment from you if you 
would pledge to work with us on that bill.
    Ms. Bradsher. Yes, Senator. If confirmed, I would.
    Senator Brown. Thank you.
    Last question. Senator Murray talked about the problems 
with the rollout. We know that the botched electronic record 
rollout has contributed to four veterans' deaths. I am glad the 
VA has taken the right steps to fix the system. We obviously 
must prevent these kinds of incidents. However, while VA works 
toward these changes there are five VAs still working on the 
current system. You, of course, know that. One of those is in 
Columbus. I have had extensive conversations with the Secretary 
of the VA about this.
    Tell us, if you would, what steps you will take to protect 
veterans getting care from the VA that are currently using 
Oracle Cerner while working through the necessary fixes.
    Ms. Bradsher. Senator, first and foremost, making sure that 
our clinicians there know that we will support them and that 
also any of the changes that they are seeing, that we now, 
through Dr. Evans and through our leadership with the 
electronic health care record team, being able to address those 
issues so that we can quickly look at resolution, especially 
dealing with downtime. That seems to be a challenge that we are 
still working through.
    So keeping those open lines of communication, making sure 
those five locations have the support that they need to be able 
to continue to execute to take care of our veterans, because 
that is the most important mission that we have.
    Senator Brown. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Senator 
Hassan.
    Chairman Tester. Senator Tuberville.

                    SENATOR TOMMY TUBERVILLE

    Senator Tuberville. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Ms. Bradsher, 
thank you for being here today. I enjoyed our time visiting 
yesterday. That was very good. Thank you for your service and 
your husband's service, and your entire family's service. You 
have got a beautiful family.
    Ms. Bradsher. Thank you.
    Senator Tuberville. And I know you are proud of them. I 
know you are glad they are here supporting you today. That is 
important.
    For this Committee to act as an effective oversight entity 
for taxpayers, the VA must act in an open and transparent 
manner. I have experienced, in the last few years, several 
instances--and we talked about this--of the VA not providing 
data and information I have requested in a timely manner, 
through questions for the record, formal letters, and other 
things.
    As Deputy Secretary, do you commit to righting these errors 
and working with me and my staff providing information so we 
can work together?
    Ms. Bradsher. Yes, Senator, if confirmed.
    Senator Tuberville. Thank you.
    A majority of your career has involved strategic 
communications and outreach. As Assistant Secretary of Public 
Affairs at the Department of Homeland Security you oversaw 
public outreach for the entire department, and prior to that, 
when you worked at the White House, you served as Assistant 
Director of the Office of Public Engagement, where you led 
veteran, wounded warrior, and military family outreach 
initiatives.
    Given your decades of experience in communication and 
engagement, how involved have you been in the VA strategy to 
educate and reach veterans on the PACT Act? You talked a little 
bit about that, but kind of explain it a little bit. How will 
you help with that?
    Ms. Bradsher. I do my best to stay out of Assistant 
Secretary Fulton's hair. It is really hard since I had that job 
over at DHS, Senator. But we have a strategic outreach, we have 
the Assistant Secretary of Public Affairs, but we have really 
looked at PACT Act as our main mission across the Department, 
and making sure, because of the deadline of August 9th, we want 
to make sure that all veterans know about the PACT Act. So 
between outreach with our veteran service organizations, all of 
our various platforms, and outreach, we have done something 
unprecedented for us. We have done over hundreds of events 
across the country in order to make sure that our veterans know 
about the PACT Act.
    Senator Tuberville. The PACT Act included a 1-year open 
enrollment period for the post-9/11 combat veterans.
    Ms. Bradsher. Yes, Senator. So they can backdate the claim 
to August 10, 2022.
    Senator Tuberville. Yes. So 10 years past the separation 
from service of 9/11, that 1-year period will end on September 
30th. I am concerned that the VA still does not have a 
mechanism to track the veterans who have enrolled under the 
authority thus far. You know, why, nine months after such 
significant legislation has passed, does the VA not have a 
better way to track these people?
    Ms. Bradsher. Senator, I think part of the challenge is we 
have some that file for PACT Act and they will also file for 
other claims that they had that may not be directly PACT Act-
related. And then we have others who have seen the press from 
the PACT Act, who may not be impacted directly from the PACT 
Act but have decided to go ahead and apply. And so that is part 
of the challenge is pulling those together. But we do have some 
data in regard to how many PACT Act claims we have received so 
far.
    Senator Tuberville. How many veterans were eligible to 
enroll under the 1-year open enrollment period when the PACT 
Act was enacted? How many of them have enrolled at this point, 
do you think?
    Ms. Bradsher. We had 3 million we think are eligible. My 
understanding is we are about 800,000 have enrolled so far.
    Senator Tuberville. What steps is the VA taking to improve 
this tracking process, that you know of, of veterans that have 
not enrolled?
    Ms. Bradsher. Continued outreach, Senator. You know, trying 
to reach out to our untethered veterans, our Veteran Experience 
Office, trying to do as many events as possible, and looking 
for new ways to be able to reach our veterans.
    Senator Tuberville. You had an interesting story yesterday 
about your burn pit experience in Afghanistan. Correct?
    Ms. Bradsher. Iraq.
    Senator Tuberville. About jogging. And I would hope in the 
future, and I have talked to Secretary Austin about this, about 
burn pits being close to our camps and things like that. Could 
you tell your story there, about your jogging?
    Ms. Bradsher. Absolutely. I picked a horrible time to pick 
up running, and so I was at Diwaniya which is in Iraq, and the 
burn pit was located right in the center, so as you would run 
you would basically run around the burn pit. But it was not 
just that. It was also going to the TOC, going to get chow, any 
time you would always go by the burn pits. But runs were really 
tough because you were out there for the longest time, or at 
least I was, and so your eyes would water. And then after your 
shower you would spend the next five minutes coughing and 
getting the gunk out that you breathed in while you were 
running.
    Senator Tuberville. I can imagine how many veterans we have 
today that are having those problems.
    Ms. Bradsher. Yes, sir.
    Senator Tuberville. And hopefully we can help them with the 
PACT Act. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Chairman Tester. Senator Hassan.

                  SENATOR MARGARET WOOD HASSAN

    Senator Hassan. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you to 
our nominee. Ms. Bradsher, I really appreciate your service. I 
appreciate your family and their support of your service as 
well.
    And before I turn to my questions I just want to let you 
know I really enjoyed our visit in my office a couple of weeks 
ago, I think it was, and our discussion about the difficulties 
that New Hampshire is having with its aging VA infrastructure. 
And I just will continue to follow up with you and Secretary 
McDonough to ensure that those critical updates to the 
Manchester VA Medical Center are completed as quickly as 
possible. It is on the minds of all of the veterans in New 
Hampshire.
    I also wanted to just start my questions by thanking you 
for all of your discussion of and talking about the PACT Act. I 
am glad we were able to pass it last summer. As you know, and 
have talked about, it allows more veterans accessing more 
benefits that they have earned and deserved.
    In New Hampshire alone, since the passage of the PACT Act, 
veterans have already filed more than 2,000 PACT Act-related 
claims, and more than 1,200 veterans have enrolled in VA health 
care.
    In your testimony, you highlighted the importance of the 
new benefits provided under the PACT Act as well as the need to 
reach out to veterans who have never come to the VA before. So 
you have talked a little bit with Senator Tuberville and others 
about this, but how will you ensure, if you are confirmed, that 
all veterans are able to access their health care and benefits 
under the PACT Act?
    Ms. Bradsher. Senator, thank you so much, and I enjoyed our 
conversation as well.
    First and foremost, we have been able, but we still have to 
do more, working through our Public Affairs Office, our 
outreach offices, and also just continuing to do the events. 
But we also need to hit the major platforms. We need to get 
creative. We need to talk to Peloton, and we need to be able to 
get to the women's magazines for our ladies, and we need to 
talk about cars, and be able to get VA in those different 
niches where we are going to find veterans who may or may not 
get their American Legion magazine. I get my American Legion 
magazine--I should say that up front. But we just need to go 
beyond just our VSOs and getting super creative.
    Senator Hassan. Well, please also feel free to reach out to 
us so we can be part of that creative work with you, because we 
just know how important it is to our veterans.
    Your nomination is a truly historic opportunity, as Senator 
Duckworth has noted, to bring the perspective of a woman 
veteran to top leadership within the VA. So I want to bring to 
your attention the example of the importance of that 
perspective.
    Some women veterans who served on cultural support teams in 
Afghanistan have faced challenges in getting their combat 
engagements documented in their service records and getting 
their injuries recognized by the VA. These women served an 
important role in ensuring that our special forces were able to 
communicate with local Afghan women. We needed our women in the 
field there, in combat situations, to make that communication 
happen. Yet upon returning home they received little 
recognition for their role in combat. Many struggle still to 
get support for the injuries that they sustained during their 
service.
    How will you ensure that the VA learns from the perspective 
of veterans like these women and addresses the obstacles that 
they face in accessing health care and benefits?
    Ms. Bradsher. Senator, if confirmed, and quite frankly, 
even in my current role, I would love to meet with them to look 
for what the challenges they are having and what they are 
finding that PACT Act does not cover because that is the piece. 
You know, we have 27 presumptives that really have 276 
conditions. And so if there are areas that we are not able to 
cover them----
    Senator Hassan. So forgive me for interrupting. The issue 
here is that their work as cultural support teams is not being 
documented in their record as combat service.
    Ms. Bradsher. Gotcha.
    Senator Hassan. And I think it would be great to facilitate 
this conversation in this meeting. But this is where I think 
having women in leadership is so critically important for the 
mission of the VA.
    Ms. Bradsher. Yes, Senator.
    Senator Hassan. And lastly, as we discussed when we met, we 
both understand the importance of the successful transition 
process for service members separating from military service. 
Last year, my bipartisan Solid Start Act was passed into law, 
which makes sure that the VA's Solid Start Program will 
continue to be a resource for service members when they are 
leaving active duty. I continue to believe that the VA can do 
more to connect veterans to their VA benefits and their local 
community support networks during this critical period of such 
enormous change, and you have talked about it a little bit.
    But if confirmed, how will you work to support veterans 
during this transition?
    Ms. Bradsher. For transition we have to reach our veterans 
much sooner, Senator. They should understand what they are 
entitled to for the VA. And it is also a little confusing when 
you have Department of Labor for one piece, VA for another, and 
DoD for transition. So if confirmed, I would love to work with 
all three, with the DoD and Department of Labor, to ensure that 
we get one-stop shopping for our veterans, because it can be 
really confusing when you are not sure exactly what you are 
looking for, and we need all those resources in one location.
    Senator Hassan. Okay. Thank you very much, and thank you, 
Mr. Chair.
    Chairman Tester. Thank you, Senator Hassan, and thank you 
for your flexibility.
    Look, many of the questions that I am going to bring up you 
have already touched already, but I am going to start at the 
beginning. You have an admirable background in both military 
and civilian service. You are currently Chief of Staff of the 
VA, which is not exactly a job of chopped liver. It is pretty 
damn important. Why do you want this job?
    Ms. Bradsher. Senator, being in a Senate-confirmed 
position, I can help more veterans. And I have thoroughly 
enjoyed being Chief of Staff, but being able to implement in 
ways that, as Chief of Staff, I influence, I think would be a 
wonderful opportunity. And at the end of the day, I just want 
to take care of veterans, and I can take care of more veterans 
as Deputy than I can as Chief.
    Chairman Tester. Okay. This Committee, on a bipartisan 
basis, has pushed the Department to hold Oracle Cerner more 
accountable, and secured an EHR contract that not only works 
for our veterans but also works for VA medical personnel and 
the American taxpayer.
    It has already been pointed out the new contract, I 
believe, in the middle of May, May 16th, was signed. Can you 
tell us about this new contract? Are you familiar with it?
    Ms. Bradsher. Senator, I am familiar with it, but I was not 
part of the negotiations.
    Chairman Tester. That is fine. Can you tell me how this 
contract puts VA in a better position, from an accountability 
standpoint?
    Ms. Bradsher. Yes, Senator, absolutely. The original 
contract was a 5-year contract, so we did not have the ability 
to bring Cerner, now Oracle Cerner, back to the drawing board 
until every five years. The changes that they made under Acting 
Deputy Secretary Guy Kiyokawa and the leadership team with Dr. 
Evans is to be able to have five 1-year contracts, so every 
year we can hold Oracle Cerner accountable.
    Second, the penalties are now 30 times greater for outages, 
and they are now incremental versus just a day. So we have the 
ability to hold Oracle Cerner accountable in ways that the 
previous contract did not.
    Chairman Tester. You came out of the military. Your husband 
did too. You guys understand how this outfit works. When it 
comes to electronic health records or the PACT Act 
implementation, you are very much dependent on the DoD to do 
good work, for you to do good work. And I will say this. You 
did not say this. Sometimes the DoD kind of big-foots you guys 
out of the road.
    You, as Deputy Secretary, would serve as co-chair of the 
VA/DoD Joint Executive Committee. That committee, Joint 
Committee, recently made the development and implementation of 
the Individual Longitudinal Exposure Record as number one 
priority, and thank God, because it is critically important if 
we are going to get these in PACT Act implementation.
    Thinking back to your previous times, thinking to this 
position, how could DoD be more engaged in this interagency 
process as it pertains to PACT Act implementation, and how you, 
as Deputy Secretary, could force them to be more accountable to 
the veteran?
    Ms. Bradsher. Thank you very much for the question, 
Chairman. If confirmed to serve as Deputy Secretary, I would 
hope to work with the JEC to be able to interact with all 
service members who have deployed so that they have PACT Act 
information before they ever get out of the military. They do 
not. We really need to have them identified so that they are 
able to understand what PACT Act is, what those presumptives 
are, and how VA can assist them so that when it is time for 
them to go, when it is time for them to transition, be it they 
retire or they get out, they know the next step is us, and that 
we are going to not only be able to take care of them but take 
the research that we are able to get from ILER and also make 
sure that we can take care of these veterans, not just right 
when they get out but throughout their lives.
    The other piece is to focus on how we can work with the 
electronic health care record, making sure that the 
interoperability, that we are able to work through that so the 
smooth transition, as much as possible, when we are able to 
expand Oracle Cerner beyond just the first five sites.
    The other piece is facilities. How do we look at facilities 
to get VA access to some of the military facilities so that we 
are able to have our physicians there, share space, be able to 
take care? Maybe we partner in ways where we can also take care 
of active duty while taking care of retirees simultaneously. We 
have some very unique opportunities.
    Chairman Tester. So on this Joint Executive Committee you 
are going to be dealing probably with people that have a few 
stars on their shoulder, and maybe many stars on their 
shoulder. Does that intimidate you?
    Ms. Bradsher. No, Senator.
    Chairman Tester. Good.
    Senator Hassan talked about this. Senator King is also very 
passionate about it, the transition. We have had a bunch of 
hearings on transition. You have probably watched most of them 
on TV. But one thing that is absolutely obvious to me is that 
if we do not do a better job of transitioning we are never 
going to get our arms around the veteran suicide issue.
    Ms. Bradsher. I agree.
    Chairman Tester. The transition starts long before they get 
out of the military. Once again, getting back to the Joint 
Executive Committee, how do you intend to use that position to 
influence some military who, by the way, its main job is to go 
out and fight and win, to influence to put attention to 
transition? And as I believe you have already pointed out, 
early transition is key. Talk to me about how you are going to 
get this done.
    Ms. Bradsher. Senator----
    Chairman Tester. Because we talked about suicide almost 
every meeting, in some form or another. It is a huge issue. 
Losing one soldier to suicide is too many, and we are losing a 
hell of a lot more than one. And so how do you deal with this 
issue, from your position, assuming you are confirmed?
    Ms. Bradsher. Senator, you are absolutely right. Death by 
suicide is a huge concern with veterans, and the biggest 
challenge I have seen is when veterans transition it is that 
sense of purpose. It is being able to find their niche when the 
military is gone and they are out. And it is just so incredibly 
vital.
    Partnership with the Department of Defense is key because, 
as you can see, veteran families, we usually raise more 
veterans, or more military, and so being able to work with the 
Department of Defense, being able to identify any service 
members who have struggles so that when they transition we are 
able to work with them and know, being able to ensure that they 
know that the VA is there for them is so vital, and that they 
are not by themselves. We have to break through a little to get 
to the active duty service members and the Guard and Reserve so 
that they know that VA is a welcoming home for them. But we 
also have to make sure that we are that welcoming home.
    Chairman Tester. I think one of the things, and I believe 
you brought it up too, was the one-stop shop experience. I 
think that can make a big difference in simplifying their lives 
and knowing that we have their back----
    Ms. Bradsher. Yes, Senator.
    Chairman Tester.--Once they get out of the military.
    Last question before I get to Senator Blumenthal. The VA 
has reached a number of long-awaited agreements with its labor 
partners. Tell me how these agreements are going to help 
support the VA of improving recruitment and retention across 
the enterprise.
    Ms. Bradsher. Yes, Senator. Exactly. We are super 
fortunate. Senator McDonough went down to Durham to sign that 
for our nurses, and our nurses are our backbone for our health 
care system. So they will be able to help us with recruiting, 
help us with retention, and also raise any issues so that we 
are able to address them before we have a nurse walk out the 
door. That is why the unions are so vital and important for us 
to have that communication.
    Chairman Tester. Very good. Senator Blumenthal.

                   SENATOR RICHARD BLUMENTHAL

    Senator Blumenthal. Thanks, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for 
having this hearing, and sorry to be late getting here. But I 
appreciated our conversation yesterday and enjoyed it. And as I 
indicated then I am really delighted that you are going to be 
assuming this position. I think we need this kind of 
leadership, especially from someone who has your experience, 20 
years in the Army, and who knows what it is like to be a female 
veteran. I know that Senator Murray asked you about plans to 
improve access to care for our female veterans. Connecticut, 
for example, has a new facility for them. But how would you 
assess the current state of care for female veterans around the 
country?
    Ms. Bradsher. We have some locations, Senators, who are 
doing an amazing job taking care of our women veterans. I do 
think that we need to ensure that that incredible care is 
across the board. The VA that I entered 10 years ago, which is 
down the road, out-processed at the VA medical center, is 
totally different than the organization in 2013, than when I 
went to visit last year and this year.
    So I do think culturally competent care across the board. 
Every facility has a specialist there, but making sure that it 
is uniform and that our veterans, our women veterans in 
particular, feel welcomed in each facility that they enter.
    Senator Blumenthal. We spoke yesterday about the K2 
veterans and about the need to expand care for our K2 veterans 
who worked, as you know, in Uzbekistan, in a former Soviet air 
base, have been exposed to toxic chemicals and potential 
radiation. Will you commit to working with me to expand care to 
those veterans and also to secure, from the Department of 
Defense, the records that are needed to assess the potential 
exposure that they have?
    Ms. Bradsher. Yes, Senator, if confirmed.
    Senator Blumenthal. Let me ask you about the VA facility in 
Connecticut. As we discussed yesterday, Secretary McDonough has 
visited that facility. I hope you will as well. I am inviting 
you to come and see it and actually see for yourself the need 
to rebuild it. It is a 1950s structure. Like many across the 
country, many VA facilities, it has some of the best docs, 
nurses, staff in the world. They are working with facilities 
that areout-of-date, and they are extraordinarily dedicated and 
expert professionals. But we need the new rebuilding, which is 
ongoing--new parking garage, new surgery clinic--but the entire 
facility. So I would suggest that you come see it for yourself.
    Let me ask you about electronic health record 
modernization, another topic we discussed. What can be done to 
make sure that these systems are completed to be interoperable?
    Ms. Bradsher. Yes, Senator. First and foremost, during the 
reset we are going to have to focus on those first five sites 
and make sure that we have listened to our veterans, that we 
have listened to our clinicians, and that we are able to take 
those best practices and those concerns and work with Oracle 
Cerner to make the changes that we need in order to be able to 
fix the record at those five sites.
    We also need to ensure that the record is scalable so that 
we can get it deployed to larger sites, including Level 1 
sites.
    But we are not going to do anything until it is fully ready 
to go. We will work with the firm. I will work with, if 
confirmed, also our EHR team and Department of Defense, the 
JEC, to ensure that we have those changes and that we have the 
health care record our veterans deserve.
    Senator Blumenthal. Thank you. I want to again thank you 
for your service and thank your family for their support, and 
their service, and look forward to working with you. Thank you 
for taking this very, very important position. I look forward 
to working with you. Thank you.
    Ms. Bradsher. Thank you, Senator.
    Chairman Tester. Senator King.

                   SENATOR ANGUS S. KING, JR.

    Senator King. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Welcome to the 
Committee. Nice to see you this afternoon.
    As you know, an issue I have been involved with is 
domiciliary care in veteran homes generally. We passed a 
statute on this. It has now been 28 months. We still do not 
have a rule. And I would appreciate a timeline to get that 
done. Twenty-eight months is too long for a rule. And by the 
way, that rule should be retroactive, given the time that has 
elapsed. This is a real hardship to our veteran homes. 
Something like $3 million a year being lost because they are 
doing the right thing by taking care of veterans with dementia. 
So I hope you will attend to that issue.
    Ms. Bradsher. Yes, Senator, if confirmed, I will definitely 
do that.
    Senator King. Thank you. Number two, I know various people 
have talked about the electronic medical records. I want you to 
be really obnoxious on this contract. I do not know if you have 
it in you, but try, because so far we have not held the 
contractor to their obligations. I know it has been changed to 
a year-to-year. That gives us substantial leverage. I hope you 
will use it, because if we have specific goals in terms of 
metrics, approval rating by the users, all of those kinds of 
things, timeliness, lack of crashes, and if they are not 
meeting them there should be penalties, and that should be part 
of the contract. They should have costs if they do not meet 
those metrics.
    I am concerned that we are sort of drifting through this 
process and not holding the contractors accountable. There are 
billions of dollars at stake here, taxpayer money. This has 
been a drama that we really ought to be bringing to a close. So 
I want you to call on your inner bear to go after this issue.
    Ms. Bradsher. Senator, I am a mother of three from ages 23 
to 17. I have bear in me, and I am happy----
    Senator King. You know what I am talking about.
    Ms. Bradsher. Yes, Senator.
    Senator King. I am serious, though.
    Ms. Bradsher. No, and I agree. I do not mean to make light, 
but absolutely, it is vital for our veterans.
    Senator King. Thank you.
    Chairman Tester. Senator King, I might add that she just 
told me earlier that she is not afraid of people with stars on 
their shoulders either.
    Senator King. Thank you, sir.
    Transition. I am going to be submitting several amendments 
to the National Defense Authorization Act on the Armed Services 
Committee. One would be to change the opt-in to an opt-out on 
notifying the state veterans service officer on the DD 2648. 
That is number one, because now only 15 percent of 
transitioning veterans opt in, and the whole idea of transition 
is to have somebody there to welcome them. But we cannot do 
that if we do not know who they are and that they are coming. 
That is number one.
    Number two, we would allow transitioning veterans to enroll 
in the VA before they actually leave, so that there is an 
enrollment that takes place before they leave service. They can 
maybe even set up appointments.
    And the third amendment is to make the Department of Labor 
a full member of the Joint Executive Committee. Now they are 
kind of an advisory. I think they ought to be involved.
    Can you support those three amendments?
    Ms. Bradsher. Yes, Senator.
    Senator King. Thank you. I will relay that to the Armed 
Services Committee.
    And finally, and I think this question may have come up, 
women veterans are still reporting to me that they do not feel 
fully empowered in the VA system. They are 11 percent. Now they 
will be 20 percent in a few years. Can we somehow deal with 
that issue to be sure that our VA system adequately represents 
the interests of female veterans?
    Ms. Bradsher. Yes, Senator. That would be one of my key 
goals, if confirmed.
    Senator King. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will yield back.
    Chairman Tester. Well, I want to thank the Committee 
members for being here. I want to thank the nominee for being 
here, and I appreciate your very direct answers to the 
questions and not filibustering. And I mean that. Thank you. I 
think it speaks to you as a person.
    I would ask that any of the questions that are put forth to 
the Committee be at the Clerk no later than 5 p.m. on Friday. 
And with that----
    Ms. Bradsher. Senator, can I correct the record? I 
apologize. I did make an error when I was talking to Senator 
Tuberville. The new enrollees for PACT Act, the population is 
84,000. I apologize. I said 800,000, so it was my error. I 
apologize.
    Chairman Tester. Let the record reflect that correction. 
All right?
    Thank you for being here. I thank your family for being 
here. And I would love to give you a timeline on when we hope 
to kick you out of Committee, but let us just put it this way--
we will do it as quickly as we possibly can.
    This hearing is adjourned.
    [Whereupon, at 3:59 p.m., the hearing was adjourned.]




                            A P P E N D I X




                        Nomination Material for

                           TANYA J. BRADSHER



     
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                        Statement for the Record



     
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