[Senate Hearing 119-14]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
S. Hrg. 119-14
LEGISLATIVE PRESENTATION OF
DISABLED AMERICAN VETERANS AND MULTI VSOs:
AMVETS, VIETNAM VETERANS OF
AMERICA, MILITARY ORDER OF THE PURPLE
HEART, BLINDED VETERANS ASSOCIATION,
VETERANS EDUCATION SUCCESS, GOLD STAR
WIVES OF AMERICA, INC., AND
RESERVE ORGANIZATION OF AMERICA
=======================================================================
JOINT HEARING
BEFORE THE
COMMITTEE ON VETERANS' AFFAIRS
OF THE
UNITED STATES
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
AND THE
UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED NINETEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
FEBRUARY 25, 2025
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.govinfo.gov
__________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
59-384 PDF WASHINGTON : 2025
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SENATE COMMITTEE ON VETERANS' AFFAIRS
Jerry Moran, Kansas, Chairman
John Boozman, Arkansas Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut,
Bill Cassidy, Louisiana Ranking Member
Thom Tillis, North Carolina Patty Murray, Washington
Dan Sullivan, Alaska Bernard Sanders, Vermont
Marsha Blackburn, Tennessee Mazie K. Hirono, Hawaii
Kevin Cramer, North Dakota Margaret Wood Hassan, New
Tommy Tuberville, Alabama Hampshire
Jim Banks, Indiana Angus S. King, Jr., Maine
Tim Sheehy, Montana Tammy Duckworth, Illinois
Ruben Gallego, Arizona
Elissa Slotkin, Michigan
David Shearman, Staff Director
Tony McClain, Democratic Staff Director
----------
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES COMMITTEE ON VETERANS' AFFAIRS
Mike Bost, Illinois, Chairman
Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen, Mark Takano, California, Ranking
American Samoa Member
Jack Bergman, Michigan Julia Brownley, California
Nancy Mace, South Carolina Chris Pappas, New Hampshire
Mariannette Miller-Meeks, Iowa Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick,
Gregory F. Murphy, North Carolina Florida
Derrick Van Orden, Wisconsin Morgan McGarvey, Kentucky
Morgan Luttrell, Texas Delia C. Ramirez, Illinois
Juan Ciscomani, Arizona Nikki Budzinski, Illinois
Keith Self, Texas Timothy M. Kennedy, New York
Jennifer A. Kiggans, Virginia Maxine Dexter, Oregon
Abe Hamadeh, Arizona Herb Conaway, New Jersey
Kimberlyn King-Hinds, Northern Kelly Morrison, Minnesota
Mariana Islands
Tom Barrett, Michigan
Jon Clark, Staff Director
Matt Reel, Democratic Staff Director
C O N T E N T S
----------
February 25, 2025
Page
REPRESENTATIVES
Hon. Mike Bost, Chairman, U.S. Representative from Illinois...... 1
Hon. Mark Takano, Ranking Member, U.S. Representative from
California..................................................... 4
Hon. Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen, U.S. Representative from
American Samoa................................................. 16
Hon. Chris Pappas, U.S. Representative from New Hampshire........ 18
Hon. Jack Bergman, U.S. Representative from Michigan............. 19
Hon. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, U.S. Representative from Florida 21
Hon. Morgan Luttrell, U.S. Representative from Texas............. 22
Hon. Morgan McGarvey, U.S. Representative from Kentucky.......... 23
Hon. Abe Hamadeh, U.S. Representative from Arizona............... 24
Hon. Nikki Budzinski, U.S. Representative from Illinois.......... 25
Hon. Kimberlyn King-Hinds, U.S. Representative from Northern
Mariana Islands................................................ 26
Hon. Kelly Morrison, U.S. Representative from Minnesota.......... 27
Hon. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, U.S. Representative from Iowa..... 28
Hon. Delia Ramirez, U.S. Representative from Illinois............ 45
Hon. Maxine Dexter, U.S. Representative from Oregon.............. 47
Hon. Herb Conaway, U.S. Representative from New Jersey........... 48
SENATORS
Hon. Jerry Moran, Chairman, U.S. Senator from Kansas............. 3
Hon. Richard Blumenthal, Ranking Member, U.S. Senator from
Connecticut.................................................... 5
Hon. Angus S. King, Jr., U.S. Senator from Maine................. 16
Hon. Thom Tillis, U.S. Senator from North Carolina............... 17
Hon. Margaret Wood Hassan, U.S. Senator from New Hampshire....... 30
INTRODUCER
Hon. Pete Aguilar, U.S. Representative from California........... 8
WITNESSES
Panel I
Daniel Contreras, National Commander, Disabled American Veterans. 9
accompanied by
Jim Marszalek, National Service Director
Joy Ilem, National Legislative Director
Edward R. Reese, Jr., Executive Director, Washington
Headquarters
Barry Jesinoski, National Adjutant
John Kleindienst, National Director of Voluntary Service
Lamarr Couser, National Employment Director
Christopher Easley, Auxiliary National Commander
Panel II
Horace Johnson, National Commander, AMVETS....................... 32
Jack McManus, National President, Vietnam Veterans of America.... 33
Robert Olivarez Jr., National Commander, Military Order of the
Purple Heart................................................... 35
Paul L. Mimms, National President, Blinded Veterans Association.. 36
William Hubbard, Vice President for Veterans and Military Policy,
Veterans Education Success..................................... 38
Nancy Menagh, Past National President, Gold Star Wives of
America, Inc................................................... 40
Matthew L. Schwartzman, Director, Legislation and Military
Policy, Reserve Organization of America........................ 41
APPENDIX
Prepared Statements
Daniel Contreras, National Commander, Disabled American Veterans. 55
Horace Johnson, National Commander, AMVETS....................... 89
Jack McManus, National President, Vietnam Veterans of America.... 100
Robert Olivarez Jr., National Commander, Military Order of the
Purple Heart................................................... 115
Paul L. Mimms, National President, Blinded Veterans Association.. 120
William Hubbard, Vice President for Veterans and Military Policy,
Veterans Education Success..................................... 137
Nancy Menagh, Past National President, Gold Star Wives of
America, Inc................................................... 167
Matthew L. Schwartzman, Director, Legislation and Military
Policy, Reserve Organization of America........................ 176
Submissions for the Record
Statement of Alfred J. ``Al'' Lipphardt, National Commander,
Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW)................................. 213
Reports submitted by Disabled American Veterans (DAV):
G``Ending the Wait for Toxic-Exposed Veterans: A Post-
PACT Act
Blueprint for Reforming the VA Presumptive Process''
(available online: www.dav.org/ending-the-wait/)
G``The Independent Budget: Fiscal Years 2026 and
2027''
(available online: www.independentbudget.org)
G``Women Veterans: The Journey to Mental Wellness''
(available online: www.dav.org/women-veterans-study/)
LEGISLATIVE PRESENTATION OF DISABLED AMERICAN VETERANS AND MULTI VSOs:
AMVETS, VIETNAM VETERANS OF AMERICA, MILITARY ORDER OF THE PURPLE
HEART, BLINDED VETERANS ASSOCIATION, VETERANS EDUCATION SUCCESS, GOLD
STAR WIVES OF AMERICA, INC., AND RESERVE ORGANIZATION OF AMERICA
----------
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2025
U.S. House of Representatives,
and U.S. Senate,
Committee on Veterans' Affairs,
Washington, DC.
The Committees met, pursuant to notice, at 10 a.m., in Room
390, Cannon House Office Building, Hon. Mike Bost, Chairman of
the Veterans' Affairs Committee, presiding.
Present:
Representatives Bost, Radewagen, Bergman, Miller-Meeks,
Luttrell, Hamadeh, King-Hinds, Barrett, Takano, Brownley,
Pappas, Cherfilus-McCormick, McGarvey, Ramirez, Budzinski,
Kennedy, Dexter, Conaway, and Morrison.
Senators Moran, Tillis, Banks, Sheehy, Blumenthal, Hassan,
and King.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. MIKE BOST,
CHAIRMAN, U.S. REPRESENTATIVE FROM ILLINOIS
Chairman Bost. Good morning. I want to thank you all for
being here. Welcome to my Senate colleagues, Chairman Moran,
Ranking Member Blumenthal, and I would also like to thank DAV's
National Commander, Daniel Contreras and his wife Teresa for
being here today. Thank you.
I would also like to give a welcome to DAV Auxiliary
National Commander Christopher Easley. Thank you for being
here. And I'm pleased that there are folks here from the great
State of Illinois.
Voices. Hooah.
If you would stand, I would just love to see you. Good to
see you. Thank you for being here.
[Applause.]
I have to be real careful because we want to include all of
Illinois, but being from Southern Illinois, we capitalize the
``S'' there, so people don't realize how far out of Chicago I
live. But thank you for traveling here from our home state. I
want to say a special thank you for that.
So, we want to give a warm welcome to everybody. But before
we get started, I would like to acknowledge a couple of people
that--if you are around here, you are around. These two are
very very close to this Committee and DAV should be proud of
who they are and the job that they do, and that's Peter
Dickinson and Shane Liermann.
[Applause.]
And for all of their national staff. But let me tell you,
they work hard on your behalf--veterans--they make a real
difference for you. And I want to tell you that we are
continuing to keep them in our prayers as they are trying to
heal up. Both of them have had a health issue and we are hoping
for their speedy recovery.
Well, this Congress marks a decade on this sacred
Committee. And this is my second term as Chairman, and it is an
honor to serve you. The mission of the VA Committee has always
been personal to me. Many of you have heard my story of how I
grew up around veterans, how my father, Army veteran and his
brothers; my grandfather, one Navy, one Marine.
Voices. Hooah.
Chairman Bost. Hooah, yes. An uncle, a Marine in Vietnam
that was victim of the ultimate oxymoron, friendly fire, but
was very successful in life and still alive and doing well, and
that has a whole lot to do to the VA and his services he
received there. Myself, as a Marine, my son as a Marine, my
grandson is a Marine.
Voices. Hooah.
Chairman Bost. Hooah. So you know how personal this is to
me. And every time I sit at this dais, I am reminded of how
important this is and the debating, whether it is debating with
the Agency or the other side of the aisle, it is always my
focus is on the veteran.
Many of you have watched me and known me around here, and
you see this dirty bracelet cord right here? I have worn that
ever since coming to Congress. And then I am going to tell you
the story on that, because about a year and a half ago, the guy
who gave me that, we lost him. We just knew him as Lieutenant
Dan, and he is a Vietnam veteran. And he made these cords, and
he came to me just after I was elected to Congress, and he
said, I am going to give you a couple of these, and I want you
to wear them on a regular basis, he says, because every time
you look down, I want you to remember who you serve, and that
helps tremendously.
Now, for me, it has always been about the veterans. It is
not about protecting government bureaucracy. I know the
sacrifices each of you have made, especially our disabled
veterans community. Each of you has fought to protect our
Constitutional rights. I am particularly proud of the work DAV
has done to help disabled veterans and their spouses find
meaningful employment. You know, in the testimony that is given
by you today, that recovery from an injury is not complete
until the veterans are able to find meaning and purpose. I look
forward to hearing more about what the DAV is doing to help
disabled veterans and spouses reach their professional goals
and how Congress can help.
DAV plays a vitally 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 they want to work. Veterans should have the
freedom to use the benefits of VA that VA offers in exchange
for their service to meet their individual needs. And they
shouldn't spend hours driving in a car to get them, or combing
through wonky paperwork for months on end, or needless waiting
for a phone call to get a simple answer. You know where VA is
falling short, and you know where we need to push the Agency to
bring it out of the Stone Age and into the New Age.
You have my commitment that as long as I am in charge, we
will continue to fight for you. The hundreds and thousands of
veterans outside the DCA Beltway who just want their health
care on time and their benefits when they need them. You know
this old corporal takes this mission seriously and I know our
new VA Secretary and my friend Doug Collins does too.
Under President Trump's leadership, I know we are going to
put you, the veteran, and the VA service back at the center of
VA mission. And when the bureaucracy tries to get in the way, I
will continue to be the first to hold them accountable and get
the answers for you.
We made great progress through the Dole Act last Congress
and I appreciate DAV's support for this legislation. By working
together, we can accomplish some tremendous wins. Because of
the Dole Act, we have a law that will help streamline the
disability claims process, reduce veterans homelessness,
strengthen mental health care and improve access to at-home
care and much more.
The Dole Act was a great victory for our veterans, but
there is much more that we can do and will do with your help.
Now, my door has always been and will continue to be open to
you. We must deliver for our veterans to protect their health
care choice, expand economic and educational opportunities,
streamline benefits, and get it done. I promise to keep up the
fight we all are in together. Now is not the time to take our
foot off the gas. I look forward to completing our mission
alongside of you. Thank you again for being here today and with
that I now recognize Chairman Moran for his opening comments.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. JERRY MORAN,
CHAIRMAN, U.S. SENATOR FROM KANSAS
Chairman Moran. Chairman Bost, thank you. Thank you for
hosting this joint hearing and we look forward to this
continuing. The Senate will host in a few weeks, and we will
see you on our side of the building. But it is good to be here
with you. It is good to be here with your Members. Good to be
here with my Ranking Member, Senator Blumenthal, and the
Ranking Member of the House, Senator--Congressman Takano, and I
welcome our VSOs, our witnesses, and those here present and
those at home watching. I too say a special hello to all VSO
members that are here or tuning in today from Kansas. I am
grateful to the VSO leadership testifying today. I have met, we
have discussed, and being here in person now to share their
great passion and expertise for supporting veterans, their
families and their survivors.
Policies and programs that we will discuss today depend
upon a strong and effective workforce at the VA to deliver the
care and benefits veterans deserve. I am committed to working
with VSOs and my colleagues to make certain that the necessary
VA workforce is preserved as VA implements new federal
workforce guidance. This Committee has asked, the Senate
committee has asked for lists of those who are impacted by
actions, broken down by location and occupation. The VA has
said none of these employees were in mission-critical
positions, including no VCL responders. The VA has said there
is a process in place that allows for the first senior
executive in an impacted employee's chain of command to request
an exemption. I have asked for and expect to receive, but I am
continuing to wait for further details about this process.
The VA must be forthcoming and transparent to Congress, to
VSOs, to the public, to its workforce regarding workforce
strategy. We are all engaged in attempts to root out any waste,
fraud, or abuse that is prevalent or is present. And we are all
interested in putting the veteran first. We await additional
answers to our questions.
I thank you and I look forward to today's hearing.
Chairman Bost. Thank you, Chairman Moran. I now recognize
Ranking Member Takano for his opening comment.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. MARK TAKANO,
RANKING MEMBER, U.S. REPRESENTATIVE FROM CALIFORNIA
Mr. Takano. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Today we continue our
annual tradition of jointly welcoming veterans service
organizations to testify before Congress about their
legislative priorities. And I am pleased to welcome our first
panel of the National Commander and representatives of the
Disabled American Veterans, and our second panel
representatives from AMVETS, Vietnam Veterans of America, the
Military Order of the Purple Heart, the Blinded Veterans
Association, Veterans Education Success, the Gold Star Wives of
America, and the Reserve Organization of America. And I would
like to extend a special welcome to DAV's National Commander,
Dan Contreras, who hails from Sherman Oaks, California. We are
practically neighbors and it is great to see you again, sir.
And speaking of Californians, are there any Californians in
the room this morning? [Applause.] I see one very special one
at the very center of the table. I know he is there to
introduce you, Mr. Contreras. He is my neighbor.
These hearings are important because they are a great
opportunity for us to hear from the VSOs about issues impacting
veterans in their daily lives. And it was at these hearings in
2022, when the VSOs stood in solidarity calling on Congress to
pass the Honoring our PACT Act that finally convinced the
holdouts to get on board. Without you, we would have never
passed the largest expansion of veterans health care and
benefits since the Vietnam War. Without you, millions of
veterans would still be struggling to access health care for
the toxic exposure they experienced in their service to our
country. I will always be grateful to the VSOs for helping us
get it done.
As I have said since it passed, the PACT Act was never
meant to be a one and done. There is still so much more work to
be done because the PACT was not only about toxic exposure, it
is also about our promise to ensure that veterans have access
to their care and benefits and that we do everything we can to
end veteran homelessness and veteran suicide. Address the new
categories of illness and injury associated with military
service, for example blast injury and military traumatic brain
injury. Finally, achieve Guard and Reserve parity. Ensure that
VA is welcoming to all veterans who have earned the right to be
there. Ensure that VA's infrastructure can support its mission
and so much more.
But unfortunately, given today's political climate, I am
not optimistic about our chances. I am afraid these hearings
are occurring in a very different atmosphere this year. Now, I
have grave concerns about how President Trump's Executive
orders are being carried out across the Federal Government,
most especially at the Department of Veterans Affairs. And yes,
Chairman Moran, I too, have questions, and I too think that
veterans deserve those answers to the questions we have.
I question how purging the workforce, firing the watchdogs,
and making VA hostile to certain veterans is helping VA serve
veterans better. I think serving veterans is why we are all
here. It is certainly why I am here and why I serve on this
Committee, because I think there is no higher calling or honor
than to serve those who have served.
Since he was sworn in, I have requested information from
Secretary Collins about his implementation of the Executive
orders and his employment actions against VA employees, none of
which he has responded to. This is very troubling. We deserve
answers.
It is my hope that I can count on the VSO community to help
us hold VA accountable to all veterans and that you will also
hold Congress accountable by making sure action is behind our
words. That we are being held accountable for carrying out our
Constitutional oversight responsibilities by asking tough
questions, demanding answers, and taking legislative action
when it is needed. We cannot waver on this because we know that
veterans are depending on us. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield
back.
Chairman Bost. Thank you, Mr. Takano. I now recognize
Ranking Member Blumenthal for his opening comment.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL,
RANKING MEMBER, U.S. SENATOR FROM CONNECTICUT
Senator Blumenthal. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to
thank you and the Ranking Member on the House side and my
Chairman on the Senate side for your leadership. These issues
have been bipartisan, and I think the record ought to reflect,
Mr. Chairman, that we have a full room, standing room only.
Thank you all for being here today and showing your solidarity
with the veterans of America. [Applause.] And we may have a
couple of people from Connecticut, I am not sure, but welcome
to all of you. A few.
As the Chairman indicated, we are here today in support of
veterans, and it is very much a family affair. Less than 1
percent of all Americans these days have anything to do with
service in our military, but they are among the most deserving,
the most patriotic, the most dedicated among us. Two of my sons
have served, one as a combat infantry officer in Afghanistan in
the Marine Corps [Cheering], and the other as a Navy SEAL
[Cheering]. And they are both proud veterans, and they keep me
on the straight and narrow.
We are here today at a pretty momentous and important time,
and I am just going to be very blunt. Our VA is under assault.
The veterans of America are under assault. Just last night,
another 1400 members of the veterans family were fired from
their VA jobs. Many of those who were fired are themselves
veterans who have dedicated their life to serving veterans.
That brings the number to, now, 2400 who have been fired with
no credible explanation. And I recommend to you the statement
that was issued by the Veterans of Foreign Wars National
Commander Al Lipphardt just last night. I am not going to read
it all, but I ask Mr. Chairman that it be entered into the
record if there is no objection. It says, and I am quoting,
``we are losing people who are genuinely committed to the
mission and find a continued sense of purpose in what they
do.'' That describes just about all of our VA employees who
have dedicated their lives, many of them, to serving our
veterans.
This past month's assault, in my view, on the VA workforce
and on the federal workforce generally, will do significant and
irreparable harm to the delivery of your care and benefits. As
I mentioned, just last night, Secretary Collins fired another
1400 more employees without notice and without cause, and all
in the name of cost savings, even though we all know that the
costs will be higher in the long run. If you don't care for a
veteran when he or she needs it now, it will only be more
expensive later.
As veterans, you deserve a VA comprised of the very best
medical providers, claims processors, cemetery directors, and
other critical staff, regardless of cost. But in this instance,
the cost will be higher from these supposed savings. In the
name of eliminating waste, Elon Musk and DOGE are laying waste
to the VA. And the VA National Commander put it well, when he
said that Elon Musk is bull-``DOGE''-ing the VA and other
agencies.
The attacks on the VA staff since January 20th are already
having real-life impacts in the field. And all of you are
hearing from our fellow veterans. All of you are hearing their
stories, their individual life impacts. My office spoke to one
employee last night moments after she found out that she had
been terminated from her job with the Veterans Crisis Line,
which of course saves people when they are thinking about
taking their own lives. She is a 100 percent service-connected
disabled veterans and an active-duty military spouse with
outstanding performance reviews. Her job is to ensure training
is provided to other Veterans Crisis Line responders,
empowering them to do their jobs better.
Another 100 percent disabled veteran who served his country
for 14 years, did four combat tours and has 10 years of
service. Fired. A veteran who was the lead coordinator on
dozens of contracts for VA and had a 5 out of 5 performance
rating on her last review. Fired. A disabled Army veteran who
successfully transitioned out of homelessness and now has a
bachelor's and two master's degrees and who chose to serve his
fellow veterans on the Veterans Health Administration. Fired. I
could spend the rest of the morning with the list. Real-life
impacts.
These men and women weren't fired because of poor
performance. They were arbitrarily fired because someone looked
at an algorithm or at a status and saw probationary. Even
though they might have been promoted and are in a probationary
status in that new job, and decided, fired.
If you believe that the VA is a system worth saving, and I
think everybody in this room does, we are going to need your
help. We are going to need you to be the voice and face of
millions, and I mean millions of veterans across the country
whose care and benefits is at stake. As we begin the first of
six panels over the next two weeks, my fellow lawmakers in both
the House and the Senate need you to be bold, candid, and
strong.
The VFW National Commander noted that next week on March
4th, he is going to be here before this Committee and he said,
``I want to see hats in the hallways of our Capitol as our
legislative committee members engage with lawmakers in
demanding that they, `Honor the Contract,' the government has
made with those who have already served and sacrificed so much
for America. It is time to apply pressure and stop the
bleeding.''
I hope we see hats in the hallways. I hope we see heads in
the hallways from all of you and others. And I really want to
thank you for being here today. This picture is worth a
thousand words. Let us keep fighting. Thank you. I yield back.
Chairman Bost. Thank you, Senator. I have said this once, I
will say it again. I trust Secretary Collins in doing the right
thing for veterans, taxpayers, to effectively right size and
reorganize VA to work better for men and women it serves. One,
because he is himself a veteran, and two, because he knows the
mission in serving veterans. As Chairman and as a veteran
myself, my mission is the same. Veterans, the people sitting in
front of us right now, are my number one priority, not
protecting bureaucracy. Let me say that again. Veterans who are
sitting in front of me right now are who I am fighting for, not
bureaucracy. That should be and will continue to be the
priority of Republicans on this Committee. We would be lying to
each other and all of you if we said that everything at the VA
is perfect and there aren't any improvements that need to be
made to make the Agency work better. Now, that includes the
workforce. I take Secretary Collins at his word when he says
there will be no impact to the delivery of care, benefits,
services for our veterans in this plan. My colleagues on the
other side of the aisle continue to spread false information
about what has happened and to scare and use veterans as pawns.
VA has reduced its workforce by less than 1 percent. Let me
say that again--by less than 1 percent. You do understand that
there is over 400,000 employees in the VA. I also want to say
the VA had a record of hiring and a surge over this last year.
The last administration acknowledged many times that they were
over-hiring and were hoping to manage this problem through
employment employee turnover. We have heard this song before,
and I hope my colleagues on the other side of the aisle will
stop using veterans and their families as political posturing.
I trust that Secretary Collins and President Trump, are
doing the right thing for the millions of veterans VA serves.
As long as I am Chairman, I will continue to focus on the
results for those men and women who have served and our
veterans who we are serving, not the bureaucracies. And let me
also say this. Not only are veterans veterans, they are also
taxpayers. They are also concerned that they want to make sure
that when they go to the VA, they receive the services that
they need to and that the bureaucracy hasn't grown so big that
they are focusing on other areas than the physical treatments
that they need to receive at the VA or the mental health they
need to receive at the VA.
There is nothing wrong with making sure that our VA is
operating best for you, and understand that is where we are at.
And I look forward to making sure we move forward in a way that
the services are provided at the rate and the place and the
time that the veteran needs them, not having to jump through
the hoops that I talked about earlier in my opening statement.
But with that, let us get back to the business at hand.
Improving the delivery, care, and services, and benefits. VA
for you. With that, I will now want to yield to Representative
Aguilar to introduce the Disabled American Veterans Commander.
Representative Aguilar, you are now recognized.
INTRODUCTION BY HON. PETE AGUILAR,
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE FROM CALIFORNIA
Mr. Aguilar. Thank you, Chairman Bost, Chairman Moran,
Ranking Members Takano and Blumenthal, our colleagues in the
Senate and in the House. I am privileged to address your
Committee today to introduce Commander Daniel Contreras. As you
know, the Disabled American Veterans organization was
established after World War I and has played a vital role after
every military conflict in promoting the welfare of our
Nation's veterans as they return home to reintegrate into
civilian life. Combat medic and nurse from 1980 to 1996,
Commander Contreras rose to the rank of Sergeant First Class.
He spent his entire civilian life working to help other
veterans injured during their service. He is a role model and a
pillar of our community back home in Southern California. He is
a fixture in San Bernardino or in Riverside and throughout
California, up and down the state, and now across this Nation.
It is an incredible honor for our community to watch someone
who has given so much be recognized as a champion for veterans.
As your Committee looks to the role of the VSOs, I know that
Commander Contreras will be an invaluable resource for your
Committee and a fierce advocate for the veterans that he
represents.
This is a difficult time for our Nation's veterans. As you
have all mentioned in your opening statements, disabled
veterans already face significant hardship in employment,
housing, and accessing health care. We should not be taking
steps to add to this burden. I trust that the voices of
America's disabled veterans will continue to inform the work
that you undertake to uphold our Nation's sacred obligation to
those who have worn the uniform.
Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman. And I yield back.
Chairman Bost. Thank you. Thank you for being here as well.
And, Commander, you are now recognized for 10 minutes to
deliver your opening statement. And thank you again for being
here.
PANEL I
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STATEMENT OF DANIEL CONTRERAS, NATIONAL COMMANDER, DISABLED
AMERICAN VETERANS ACCOMPANIED BY JIM MARSZALEK, NATIONAL
SERVICE DIRECTOR; JOY ILEM, NATIONAL LEGISLATIVE DIRECTOR;
EDWARD R. REESE, JR., EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, WASHINGTON
HEADQUARTERS; BARRY JESINOSKI, NATIONAL ADJUTANT; JOHN
KLEINDIENST, NATIONAL DIRECTOR OF VOLUNTARY SERVICE; LAMARR
COUSER, NATIONAL EMPLOYMENT DIRECTOR; AND CHRISTOPHER EASLEY,
AUXILIARY NATIONAL COMMANDER
Mr. Contreras. Thank you for that. Thank you for that kind
introduction Representative Aguilar. I very much appreciate the
work we were able to accomplish together in providing our
veterans access to their records through the Wounded Warrior
Access Act.
Chairman Moran and Bost, Ranking Members Blumenthal and
Takano and Members of the Committees on Veterans Affairs, thank
you for the opportunity to present the 2025 legislative
priorities of DAV, Disabled American Veterans, an organization
representing nearly 1 million members, all of whom returned
from wartime service forever changed.
My written testimony details DAV's key legislative goals
for the 119th Congress and summarizes our many programs and
accomplishments throughout the last year. So I will use my
limited time today to highlight some of our most pressing,
critical policy goals. But first, let me introduce my DAV
colleagues joining me today, National Adjutant Barry Jesinoski,
Washington Headquarters Executive Director Randy Reese,
National Service Director Jim Marszalek, National Legislative
Director Joy Ilem, National Voluntary Service Director John
Kleindienst, National Caregiver Support Program Director Ron
Minter, National Employment Director Lamarr Couser, and
Auxiliary National Commander Christopher Easley.
I would also like to recognize the many DAV members and
leaders sitting behind me today. Not every member could make
the trip to Washington, but their contributions have been
critical to DAV's success as the Nation's premier veterans
service organization. Others have supported DAV's vital mission
over the past year. They include our senior and junior Vice
Commanders who step up to serve once again, and leaders of the
DAV Auxiliary.
I wish to express my gratitude to our National Executive
Committee and members of the National Legislative Interim
Committee, the Department of California, as well as my Chief of
Staff Enrique Ramos for all of their support. And finally, I
want to thank my beautiful wife Teresa, who has remained a
steadfast partner and supporter of myself and veterans
everywhere.
Mr. Chairman, I sit before you as a service-disabled
veteran who served as a combat medic and nurse for 16 years. My
path to joining the military was laid well before me. As I saw
my brothers and sisters raise their hands swearing to defend
our Nation and the Constitution, I decided it was my turn. I
intended to enlist as a Navy corpsman, but I found the Army to
be the best bet for me.
Voices. Hooah.
The Army offered me an immense opportunity that continues
to pay dividends today. As a medic, it opened up the world of
caring. Once I saw the healing side of service, I knew I was
hooked. When my time in uniform ended, my career helping
veterans was taking flight. Early in my civilian transition, I
reconnected with an Army buddy who introduced me to DAV and the
services we provide. What drew me to this organization more
than anything was a chance to secure justice for my fellow
veterans and make sure that a sacred promise was kept. It was a
new kind of caring, one that doesn't go away as we get older.
Mr. Chairman, veterans need access to a full continuum of
long-term care and caregiver support. That necessity has grown
substantially and will continue to do so as veterans who served
in America's longest war continue to age. The Department of
Veterans Affairs projects that in 10 years the number of
veterans aged 85 and older will increase by a third and women
veterans in this age group could more than double. To meet
aging veteran needs, the VA offers several caregiver support
programs. However, gaps still exist.
Veteran caregivers have proved to be life-saving. They
provide some of the most essential support to veterans, putting
in countless hours, often sacrificing their own well-being to
care for another. Many do so by foregoing a traditional career
and at a great cost to their personal health.
But caregiving isn't without its own costs. Taxpayers
benefit because of the services caregivers provide, which keep
veterans from requiring government-funded assistance. But
studies have shown that over 60 percent of caregivers
experience burnout. We see that in the community we serve and
sadly, most don't know where to turn for help.
When it comes to caregiving, for me, it is personal. I know
it is an area that needs more focus because I live it as a
veteran and a caregiver to my wife who is battling stage four
cancer. Having this experience that no one asked for provides
insight. I have stood by her side through multiple surgeries,
during chemotherapy, radiation, infusion, and a medical trial.
Like every caregiver I know, I do it all in a heartbeat. And I
know with every fiber of my being that if the shoe were on the
other foot, she would be there for me.
This is such a crucial area and we need to help veteran
caregivers by providing comprehensive resources, including
training and financial assistance and requiring the VA to offer
more assisted living care options. At DAV, we operate our own
Caregiver Support initiative to help these unsung heroes. Since
its inception in October 2023, DAV Caregiver Support has
connected over 1400 caregivers to a host of public and private
resources.
While we are exceptionally proud of the success of our
program, the responsibility to provide such support ultimately
rests with the VA. We urge Congress to increase resources for
expanding home-based services and create assisted living
options for service-disabled veterans. This will help us ensure
that veterans can live in their own homes with respect and
dignity.
Mr. Chairman, another crucial and critical issue for DAV is
ensuring that no toxic-exposed veteran is left behind. American
service members have been harmed by toxic exposures since DAV's
founders returned from the trenches of World War I. With the
help and leadership of these Committees, the PACT Act created
more than 20 presumptive conditions for burn pits and other
toxic exposures. And we thank you for that recognition.
[Applause.]
In addition to expanding health care access and benefits to
millions of veterans, they are no longer burdened to prove
their exposures cause these cancers and illnesses. And while
the PACT Act has been transformational, the law does not cover
every toxic-exposed veteran. Those who served at Fort McClellan
and other areas still face an uphill battle to prove their
illnesses is a result of exposure. But doing so can be
impossible, especially years or decades later. And it also did
not include adequate accountability and transparency. That is
why DAV and the Military Officers Association of America
researched the history of presumptive conditions for toxic
exposures and produced a groundbreaking report. And we found
that veterans have been forced to wait, on average, more than
34 years after exposure before VA established presumptives for
benefits and health care. Saying that that is too long is an
understatement of massive proportions. Veterans have died
waiting for justice that eludes their survivors. But if we
continue teaming up, as we did to get the PACT Act to the
President's desk, we can make such injustices a thing of the
past.
[Applause.]
We shared our findings and recommendations last September
in our report, ``Ending the Wait for Toxic-Exposed Veterans.''
And based on our findings, we call on Congress to pass
legislation that would expand research on toxic exposures,
launch an independent scientific review process, and establish
a Veterans Advisory Commission. Together, we can help end the
wait for toxic-exposed veterans.
[Applause.]
Mr. Chairman, a fully funded VA is absolutely vital to
ensuring ill and injured veterans receive the care and benefits
they have earned. Underfunding or delayed funding can have dire
consequences for veterans who rely on VA disability
compensation or health care. It is not an exaggeration to say
in many cases this is life or death. But efforts have been
hampered from a law Congress passed in 2010 limiting its
ability to increase federal spending. The underlying
principle--that is any new laws must not increase any deficits.
In practice, Congress must now offset new benefits by cutting
existing ones. This arbitrary and black and white rule, known
as pay as you go or PAYGO is dangerous, and it doesn't consider
the needs of veterans when determining where and how tax
dollars are spent. But unlike every other government program,
veterans' benefits and health care have already been paid for
through the sacrifices of those who served, period.
[Applause.]
And there are other drastic proposals that seek to balance
the federal budget on the backs of those who guaranteed a free
and prosperous Nation. This is wrong, even under the pretext of
fiscal responsibility. Proposals include taxing VA disability
compensations or phasing out certain unemployability benefits
when veterans reach a retirement age. There is also suggestions
to reduce VA disability compensation levels across the board
for future and current veterans. There is even talk of ending
lower disability payments altogether. As if to say your service
and sacrifice doesn't matter if it doesn't rise to more serious
levels. This idea is perilous, cruel, and deeply flawed. We
hope that you will summarily dismiss this. We appreciate that.
[Applause.]
Mr. Chairman, we must ensure that the new administration's
promise of a Golden Age for America strengthens how we care for
our veterans. But we are seeing organized efforts to curtail
what veterans have earned and deserve, a VA that is laser
focused on providing the best possible care and timely benefits
to veterans, their families, caregivers, and survivors. To
follow through on this promise, veterans need Congress in their
corners as they have been in ours. In this gilded era, we must
ensure that veterans benefits are reinforced, not clawed back.
The Department of Veterans Affairs needs to be fully funded and
have predictable budgets. Veterans' health care should be
enhanced and streamlined, all while ensuring VA provides the
right options to meet their evolving needs.
Together, we have the chance to follow through on the
social contract disabled veterans have earned. And we hope you
will join us in this fight. America is counting on it. May God
continue to bless DAV, the men and women who serve our great
Nation, and the United States of America. Thank you.
[Standing ovation.]
[The prepared statement of Mr. Contreras appears on page 55
of the Appendix.]
Chairman Bost. Thank you, Commander Contreras, for your
testimony. And Members, be advised that we, rather than our
normal 5 minutes, we will have 3 minutes for the sheer number
and we have a second panel to get to. But we do want to get to
the questions. And I will recognize myself for 3 minutes with
that.
Commander, DAV supports my bill, H.R. 740, that is the
Veterans ACCESS Act of 2025, which expands community care
options. Can you explain what this bill would do in support of
our veterans?
Mr. Contreras. Thank you, Chairman Bost, that is a very
important question and I would like to ask our Legislative
Director, Joy Ilem, to answer that question.
Ms. Ilem. Thank you, Commander. We appreciate the ACCESS
Act, and I know that for a long time with community care, there
have been a number of issues that have been, needed fixing and
we appreciate the timeliness of that bill that has been
introduced. We appreciate working with your staff on that.
While we have a few provisions that we would like to see
changed, we think overall it is a good bill. We appreciate it.
We want to make sure that veterans, when they have to use
community care, they have timely access to that care and
services and especially specialized services like residential
rehab treatment programs. Thank you.
Chairman Bost. Thank you for that answer. Commander, next
question is, you know I am grateful first off for the DAV. It's
past support of my legislation that the Veterans Second
Amendment Protection Act, which would ensure that the veterans
with fiduciary--that need fiduciary receive the same due
process rights as every other American before their
Constitutional rights are taken away. Is this legislation
something the DAV will continue to support?
Mr. Contreras. Thank you once again, Chairman Bost. That is
a very important question. I think you will find that DAV's
position is we are not going to take or support any--anything
that takes away Constitutional rights from our veteran. I think
our National Executive Director, Randy Reese, could even go
further into DAV's position.
Chairman Bost. Reese.
Mr. Reese. Thank you, Chairman Bost. Last year we
definitely supported legislation to make sure that veterans'
rights are not abridged and that their Constitution due process
is also protected. We appreciate your legislation. You have us
on board.
Chairman Bost. I appreciate that very much. With that, I
will now yield to Senator Moran, Chairman Moran, for his
questions.
Chairman Moran. Chairman Bost, thank you very much.
Commander, great to see you in this setting and thank you for
the conversations that we have had. The PACT Act has been a
topic of conversation in your testimony. The PACT Act, part of
the PACT Act, the Secretary is required to hold quarterly
engagements with VSOs to collaborate with, partner with, and
give weight to the advice of veterans service organizations and
other such stakeholders. What has been the experience, your
experience thus far with the provisions, this provision of the
PACT Act? Could you describe whether these engagements are
taking place and what value they provide to veterans? What type
of insight and feedback are you able to provide the Secretary
on behalf of your members during these engagements?
Mr. Contreras. Thank you, Ranking Member Moran. That is a
very insightful question and I know that our National Service
Director, Jim Marszalek could provide great insight into that.
Chairman Bost. Marszalek.
Mr. Marszalek. Thank you, Commander. Yes. So, the quarterly
updates aren't occurring, right. We do provide--the VA does
meet with us frequently. So we are collaborating a lot, but we
are not getting information we really need. And as you know,
our ending the weight report that we published 34.1 years on
average from the time a veteran is exposed to a time of
presumption is actually established. It is very concerning. It
is way too long. So, we got to do better. And part of the PACT
Act required to study to begin on Fort McClellan and those
exposures and what residual disabilities can be attributed to
those exposures. That study started 30 months ago, and we still
don't have any updates to what is occurring. So, VA does got to
provide more regular updates with more information and be more
inclusive in these studies when we are talking about
establishing----
Chairman Moran. In addition to providing information, the
goal of that provision is for you to provide information to
them as to how they can better implement the act and care for
more veterans. True?
Mr. Marszalek. Absolutely, sir.
Chairman Moran. I appreciate it. Although I am disappointed
by your answer, I appreciate your frankness. And we will work
to see that the VA is doing what the law requires. This thing
of passing legislation is hugely important, but if it is not
implemented to its fullest extent, we are really missing out on
the benefits that we provide. Commander Contreras, what
specific strategies can be implemented to close the gaps in
mental health care for veterans?
Mr. Contreras. Well, I thank you, again, for your question,
Ranking Member Moran. I believe DAV's position is that there
should be a comprehensive review on how we can do things, not
just one way. And I would say that our Legislative Director,
Joy Ilem, could definitely give you some insight.
Chairman Moran. Ms. Ilem.
Ms. Ilem. Thank you, Chairman Moran. VA does a great job on
mental health services, providing mental health services to
veterans, but there is always room for improvement. One program
that we think is an excellent program and initiative is their
firearm safety counseling. We know that so many veterans who do
take their lives unfortunately do so using a firearm. It is
like 72, 73 percent. We have to make sure that those veterans
feel comfortable being able to talk to their provider and get
the access to the counseling that they need to put that time
and distance between them and that firearm during a period of
crisis. And I think that is one initiative that we can really,
VA, can continue to build on.
Chairman Moran. Thank you for highlighting that program.
Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Bost. Thank you, Senator. Ranking Member Takano,
you are now recognized.
Mr. Takano. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. You were a bit
distracted when Senator Blumenthal asked for the VFW calls on
administration Congress to stop indiscriminate firing of
veterans' statement. Can we have unanimous consent to have it
entered?
Chairman Bost. Without objection, so approved.
[The statement referred to appears on page 213 of the
Appendix.]
Mr. Takano. Thank you. Commander Contreras, did you see the
VFW statement last night related to the Trump administration's
indiscriminate firing of veterans? Have you seen this
statement? Are you aware of it?
Mr. Contreras. Thank you, Ranking Member Takano. We have
seen that.
Mr. Takano. Thank you. Do you agree that the indiscriminate
firing of thousands of veterans from the federal workforce is
troubling?
Mr. Contreras. DAV is highly concerned with what is going
on with VA, because we know that that is going to take away the
expedition of being able to accomplish so many things, not only
in health care, but on claims processing. I would like to ask
our Executive Director, Randy Reese, to respond further.
Mr. Takano. Well, if you mind, I just want to get through
some of these questions.
Mr. Contreras. Okay. Absolutely.
Mr. Takano. Do you agree that the termination of thousands
of federal employees, including thousands of veterans who are
continuing to serve our great Nation after taking off the
uniform, means that American taxpayers are losing technical
expertise, training, and security clearances that we already
bought and paid for? That, maybe Mr. Reese can elaborate.
Mr. Contreras. Most definitely.
Mr. Reese. Thank you, Ranking Member Takano. We view the
series of actions from return to work, hiring freeze, delayed
resignation, probationary employee terminations, all is just
unprofessional acts. That is not how you treat people. You
don't treat your own staff that way. These are not widgets.
These are human beings. That has got to end--that has got to
end.
Mr. Takano. Well, thank you. Mr. Contreras, do you--does
DAV intend to issue its own statement related to this
destruction of the federal workforce?
Mr. Contreras. Can you repeat that question?
Mr. Takano. Do you all intend to issue your own statement
regarding the destruction of the federal workforce through
these firings?
Mr. Contreras. We are actively working on our own
statement.
Mr. Takano. Thank you. This, you know, to my knowledge,
over 2 million claims under the PACT Act alone, not including
regular claims, have been processed. And that is because there
was a surge in hiring at the VBA made possible by the PACT Act.
I can't name the thousands of claims process that were hired.
But you are aware that VA told Congress that at the VHA that we
are short on understaffed by 40,000 employees. Does that seem
right to you, that number? Joy?
Ms. Ilem. Yes, that is what we hear. And you know, just in
terms of providing, the demand is higher for services. We have
had the expansion with the PACT Act of veterans coming in. So
absolutely there is still, we have staffing shortages that have
been noted by the Inspector General.
Mr. Takano. So, the PACT Act made 3.5 million veterans,
theoretically, eligible for benefits. In just two years, two
million claims have been processed, made possible by the surge
in hiring at VA. Now, that they are cutting, VA still tells us
that more veterans have been made eligible, but that we are
still short 40,000 hiring, 40,000 employees at the VHA to serve
those veterans' health care. I fail to see any rhyme or reason
to these firings. And I want to work with the VA to make sure
that we hold--well, want to work with the DAV to make sure that
we hold VA accountable and Congress accountable to make sure
veterans are served. I yield back.
Chairman Bost. Thank you, Ranking Member. Senator King, you
are recognized. 3 minutes.
HON. ANGUS S. KING, JR.,
U.S. SENATOR FROM MAINE
Senator King. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would call to the
attention of the DAV a very troubling paragraph in something
called Project 2025, which I suspect you have heard of, which
seems to be the template for this administration's approach.
Here is the sentence that I hope you will attend to. ``The next
administration should explore how veterans' reviews should be
accelerated with clearance from OMB to target significant,
significant cost savings from revising disability rating awards
for future claimants.'' And listen to this. ``While preserving
them fully or partially for existing claimants.'' Mr. Leader,
how do you feel about that idea?
Mr. Contreras. Well, anything that is going to take--
Senator King, apologize. Anything that is going to take away
from veterans' benefits, we do not support that. We are aware
of Project 2025's initiatives, not only to reduce category 7
and 8, also to tax veterans' benefits, or to look at
unemployment benefits as far as at Social Security age. So, I
would say that we would not be in, in favor of that. And there
is one of our critical policy goals and it outlines that we
need to protect those benefits. And there is, there will be
great opposition to that. And we had the Secretary visit our
mid-year conference recently and he stated, and we are going to
hold him to it, that he is putting veterans first. That would
not be putting veterans first.
Senator King. I appreciate that. We have been talking a lot
about the layoffs. In fact, combining the hiring freeze and
normal attrition with the recent layoffs, we are really down
about 5,000 people at the VA in the last month. Now, the
Secretary, when he released his statement last night said, in
fact, veterans are going to notice a change for the better. My
question to you and to the veterans is tell us if that is what
you notice? The power is with the veterans, and you need to use
your voice. It is hard for me to believe that these cuts which
have been made in the last 20 days, as near as I can tell,
pretty indiscriminately, are going to change things for the
better for the veterans. And by the way, talking about
bureaucracy, in my view, the person that answers the phone can
be as important as the person that delivers the care.
[Applause.]
If a veteran calls for a health care appointment and there
is no one there to answer the phone, that is a denial of
benefits, just as sure as if they can't see the doctor. So, I
hope that the people in this room will hold us accountable and
thereby the Agency, the Department, the new Secretary to truly
putting veterans first. That is an easy phrase to say, but I
look at what is actually being done. Thank you, Mr. Chairman,
for the work you have done.
[Applause.]
Chairman Bost. Thank you, Senator. Representative
Radewagen, you are recognized for 3 minutes.
HON. AUMUA AMATA COLEMAN RADEWAGEN,
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE FROM AMERICAN SAMOA
Ms. Radewagen. Thank you. I want to thank the panel for
appearing today. Thank the Chairman and Ranking Members. And
thank you for your sacrifice and service to our Nation.
Commander Contreras, what are some of the challenges veterans
face when accessing mental health care at VA? And what role do
VSOs play in connecting veterans with mental health resources?
Mr. Contreras. Representative, thank you very much for that
question. It is something that, of course, mental health is a
critical issue, not only from suicide prevention and other
aspects and alternatives, but I would like to ask our
Legislative Director, Joy Ilem, to elaborate further.
Ms. Ilem. I would just add to that the timeliness is of
this is essential in terms of mental health services. VA
provides great services, wraparound, all types of options of
mental health services, from the crisis line to the vet centers
to inpatient care. But those specialized services are really
critical to those who are struggling with PTSD and chronic
conditions like substance use disorder. And veterans are
telling us they want to get those services. The demand for them
is increasing and we need to make sure that we break away those
barriers to accessing those services.
Ms. Radewagen. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield
back the balance of my time.
Chairman Bost. Thank you, Representative. Senator Tillis,
you are now recognized for 3 minutes.
HON. THOM TILLIS,
U.S. SENATOR FROM NORTH CAROLINA
Senator Tillis. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you all for
being here. I have to ask the obligatory question. How many
people are either from North Carolina or spent some time at one
of our bases? [Applause.] Well, thank you all. Come back and
visit.
I have a quick question. I know, I think it is on page,
begins on page 17. Some of the things that you all would like
to consider as enhancements to the PACT Act to make it work. I
think many of you probably know I voted against the PACT Act,
but it wasn't for a lack of being a material contributor to it,
the TEAM Act and the Camp Lejeune toxins language alone. But I
was worried about the implementation. Now, so, when you answer,
if you can answer and use the balance of my time, one, I still
see headwinds on funding. We saw the $3 billion shortfall
before, and I see more. I see also headwinds on wait times.
These are all things that I anticipated that hopefully we were
going to fix before we got passed; didn't happen. So, if you
could answer that, and I would also like to know, I get the
narrative about the job elimination. So, I particularly have a
problem with somebody who is not in the VA suggesting job cuts.
But now we have Secretary Collins there and I have a lot of
respect for him. He is an even keel person. He got bipartisan
support. I think he is going to be a good leader. But if y'all
can speak, people are talking about gross numbers in an
organization that has tens of thousands of employees. So if you
can point to any eliminations that you are aware of today that
you think are mission-critical to veterans, I would like to
know that. I don't have that information. I don't know if you
do yet, but I have requested that. So, tell me a little bit
about the eliminations. Whether or not you believe they are in
mission, you have evidence that they are in mission-critical
operations. And give me some suggestions on homework for how we
get the PACT Act to where I hoped it was when we passed it--
when we should have passed it, I should say. And I assume that
is Mr. Reese.
Mr. Reese. Thank you, Senator.
Senator Tillis.That was a long-winded question [Laughter].
Mr. Reese. Well, in the big picture there are lots of our
members bringing to our attention that they are leaving the
workforce from all the different methodologies that have been
put out there, from return to work, they leave, hiring freeze,
they leave, delayed, they leave. And now, with this
probationary period, probably the most concerning to us is we
would rather have disabled veterans and their spouses
unemployed than working at the U.S. Department of Veterans
Affairs. I mean, that is a sad thing to say.
Senator Tillis. I agree.
Mr. Reese. That is happening.
Senator Tillis. I agree with that. But I want to, I am a
very boring management consultant, fact-based sort of guy. So,
if you all could provide me with specific instances of mission-
critical jobs or that situation that you gave me, clearly,
there is no Republican that is going to be any more comfortable
with that than a Democrat. But if we can get that information
on exactly how some of these terminations have affected service
levels or a threat to wait times, that is very important
information for the Secretary to have, because I will guarantee
you, he wants those service levels to be the best they ever
were. Thank you all for your service. God bless you. Come back
to North Carolina soon.
[Applause.]
Chairman Bost. Thank you, Senator. Congressman Pappas, you
are recognized for 3 minutes.
HON. CHRIS PAPPAS,
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE FROM NEW HAMPSHIRE
Mr. Pappas. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I want to
welcome all the veterans here today. I thank you, Commander,
for your testimony. I had a great meeting with New Hampshire
DAV folks last night in my office. So, I want to thank all the
veterans from the ``Live Free or Die'' State who are joining us
here today. Those conversations are so important because we
can't just simply count on VA or Congress to get it right. We
need the veteran input and feedback along the way. So we look
forward to future conversations and continuing to shape an
agenda that is going to make things better for America's
veterans.
I wanted to bring up a piece of legislation that I think is
critically important. It is a bill that I am going to
reintroduce this Congress called the GUARD VA Benefits Act,
which would reinstate criminal penalties for unaccredited
claims representatives or claim sharks who charge unauthorized
fees for assisting [Cheering]. So you have heard of these guys?
[Laughter.] They charge unauthorized fees for assisting
veterans with VA claims. So, I want to applaud DAV's VA
accredited representatives, the only individuals who are
authorized to prepare, present, or prosecute VA claims under
strict regulatory and ethical standards. In contrast, these
unaccredited representatives operate without such oversight,
often engaging in predatory practices and prey on veterans. It
is disgraceful.
So VA, in its limited ability, can't enforce the law
because of the explicit criminal penalties were stripped from
the law decades ago. We have come across a lot of dubious
arguments about my legislation, but I would love to hear from
the veteran perspective about the GUARD VA Benefits Act and the
need to take on these claim sharks. Commander.
Mr. Contreras. Thank you, Representative. That is certainly
a critical issue with us, especially when not only DAV
provides, at a national level, free services. We have our
department service officers, our chapter service officers. I
came from the world of being a service officer and I know DAV
is prepared to help in that claims process in any way possible.
So, we are looking at these predatory actors as really, one,
not being competent. But also, you are hearing where for a 10
percent claim, veterans are paying $30,000. That is ridiculous.
So we are asking that there becomes more of a process of being
able to be accredited with VA and not being able to have access
to our veterans, their claims or information, and also list who
is available. We are available and we can handle it. I know
there has been talk that there are so many claims that are
going on, but we don't rest on our laurels. We help that one
veteran and move on to the next one. And that is what we
believe we can do and get rid of these predatory actors.
Mr. Pappas. Well, thank you, Commander, for that
commitment, for the work that DAV does each and every day. It
makes a difference. We want to continue to hear from you as we
do our work here in Congress. I yield back.
Chairman Bost. Thank you. General Bergman, you are
recognized for 3 minutes.
HON. JACK BERGMAN,
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE FROM MICHIGAN
Mr. Bergman. Thank you. Thanks for all of our witnesses for
being here. Any Michiganders in the crowd? [Hand claps.] All
right. Any Yoopers?
Voices. Yes.
Mr. Bergman. Oh, there has got to be one everywhere. We are
required to have one. All right, well, very good. You know, I
am looking forward to working with all of you, continuing. As a
fellow veteran and served all over the world, I have seen the
good, the bad, and the ugly of human behavior. But we are a
free country because our veterans step up and do what we need
to do to guarantee that we have freedom. So, let us get to the
business here.
Commander Contreras, last Congress DAV endorsed legislation
that I introduced along with Congresswoman Brownley, the
Veterans Spinal Trauma Access to New Devices or Veterans STAND
Act. As you might remember, the bill would codify the VA's
obligation to offer annual examinations for spinal cord injured
and disabled or SCI/D veterans. Take steps to improve the
outreach for those who are eligible. Ensure paralyzed veterans
are able to be assessed and provided with these assistive
devices. Could you please describe the benefits, if you will,
of preventative health screenings, so preventative health
screenings like those provided by the SCI for the SCI/D
veterans.
Mr. Contreras. Thank you, General. We appreciate that
important question. To fully address the specifics, I am going
to ask our Legislative Director, Joy Ilem, to respond.
Ms. Ilem. Great bill. And we appreciate that. And we
support making sure that veterans, especially those who have
catastrophic injuries, spinal cord injuries--have the access to
all of the services that they need, and new and innovative
technologies that are coming forward, and those preventative,
you know, appointments to make sure that they have access to
know what might be an option best for them, are critical. And
so we are--we appreciate those provisions being included in the
bill.
Mr. Bergman. Thank you. And you know, we all know that
there are challenges for the disabled veterans to, when they
are seeking the--to get, if you will, qualified for and
assessed for. So, we have to really understand that new
technology appears every day and we have to be realistic about
how we advance new technologies to better provide those, you
know, assisted services for the veterans.
Another quick--I see we got about a half a minute left. But
Commander Contreras, I see that DAV supports legislation
directing the VA to research and make available effective
psychedelic compounds for treating mental health conditions and
traumatic brain injury. For those of you who may not be aware,
I am the co-chair of the PATH Caucus, Psychedelics Advancing
Therapies, along with my dear friend and colleague Lou Correa
from California. Any thoughts or comments on what do you think
the VA role should play in advancing the promising field in
that area of medicine through research or whatever?
Mr. Contreras. Thank you once again, General, for that
question. I can say that DAV's position is certainly that we
should look at alternatives. As I addressed earlier that my
wife Teresa is going through her challenges and so obviously
there needs to be some alternative choices. So, psilocybin is
one of them that that is being introduced with her. But I will
let our Legislative Director----
Mr. Bergman. I see I am over my time, so.
Mr. Contreras. Oh, I am sorry.
Mr. Bergman. Make it quick.
Mr. Contreras. I appreciate it.
Mr. Bergman. No, that is okay. Whoever you are going to
just, but the answer----
Ms. Ilem. We----
Mr. Bergman. Let us do more research at the VA?
Ms. Ilem. Yes. We want to make sure the research is
available and that VA can expedite that to the field as soon
as, you know, as long as it is efficacious and it can benefit
veterans.
Mr. Bergman. Yes. We should not discount anything just
because we don't understand it. That is how we get better. Seek
to understand before trying to be understood, I think, as
Stephen Covey said. With that I yield back.
[Applause.]
Chairman Bost. Thank you, General. Representative
Cherfilus-McCormick, you are now recognized for 3 minutes.
HON. SHEILA CHERFILUS-MCCORMICK,
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE FROM FLORIDA
Mrs. Cherfilus-McCormick. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And
thank you also to all our witnesses and DAV. And thank you to
all of our Florida veterans who are here. I see you in the
crowd, yes.
I have real concerns. I feel like we keep focusing on some
of the cuts that are being made in the firing, but we have to
look at the cumulative effect. And I proffer that any of the
cuts that are being suggested that can actually harm our
veterans should be completely off the table right now. We have
a contract to our veterans, and we cannot compromise them by
one of our veterans being hurt.
One of the areas that I also want to look at, as I have a
short amount of time, is focusing on our veterans access to
long-term care. Long-term care has allowed our veterans to stay
in their homes and in their communities with respect and
dignity and with their families. We have a real responsibility
to protect our veterans. And so, I wanted to talk about the
Homemaker and Home Health Aide Care program administered by the
VA and, and how it helps our veterans sustain themselves and
their families. However, the program is limited to the number
of veterans who have the service, which doesn't allow all of
our veterans to live with dignity in their homes when they get
sick.
Ms. Ilem, how have your members benefited from the
Homemakers and Health Care--Home Health Care Act Program?
Mr. Contreras. Thank you, Representative. That is a
question that touches on one of our critical policy goals. I am
going to ask our Legislative Director, Joy Ilem, to address
that.
Ms. Ilem. Long-term care options for veterans, a wide
variety are absolutely essential from that Home Health Aide and
Homemaker services all the way through community living
centers. But we have also, in our critical policy goal, asked
for more assisted living options to again, that might, you
know, benefit younger veterans who want to be able to live
independently but still need some help. So, those home health
services are absolutely essential all the way through, you
know, to meet the unique needs of each veteran.
Mrs. Cherfilus-McCormick. One of the largest payers for
long-term care services is actually Medicaid. In fact, 9.4
veterans rely on Medicaid and there is a proposed budget to
actually start cutting Medicaid. These are the compounded event
effects that we are talking about. And so, I also wanted to
know how could cuts to Medicaid affect DAV members?
Ms. Ilem. Certainly, services that are outside that, where,
you know, a program goes away, can certainly put more stress on
the VA veterans. More veterans may need to utilize their VA
services. So, we are always looking at, you know, the impact
of, I know there is some talk again about Medicare suspension,
issues--veterans that are Medicare age, and also those that
perhaps are on Medicaid. So, all of those, if a program goes
away, veterans still need care. So, they are going to probably
turn to VA in many cases for that care.
Mrs. Cherfilus-McCormick. Thank you so much. I just wanted
to stress before my time is over that any cuts that will affect
one of our veterans should be off of the table. We have a
project, a promise to each and every one of our veterans and we
must stand by that, and we must look at the cumulative effect.
When we look at the cumulative effect, right now, we are
looking at tens and thousands of people who have been fired,
who are being denied of Medicaid, who will now be sitting there
by themselves trying to provide for themselves. And that is not
what our country is made for. Thank you. I yield back.
[Applause.]
Chairman Bost. Congressman Luttrell.
HON. MORGAN LUTTRELL,
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE FROM TEXAS
Mr. Luttrell. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And since everybody
else is throwing a shout-out to their state, where are my
Texans at in the room?
Voices. Woo.
Mr. Luttrell. All right. There you go. You know, luckily
for you guys, there is not that many of us, because we have a
tendency to tear things up. So, if you guys go out drinking
tonight and get in trouble, call me. [Laughter.] I won't join
you, but maybe I can call somebody. [Laughter.] And do I have
any Army Rangers? Are there any Army Rangers in, in the
audience?
Voices. Woo.
Mr. Luttrell. That is tragic. I mean, I, it is just in my
bones and I just cannot. I mean, me and Army Rangers just
don't--do not get along at all. I mean, y'all's existence
bothers me. I say that. And the reason I do say that is because
I have an identical twin brother who was rescued by Army
Rangers. So, I am indebted to you guys for the rest of my life.
But, so this is me saying thank you. Just don't repeat this on
social media. And I am sure nobody in here is paying attention
to what I am saying anyway.
[Laughter.]
Mr. Contreras, I don't have anything for you, sir. So you
are not going to be able to pass the football on me. I am going
to go straight to Mr. Marszalek, here. Your statements earlier
today, and you are engaging with the VA and it seems to be as
if you are kind of hitting a brick wall, and there is no
responsiveness from the VA. This is the tricky part. So, the VA
is this big machine. It is this big, glorious machine that we
lean on as veterans quite a bit. And it is kind of, I love to
wire brush the VA more than anybody. I do. It is like, I hate
doing it, but it is absolutely necessary. And I am going to
provide you some guidance to help out the Members of Congress
and the Senate. So, when you come to us with this problem set,
the first thing that when you walk into my office is I am going
to say, who are you talking to? Like, I need a name. I need a
timeframe and a window that you are engaging with the VA so I
can personally, or we can personally with the Chairman and the
Committee, staff, subcommittee can engage with that particular
individual directly so it didn't get tossed into the abyss and
nobody is responsive. Because right now, you are just, you are
fighting. You are pushing a wet noodle up a hill. I mean, I
hate to say it, but it is just the absolute truth. So when the
organization is engaging with, do that for us so we can stand
alongside you shoulder to shoulder, you know, one team, one
dream. Right? That kind of thing. All that kind of stuff. And I
just wanted you to hear me say that to you.
So moving forward, as we come out of this, we are moving
into the next phase of VA leadership with Mr. Collins in the
direction that he is going to take VA. We can provide guidance
to him at our level. And then you come up, up and into the
organization, and we are sitting on this up top and coming
down, and we meet in the middle, and the veterans are the ones
that, you know, glory be to God, we increase our quality of
life. Yep. Is that a good enough deal for you?
Mr. Marszalek. Absolutely.
Mr. Luttrell. Okay. Don't take that personal, Mr.
Contreras, I just, that is who I wanted to go to. Mr. Easley,
do you have anything you want to add? You are not going to come
all the way up to Washington, DC, sit in front of a couple
hundred people and not say anything. So, I am going to throw
you something.
[Laughter.]
[Applause.]
Mr. Easley. Thank you, Congressman.
Mr. Luttrell. Yes. You are welcome, buddy. You look lonely
down--look, I am down here on the end, too. They can't see us.
I am just saying.
Mr. Easley. No, I just want to say, as the National
Commander of the Disabled American Veterans Auxiliary, the
family side of the organization, we support our veterans. I
support my best friend here, Dan Contreras. And, you know, I
just, I hold my auxiliary members accountable to educate
members like yourself at their state level and at the local
level, and the needs of our injured, ill, disabled veterans and
their families.
Mr. Luttrell. Sure. We need that, too. Make no mistake
about it. Catch us on the road, catch us on the street, in a
restaurant, at a red light. You are the knowledge base that
provides information that gives Congress the ability to do our
job, and that is legislate. Okay? Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I
yield back.
Chairman Bost. Representative McGarvey.
HON. MORGAN MCGARVEY,
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE FROM KENTUCKY
Mr. McGarvey. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. That is a tough act
to follow. [Laughter.] Appreciate that, Morgan. I am the other
Morgan on the Committee, so. But I guess if you guys do go out
tonight, Morgan and Morgan will come get you. [Laughter.] I am
from Kentucky, though, so I just recommend bourbon be your
beverage of choice.
[Laughter.]
Appreciate everybody being here today. Thank you. Thank
each and every one of you for your service. Each and every one
of you put on a uniform. Were willing to sacrifice everything
to serve us. That is a debt for which we can never adequately
repay you. What we certainly can't do is take away the services
you have earned that we are already not doing a good enough job
providing. And last night, when the administration announces
the indiscriminate firing of 1400 workers at the VA, I was glad
to see that the VFW stood up and spoke against it. You all have
always answered the call for service, and so I hate to ask you
to stand up again, but we must do everything we can to protect
our veterans. That includes making sure that the people are in
place so that you get, again, not the services we are giving
you, the services you have earned, and that we are doing that
in the right manner.
I do want to talk briefly about, Mr. Contreras, a bill I
put forward called the INNOVATE Act. I think that one thing the
VA can do is do a better job of incentivizing innovation. We
have so many great people come through the VA, but we don't
have that right incentive to innovate. When they do innovate,
they can do cool things. There was a pilot last year, the
technology enabled respite home care model pilot. It allowed to
have a find a home caregiver temporarily and the caregiver to
pay a substitute at a higher wage than the average home care
provider's 96 percent veteran satisfaction score and a lower
cost to the VA.
Mr. Contreras, just briefly in the time we have left, would
you talk about the areas of healthcare your members are most
concerned about, where they have expressed needs that they have
and where innovation could require an interesting approach?
Mr. Contreras. Well, since you have limited time,
Representative, I will go ahead and pass that on to Joy.
Ms. Ilem. Innovation is key. One of the things VA does very
well is in best practices and looking at how the delivery of
care and benefits can be improved to veterans, and that is
essential to keep looking at that. Mental health is one of the
key areas. Suicide prevention is on everyone's mind in the
veteran community, and I know Congress. So there are
opportunities, again, to look at that through that innovative
office, Office of Innovation, to make sure that they can
utilize all of the resources they have and the best minds that
are out there with new ideas to prevent suicide.
Mr. McGarvey. Thank you so much. Know we have got your
back. We will stand up for you, too. And I yield back.
Chairman Bost. Thank you. Representative Hamadeh.
HON. ABE HAMADEH,
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE FROM ARIZONA
Mr. Hamadeh. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And thank you for
focusing this Committee on putting the veterans first and not
protecting the bureaucracy. And I want to thank every single
one of you. As a veteran myself, I am so proud to see so many
veterans supporting each other. It is a really good sense of
community. We all put that uniform on with the American flag on
our shoulder sleeve. Didn't matter what race, religion, or what
your social status in life was, we all put on that uniform. And
for that, I thank you and our entire country owes a debt to all
of you.
[Applause.]
Now, Commander, President Trump's MISSION Act was, you
know, really put the veterans in charge of their own healthcare
decisions. Yet today we are still seeing bureaucratic
roadblocks that are getting in the way to prevent timely access
to mental health services. What specific changes would ensure
veterans can immediately access mental health care in their
communities without the VA's red tape?
Mr. Contreras. Representative, certainly DAV is focused on
making sure every part of the MISSION Act is implemented. Our
Legislative Director, Joy Ilem, will give you greater insight
to DAV's position.
Ms. Ilem. I think there are a number of provisions that are
in the ACCESS Act that are positive and can try to overcome
bureaucratic delays. And definitely within the community care
program, we have heard from members, our members. You know,
when you do have to access care in the community, one of the
biggest delays is trying to get first connected with the Office
of Community Care. And so, you know, that will be essential to
try to do that and to have the providers available that can
help forward these referrals, make sure that veterans get the
care when and where they need it.
Mr. Hamadeh. Yes, we heard tragically in some other
committee hearings about loss of life. And we need to get
better at this because it doesn't matter where you are getting
help at the VA or a community care, it is all about putting the
veterans first and ensuring their needs are being met. But
would permanently codifying access standards help prevent the
VA administrators from making arbitrary denials that put
veterans' health at risk?
Ms. Ilem. I would just note the access standards are
reasonable. However, they can always be better. You know, we
want VA to improve access to services. And I think those, some
of those details and trying to look at where the holdup is, is
really where we need to target targeted solutions to, you know,
overcome those issues.
Mr. Hamadeh. Thank you. Chairman, I yield back.
Chairman Bost. Thank you. Representative Budzinski, you are
recognized for 3 minutes.
HON. NIKKI BUDZINSKI,
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE FROM ILLINOIS
Ms. Budzinski. Thank you, Chairman. Thank you to the
Ranking Member, Ranking Member Takano. It is also great to be
with Chairman Moran and Ranking Member Blumenthal for hosting
this hearing today. It is wonderful to be in a room with so
many veterans and I too want to extend my deepest gratitude for
your service to our country. Thank you very much.
It is crucial that we always listen to what our VSOs have
to say. And I think that is especially important today in light
of the extreme uncertainty and actions we have with witnessed
in these last two months.
There is a lot to touch on, but I only have a few minutes
and would like to focus specifically on our women veterans.
[Applause.] Thank you. The VA, as you know, is a national
leader in academic research, health research--providing
groundbreaking work on advancements in medical treatments,
technology and training our health workforce. And just as
important, have been the breakthroughs in the unique care
required for our women veterans. One of the actions that we
have seen taken by the Trump administration, including within
NIH and the VA, is the targeting of research grants that
includes certain so-called ``trigger words.'' One of these
words is the word ``women.'' As DAV and many of us here know,
research on women is already considered underfunded. And now,
this administration is taking actions to curtail the little yet
incredibly important research being conducted specifically for
women's health care.
I am very concerned about how these sweeping attacks on
this research will impact women veterans. I recently spoke with
members of my own Women Veterans Council at home, including a
council member working at the St. Louis VA who expressed
serious concerns that women veterans might lose access to
essential gender-specific care. One of the things we can all
agree on is that women veterans face distinct challenges both
during their military service and afterwards.
If you don't mind, it is wonderful to have you here,
National Commander Contreras. If you don't mind, I will go to
Ms. Ilem. It is great to see you again. I know the DAV has a
focus on women veterans and has been a leader in advancing the
work being done to improve care for them. I have enjoyed
partnering with the DAV on these issues and am looking forward
to continuing that fight. But Ms. Ilem, how could banning or
restricting the use of certain terminology such as the word
women in VA-sponsored research affect our understanding of
health impacts and conditions unique to our women veterans?
Ms. Ilem. Thank you for that great question and certainly
that would be extremely disappointing because VA really has
been a leader in women's health research. No one else in the
world is doing the research that VA has done over the last, you
know, especially the last 10 years, looking at wartime related
service and all of the impact of military service on our women
veterans.
Our reports, our three reports that we have done, the
latest one, Our ``Journey to Mental Wellness,'' was all focused
on VA research efforts. And we hope that there will be
reasonableness and meaning, you know, mindfulness when looking
at that, because that would be a real detriment to our women
veterans and the step forward and the progress that has been
made in providing VA services which every veteran should have
access to, including our women veterans. But they do remain a
minority, a statistical minority within the VA. We can't let
that slip. So thank you for your attention to that and we stand
ready to work with you.
Ms. Budzinski. Thank you. I look forward to working with
the DAV on this and encourage, again, all of our veterans to
speak out on these very important issues. So, thank you very
much. I yield back.
Chairman Bost. Representative King-Hinds, you are
recognized for 3 minutes.
HON. KIMBERLYN KING-HINDS,
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE FROM NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS
Ms. King-Hinds. Half a day. Good morning. I am from the
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, 8,000 miles away
from here. I want to first of all start by saying thank you
very much for your service. And to the VSO, thank you for your
fierce advocacy for our veterans. Si Yu'us Ma'ase.
I wanted to go back to the previous conversation with
regards to long-care support for our veterans. Right. So, what
I am seeing in my district is that families are basically
having to choose between taking care of their veterans or
having a job. So folks are literally quitting their jobs to be
able to provide that long-term care. And I know that this is a
challenge that is very different in rural communities, in
comparison to, you know, more urban centers. And so, I wanted
to kind of hear what your thoughts were with regards to policy
specific to remote rural communities.
Mr. Contreras. Thank you, Representative, for that
question. Looking at telemedicine as certainly an option, but
as far as community care, as long as it provides the same
quality care that it would in an in-house facility. I am going
to have Joy, our Legislative Director, further elaborate on
that.
Ms. Ilem. Thank you. Great question. I think long-term care
is on all of our minds. We have a really significantly aging
veteran population of 65, 75, and 85 years and older. All of us
will need long-term care, especially service disabled veterans,
earlier than, usual, the general population. Those veterans
living in rural and remote areas such as yourself really
struggle with that access to care. And we are really asking the
Committee to work on long-term care services and options for
veterans, to start now to really make this a focus, as well as
the VA for the near future because it is right around the
corner where everybody is going to be, you know, really, really
needing these services to a greater extent.
Ms. King-Hinds. Thank you. Looking forward to having this
continued conversation. I yield back my time.
Chairman Bost. Thank you. Representative Morrison, you are
recognized for 3 minutes.
HON. KELLY MORRISON,
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE FROM MINNESOTA
Dr. Morrison. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I have to begin by
echoing my colleagues grave concerns with the recent mass
firing of VA employees. After laying off a thousand employees
two weeks ago, we found out last night that another 1400 more
public service were--servants were inexplicably let go. I am
very fearful that these actions threaten the well-being of our
veterans in Minnesota. And I would urge Secretary Collins and
the Trump administration to reconsider and to carefully
consider the impact these decisions will have on veterans'
access to care and benefits.
Mr. Contreras, I want to thank you and your colleagues for
your service and for being here today to testify. I had the
pleasure of meeting with a group of women veterans from DAV of
Minnesota yesterday, many if not all of whom are here today. I
want to thank them, again, for traveling here to Washington and
for taking the time to share their stories with me. According
to the VA, women are the fastest growing group in the veteran
population. And as an OB-GYN, a women's health provider myself,
it is a top priority of mine to make sure the VA is equipped to
care for women after their service to our country.
So, Mr. Contreras or Ms. Ilem, I would like to begin by
asking you to expand a little bit on your testimony. How do you
think VA can rethink its suicide risk model and mental health
care services to account for risk factors that
disproportionately affect women, like intimate partner violence
and military sexual trauma?
Ms. Ilem. Thank you. Obviously, you have been reading our
report, and we really appreciate that. That was one of the
things that we identified early on, and we really wanted to
highlight. We know that 1-in-3 women experienced military
sexual trauma. Not that it is just, it also affects our male
veterans, but we know for a higher percentage within our women
veteran population. Women veterans deserve to be able to get
the care, the specialized services and care that they need in
VA. And VA has worked hard to really increase the providers
that serve our women veterans to make sure specialists like
yourself, they have access to them. Because much of the care
for, you know, women, especially maternity care, is all
throughout in the community, and so their care can easily be
fragmented. So, we want to make sure that we are really paying
attention to those issues and really work on them. And we look
forward, our staff does, to working with you in the future.
Dr. Morrison. Thank you. If I may just briefly follow up.
You know, as the population of women veterans continues to
grow, I think we need to be thinking about how we can expand VA
provider workforce for women's health care so we can cut down
on wait times for necessary procedures like mammograms and
hysterectomies. How would you assess VA's current capability to
provide these types of procedures and what should VA be doing
to improve in this area?
Ms. Ilem. VA has really tried to increase their workforce,
but we always need Congress to provide oversight and attention
on that issue. Especially women living in rural communities, VA
is doing some very specific programming to bring women
provider, you know, training providers in those rural areas.
But we know we don't have enough providers for women throughout
the country and at all locations that are needed. And that
population is really growing. The last I heard was about
900,000 enrolled, which is another big leap. So, more and more
women are getting the word that VA is the place to come for
care. You are going to get the specialized services that you
need. Now, we need to make sure those providers are there and
they can get timely, quality care wherever they live, in the
community, wherever they live.
Dr. Morrison. Thank you, so much. My time has expired. But
before I yield my time, I just, as the wife of an Army combat
veteran and a proud American, I want to thank every single
veteran in this room for your service to our country.
[Applause.]
Chairman Bost. Thank you. Dr. Miller-Meeks, you are
recognized for 3 minutes.
HON. MARIANNETTE MILLER-MEEKS,
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE FROM IOWA
Dr. Miller-Meeks. Thank you very much, Chair Bost. And I
don't think Brad Whitmore from Iowa is in the audience today,
but I do want to shout-out to the over 41,000 veterans we have
in my congressional district. And I say that having a maternal
grandfather who was in the Army, my maternal uncle was in the
Navy, my father was Air Force. Six of the eight kids in our
family served in the military, one in the Marine, one in the
Air Force, the rest in the Army. The only branches of service
my family has not served in is the Coast Guard and the Space
Force. But I will sign up for the Space Force as well as the
Army.
I think the challenges that you all have presented to us as
a Member of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs for the
past four years that I have been a member, in regards to
telehealth, in regards to modernization, getting our EHRs, I
mean active duty military has a functioning EHR system. That is
still driving cost in our VA system and it is making it
difficult for you all to engage in care, engage in care in
difficult facilities and engaging care in the community.
What we have done and promoted in community care is
especially important. I live in a rural area of Iowa. I have
lived in, you know, very big areas such as San Antonio, Texas,
which has a lot of military bases and VA facilities. Worked at
the VA facility adjacent to Bexar County.
But what we have done in community care to provide access
to veterans who either cannot get into the VA in a timely
manner or the distance where they live is too cumbersome. We
have done good work on PTSD and suicide prevention, but we know
we need to do more. And then let me also say that what we have
done in trying to get employment opportunities, and this is
both on the active-duty side as you transition out and for
veterans who have already transitioned out of the military and
their spouses, I think it is extremely important work that we
do. That may be non-traditional VA work, but it is extremely
important for us in making our veterans whole.
Taxes and GI Bill. Need I mention those? But then I am
going to just ask a question so we can get that done since my
time is limited.
Commander Contreras, the work your organization does in the
adaptive sports program has done wonders for veterans over the
years and we are glad to see participating, you know, increase
over post-COVID. What changes do you think Congress could make
to make the program to ensure that the benefit could be
utilized by more veterans?
Mr. Contreras. Thank you, Representative, for that
question. DAV's programs with our Winter Sports Clinic as well
as our Disabled Veterans Golf Clinic. It is an amazing event
and I would like to ask our Voluntary Service Director John
Kleindienst to address your question.
Mr. Kleindienst. Thank you, Commander. Adaptive sports is
absolutely a life-changing event. There are many in this room,
many watching today whose lives have changed for the better as
a result of DAV and VA's involvement with adaptive sports, more
specifically the Winter Sports Clinic and the Golf Clinic. I
think awareness for the types of programs and activities in the
adaptive sports arena could be highlighted and leaders like
yourselves, executive leaders at VA, and their attendance and
awareness and education about what we are doing at that event
are truly rehabilitative. They are not athletes. They are
coming to a rehabilitative event to get reintroduced into an
activity they did pre-injury. So, I just think awareness and
education and allowing the funding for these types of events to
take place is of the utmost importance.
Dr. Miller-Meeks. I thank you for that. We have a Quad
Cities Veterans Outreach Program in Scott County which is all
voluntary, which recently public--purchased a school system
from the city which now has a program for adaptive sports. And
I think it is going to, it has done worlds of benefit for our
veterans. I could not be a Member of Congress if it were not
for you all. So thank you from the bottom of my heart for all
you do in defending our freedoms, our liberties, and our
Constitution. I yield back.
[Applause.]
Chairman Bost. Thank you, Dr. Miller-Meeks. Senator Hassan,
you are recognized for 3 minutes.
HON. MARGARET WOOD HASSAN,
U.S. SENATOR FROM NEW HAMPSHIRE
Senator Hassan. Thank you very much, Mr. Chair and Ranking
Member. I want to start by just acknowledging all the veterans
who made the trip here today and especially give a shout-out to
the Granite State veterans who are in the room. I am also here
as the proud daughter of an infantry sergeant from World War II
and am particularly grateful to all of the Army veterans here
in the room.
Voices. Woo.
Senator Hassan. I would also like to join others who have
expressed concern about the recent firings at the VA. One
thousand a couple of weeks ago, 1400 just last night. And I
think what I would like to say to Mr. Musk is this isn't
Twitter, it is the VA.
[Applause.]
To Commander Contreras, I want to see if we can get through
two questions here. I want to start off by thanking DAV for its
advocacy on behalf of veterans and especially toxic-exposed
veterans. I was happy to work with my colleagues to develop and
pass the PACT Act, but I know, just as the DAV does as well,
that more needs to be done to help toxic-exposed veterans get
the benefits that they have earned and deserve. Unfortunately,
as DAV has noted, it takes the VA too long to formally
acknowledge toxic exposures. Commander, can you please discuss
the importance of ensuring that processes are in place to
quickly and fairly process veterans' claims for toxic
exposures?
Mr. Contreras. Thank you, Representative. That is a very
important issue, and it is one of our critical policy goals.
And you can see that we worked with MOAA to establish the
Ending the Wait report, which indicates that there is a lot
that Congress can do in order to avoid this long delay. It
takes too long to establish presumptives. And if you can see in
our critical policy goals, that is a key issue that we believe
by preempting and studying these things in advance, we could
provide our veterans, in presumptive conditions, more expedient
services.
Senator Hassan. Thank you very much for that. And I now
want to follow up on one of the areas that Representative
Morrison was talking about. And it may be to you, Commander
Contreras, or maybe Ms. Ilem. In your written testimony, you
discussed the fact that suicide rates among women veterans have
been steadily rising. And in DAV's report on women's veterans'
mental health, DAV identified that women veterans have several
unique risk factors for suicide. Commander, can you describe
the importance of tailoring outreach and services to women's
veterans and how that can help address the mental health needs
that these veterans may have?
Mr. Contreras. Thank you, again, for that question. As you
alluded to, this is our third report, this one being the
``Journey to Mental Wellness.'' Let us definitely have our
Legislative Director, Joy Ilem, address that.
Senator Hassan. Great, thank you.
Ms. Ilem. Just very quickly, we appreciate your attention
to that report and our real concern over women veterans and
mental health and some unique risk factors, especially military
sexual trauma--making sure that that is in VA's protection
predictive model. We know that veterans are at higher risk who
have experienced MST.
Senator Hassan. Right.
Ms. Ilem. And so, therefore, we want to make sure that is
part of that predictive model so there can be outreach to them
with a focus on prevention.
Senator Hassan. Thank you very much. And Mr. Chair, with
just a moment of privilege, I will follow up on what my
colleague on the other side of the aisle said. My dad, the
World War II veteran, used to ask us at the breakfast table,
what are you doing for freedom today? Which when you are in
fourth grade, is kind of a hard question to answer [Laughter].
But it just always reminds me he had the right to ask it. Thank
you for everything you have all done for our freedom. Thank
you.
[Applause.]
Chairman Bost. Thank you, Senator. Commander, thank you for
being here. I want to express this to you, but I am also going
to express it to Mr. Reese and Ms. Ilem. As we see these
changes and the conversation as they go on, if you see a
reduction in any service that is due to the change into this
administration's made, or if you see or hear of someone
specifically that has been relieved and or let go of their
duties that you think is something that we should hear, my
office, you know, is always open. The job of this Committee is
to make sure that the veterans are provided for, as I said
before, not that the bureaucrats are protected, but making sure
that the services that is provided through the VA are for our
veterans to make sure that they are taken care of. And I want
to thank all of you, the Disabled American Veterans, for being
here today, for what you have done, and what you continue to
do. And I want to thank the audience members for coming in from
every corner of this United States. And with that, we are going
to move to the second panel. But here are some instructions
that I need to give to you, please, because after 11 years of
being around here, I understand how this room works. If you
would, your exit, please, this way, so that the next panel can
come in this way for the flow of traffic. Thank you again for
being here. God bless you all.
[Applause.]
Mr. Contreras. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Ranking
Member Takano.
----------
Chairman Bost. The Committee will come back to order. We
would like now to welcome our second panel. I want to thank you
all for being here. Now, we have a lot of important
organizations to hear from on this panel, so let's get right to
it.
Today we are joined by the National Commander Horace
Johnson of AMVETS. We are also joined with Mr.--by Mr. Jack
McManus of the Veterans--Vietnam Veterans of America.
Mr. Robert Olivarez. Do I say right? Well, no, with--with
boast. You know that it is not boast, it is Bost. So I want
yours to be right. How is--it is not close enough, but get it
right.
Mr. Olivarez. It is Olivarez.
Chairman Bost. And now I am still going to say it wrong,
but that is all right. That way you put it down. He is of our
Military Order of the Purple Heart.
Mr. Paul Mimms of the Blind Veterans Association. Thank you
for being here with us.
Mr. William Hubbard of the Veterans Education Success.
Ms. Nancy Menagh of the Gold Star Wives of America.
Mr. Matthew Schwartzman of Reserve Organization of America.
Again, welcome to all of you and to all of your members in the
audience.
Mr. Johnson, you are now recognized for 5 minutes for your
opening statement.
PANEL II
----------
STATEMENT OF HORACE JOHNSON,
NATIONAL COMMANDER, AMVETS
Mr. Johnson. Well, thank you, sir. Chairman, Ranking
Members and Members of the Committee, the challenges facing
veterans aren't new, but recent actions making them worse.
Right now, veterans working at the VA are losing their jobs.
Veterans owned small businesses are losing contracts and
critical services are being cut without a clear plan and
without accountability.
The Department of Government Efficiency, DOGE, is making
sweeping changes in the name of reform, but real reform means
fixing what is broken, not breaking what works. The VA needs
improvement, but not reckless cuts are not--but reckless cuts
are not the answer. Veterans should not bear the brunt of
mismanagement. Congress must step in before these changes do
lasting damages.
At the same time, while resources disappear in the name of
efficiency, the VA mental health budget has grown from $600
million at the start of our Iraqi and Afghanistan wars to over
$17 billion in 2025. Yet veteran suicide rates remain
heartbreakingly high. This crisis isn't about a lack of
funding; it is about misplaced priorities. Billions are wasted
on ineffective programs, bureaucracies and contracts that
overpromise and underdeliver. And while that money disappears,
veterans are left without the care they need. This has to
change.
Veterans is calling for a real solution. We propose the
Veterans Continuum of Wellness, a framework designed to tackle
the root causes of mental health struggles. It focuses on early
intervention, self-sufficiency and long-term wellness. It
explains access to alternate therapies, including peer-led
counseling and community-based support, giving veterans more
options beyond traditional VA care and pharmaceuticals. Because
when a veteran is struggling, they don't need to be put on a
waiting list, another waiting list, they need help when they
ask for it.
Another issue that has been overlooked for far too long is
traumatic brain injury, TBI. Since 2000, nearly a half a
million service members have suffered at least one TBI each
year. Over a hundred thousand veterans seek VA care for TBI,
yet too many are given medical issues instead of--medications--
instead of real treatment. Businesses, excuse me, businesses
are shut out. Congress must increase competition, remove
barriers for veteran-owned businesses and hold contractors
accountable.
There are other urgent issues. Surviving spouses and
children of service members receive far less DIC payments than
other civilian counterparts. This must change. The Richard Star
Act must pass so that medically retired combat veterans can
receive both their full retirement pay and disability benefits
without penalty. Far too long, veterans and their families have
been told to wait while billions are wasted. Veterans are still
dying by suicide. Veterans with TBI are still searching for
solutions. Veteran-owned small businesses are still being shut
out while corporate profits from failed projects. We cannot
keep on doing the same thing. Congress must act now. Our
legislative priorities will ensure every veteran has the
opportunity to thrive.
At the same time, Congress must hold underperforming
contractors accountable, support veteran owned businesses and
prioritize competition and innovation. AMVETS stands ready to
help with Congress, the administration and the VA to make real
reform happen. Veterans need more--don't need more bureaucracy.
They don't need more failed programs. They need leadership.
They need vision. They need real results. The time is now.
Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Johnson appears on page 89
of the Appendix.]
Chairman Bost. Thank you, Mr. Johnson. Mr. McManus, you are
recognized for 5 minutes for your opening statement.
STATEMENT OF JACK MCMANUS, NATIONAL PRESIDENT, VIETNAM VETERANS
OF AMERICA
Mr. McManus. Morning, Chairperson, esteemed Members of the
joint House and Senate Committees on Veterans' Affairs and
fellow veterans in the room. VVA remains steadfast in our
mission to advocate for the rights, health and well-being of
all veterans who have served. We are driven by the commitment
that has guided our organization since its founding.
Never again shall one generation of veterans abandon
another. To divide one's veteran service based upon the
distinction in time and location at the expense of another
veteran's equally honorable service is an injustice to both
veterans. Could we really believe that the sacrifices of the
veterans lost in the Beirut barracks at the embassy in Benghazi
were any less a sacrifice than those lost in Al-Fallujah in
Iraq or Khe Sanh in Vietnam? We are American veterans first,
last and always.
Foremost, I must address an urgent matter. That is the need
for a full accounting of U.S. personnel categorized as
prisoners of war or missing in action from the War in Vietnam.
The families of those service members deserve the answers. And
you, the Members of this Committee, multiple committees,
representing the American people, owe it to our former fallen
comrades to ensure every effort is made to bring them home. We
call on Congress to fully fund and prioritize efforts to
recover and account for our missing service members in all
Vietnam War combat areas. Diligent recovery efforts are
imperative and must continue at a fast pace at potential sites
which have been altered by construction and by land
reclamation.
America has made an oath to never abandon our fellow
veterans. In keeping this promise, do not allow this time and
opportunity to slip away.
The health and safety of our veterans and their descendants
should be a paramount concern for all veterans--all Americans,
excuse me. Therefore, we ask for comprehensive studies to
identify and potentially resolve the negative effects of toxic
exposures on veterans and their descendants. In this, we hope
to identify best practices that will mitigate or eliminate
future toxic exposures.
Thousands of Vietnam veterans were exposed to Agent Orange
in the water and on the ships outside the current 12-mile
nautical limitation. We call for amendment of the Blue Water
Navy Act of 2019 to extend this arbitrary man-made limit. If
you served in the Vietnam theater of combat operations and are
entitled to receive the Vietnam Service Medal, you should be
presumed exposed.
1,120 women volunteered to serve with the Red Cross during
the Vietnam War. 627 of those women worked as Donut Dollies and
three of them never made it home from Vietnam. Providing
critical morale boosts to our soldiers, these Donut Dollies
traveled by helicopter to forward operating positions as well
as in the rear.
We call for recognition of their perilous volunteer service
by awarding the Congressional Gold Medal to the Donut Dollies.
I implore this Committee to introduce this long overdue
legislation. As a personal aside, it would be very important
and very critical if we could get the Members of this Committee
to sponsor and introduce the legislation for the Congressional
Gold Medal for the Donut Dollies.
Finally, we adamantly oppose any proposed dilution or
expansion of the criteria for which the DoD Gold Star
designation lapel button is awarded. It should always be for
our Nation's aspiration to have fewer Gold Star families, not
more. We are opposed to any efforts to diminish the noble and
selfless sacrifice of those lives ended in military conflict.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify. VVA is keen to
work with Congress on behalf of our veterans. More of our
priorities can be found in our written testimony.
[The prepared statement of Mr. McManus appears on page 100
of the Appendix.]
Chairman Bost. Thank you, Mr. McManus. Mr. Olivarez, you
are recognized for 5 minutes.
STATEMENT OF ROBERT OLIVAREZ JR., NATIONAL COMMANDER, MILITARY
ORDER OF THE PURPLE HEART
Mr. Olivarez. Thank you. Thank you, Chairman Bost, and
Ranking Member Blumenthal, and distinguished Members of the
Veterans' Affairs Committee. I am honored and humbled to
represent America's Purple Heart veterans in addressing you
today.
I would like to begin by congratulating the new Members of
Congress and expressing my gratitude to those who have returned
to serve and enhance the quality of life for our Nation's
veterans. With the collective efforts, I am confident that the
119th Congress will make significant stride in supporting our
Nation's heroes. The 118th Congress passed pivotal legislation
such as the VA Accountability Act, PACT Act, and the Compact
Act, which have made substantial improvements in various
aspects of the American veterans life. This foundation will
undoubtedly guide our progress during the 119th Congress.
Our Nation's veterans answered a call to protect us from
the darkest threats the world has to offer. We implore you,
this Committee, and the rest of Congress to consider passing
further legislation that addresses and presents needs of our
veterans.
We, the Military Order of the Purple Heart, ask for your
support in the following. First, the Military Medals Protection
Act, which George Washington established as the Badge of Merit,
which is the precursor to today's Purple Heart. Recognizing the
profound significance of military honors. This act grants the
Department of Defense exclusive trademark authority over all
military medals, safeguarding them from exploitation and
preserving their symbolic value. Commercializing or misusing
these symbols diminishes their essence. The 113th Congress
recognized this sacredness when they passed the Stolen Valor
Act. Let's collaborate and expand their protection and restore
the trade word marks to DoD, ensuring their unimpaired
safeguard.
Second, the National Green Alert Act. H.R. 175-2017 aims to
create a specialized alert system for missing veterans. The
purpose of the system is to leverage a successful existing
alert system like the Amber Alert and Silver Alert, which have
demonstrated high recovery rates. The Green Alert system would
provide critical response tools to enable specialized response
to include public education components to address the unique
challenges faced by veterans in crisis.
Third, the Healthy Heroes Act. This act addresses veterans
healthcare crisis including mental health, substance abuse and
homelessness. This act would introduce changes to health--the
VA health care by embracing alternative treatments such as
holistic approaches and comprehensive mental health services.
The Military Order of the Purple Heart also requests Congress
to expand on the VA dental health care qualifications for all
veterans.
Finally, the Fulfilling the Legacy Act seeks to rectify a
systematic failure that has been affecting all veterans
financial security. Consider the story of a 92-year-old Purple
Heart recipient who diligently paid survivor's benefit premiums
for decades only to lose $50,000 in premiums when his wife
passed away. This is not an isolated incident but a clear
indication and a need for action. This act modernizes the
survivor's benefit plan, ensuring that veterans investments in
their families futures are protected. The military retirees
have already met all requirements and have earned health care
benefits. So the Military Order of the Purple Heart opposes any
changes to TRICARE for Life or VA disability benefits that
would increase the fees and shift costs from the Department of
Defense to retirees over 65 years of age who rely on TRICARE
for Life and those who rely on their VA disability
compensation.
The cost of inaction extends beyond monetary losses. It
involves the loss of life, shattered families and broken
promises. Each day, 44,000 families, or 44 families, tragically
lose a veteran to suicide for our delays. Every night, 33,000
veterans who valiantly defended our Nation find themselves
sleeping on our streets. On top of that, countless military
families face financial insecurities due to outdated benefit
systems. Continuing to allow companies to profit while
penalizing a Nation's heroes who earned these benefits
diminishes the sacrifices made by America's warriors.
These four acts the Military Order of the Purple Heart
presents are more than mere policy changes, but they embody our
sacred moral obligation to those who have served. The Military
Order of the Purple Heart proposes these acts for American
veterans to secure their health care for their families'
futures. Each piece of legislation addresses critical gaps in
support for veterans. George Washington recognized the
importance of honoring those veterans who served under him. We
must too recognize our duty to today's veterans. The 119th
Congress holds the opportunity to transform how America cares
for its heroes. Let us set aside partisan politics and focus on
the issue at hand. The Military Order of the Purple Heart is
seeking your support and collaboration on these presented acts,
and also remember to ``Honor the Contract.''
[The prepared statement of Mr. Olivarez appears on page 115
of the Appendix.]
Chairman Bost. Thank you. Mr. Mimms, you are recognized for
5 minutes.
STATEMENT OF PAUL L. MIMMS, NATIONAL PRESIDENT, BLINDED
VETERANS ASSOCIATION
Mr. Mimms. Good morning, Chairman Bost, and Chairman Moran,
and Ranking Members Blumenthal and Takano, and the other
esteemed Members of the congressional Veterans' Affairs
Committee. The Blinded Veterans Association is honored to
present our legislative priorities for the coming year as we
approach, on March 28th, the anniversary of our 80th year of
existence.
What I want to talk to you about today is the ways in which
America's blinded veterans are continuing to be underserved and
disenfranchised. And I present that to you by describing myself
to you, presenting myself to you as a blinded veteran who
served in Vietnam and was injured there, a former employee of
the Department of Veterans Affairs as a vet center counselor
and later computer skills instructor, and eventually a visual
impairment services team coordinator. And now I am a consumer
of medical care from my local VA medical center.
A day in the life of just trying to get a primary care
appointment, I will present to you, and the first barrier we
encounter is transportation. The VA has inadequate
transportation resources available to blind veterans. What we
do have provided by the VTS service is that we may actually
have our appointment canceled the night before, if not the day
of the appointment. We now have to scramble to try to figure
out how to get there. Once we get there, we get to the waiting
room and very often somebody is going to walk out, call my name
and then walk up to me and say, here, fill this out and hand me
a clipboard, which of course I can't see. Then when I finally
get in at my appointment, they are going to give me yet another
sheaf of papers and say, here is your treatment plan and your
follow up plan. And so go over that and you know, I will see
you in six months.
Okay. Then I leave there, I go to labs, or I go to
pharmacy, both are going to be the same thing. I am required to
take a number from where? And so it is not obvious and if there
is nobody there to help, there is, now I got to find somebody
else that is sitting there and hopefully there is somebody so I
can ask them where do I get my number? Okay, now wait, tell
me--can you tell me what it is? So that system is not for us,
but yet we get through that. And when we go to pharmacy after
we put in our prescriptions, we are sitting in the lobby with
everybody else, and what we are tasked with doing is waiting to
see our name on the screen, although we can't, so we got to ask
somebody else, you know, to find my name if the pharmacy
doesn't come up with a way in order to inform us that we will
notify you when your name comes out so you can come up and pick
up your meds.
After we leave to go to the window in order to apply for
transportation reimbursement because we had to pay our own way
to get there, then they say, well you are going to have to use
the website. So I tell them the website is not accessible.
Well, I am sorry, we can't help you. Yet another barrier.
And so that, that is just a day in the life of what we go
through and as blinded veterans, and I am not unique in that.
And so as I want to say one more thing about me and that is
that I am a guide dog handler. And as such, for the last three
administrations, we have been waiting for the VA to implement
their own mandated program that would have established a person
called Service Dog Champion at every VA facility. And they have
yet to do that. And for the few that are on duty, there is no
such thing as the training program for them. There is no such
thing as the guidance for them. So our very--our expectations
have to be very low in terms of them delivering the service
that is supposed to come from that program. Another barrier.
So we--I don't want you to think that I am a blinded
veteran and therefore I have a disability and so I want
everything my way. It is far from that. We served like
everybody else served, and we served you. In front of me and
every other veteran in this room, we served alongside them and
the country. We served on behalf of them. And so we deserve, as
blind veterans, the same level of dignity, respect,
sensitivity, and we need to be treated as much of a human being
as everybody else who doesn't have an obvious different
abilities.
My abilities are different now than they were when I was
inducted, as I have been discharged. And those different
abilities don't mean that therefore I have a different level of
respect and service that I should be able to expect as I try to
access VA's programs.
So I am advocating right now for you to continue the
funding for blind rehabilitation service. I can tell you there
is nothing in the general community that will come anywhere
near the level of service that we get from that program, and we
desperately need that in order to be able to take our place in
society alongside our sighted peers and our family members and
our fellow veterans--being able to serve in the community as
husbands, fathers, brothers, and taxpayers. And I want to make
sure that we have continued funding for vision research through
Senate appropriations. I want the VA to engage on a program
that would just come up with training for the ways that they
need it.
Once I mentioned that VA employees don't know how to guide
us. So when we go to a clinic appointment, they are going to
grab our thumb, wrist, my clothes, my dog's leash, the cane,
and whatever they can think of that they are supposed to grab
so they can lead us, when in reality they just need to offer us
an elbow and we can take that and it is all done. But the VA
doesn't see it makes sense to teach them that. And so I ask for
that education. Education for the service dog champions.
And last, but not least, we advocate vigorously for the
establishment of the Federal Committee--Federal Advisory
Committee on Access. And more so, we advocate for having a seat
at that table because we finally need now the opportunity to
speak up for ourselves instead of having people decide, oh,
this is what they need, so just give them this so they will be
quiet.
So I thank you for this opportunity to present to you, and
I offer the opportunity to answer any of your questions.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Mimms appears on page 120 of
the Appendix.]
Chairman Bost. Thank you Mr. Mimms. Mr. Hubbard.
Mr. Mimms. Thank you.
[Applause.]
Chairman Bost. Mr. Hubbard, you are recognized for 5
minutes.
STATEMENT OF WILLIAM HUBBARD, VICE PRESIDENT FOR VETERANS AND
MILITARY POLICY, VETERANS EDUCATION SUCCESS
Mr. Hubbard. Thank you. Chairman Moran and Bost, Ranking
Members Blumenthal and Takano, and esteemed Members of the
Committee on Veterans' Affairs, thank you for the opportunity
to testify today on behalf of Veterans Education Success. We
thank you for your long-standing leadership, especially
Chairman Moran, Senator Cassidy, and Ranking Member Takano, for
closing the 90/10 loophole.
Our organization works on a bipartisan basis to advance
higher education success for veterans, service members, and
military families and to protect the integrity and promise of
the GI Bill and other federal post-secondary education
programs. The stakes are high. Veterans and taxpayers alike
deserve a return on their investment in higher education.
While most U.S. colleges are honorable and good, some are
not, but VA continues to approve them anyway. For example,
there is roughly 100 colleges that spent less than 20 percent
of the tuition they charged VA on actually educating veterans.
And predictably, these schools have abysmal outcomes. One
veteran told us, ``There are issues such as schools replaying
free web seminars as their own training and using unqualified
people to lead the classes. They literally go to YouTube, find
the free course by someone, then they play that during the Zoom
meeting and call it training. Everything they are doing could
have been done by me for free. They also attempted on two
occasions to place me in classes that are not part of the
program and do not serve a purpose except to show me in
class.''
A couple of years ago, student veterans and whistleblowers
reported a different school to us, a school pretending to be a
legitimate Bible college, which, as the students described, was
actually a cult. We interviewed the students and teachers and
provided a comprehensive memo to VA, and yet the school
continued to receive GI Bill funding for another two years. The
school even continued to receive GI Bill funding a full three
months after the FBI raided the school's locations across the
country.
Transitions between military service and civilian life are
challenging enough as it is, even in the best of times. I have
personally made this transition multiple times between active-
duty service and the civilian world after several overseas
deployments, including my last tour in Afghanistan in 2018 and
2019. When veterans apply to use their GI Bill at a training
program or college, they don't think, gosh, this is going to be
such a scam. No, of course they think they are investing their
time, energy, and valuable GI Bill benefits in something
worthwhile. Yet we hear from veterans and their families time
and time again, why would VA approve this program in the first
place? And that really is a question for Congress to ponder.
Our written testimony suggests some common sense standards
to prevent this kind of fraud in the first place.
One, ensure teachers are qualified to teach in their
subjects.
Two, require colleges to prove they are financially stable
and won't suddenly collapse.
Three, require colleges to spend the GI Bill on the
veteran's education rather than siphoning it off for massive
marketing budgets.
Four, stop colleges from overcharging repackaged content, a
hit to veterans and taxpayers alike.
Five, no more YouTube lectures. Require real instructor
engagement in online classes.
A related and worst problem is that if a veteran was
defrauded of their hard earned GI Bill benefits, that veteran
will never get their GI Bill back. Unlike traditional students
who can apply to be made whole, the veteran is left out. Last
year, the House voted overwhelmingly in favor of the Student
Veteran Benefit Restoration Act, a bill sponsored by
Congresswoman Delia Ramirez and championed by Chairman Mike
Bost, both members from Illinois, where I grew up. We need to
pass this bill this year.
Before I close, I want to briefly mention two additional
priorities. First, on the Dole Act, we provide some suggestions
and our written testimony for some possible technical
improvements. And second, we call for much better interagency
data sharing by VA to answer critical questions on veterans
outcomes.
Thank you for your time and commitment to these issues. I
look forward to your questions.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Hubbard appears on page 137
of the Appendix.]
Chairman Bost. Thank you, Mr. Hubbard. What amazement is it
that the two set people sitting at the dais are the ones that
are sponsors of your bill?
Mr. Hubbard. I appreciate it.
Chairman Bost. With that, Ms. Menagh, you are recognized
for 5 minutes for your opening statement.
STATEMENT OF NANCY MENAGH, PAST NATIONAL PRESIDENT, GOLD STAR
WIVES OF AMERICA, INC.
Ms. Menagh. Chairman Bost, Ranking Members, and Committee
members, thank you so much for inviting us to testify this
year. This year marks 80 years that Gold Star Wives of America
has worked with Congress to bring attention to surviving
spouses and their families.
In our written testimony, we address our many concerns
concerning toxic exposure, traumatic brain injuries in relation
to suicide, claims for suicide and their issues, and the burial
allowance and many other issues facing veterans and their
families. But today we are here to focus on the Caring for
Survivors Act of 2025. The first part of the bill will match
dependent indemnity compensation, known as DIC, closer to
benefits in other federal survivor programs. And the second
part will ensure surviving family members receive the financial
help they deserve if their veteran dies at the 5-year mark
instead of the 10-year mark if they die of a condition not
deemed part of their disability.
My husband, Captain Philip Menagh, served in Vietnam with
the Marine Corps, where he earned the Silver Star, the Navy
Commendation Medal with Valor, and the Navy and Marine Corps
Medal. He then later joined the Virginia National Guard. On
June 9, 1984, I was 8 months pregnant, and our four children
stood at the window, 10, 8, 5, and 3, each holding a dollar
bill, listening for the ice cream truck. My 8-year-old suddenly
yelled, mom, mom, there is a police car with two Army guys. As
I stood waiting for that knock at the door, I knew our lives
had changed forever. I am now one of the many survivors who
rely on DIC.
Currently, over 93 percent of those who receive DIC are
over the age of 57 and over 70 percent are surviving spouses of
Vietnam. Whether an active-duty death or a slow Agent Orange
death years later, it is this demographic who needs this
increase in DIC. Of all those who receive DIC, only around 15
percent also receive DIC and SBP. Those who receive only DIC
are primarily those who are married to our Vietnam veterans.
Well, what does this increase mean to us? Let's look at the
numbers. A married 100 percent disabled Vietnam veteran
receives an annual amount of $48,532. If that veteran dies, the
household income drops to a mere $19,836. The rent remains the
same, the utilities remain the same, and yet that spouse now
has less than half of the monthly income to maintain that
household. And that is because their surviving spouse rate is
only 43 percent of what a single 100 percent disabled veteran
receives. To bring parity with other federal employing programs
by raising that amount to 55 percent is really a very small
price to pay for the sacrifices made for those who served in
Vietnam and their families. Certainly the sacrifice made by our
service members are at least as important and worthy as other
federal employee jobs. Been a lot of talk today about federal
jobs.
While my husband is the one who made the ultimate sacrifice
for our country, it is me, the surviving spouse, who continues
to pay that price each and every day for the rest of my life. I
wear the Silver Star my husband earned to remind me every day
of who he was, what he did, and how to continue his life of
service. Our country drafted thousands and thousands of young
men to serve in Vietnam, and now it is time to show our respect
for them by taking care of their families left behind. It is
part of the price tag for their sacrifice, and it is a very
small price to pay.
The second part of the Caring for Survivors Act of 2025
addresses the surviving families of 100 percent disabled
veterans. Currently, only the families of a veteran rated 100
percent for 10 years receives benefits in the situation of a
death deemed not caused by the disability. This bill reduced
the 10-year qualification to 5 years, thus providing benefits
to those families who have put their lives on hold caring for
those veterans every day.
You can pass the Caring for Survivors Act of 2025 to
provide just a little more financial ability to pay the bills,
to buy that extra bag of groceries, or fill a tank of gas. It
is no secret how our Vietnam veterans were treated when they
came home. You can send a message to them that we recognize and
thank them for their sacrifice and now we will do better to
take care of the family they leave behind.
For 80 years we have come to remind you to follow the words
of Abraham Lincoln, ``To care for him who have borne the battle
and for his widow and his orphan.'' Thank you.
[Applause.]
[The prepared statement of Ms. Menagh appears on page 167
of the Appendix.]
Chairman Bost. Thank you. Mr. Schwartzman, you are
recognized for 5 minutes.
STATEMENT OF MATTHEW L. SCHWARTZMAN, DIRECTOR, LEGISLATION AND
MILITARY POLICY, RESERVE ORGANIZATION OF AMERICA
Mr. Schwartzman. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Bost and Moran, Ranking Members Takano and Blumenthal,
and distinguished Members of the Committees on Veterans'
Affairs, on behalf of the Reserve Organization of America, the
only National military organization that solely and exclusively
supports the Reserve and National Guard, thank you for the
opportunity to testify on our veterans priorities for the 119th
Congress. By setting aside partisanship, your Committees have
consistently extinguished the fires of faction warned of in the
Federalist Papers and have instead kindled a flame of
constitutional cooperation seldomly seen within the Federal
Government. That flame was recently ignited with the signing of
the Dole Act, which included several provisions modernizing the
Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act
supported by ROA. ROA is eager to work with you and your staff
to build on this success and thanks you for your hard work in
the previous Congress.
For over a century, ROA has championed the Reserve and
National Guard, advocating for military readiness and national
security. The Department of Veterans Affairs is essential to
this mission and must ensure the reserve components receive the
support they need and deserve.
While my written statement details over 20 actions Congress
can take, my remarks today will focus on three critical
reforms.
80 years ago, President Roosevelt signed the GI Bill into
law, issuing an emphatic notice that the American people would
not let down their service members. Yet, despite ongoing
improvements, members of the Reserve and National Guard are
still left behind. Under current law, an active-duty service
member and a reservist can perform the same mission, but only
one earns education benefits. This is simply unacceptable.
The Guard and Reserve GI Bill Parity Act, reintroduced in
the 119th Congress, would resolve this disparity by counting
every day in uniform toward Post-9/11 GI Bill eligibility.
Beyond parity, this bill would boost voluntary reserve
participation, strengthen the military's compensation package,
enhance senior enlisted and officer promotion opportunities,
and improve civilian career prospects for citizen warriors. ROA
thanks Senators Moran and Blumenthal and Representatives Levin
and Kelly for sponsoring this bill and urges its swift passage
into law.
The GI Bill's core purpose transcends education and is
evident in other VA programs like the Transition Assistance
Program. ROA commends your Committees for prioritizing TAP in
the previous Congress, leading to the establishment of a
reserve focus track within the program. This was a significant
step forward, but more work remains. For example, ROA proposes
expanding TAPs eligibility criteria and allowing participants
to waive requirements under certain circumstances that are
detailed further in our statement. ROA also supports
incorporating reserve component specific issues in the TAP pre-
separation checklist and ensuring military spouses are fully
integrated into the process. ROA remains committed to working
with your Committees to refine TAP and ensure citizen warriors
and their families receive the support they need.
President Roosevelt's words about the GI Bill were not just
a promise, they were a call to action. ROA answered that call
in supporting the PACT Act. During the 72-hour fire watch vigil
which helped secure the Act's passage, I had the honor of
spending a night with veterans and other patriotic Americans on
the Capitol steps. With ROA's headquarters nearby, I offered
access to our facilities to sustain the vigil. That night a
veteran jokingly called me ``bathroom guy,'' a title I now wear
proudly as a symbol of ROA's commitment to delivering toxic
exposure relief. Thanks to the PACT Act, almost one and a half
million claims have been approved, with over 6 million toxic
exposure screenings completed. Despite this, some veterans are
still left behind.
Consider those at the Pentagon on 9/11, forced to return to
duty the very next day. Many of these heroes were exposed to
toxic substances that still affect them to this day. Take
retired Air Force Lt. Col. Susan Lukas, for example. Susan was
at the Pentagon on 9/11. The next day she returned to duty.
Soon after, she developed debilitating symptoms, including
difficulty swallowing and breathing. Years later she was
diagnosed with a rare lung condition, forcing her to leave the
career she loved. Today, toxic exposure and PTSD continue to
impact her life. But you don't have to take my word for it. In
fact, Susan is here with me today. After this hearing, she is
ready to share her experience firsthand and discuss ROA's
proposal to establish a presumption of service-connection for
her fellow battle buddies.
ROA again thanks the Committees on Veterans' Affairs for
the opportunity to testify. Before closing, I would like to
recognize ROA's policy fellows, Jake Fails, Peter Donlin, and
Hannah Miller for their contributions to this statement.
Thank you again and I look forward to answering any
questions you may have.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Schwartzman appears on page
176 of the Appendix.]
Chairman Bost. Thank you, Mr. Schwartzman.
I want to thank you and thank all of the entire panel for
their thoughtful testimony, and I will now recognize myself for
3 minutes for questioning.
Commander Johnson, your organization directly interacts
with veterans from various walks of life, especially as they
navigate VA healthcare. What feedback do you receive from
veterans regarding their experience with the VA healthcare?
Mr. Johnson. Most of it is positive, but when it comes to
making appointments and things like that, it takes a little
longer than we would want that to happen. We would prefer it to
be more hands on and more input being more felt and more timely
because when people are sick, they are sick right then. Okay?
They don't want to wait until next month. By the time they get
the appointments, they are well already. So that is the most--a
lot of the feedback I get from the veterans.
Chairman Bost. Appreciate that.
Mr. McManus, can you elaborate on why you believe VA's
practice of reporting veterans with fiduciary to the National--
the NI--to the next list, okay, for background check system
stigmatizes them and discourages them from receiving help from
VA?
Mr. McManus. We stand in support in the Military Order of
Purple Heart and a number of other veterans organizations in
unison in the efforts to ensure that a level of fairness and
due process is accessed by our veterans. It is a shame that the
very people who defend the rights of all Americans are some of
the ones it has been the easiest to strip away. And we are in
full support of the Second Amendment Protection Act.
Chairman Bost. Appreciate that.
Mr. McManus. Mm-hmm.
Chairman Bost. Hubbard, in your testimony you highlighted
the need to restore veterans benefits when there are cases of
fraud. Would you be supportive to the reintroduction of the
Student Benefit Restoration Act and the language that passed
the House 40--406 to 6 last Congress?
Mr. Hubbard. Thank you for the question, Mr. Chairman.
Obviously, we appreciated working with your office and
Congresswoman Delia Ramirez on that language. I think the fact
that it was passed so overwhelmingly bipartisan demonstrates
the fact that America and Congress has acknowledged the need
for veterans to be made whole when they are defrauded. And we
look forward to working with you and your office on that very
closely moving forward.
Chairman Bost. Thank you very much. My time has expired,
and I now recognize Ranking Member Takano.
Mr. Takano. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My first question is
for Mr. Mimms from VVA. In your testimony, you identified
issues that blind and low vision veterans are experiencing when
using the Veterans Transportation Service. Mr. Mimms, what do
you think needs to be changed in the VTS program and how do you
think it could be improved?
Mr. Mimms. First thing that needs to be improved is it
needs to be an available service that covers the need. And very
often the reason those appointments are canceled, that I
mentioned, is because they don't have enough drivers. I don't
know how we will recruit a driver because I couldn't apply for
the job, but I know that there are ways that the VA could come
up with where they could recruit drivers if they could pay them
an adequate wage so that it would be something that people
would want to apply for. I think I will stop there.
Mr. Takano. Well, have you seen any indication, or are you
concerned--I want to ask you about Section 508 compliance or
accessibility. You are kind of laughing a little bit there.
Section 508 compliance or other accessibility initiatives
supporting blind and low-vision veterans. Are you concerned
that they--that this compliance may be impacted by President
Trump's anti-diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility
Executive order?
Mr. Mimms. I think it could be if they--if we are lumped as
blinded veterans or even veterans with different abilities, you
know, as participants in the program of DEI. But Section 508
has been around for a long time and it was before they even
thought of DEI and before they really understood blinded
veterans. And so it has to do with the VA engaging the purpose,
engaging in the purchase rather, of equipment that will not
meet our needs as veterans with these different abilities. But
they put them in place anyway and then if it works out well,
then they will think about how to do that later, I guess. But
in the meantime, once again, that is another barrier. And a
case in point is the kiosk that they were around. They have
been around for 12, 15 years and by and large they are still
not accessible to us, but they keep them in place. Well, that
is how we check in. Yes, sir.
Mr. Takano. Well, thank you. I am just very concerned about
the President's Executive order impacting blind veterans as
part of DEI.
Mr. Mimms. Yes.
Mr. Takano. That is a concern of yours as well, right?
Mr. Mimms. Yes. You know, as I mentioned, blind rehab,
there is nothing adequate beyond VA in blind rehab that would
meet the needs and therefore we get the care that we already
have. And so I think, you know, once again, we served the
country, and so we just want you, the 119th Congress, to serve
us back.
Well, thank you so much. And I am very concerned that blind
veterans are going to get caught up in this unnecessary attack.
Mr. Mimms. I am concerned myself, but I am--I guess I am
lacking in how to fix it.
Mr. Takano. Thank you, sir. I yield back.
Chairman Bost. Thank you. Representative Ramirez, you are
recognized for 3 minutes.
HON. DELIA RAMIREZ,
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE FROM ILLINOIS
Mrs. Ramirez. Thank you, Chairman from the--my beloved
State of Illinois. Appreciate it. And of course, I appreciate
our Ranking Member from another good state. Not as great as
Illinois. Just kidding. Just kidding.
No, I want to start by just saying thank you to all the
veterans service organizations that are joining us today and
certainly every veteran that is here today and if there are any
veterans from Illinois, I want to personally thank you for the
ways that you have shown up for every American in this Nation
and the way that you continue to live a life of public service.
[Applause.] And, yes, I think we need a round of applause.
[Applause.]
Thank you to all of you. The reality is that here in the
Veterans' Affairs Committee, we introduce and we move
legislation, and hopefully most of that legislation is to make
the life of veterans better. But that work couldn't be done
without all of you. So thank you for that.
I want to especially thank Will Hubbard at the Veterans
Education Success for the work that you have done for your
continued advocacy and partnership and advancing policies that
are going to create parity for student veterans. Because the
reality is that we don't have that parity just yet. Veterans
who have served in uniform and have earned their GI Bill
benefits should have the same exact protections as any other
student that uses federal education funds. And as you mentioned
in your testimony, under current law, even when a court or the
Secretary of Veterans Affairs determines that a school
defrauded a veteran, that veteran ends up losing their GI Bill
benefits permanently. Non-veteran students or those that are
studying under--that are not studying under the GI Bill
benefits, they have mechanisms in place to protect and restore
their investments, but veterans don't. And when veterans are
left out, they are taking advantage at the hands of predatory
schools and bad actors. These predatory schools begin targeting
them even before they have returned to civilian life because
they know they can get away with it.
And it is why, with your support and the support of so many
of you, I was proud to introduce and pass the Student Veteran
Benefit Restoration Act last Congress with overwhelming
support. And it is why I am proud to be reintroducing it this
Congress and hopefully get it through the Senate and signed
into law.
Mr. Hubbard, in your testimony, you talked a little bit
about this bill and the importance of this bill, but can you
explain a little bit more why does this inequity exist for
those that don't understand the difference in terms of
restoration? And in your explanation, would you also talk about
the impact it will have once we finally pass this bill into
law?
Mr. Hubbard. Yes. Thank you for not only the question,
Congresswoman, but also your steadfast support to make this
happen.
We hear day in and day out from student veterans who have
called us to share their stories about unspeakable fraud. As I
mentioned in my earlier statement, when a student goes to--when
a veteran goes to school as a student--they are not
anticipating that the school is going to be a scam. They find
that out later and unfortunately their GI Bill benefits are
wasted at that point and given the fact that existing statutory
authority does not afford them the chance to go back to school,
your bill, we are hoping, would make that happen. And with that
kind of legislation in place, our advocacy on behalf of those
student veterans would actually give them a second chance to
get back into the economy, something that we strongly support.
Mrs. Ramirez. Thank you, Mr. Hubbard. Mr. Hubbard, so that
means that if a veteran has been defrauded, he was about to
graduate this school, the school bankrupt, they weren't able to
get their degree, and we know so many veterans that are in that
condition, they are not able to go to school because if they
could go back to school, but they would have to now pay out of
pocket. And we know in many cases that means it is impossible
for them to go to school and afford thousands and thousands of
tuition. Our bill will be able to restore benefits and ensure
that schools in the future won't be able to scam our student
veterans. Is that correct?
Mr. Hubbard. Yes. And thank you again for your support on
that. It is something that we have actively tried to get
through and look forward to working with your office on.
Mrs. Ramirez. I look forward to working with you. I
certainly appreciate our Chairman who was a co-lead on the bill
and I know we are going to work really hard to ensure that both
the House and Senate pass it.
I want to just wrap up in saying again what I said at the
beginning. To all of you service organizations, to the veterans
that are here today, may we always remember that our
responsibility is not partisan politics. Our responsibility is
to honor your service, to commit to ensure that we are
increasing benefits for you, not cutting them, and making sure
that we do everything in our power to ensure that you are
treated with dignity, you are treated with respect, and that
you receive the full benefits you have earned and have been
promised to you. It is what I will continue to do in this
Committee, and I certainly know that a number of my colleagues
here will do.
So, thank you, and with that, I yield back.
Chairman Bost. Dr. Dexter, you are recognized for 3
minutes.
HON. MAXINE DEXTER,
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE FROM OREGON
Dr. Dexter. Thank you so much to our leadership, Chairman
Moran, Ranking Member Blumenthal, Chairman Bost, and Ranking
Member Takano, for convening this really important hearing. And
thank you to our witnesses for being with us today and for your
service to our veterans. Your advocacy on behalf of our
Nation's veterans is deeply meaningful, and it is an honor to
be with you today.
As a physician who has cared for veterans in the Denver VA
or previously cared for them for seven years, it is my
privilege to be in this position advocating with you for the
health care benefits that our veterans have earned and deserve
to keep in whole.
In reviewing the written testimony for today's hearing, I
appreciated that many of you emphasized the importance of
investing in care specifically tailored to women veterans. This
is certainly reflective of the experience I had as a VA
provider, and it is what I hear from folks in the women's
clinic at the Portland VA, which is in my district or serves my
district.
Commander Johnson, do you think it would harm care for
female veterans to fire providers, cut programs, and close
clinics that specifically serve this population of patients?
Mr. Johnson. Absolutely. I mean, our veterans, I mean, our
female veterans, are veterans just like the rest of us. They go
to combat. They do everything every other veteran does, and
they--they are human beings and they get sick and they need
help just like every other veteran does. And then when you are
cutting services, when you are cutting the service for the
female veterans, you are cutting service for veterans, and
absolutely I agree with that, that would harm us immensely.
Dr. Dexter. Thank you. I couldn't agree more, and that is
why I am so concerned about the recent actions from the Trump
administration impacting our VA workforce. Just last week, I
had a roundtable with Portland VA leadership and staff, and I
spoke to staff in the women's health program who said to me,
and this is a direct quote, ``Women say they love our clinic
because we have staff that care, but now we have staff that are
scared, vomiting and freaking out'', and that is the end of
that quote. And these are the people caring for our veterans.
Having terrified VA staff absolutely impacts the quality of
care that our veterans are receiving. I recently heard from a
patient treated at this clinic who canceled every single one of
her forthcoming appointments because she is afraid she could be
retaliated against for getting the care she needs. This is a
horrifying new reality.
So as women make up a growing share of the veteran
population once again, Commander Johnson, what kind of
investments in VA workforce for women veterans care would the
veterans you serve like to see, and do you think these are
possible if the attacks on the VA workforce continue?
Mr. Johnson. So I haven't--we haven't had a full discussion
on that. I would like to just say that I would speak to my
constituents and be able to get back with you at a later date.
Dr. Dexter. I would appreciate that. Thank you.
Mr. Johnson. That is--that is a very important question,
and it should be answered with a lot of consideration.
Dr. Dexter. Thank you, Commander Johnson. I yield back, Mr.
Chair.
Chairman Bost. Thank you. Dr. Conaway, you are now
recognized for 3 minutes.
HON. HERB CONAWAY,
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE FROM NEW JERSEY
Dr. Conaway. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am certainly
pleased to be here and to hear from our veteran community. We
have a responsibility in this country to make sure those who
have served us and not only the veteran, but the veterans
families, are properly cared for. There are a lot of statements
that are made from the dais such as this and on hustings about
how much we owe to our veterans in this country and that should
be met by the appropriate allocations from a budget to have a
VA that is appropriately staffed to do the job that we ask them
to do. And particularly as we have expanded access to the VA,
to different and additional classes of veterans who will need
to get service there. I am sad to say and sorry to know that
our allocations, our budget does not reflect the present and
growing demands that are being placed on the VA.
My question to Mr. Johnson is, can you elaborate or give
insight on the mental health services, the treatment, the care
that veterans are currently receiving and your opinion, and
others can offer opinion on this as well, and what you think
ought to be done to ensure that this care is improved?
Mr. Johnson. Well, I think the funds are there. It is just
that the management of the system itself is not completely
conducive of what is going on there. Especially with the TBI,
the traumatic brain injury, that seems to somehow or another be
new and it is not new. I mean, we have veterans dealing with
that on a daily basis.
Again, we haven't done a complete study on the statistics
on how it is working. And for me to give you an educated,
complete answer, I would have to get with my constituents and
get more based, statistic based information so I can give you a
better educated answer.
Dr. Conaway. Would anyone else care to comment on my
question? Ms.----
Ms. Menagh. I would just like to address a little bit,
continue about the TBI. That is something we are very concerned
about. Studies, non-military studies, have shown that a TBI
anytime in your life, even the mildest concussion, doubles the
chance of suicide. Sometimes in your life there is such a
stigma about suicide and mental health, and we would like to
see more studies to show the physicality of the influence of
the TBI on suicide and also about the, you know, difficulties
with the claim process. Thank you.
Dr. Conaway. Thank you. I would also ask of anyone who
cares to answer. I have a great deal of concern that is broadly
shared, I believe, about the cuts that have been occurring
across the system that are indiscriminate. And while there have
been some who have been saved from these cuts, there are issues
with respect to people who bring food to patients in
facilities, people who clean those facilities, people who
provide security at those facilities. And that needs to be
addressed in my view as well. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Bost. Thank you. At this time, I would like to
recognize Ranking Member Takano for any closing remarks he
might have.
Mr. Takano. Well, I want to thank all the veterans service
organizations that appear before us today and thank all of the
veterans who have come to Washington to advocate on their
behalf. Let me just say that I am awaiting answers from the
Secretary about the firings of veterans. As you know, the VFW
has condemned the indiscriminate dismissals of veterans,
veterans who have had stellar performance reviews. I fail to
see how this advances the mission of VA and I--and I have
serious concerns about mission-critical employees being
dismissed.
With that, I yield back.
Chairman Bost. I thank the Ranking Member for his closing
statement, and I do also want to say thank you for every one of
you being here.
And I want to offer to you the exact same thing that I
offered to the previous panel. If you see at any time that your
services that you specifically deal with for your veterans that
you represent are being interfered with as we change because I
think it was in Mr. Johnson's testimony that he said there are
ineffective programs out there as we need to go wisely through.
And I am going to--I could ask which one of the people on the
panel are taxpayers? And I would say you probably all raise
your hand. And that means that we want to make sure that the
dollars that we are spending on our veterans are going to
provide those services that actually benefit our veterans, not
necessarily benefit a bureaucracy. There is a difference. There
is a difference. And as this Chairman of this Committee, I have
said very openly time and time again and will continue to say
so, the VA was created for the benefit of the veterans, not the
benefit of bureaucracy.
As we move forward, you have heard a lot of things,
including the fact that veterans are being laid off. Some of
those that have worked may be veterans, but most of them are
employees. But as we move forward, it is to make sure that the
best services are provided. That is why I offered what I just
said. If there is any reduction in service or someone that you
know that works at the VA that has been improperly released
from their employment, please come to me and my office because
we will argue on their behalf. But to make blanket statements
based on some reform that has been much needed, I think quite
often runs into rhetoric that we unfortunately use our veterans
and our veterans service organizations as pawns, and I don't
want to see that.
So with that being said, once again, I want to say thank
you to all of you, and that concludes the today's joint VSO
hearing. And I think it is clear that the Committee is
collaborating and in its collaboration with the VA, have more
work to do in service for our veterans and their families.
Now, I ask unanimous consent that all Members shall have
five legislative days in which to revise and extend their
remarks and include any extenuous material. Hearing no
objection, so ordered, and the hearing is now adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 12:58 p.m., the Joint Committees were
adjourned.]
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