Good Morning and welcome to Capitol Hill.  Commander Dempsey, Chairman Akaka and I, along with the other members of the House and Senate Veterans Affairs Committees, certainly look forward to hearing the legislative priorities of the Disabled American Veterans for 2009.

Before we start, I would like to extend my compliments to your DAV Washington staff and to tell you, Commander, how gratifying it is to work with them on the many, very important issues that affect our nation’s veterans.

As you know, later this week the Obama Administration will submit an overview of the VA budget for fiscal year 2010.  Both the Senate and House Veterans’ Affairs Committees will thoroughly review this request for veterans’ funding and work with the President to ensure we continue to provide adequate, timely and predictable funding to the Department of Veterans’ Affairs.

In the 110th Congress we increased veterans funding by $16.3 billion and provided the largest increase in the history of the VA.  In addition to the $16.3 billion increase we also passed a historic 21st Century G.I. Education bill, which matched the education benefits of the World War II G.I. Bill. 

And just last week, this Congress along with the Administration continued to “put veterans first” by including over $1.4 billion of additional funding in the Stimulus Bill to help modernize our VA hospitals, cemeteries and systems.

Funding for veterans benefits and health care services is without question a top priority for this Congress and the Administration.  It is a continuing cost of our national defense. 

As I have often said, if we fund the war, we must also fund the warrior.  We must explore all avenues that will help us to provide the sufficient, timely and predictable funding of health care services and benefits for our brave men and women who have answered the call of their country.

Commander Dempsey, as you noted in your statement – “Wartime casualties continue to grow as America’s brave men and women have been in harm’s way in Afghanistan and Iraq for longer than our nation fought in World War II.” 

Ensuring we keep our promises to veterans is an issue this Congress takes seriously.  We recognize that there is a cost associated and we are going to have to dig deep, but the service and sacrifice of our veterans are real, and the VA’s budget must provide the realistic funding to meet their needs.

In a few weeks, the Committee will submit its Views and Estimates on the VA’s 2010 Budget to the House Budget Committee.  While I am unable to offer detailed specifics …I do want to touch on the focus of the Committee’s priorities:

 First, Congress must fund the Department of Veterans Affairs in a sufficient and timely manner.  There is no question that we have made great strides towards correcting the funding neglect of the past decade.  Despite a successful 110th Congress, where $16.3 billion was added to the budget baseline and the budget was delivered on-time, I believe we must do more to provide adequate and timely funding to the VA.  This is why I joined with Chairman Akaka to introduce legislation that would secure timely funding for veterans health care through a process called “advance appropriations.”  H.R. 1016 is a historic new approach and we will continue to explore alternative funding mechanisms until we can guarantee that our veterans have access to the comprehensive, quality health care that they deserve.  I look forward to working with you, Chairman Akaka, and also to the members of DAV to move this legislation forward.

On February 14, 2009, the inventory of compensation and pension claims pending at the VA was 667,043.  There have also been reports of document tampering and mishandling within the Veterans Benefits Administration.  It is critical that the Committee continue to work for a comprehensive solution to this national disgrace.  We must build on the success of last year’s legislation, which provided essential reforms to the claims process and instituted a pilot program that dramatically alters the way claims are processed.   A complete paradigm shift is necessary to fix this long-term systemic problem and it will require unprecedented cooperation and progress.  I would like to commend Chairman John Hall, who has worked tirelessly on this issue, and who is holding a hearing next week with Oversight Chairman Harry Mitchell, to investigate the scope of the problems at VBA and review the response of the VA to the most recent reports.

Last year, Congress passed the greatest overhaul of the G.I. Bill in more than 20 years.  The Post-9/11 G.I. Bill is slated to begin on August 1st and this Committee will continue its vigorous oversight of the implementation of the new program.  Chairwoman Stephanie Herseth Sandlin is conducting a hearing later this week to receive an update from VA.  As many of you know, the original G.I. Bill included a home loan program that helped in the post-World War II recovery.  The Committee will continue to work to return the VA Home Loan program to relevance for our veterans.  Last year, Congress expanded this benefit by enabling more veterans to refinance their existing high-risk loans with VA loans – and we plan to do more this year to address the housing needs of our veterans.

Finally, we will continue to address the health care treatment and access issues that affect so many of our veterans.  We must continue to improve and expand treatment options for veterans with mental health challenges and those suffering from brain injuries.  We must do a better job of reaching the veterans that live in rural areas, and I applaud you Commander, for the success of the DAV’s Mobile Service Office program.  Under Chairman Michaud’s leadership, the Subcommittee on Health has produced significant legislation that has improved veterans’ access to health care, started a program to help rural veterans get the health care they need closer to home, and expanded the mental health treatment available for our returning veterans.    

Commander, I would like to hear your thoughts not only on the VA budget for fiscal year 2010, but the other legislative priorities of the Disabled American Veterans.