Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

And I thank you both, Chairman Filner and Chairman Akaka, for holding this joint hearing.

I am always encouraged to see the two chambers unite for the single goal of providing the highest attention and respect to those who have served and sacrificed to protect our nation.

Let me take a moment to simply thank the veterans who are here with us today – in particular Neal Sundeen, John Aldecoa, and Paul Griffin from my home state of Arizona – for your service and sacrifice – thank you.

I would also like to thank The American Legion for their leadership and tremendous support for the Post 9/11 G.I. bill, to which I was honored to serve as the House sponsor.

I am proud to report more than 300,000 student veterans have taken advantage of these benefits, including nearly 1,100 at Arizona State, which is located in my hometown of Tempe.

We promised higher education to our service members when they joined, and we are finally following through on that promise. As a former teacher, I know that education is a powerful tool.

Let me also thank The American Legion for being an important partner in passing and helping sign into law Advance Funding for the VA.

I was proud to be an original cosponsor. Like you, I believe that veteran’s healthcare should not be compromised by delays in the congressional budget cycle. Advance funding will ensure that the delivery of care is more reliable and timely.  

Throughout the country, and in my District, The American Legion serves as one of the strongest advocates for veterans of today’s wars as well as those from previous generations.  

They are doing this with an expansive network of over 2-million members, men and women, in nearly 15,000 American Legion posts across the world. The American Legion members and their national representatives are well aware of what it takes welcome veterans and service members homes from overseas.  

As we sit here today, we are all aware of the bureaucratic red tape facing disabled veterans in our country. We have commissioned numerous studies, heard hours of testimony, and devoted billions of dollars towards fixing these problems. Even though we have made progress, more work needs to be done.

As Chairman of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, I have had the opportunity to explore issues from sharing of medical records to disability rating disparities to pushing the VA to expand resources to prevent suicide.

I am proud of the progress we are making, and with the support of veterans support organizations like The American Legion we can do it better.

Our Nation’s veterans served honorably to protect us and our country. The least we can do is fight to provide the benefits and services they have earned when they come home.

I yield back the balance of my time.