Good morning, I also want to welcome and thank my colleagues from both Houses of Congress for their attendance here today.

Commander Lisicki, I want to welcome you and thank you for you service to our nation and for your testimony this morning. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on veterans’ issues that are important to all of us.

We are also graced this morning by the presence of Virginia Carman, national president of the Ladies Auxiliary to the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S. Welcome Ms. Carman and thank you for being here this morning.

The VFW Ladies Auxiliary and its 600,000 members provide great service to our nation’s veterans and their local communities through many programs including Americanism activities, grants for cancer aid and research, their world famous buddy poppies, and the countless hours they volunteer at VA hospitals.

I especially would like to take a moment to recognize and welcome VFW delegates and fellow Hoosiers from my home state of Indiana. With us this morning is

• State Commander Jesse Morando from Whiting and his wife Laura
• Senior Vice Commander Richard Faulk from Indianapolis and his wife Gloria,
• Junior Vice Commander Harley Andrews from Clay City and his wife Thelma,
• State Service Officer Paul Curtice from Martinsville,
• Past State Commander David Lantz from LaPorte,
• Voice of Democracy Chairman Donald Springer from Greenwood,
• Community Service Chairman Patrick Ridge from Jeffersonville,
• Veterans Employment Chairman Mike Lovett from Gas City,
• Past State Commander John Dahman from Fort Wayne,
• Past State Commander Larry Shaw from Marion,
• Past State Commander Roger Baker from Lowell,
• Fireman, Police, and EMT Chairman Eric Billman from Fortville,
•  Membership Chairman Roger Chandler from Madison, and
• Past National Commander in Chief Arthur Fellwock from Boonville accompanied by Ruby Houghland.

I thank you all for your service and for taking the time out of your busy schedules to be here with us today. I am proud that Indiana has such an esteemed presence at this hearing.

VFW has a long tradition of being a strong and effective voice for their members and veterans everywhere. Commander, you and your members have much to be proud of. Thousands of veterans have been helped by the many programs VFW offers. I am especially impressed with VFW’s efforts regarding the Military Assistance Program, the Unmet Needs Project and Operation Uplink. All three programs provide valuable services to military members and their families such as funding Farewell and Welcome Home gatherings, providing free, pre-paid phone cards to servicemembers, and assisting military families experiencing financial hardship.

Commander, your testimony touches on key issues of interest to us all, and I welcome the views of your membership. I appreciate the VFW’s willingness to praise the VA system when and where credit is due and constructively criticize it when it falls short of its promise.

The Committee has just finished submitting our separate budget views and estimates, and the numbers tell an important story.

In his first year, Secretary James B. Peake, requested a record $93.7 billion to fund veterans programs next fiscal year. I appreciate his efforts and the President’s continued support for veterans.

Committee Republicans have in turn recommended more than $3.8 billion over the president’s request for discretionary funding. 

This includes increases in construction, information technology, medical research, medical services, and other program accounts that will directly impact the lives of veterans.

Our views and estimates reflect the priorities of a nation at war and our recognition that the care of veterans is one of the most important costs of war.

Between the majority and the minority, there is just over a two million difference in recommended discretionary funding. This shows our common recognition of the importance of veterans programs.

Commander, I am sure you will agree that the claims backlog in all programs must come down.  Therefore, I am going to recommend that VA institute a program to send some of VA's best mid-level managers to private industry to see how companies that deliver compensation, pension, education, vocational rehabilitation and loan guaranty benefits to their customers.

In reading your testimony, Commander, I note and concur with your concernover seamless transition issues that directly impact our newest veterans. For too long, the current disability system in DoD and VA has been failing to meet the needs of today’s military personnel and veterans by further burdening them with a process that is overly complex.

Our veterans should be concentrating on their families, rehabilitative therapy, and transitioning back into their civilian lives rather than suffering through an ponderous bureaucratic disability system.   

In your written statement you said, “..seamless transition is a problem that is talked about much, but with little result.”  Well I am here to tell you that Senator Burr and I are going to try to change that perception.  Just last week, we introduced H.R. 5509, The Noble Warrior Act, and S. 2674, America’s Wounded Warrior Act, similar bills which aim to reform and modernize the DOD/VA disability system to create a smooth and seamless transition.

These important pieces of legislation are based on recommendations from both the President’s Commission on Care for America’s Wounded Warriors (otherwise known as the Dole/Shalala Commission) and the Veterans Disability Benefits Commission.

As you know, Commander, I was able to include several of the recommendations of the Dole-Shalala Commission in the Wounded Warrior Act of 2007,and they were eventually rolled into the National Defense Authorization Act of 2007.  The Noble Warrior Act builds on this success and includes several more recommendations of both commissions.

The Noble Warrior Act would establish a new disability retirement system for those deemed unfit for service and finally end the current needlessly duplicative system. Rather, a single examination and single determination will suffice for both VA and military purposes.

The Act would also pay a lifetime annuity to those rated unfit for service due to a line of duty injury. This annuity would not be offset from VA disability payments, thus avoiding the current problem we have will concurrent receipt.

Furthermore, the Act would modernize the disability compensation system by directing the VA to conduct a study to determine appropriate amounts of compensation under a new system which would reflect both average loss of earnings and loss of quality of life.

It has been my long-standing view that we must modernize VA and establish a transition process that is seamless in its efficiency.  If we do not promptly address the problems that were identified by the Commissions, we will merely be passing them off to future generations.

That is why I ask you Commander to join with me and Senator Burr in urging my colleagues in both Houses of Congress and on both sides of the aisle to consider this legislation at the earliest opportunity.

Mr. Chairman, I would like to conclude with the priorities that have unfailingly guided my consideration of the issues before us. They are:

• Caring for veterans with service-connected disabilities, those with special needs, and the indigent.
• Ensuring a seamless transition from the military to the VA.
• Providing veterans every opportunity to live full, and healthy lives.

These are and will continue to be my priorities, and I look forward today to hearing those of the VFW and finding ways we can work together to accomplish our mutual goal of honoring and caring for America’s veterans.

Thank you once again for your testimony Commander, and I yield back.