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Today, House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Chairman Mike Bost (R-Ill.), delivered the following opening remarks, as prepared, at the start of the full committee’s oversight hearing to listen to organizations who are doing important work with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and Department of Defense (DoD) to make the TAP program work better for servicemembers transitioning to civilian life.

The Committee will come to order.

Without objection, the Chair may declare a recess at any time.

Good morning.

Thank you to our witnesses for being here.

Before we begin, I want to take a moment to pause and think about the servicemembers stationed throughout the Middle East.

I, alongside some of our colleagues, just returned from a visit with our servicemembers deployed overseas.

Whenever I meet with these men and women I always return home with one assurance at the top of my mind: we have the strongest, most lethal military in the world.

We pray for them and continue their safety during this time.

Today we will focus on the importance of the Transition Assistance Program or “TAP” and broader themes of a servicemember’s transition experience.

A servicemember’s transition begins during the last year of being on active duty.

During TAP, a servicemember is required to go to classes hosted by D.O.D., D.O.L., and V.A.

The goal of TAP is to set each servicemember up for success in civilian life regardless of their role in the military.

That means whether you are a young Corporal, or a three-star General, TAP should offer the personalized assistance servicemembers need to thrive.

When I was in the Marines and went through TAP in 1983, TAP was just a tap on your back from my CO saying have a nice life.

However, thanks to this Committee, a lot of work has been done to make the program mandatory and improve outcomes to find what works for the veteran.

That is not to say there is still progress to be made.

Even after significant legislation, only fifty-two percent of servicemembers meet the one-year TAP timeliness requirement.

I believe that fifty-two should not be counted as a success, but as a failure.

Additionally, research from Pennsylvania State University’s Veterans Metric Initiative shows that more than sixty percent of veterans are either unemployed or underemployed.

In many cases this is due to a poor transition.

Finally, nearly twenty percent of veterans do not feel like they are fully transitioned until six years after transition.

I also believe we must view TAP and transition as vitally important to the all-volunteer force.

An unsuccessful transition can impact the public’s view of how we treat servicemembers, which can impact our national security.

Clearly there is more work to be done by this Committee and by the community to fill the gaps.

In front of us today are innovators in the transition community.

These groups have unique programs and forward-thinking technologies that have helped make thousands of servicemembers’ transition to veteran status better.

Without these organizations, veterans will continue to slip through the cracks, and V.A. will always be playing catch-up to get these veterans back in the groove of civilian life.

Under President Trump’s leadership, I know we are going to put you, the veterans V.A. serves, back at the center of V.A.’s mission.

I hope to hear from these groups about the broader solutions that Congress can take back and legislate on to bolster TAP.

Many of these themes are already included in my friend, Subcommittee Chairman Derrick Van Orden’s bill H.R. 3387.

With that, I welcome our witnesses and look forward to your testimony.

I now recognize Ranking Member Takano for his opening comments.