I think we all owe you, each and every one of you, a deep apology for not responding to your needs.

Chronic pain is a debilitating condition that affects veterans at a much higher rate than the civilian population.

What happens in the VA when we know a patient is now an addict to their drug?

Providing safe, effective, adequate pain management is a crucial component of improving veterans health care.

Thank you for your service. Thank you for all those days that you went wondering, and thank you for finding hope in your struggle to make sure that other people do not get treated like you did.

Not allowing the next of kin, the spouse, to be seen with the patient for privacy reasons, is one of the biggest hog washes I have ever heard.

VA's band aid approach to suppressing the symptoms of pain rather than treating the root causes must stop.

We believe that access to a well-trained workforce grounded in the highest quality care and respect for veterans and their families is of paramount importance.

But you would be in favor of getting more of your Harbor Maintenance Tax dollars back.

For the purposes of my opening comments I will direct them to the DeFazio bill as it relates to drought relief.

I think it is important that the subcommittee at the time consider the benefits that have accrued over the years...

We must invest in our water infrastructure. We know that the climate is changing.

So as I said in my opening statement, one of the options I am interested in exploring is the VMT.

We must bring back 3,311 of the 5,077 reclamation employees that have been furloughed and are waiting to go back to work for our country.

What is really evident is that there is really no enforcement mechanism whatsoever at this point.

Our water systems may be inadequate to deal with our future needs.

I beg to differ with that. It is not that simple. What affects California affects the rest of the Nation.

I want to commend all of the panelists because you gave a very clear picture of a system that seems to have broken down.