I feel extremely confident that we are the most fortunate at VA to have four incredibly qualified and passionate individuals chosen to be at the VA.

I am grateful that President Obama has put his faith in Major Duckworth's candidacy.

I commend you for understanding that and encourage you not to back off from any attempts to begin to change it.

The position you seek is one of the most important roles in ensuring that veterans and their families are being well served by the VA.

Every year, more than a million full-time, first-time degree-seeking students start college. Yet fewer than 40 percent of those students pick up their degree in 4 years.

I hope for those that are shocked by the 70 percent graduation rate in high school, that they are even more shocked today to hear that barely 60 percent of our higher education students graduate in 6 years.

The United States is now the only industrialized Nation in the world where a kid has a lesser chance of graduating from high school than their parents did.

I take responsibility here, and this excellent appropriator--if we could look at what are those jolts that we could do now...

The FDA is struggling today due to lack of funding, low morale, and an increasingly expanding mission.

the OCC took 50 sheriffs off the job during the time the mortgage lending industry was becoming the Wild West.

I'm voting 'aye' today and it may be politically damaging. And the sky may fall tomorrow, but it'll fall upon my head. It won't fall upon at anyone else.

I'm voting aye today, and it may be politically damaging. And the sky may fall tomorrow, but it will fall upon my head. It won't fall upon anyone else.

I don't think increasing health insurance premiums, cutting wages, and forcing 14 million more Americans into Medicaid is 'what women want.'

How does the VA change its marketing strategy to market itself to these unbelievable academic institutions?

Let me add to something that you said and that is that we might agree that it doesn't happen naturally within the VA and there is a progression that happens naturally in the private health system.

it is imperative that the VA have the tools it needs to attract and to keep quality doctors and nurses.

If I made the statement that I personally don't think that the VA delivery system responds the same way that the private delivery system does to technology, to research and the findings from that research, would you agree with that?

if the VA is to continue to deliver top-notch health care to veterans, then it needs to be able to attract and retain qualified medical professionals.