What is more responsible than taking care of the people who risk their very lives defending this country?

I do not think that is what Congress intended.

Today, I am pleased that the Biden administration and Secretary McDonough have listened to the concerns raised by the people on this Committee and to the veterans and caregivers across our great country.

I think that is part of the process conversation that we have had, and that is that in the end we have the oversight responsibility.

It was not to make it more bureaucratic. It was not to kick people off the program.

That is an interesting twist.

Just yesterday, VA announced that it will be taking steps to change the restrictive Trump regulations that have been harmful to so many veterans and their caregivers.

It is pretty obvious by the testimony here today. I have been on this Committee for 15 years, and I do not know that we have ever had a committee hearing that is as gut-wrenching as this hearing is.

This is a very important issue.

today I wish to honor the life and service of a decorated veteran, fierce advocate, and great man, Garry Augustine. As the executive director of the Disabled American Veterans, DAV, from 2013 to 2018 and a 50-year life member, Garry helped…

I strongly believe that President Biden should never have given a green light on Putin's Nord Stream 2 pipeline in the first place.

I certainly appreciate all your perspectives, and I can tell you that the reason, at least from my perspective, why cash is a whole lot different than cryptocurrency is it takes a lot of suitcases to transfer the kind of cash that you are…

I think this is a great hearing. I think that there is far more information to be fleshed out there, and I want to thank the Chairman for holding it.

They don't want to see Washington bureaucracies and bureaucrats stifling tribal self-determination and sovereignty.

I believe the Federal Government needs to get out of the way so tribes can seek investors and partners more quickly and efficiently to improve their infrastructure and create economic growth, which results in good jobs.

An additional major hurdle is access to basic infrastructure. Tribes need more roads, more power lines, better access to markets.

We should be looking to be additive in our thinking on energy portfolios, not necessary replacing one for the other.

It is time that we unleash made in American energy. That includes expanding Native American energy.