The American people can no longer afford to invest in the President's failed agenda.

It is my hope that we can build on this progress in the weeks and months ahead.

the best interests of the consumers must guide this process.

U.S. service men and women are often deployed to tropical disease epidemic regions.

Our goal, and this is very, simple: uphold the promise we made to our veterans by ending the backlog and getting the benefits they earned.

Congress needs to do more to bolster VA's current efforts to modernize its operations and promote further improvements.

This issue of the claims backlog, it is corrosive, it is wrong. It wears at the soul of this country.

With the hard-earned experience of two major wars during the last 12 years, Americans have developed a renewed understanding of the need to support our service members in battle and throughout their active-duty service.

It is a singular honor to serve on this committee, and to testify in front of you is humbling and an honor.

We believe there are common sense measures Congress can undertake to bolster the VA's efforts to ensure our veterans are getting the care they need in a more-timely manner.

This is unacceptable, and VA Secretary Eric Shinseki, a retired U.S. Army General who has dedicated his life to military service and taking care of our brave warriors, agrees.

All they expect is that, in return for their service, our nation keeps its promises to them.

The Quicker Benefits Delivery Act provides substantial, innovative, results-oriented measures that work to bolster the VA's current efforts.

Congress needs to do more to bolster the VA's current efforts to modernize its operations.

This piece of legislation, it is very simple. Our measure would simply allow local doctors to conduct disability medical examinations for veterans.

We, along with Senator Franken, have introduced bipartisan measures in both the House and Senate that will remove several hurdles to getting claims processed quickly.

It is important to remember our Veterans, as our nation moves past over a decade of war.

The economy has added jobs for 48 consecutive months.