I think there are efforts that are underway within VBA. There are individuals involved in the processing of claims, like Ms. Avant.

It is clear that many of our veterans and their survivors are not well served by the current claims process system, which has been plagued by backlogs, delays, and inaccurate decisions.

Over my dead body will we just continue to throw people at the problem.

I have come to the conclusion they are not.

Senator, I absolutely agree.

Well, if we are not allowed to redesign, I can tell you, it is not going to work for everybody.

I see a growing number of individuals who are going to be relying on our ability to navigate this and to redesign the system.

And I would also ask that once you have made the evaluations, let us not wait for a hearing to provide the Committee with your observations on the success or failure of those pilot programs.

I have said this before and I will say it again, that staffing alone is not the answer to this chronic problem. We must try new approaches.

Let me ask, just for the record, if you would share with the Committee in writing what the target dates are for each of the pilot programs.

Finding ways to fix the chronic problems with VA's claims processing must be a top priority.

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