Third, H.R. 2562, the 'SOS for Seedlings Act,' introduced by Representative Bentz, addresses the significant U.S. seedling shortage by providing critical direction to the U.S.

Thank you, Chairman Schatz, and Ranking Member Collins for having this important hearing.

It's just, frankly, insulting, it's beneath them, it's undignified, and it's just reckless.

The trust in this nation is completely broken. We are at a very low point in our history.

We have to be able to call a thing the thing. We have to be able to say what is actually true.

To help address this issue, we worked closely with the members on this Committee to provide the authority for the VA to enhance their capacity to conduct C&P exams.

Effective April 3d, as we talked about earlier, in 2020, the VBA suspended all in-person C&P exams due to the pandemic.

Is there anything more that Congress can do to authorize the VA to expedite the claims process to ensure veterans are receiving benefits in a timely manner?

Well, thank you all for being with us, and I apologize for being late.

It is great that we are returning to some normalcy and we do appreciate not only your efforts but your staff that have done a tremendous job through all of this.

Well, we appreciate you guys so much, and so we should recess again.

The deficit and the debt on this country, more so now than ever before, to be an existential threat to national security.

Thank you for coming to West Point. Really enjoyed your speech to the cadets.

I would like to get a commitment from you to release the service academy board of visitors review as soon as possible.

Last question in this round is about long-range fires.

I would suggest that maybe you use the word 'okay' or 'sufficient' to meet the National Defense Strategy.

Are you concerned that these resources are going to have to be redirected for other important operational and readiness sort of functions?

Sign me up as one of the people a little bit concerned, in fact, a lot concerned, about the defense budget.