Bob Filner: “I sincerely believe that all of us want to do better by our veterans, that we want to see to it that our commitment is…”

“I sincerely believe that all of us want to do better by our veterans, that we want to see to it that our commitment is kept. I know the gentleman from New York (Mr. Walsh) believes that personally, and would like to see that happen institutionally. We are governed, unfortunately, by certain agreements in the past. I believe those commitments were made in error and that we should in effect look at the reality at the present time. Again, this is just one last example of where we might improve our services, less than $1 million to the office of Inspector General to provide for the hotline that they have. Thousands of veterans, tens of thousands of veterans, use this hotline. It is vastly understaffed. Most of the comments received and the situations described have to be referred rather than followed up by the Office of Inspector General. I would hope that this Congress could fund additional monies to make sure that the frustration of our veterans that we have heard from both sides of the aisle be met, and that we fund this item.”