Mark Takano

If we are serious about lowering costs for students, universal free community college would have lowered costs for students across the board.

I want to remind folks that community colleges are not just entities that serve as steppingstones to 4-year institutions.

There is a process for that, sir, and it requires clear evidence, medical evidence, medical statements.

I think is it also true that many, many, many veterans who have fiduciaries... have eight times greater likelihood of suicidal ideations.

The Constitution begins with we, the people, the men and--mostly men wrote the Constitution, came together not thinking they were channeling God.

It is not a bureaucratic process. It is one where clear and convincing medical evidence and or statements are reviewed.

Perhaps this committee should be interested in pursuing and urging VA, or requiring VA, or mandating VA to do more studies, to get more information, to look at the data more carefully.

I hope that you might work with us to see that that policy gets implemented, because it sounds very much what you were talking about.

My Republican colleagues have once again eschewed evidence-based, data-driven policymaking, and have instead embraced unnecessarily partisan legislation.

I have to say that this bill is ill-conceived and unwarranted at best, and potentially dangerous to veterans and beneficiaries at worst.

However, what we have said and will continue to say is that any change to a program or policy must be evidence-based and data-driven.

There is a perception problem. There is misinformation and disinformation out there which is insidiously misleading our veterans.

the result of a false positive in this case is that a veteran will not be able to buy a gun if they are put on the NICS list. The result of a false negative is that a veteran dies, potentially.

It is clear that my colleagues have spurned any attempts at sincere bipartisan discussion on the issue at hand.

We must be especially careful not to put more veterans at risk.

I want to clarify for any veteran that watches this hearing or reviews the testimony later, the transcript, VHA, the Veterans Health Administration does not provide NICS with any information.

Unfortunately, Mr. Chairman, this committee is embarking down a different path, and it is trotting out a highly charged, highly partisan bill.

The failure of my colleagues to condemn and counter the misinformation that leads to such a sentiment among veterans is as infuriating as it is damaging.

the rights, if you believe that they pre-existed the Constitution, that the Constitution attempts to preserve, was a practical attempt by very practical men

This bill before us, as far as we know, would require that a judge be required to be involved in this.

The judicial process you are thinking of bringing in would effectively end VA's ability to put anyone on the NICS list.

At no time during this hearing have you heard anyone on our side of the aisle assert that the fiduciary program is infallible.

I would say that the committee should not rush into a bifurcation or separation of the determination process and the NICS list, but that we should hold steady for the sake of caution, the practical result of which would be potentially…

Might it be productive for us to have a hearing, not just on China, but on the influence of all maligned potential nations out there that are authoritarian and might have an interest in influencing our universities?

I am curious about this sole focus on China of this hearing when we have other authoritarian nations that pose these issues.