Mike Coffman

I think one of the things that I would like to see, Mr. Chairman, is that we take the time to make sure that everyone is being treated fairly in the military.

We want to have is a system that we--apparently we do not have right now--where we can expeditious--more expeditiously discipline officers in substantiated cases.

If we could get some help in that particular area, that would help on the resource piece as well.

Forty percent of my senior official cases are caught up in reprisal because they basically have held somebody accountable.

It is somewhat a little bit offensive to suggest that the institution is unprofessional or somehow broken because it discovers its own problems.

I don't understand why Members of Congress want to trash the Uniform Code of Military Justice. It is the one glue that holds our military together.

A shining example of Congress getting it right is Representative Mike Coffman who was one of the leaders in demanding change and accountability for the Aurora project.

This project I think is an affront to the veterans who have made tremendous sacrifices in defense of our country in not getting the kind of state-of-the-art care, given the fact that this hospital is so late in terms of its schedule, and…

For the record, I want to know why PTSD was taken out of the initial plan of the hospital.

It was certainly clear on the PTSD issue, but not on the PACT team issue, and I am just surprised that there is no definitive plan in the works, because it is going to be very, very expensive to keep this old hospital open.

I want to try to zero in here on the questions about what your plan is now to make sure that after the taxpayers have spent $1.6 billion that veterans in Colorado won't have longer wait times.

So we have an increase in personnel, a dramatic increase in personnel.

I disagree with that.

As part of the negotiations to get the $1 billion, those had to be scrapped and now we are going to get them put back in.

PTSD was not included in the initial plan for the hospital.

I am very disappointed, you know, President Trump ran on the fact that he was going to clean up the Veterans Administration.

I guess I can understand how this project got in the condition that it is.

I am just absolutely amazed at your lack of professionalism in not understanding the origins of this project.

Who can answer this question, how long have you known--I mean, literally, you have had to have known for years...

We need to--and myself--put the care where the veterans are, not make them come...

So, all in all, it may actually work out as a positive.

In terms of the primary care outpatient, obviously a tremendous reduced capacity in that.

But you knew that was not correct, that the project at that time, given all the change orders, could not be built for that amount.

I mean, that absolutely makes no sense.

The fact that Ms. Fiotes is here today... is a signal to me that the VA has not changed.