The economic development that has occurred since those closures is greater than what we had received when those bases were operational.

The lesson? Once you let go of control of our government resources, they are no longer under our control.

It makes no sense that VA keeps a luxury hotel in Paris on its books.

the VA's sole mission is to provide services to our Nation's veterans. The maintenance of a 5-star, 24-room boutique hotel, restaurant, and club in downtown Paris, France is clearly not included in that description.

I think we can all agree that the VA's sole mission is to provide services to our nation's veterans.

The VA needs to focus its time and resources on its core mission: taking care of our nation's veterans.

When we look back on the history of the Vietnam War in, I think in August of 1969, President Nixon orders a Vietnamization program in sort of a phased withdraw as the army of South Vietnam gains capability.

We are not going to go back to the selective service system. We are ultimately going to do away with it.

It is my honor today to recognize the long career and accomplishments of a dear friend of mine, Professor Ved Nanda, who will be celebrating his 50th year teaching international law at the University of Denver. As a professor at the Sturm…

I think that is why we need to focus more on treatment as a country.

I am concerned about the nature of the treatment, modality of treatment that we offer our veterans, our combat veterans.

One of the VA's top procurement goals is to achieve savings through competition. However, there is no uniformity in how the savings are calculated or if they are recorded at all. This is why I introduced H.R. 2006, the VA Procurement…

Today the House will vote on H.R. 3218, the Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act, the largest expansion of educational benefits for our veterans in over a decade. This legislation provides a lifetime benefit of the GI Bill…

My legislation, H.R. 2549, the G.I. Bill Processing Improvement Act, would ensure those receiving G.I. benefits for their military service do so in a more timely manner.

It is important that this Committee make a veteran's transition as seamless and rewarding as possible.

I claim time in opposition to the amendment. The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Colorado is recognized for 5 minutes.

I think that if Roger Staubach played for the Dallas Cowboys, graduated from the United States Naval Academy, served his entire Active-Duty commitment of 5 years before he went to play professional sports, this does not eliminate somebody…

And I just want to say first, as a Gulf War veteran, how disappointed certainly I was in the aftermath of the war and to this day that the Department of Defense I think participated in a cover-up, and that cover-up was the exposure to…

And so it certainly left a bad taste in my mouth as a Gulf War veteran in terms of the integrity of the United States Government relative to veterans.

let me ask the VA, why isn't there mandatory training for the folks that review these claims?

Finally, servicemembers returning to civilian life and their spouses are challenged by varying State licensure and certification requirements. Rather than imposing a single Federal standard on the States, we provide for a $500…

the Department of Defense denied for I believe about a five-year period in the aftermath of the war that the U.S. troops were ever exposed to chemical weapons and it wasn't until, you know, they were forced to admit it later on that they…

He does have the authority?

There are 430 buildings, VA buildings, vacant for the most part.

My colleagues and I rise today in support of the Department of Veterans Affairs and Whistleblower Protection Act, which the House of Representatives will consider today. Time and time again, I have called to reform the VA, an organization…