I want to make sure that VA is using RAMP to inform the new system, and not as a means to disguise a true size of the appeals backlog.

I believe it is a model that for large-scale policymaking that other Committees--this Committee and other Committees--should look to duplicate.

I am happy to welcome everyone here today as we enter the home stretch on the implementation of the Appeals Modernization Act.

If they cannot see--the VSOs who are on the front line are unable to see the legacy claims, then we are not really getting the benefit--the promised benefits of this IT innovation.

Again, I think we need clarity on this.

I hope we can take the lessons that are being learned there and make sure that those are used every time with forward-going programs.

We should not expect our veterans to be experts in appeals law, Veterans Affairs regulations. That is not their job. It is our job to take care of them.

I am strongly urging this big new class of freshmen Members of Congress, whether they serve on this Committee or not, to honor that commitment to our Nation's veterans.

On behalf of the American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO (AFGE), and its National VA Council, which represents more than 700,000 federal and D.C. Government Employees...

Let me be clear. When the report on military sexual trauma came to my attention in August, I was disappointed and disturbed.

I want to thank the under secretary and his team for staying.

Had I been present, I would have voted ``nay'' on rollcall No. 418. ____________________

I heard often from veterans in my home State of Connecticut that their lack of faith in the medical evaluations they received was a major reason why they filed appeals.

I think we will be revisiting that in, you know, 6 months' time to verify if, in fact, it is.

Why would you expand a program until you had the systems in place to adequately see if I am doing it in a timely fashion and I am doing quality work?

I think it is very important that you put in place a system to verify that when contractors receive reimbursement for the VA, for having paid travel reimbursements, we need to guarantee they have actually sent those travel reimbursements…

Over the last couple of years, VBA has worked to create a new system that veterans can have more faith in.

this shouldn't be the ceiling for what we are doing for our veterans. It needs to be the floor.

I want clarity on what is different now.

We want to make sure we are doing, not only a timely job, but also a quality job.

If I were a veteran, and I were given the option, hey, you can wait a month to get seen here locally, or you can drive in 2 weeks, 2 hours one way, I would just wait the couple of weeks.

There ought to be continuous improvement in this process on both timeliness and quality.

Thank you, Chairman Bost. I want to thank you very much for calling this hearing today, and for taking the lead in requesting the GAO report, which is the basis of this oversight hearing of the VA's contract medical examination program.

We need to find--for men in particular it is a huge issue, 66 percent are using firearms and the access that veterans have to firearms is pretty great.