Elizabeth Esty

Veterans deserve to have certainty about their benefits and they deserve to be served by a process they can trust.

I was proud to work on this important legislation with my colleague and friend Mr. Bost.

Delayed funding and failure to invest actually is harming lives, as it was in Flint.

One, there needs to be real funding, and it needs to be sustainable.

We are deeply concerned about the time this has taken and the cost overruns, because these funds are to go to serve our veterans.

We are here today to look at two programs that hold the promise of providing every servicemember separating from military with his or her veteran's benefits before discharge.

Honorable Elizabeth Esty, Ranking Member

I think there's still a lingering assumption here that that's what's happening now in Silicon Valley rather than the dramatic change that happened with the chase for unicorns.

I'm probably from Connecticut where accelerate UConn is in fact one of these nodes and is already proving to be incredibly successful.

They deserve it. All Americans deserve the aid of the Federal Government wherever they live in this great country.

We need to do better, and we need answers.

It is wasting time and it is wasting resources.

We have got a long way to go and I appreciate your assistance in joining us in those endeavors.

I think we flagged a number of issues for better improvement and I hope you will come back to us with both, suggestions from the VSOs, but also requests from the VA about what needs to happen to align the incentives properly.

I would like to find ways for both, clarity, but respect in these letters that meets the letter of the law.

Language matters to people and I think it will feel different if those letters come out in a way that encourages.

Several of you raised the point that if you notify any part of VA about a change in address, the entire agency should be aware of that.

Well, I think we are hearing, however, some testimony, suggesting that that perhaps could be better and so if you need authority from us or resources, you should let us know what it is.

Thank you very much. And I want to thank all of you for your testimony, again, in the spirit of trying to reduce the number of overpayments and get them resolved as quickly as possible.

Elderly veterans on fixed incomes who have just lost a life partner should not be receiving a letter from the VA that they owe a debt.

Thank you very much. I will let you finish that and pick up with my questions. Thank you.

We can't concrete action.

We need to change that.

We have launched a bipartisan Congressional Infrastructure Caucus

I think we have to find a way to do that. And it would be wrong for the folks in Texas and in Florida and in Puerto Rico and in the Virgin Islands not to take best practices forward.