Richard Blumenthal

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you, Senator Sullivan, for conducting this hearing.

Self-reporting really has to be preserved and encouraged.

Consequences for self-reporting should not deter self-reporting.

I think, you know, one quality that sort of pervades all of them is mental health.

I am very pleased to learn that the Department is reevaluating its family detention policy.

We will get it done. We owe it to the brave veterans and heroes of the Rocky Mountain States to make sure that their needs are served.

I would like your commitment also that you will make available all the relevant documents relating to whistleblowers...

I want a commitment that you will undertake reform of the system.

I want to see the quality of care, the caliber of health treatment that our veterans need and deserve.

I would like your commitment that you will support an outside investigation.

We are here to make sure things go right in the future, but also for the sake of transparency.

The debacle in Aurora--it is a financial and fiscal catastrophe--has to be addressed, and it must be addressed positively in finding a path forward.

I would like you to make available to the Committee and to the public the Jones/Lang/LaSalle report.

Should the VA be out of the construction business?

There also has to be accountability. The public officials and private-sector actors who bear blame must be held accountable.

Finally, I would like a commitment that you will respond to other requests for documents that we will be submitting.

We cannot take down the construction shelves that have been built in Aurora for the hospital facility there.

The sheer fact that there have been cost overruns in VA construction projects of $2.4 billion, and they are still counting, is unacceptable.

The question is, will the Nation fulfill its commitment to our veterans, not only the veterans of Colorado and the Rocky Mountain States but of Connecticut and Georgia and all around the country?

I'm not sure I understand. You're saying, basically, no new money is necessary.

The money that airlines earn on ticket fares, the monies that airlines recoup from ancillary costs, like baggage fees, is not subject to Federal excise taxes

The proposed changes to the federal tribal acknowledgment regulations are unjustified and threaten serious adverse consequences for Connecticut.

I will be one of the first in line at the courthouse door if I believe that these rules are inconsistent with the statutes.

I have great respect for the sovereignty of our Native American tribes.

The simple fact is that if these rules are not significantly changed, we are going to see years of litigation