the Federal Government needs to invest more, needs to be a more active partner, and much more aggressive investor itself

They are often forgotten in this building, as in this town, but our National Guard and Reserves have come to be, in effect, as important as our full-time active duty service men and women.

It is a monument to ineptitude in construction.

I would like to ask you that you report back to us about your opinion as soon as you are able to form it.

Bonuses for bad actors are a disservice to the many hardworking, honest VA employees who do their jobs every day.

We can make a lot of noise. We can embarrass people. We can shame them. But, we cannot prosecute them.

I will tell you as I stand on the many veterans that I represent, this has got to be right. The veterans deserve it and I will make it my duty to make it right.

the mental health issues are an absolute key priority.

We passed the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans Act, which I helped to lead along with Senator McCain, Senator Isakson, and others.

A scheme was recently revealed that was carried out by a number of senior executives at the VBA to skirt the salary and bonus limitations in effect by unnecessarily relocating executives and using those moves to justify the increases in…

I am going to ask for a commitment from you that you will do everything within your power to investigate and take action against such practices if they are occurring.

If you find fraud in the VA, at whatever level, or in the White House, the place you are going to go is the Department of Justice or the FBI.

Timely access to care remains a significant challenge. The VA's most recent wait time numbers indicate nearly half a million veterans still cannot access health care within 30 days.

Your success will be so important to our country, not your personal success, but your success in improving the quality and access and availability of health care to our veterans.

In my view, the Department of Justice is an important partner when there is a suspicion, a credible and substantial suspicion of criminal wrongdoing.

Thank you for your willingness to serve and thank your family, Dr. Bari, if I have that name right, and your daughter, Jennifer, who are highly accomplished in their own right.

Thanks, Mr. Chairman. Let me begin by thanking both the nominees here today for their willingness to serve and thank you to Senator Casey for being here, a staunch and very vigorous advocate of our veterans.

I join the Chairman in thanking you for your willingness to serve in this very, very important position.

That is unacceptable.

That amount of money, which is a fraction, a minute fraction, $120-plus million out of a total of $71 billion, in my view, is sadly inadequate.

The quality of mental health care right now is nowhere near what it should be.

The only condition on my vote is that you tell us all the bad stuff about Senator King when he was in Maine.

I agree, Mr. Chairman.

Our focus should be on enhancing and expanding service--not minimizing it. And for that, we need to invest now.

Irresponsible actions that shortchange investments in Amtrak or contemplate reductions in service are misguided and undercut our regional and national economy.