Richard Blumenthal

Even with the supposed availability of the VA as a source of treatment, we had in Connecticut just within the past week a marine who came back from Afghanistan and tragically took his own life after seeking treatment for PTS.

Regulatory agencies have authority to act through official rulemaking and the notice and comment process created in 1946.

I continue to hear his voice, and I think that his warrior fighting spirit for justice is one of the principles and the reasons that I and so many others feel so strongly about this issue.

The notion that we have had to wait this long for clarity means that people have fallen through the cracks.

In mental health, uncertainty kills.

Without the rules, very often the law is simply dead letter.

Some insurance companies have gotten it right. Many have gotten it wrong, and the reason is because they felt they could.

Justice delayed is justice denied.

Congress passed the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act in 2008.

Although basic research does not begin with a particular practical goal; when you look at the results over the years, it ends up being one of the most practical things government does.

We need to redress that injustice and misfortune for them and for our Nation.

I think that has to be a priority for you, for Mr. Gibson, for the entire VA leadership.

I would agree with you as a former State official that the States are really pioneering and spearheading some of the most innovative and important work in this area.

I am very, very confident she will serve in this position with distinction and recommend her as highly as possible to this Committee.

I cannot recommend her highly enough to be Assistant Secretary for Policy and Planning at the VA.

We will be asking you these questions again and again as you come before the Committee.

I want to thank Senator Grassley for his shared interest in the Thompson Federal Prison.

This is going to create good-paying jobs for people living in his home State of Iowa and my home State of Illinois.

In fact, the cost of incarcerating an individual is now in excess of what it costs to send a young person to college in many universities across the country.

The lack of empirical data really concerns me because any of us who have practiced law have war stories and anecdotes and, you know, they can be used so misleadingly for changes or to resist change.

Without empirical data demonstrating that there is a widespread problem that must be addressed through the rules, we stand at the precipice of changing the rules in a way that we know will have a particular effect on those for whom the…

Do we have any objective data, anything comprehensive about how much discretion judges use in enforcing those rules?

If the problem is electronic discovery, why not go back to the drawing board and develop reforms targeted just at electronic discovery?

Thank you all for being here on a very, very important subject and one that really should have the attention of many more of our members...

I come to the floor today to speak on two separate and distinct matters relating to the military. Remembering Our Armed Forces Justin Eldridge