Debbie Wasserman Schultz

It has taken 8 years for them to----

So leaving it in place just for one fiscal year and having it expire would be devastating to people who are in the midst of a fertility cycle.

Ms. Wasserman Schultz. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

To best identify the needs of our veterans it is important that we hear from them and partner with those who know them best, our VSOs.

Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman, for yielding, and I appreciate you agreeing to hold this important public witness hearing.

I would suggest to all my colleagues on the committee that if there is a place that cries out for an exemption if this hiring freeze is going to continue, it would be the OIG at the VA.

And you don't qualify for an exemption in the hiring freeze policy?

So are you concerned that you will be unable to hire the necessary additional auditors and employees that you need to be able to do the appropriate amount of oversight that is necessary here?

Because there are literally lives at stake from getting it wrong.

I think you can understand the doubt that I feel, given that the VA has already had a problem with fudging and altering data to reflect better numbers than reality.

Clearly, the Inspector General plays a vital role in ensuring that VA programs are implemented properly and that funds appropriated by this committee are spent wisely and in accordance with the law.

We have lives at stake.

Okay. And then just as I run out of time, on the Board of Veterans Appeals and the backlog...

Do they all receive the same training?

We have female veterans that are committing suicide at a rate of six times that of women civilians.

I don't think it is clear how it works and what happens from beginning to end, every hour of every day.

I would like to follow up with your office so that you can be aware of this technology.

Okay. And then you mentioned the reorganization and Jared Kushner's office's goals. Are those goals aligned with yours?

I find it extremely troubling that the Under Secretary of Health, the Assistant Secretary for Information and Technology... are all positions that remain empty.

I want to focus on military quality of life, because at that hearing that we had in March...

I would ask both the chair--both chairs--to please consider doing that, just so we can delve into a little bit more detail.

And I understand, given that your goal is one program--are you analyzing which program, ultimately, would be phased out?

I look forward to being surprised.

What criteria was used in crafting the amounts allocated in this budget? Because I can tell you right now, $420,000 is sorely insufficient for the operation and maintenance of such a vital port like Port Everglades.

And lastly, you mentioned in your statement, Lieutenant General Semonite, that the budget gives priority to coastal ports with high levels of commercial traffic.