Mark Kirk

If the Choice Act gave you the authority using the Secretary's authority to fire employees, could you consider getting rid of Ira Katz when Senators Akaka and Murray have already called for him to resign?

I would say you could expect some further definition from this committee on that point, that we need to move forward on this point to make sure there is no net burden on the soldier and sailor when they come out of the Service.

Thank you. I want to go with a full blown Apple app and make sure all these 19 year olds when they come out, they just hit the application and can see a full blown record and can contact VA if they see errors.

When you cite that section of the law, it does use the word 'interoperable.' I want to make sure we are not in a situation where it depends on what the definition of 'is' is. We have to get away from that kind of thinking.

I would say that they are coming up with two different systems.

When I talked to Cerner this morning, they talked about something that really addresses a key VA priority, which is suicide prevention.

This is the only subcommittee that has joint jurisdiction of both DOD and VA, so we are the only guys that can really ride herd on something like bringing you two together, DOD and VA together.

If we had a veteran who had a spot on his lung indicating cancer, the Joint Legacy Viewer would not share that with the VA so VA would not know about that emerging cancerous situation, is that correct?

Most people would think that a medical record includes x-rays that they had taken when they were in the service.

I think most members of this committee would say that is not interoperable.

What you are telling the committee is you have several hundred customization projects underway to current software that would make you one of the largest software development operations in the country right there at VA, not a core…

The rock candy mountain here is to make sure the system is covering so many patients that the industry follows.

Whenever a soldier, sailor, airman leaves Active Duty and becomes a veteran, we should have a 100-percent seamless transmission of their health records to the VA.

Making sure that we could withstand or repel a missile attack by Iran against the United States.

Missile defense is one of my greatest priorities as chair of this subcommittee.

The VA is saying that Germaine is wrong about Hines wait times in the mental health department.

I think we are on our way towards a several billion dollar industry now based on this work between DOD and VA.

I want to hear how the funding that is being requested directly supports the Nation's men and women in uniform and how our military strategy is supported by the request.

I would like to ask Secretary McDonald for you, when you come to Chicago, to meet with Germaine and the Hines staff.

Let me tell you what this means in real life.

Two times, Hines turned Tom away because he was 'not suicidal.'

This is why I called for the resignation of Joan Ricard, the person who led the Hines VA, and then she retired.

Is there a way that we can make sure that with psychotropic drugs that we are doing less and less and less of that just to get the patient out of the door?

I would say this is a chance for us to have a hepatitis C free veteran population.

I want to thank everybody for coming today, and especially my partner, Senator Tester.