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.

Let me ask the first question here. Over the weekend I met with the family of Illinois Army Specialist, Tom Young, who has served two tours in Iraq with the 10th Mountain Division.

So you had two United States Senators at the time of the congressional majority calling for his resignation, and he is still on the job.

Congress can only put veterans first by caring for those who serve veterans.

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

I have been holding back as prerogative as chairman to tell you what my IT program would be to make sure that we would require all narratives in the Microsoft world and all documents in .jpg to make sure there was complete usability for…

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.

Probably the best legacy for the President on his way out of office.

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

The answer to every VA problem is not 'give us more money, give us more flexibility.'

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?

any veteran suicide is unacceptable.

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.

today I wish to honor March 2016 as National Eye Donor Month, an event first celebrated by President Reagan in 1983 and one I am proud to commemorate now. For over 50 years, corneal transplants have restored the vision of those with…

We would also lay out that marker that we agreed with, to make sure we reduce assistance to a country that accidentally releases an Al Qaeda detainee.

I hope we would end the policy of issuing terrorists to terrorist nations where they can get out.

I might generally suggest that their words might not be worth anything, if they were such a terror-sponsoring nation.

The centerpiece of the president's order--expanding background checks to close what some call the gun show loophole--is not only an unwarranted assault on the Second Amendment, but it will also be ineffective in making a significant…

However, when the President (and the Attorney General) seek to intentionally create confusion and ambiguity about when someone selling a single gun might be in violation of a law with 5 year jail penalties, one can only call that…

The only practical impact of the President's gun show provision will be to intimidate and frighten law abiding citizens so that they will refrain from selling their guns at all for fear they will be prosecuted for failure to register as a…

The President's actions directed at stemming gun violence appear to be in some cases merely aspirational, and in other cases intentionally intimidating and harassing of law-abiding citizens in an effort to get them to shy away from selling…

Everything the President advocates costs money, so let me begin by saying that it would be my strenuous hope that, given the fact that our National Government is astonishingly bankrupt, that this Congress would cut more money than it…

Accountability for illegal retaliation has been missing in other pending VA legislation.

I wish to extend my gratitude to Senator Kirk and his staff for the continued attention to the alarming matter of whistleblower retaliation.

Thank you for allowing me to submit testimony for the record for this legislative hearing on behalf of my bill S. 2291, VA Patient Protection Act.