Mike Bost

So, again, thank you all very much. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I talked with the servicemembers about IDES last week, and was pleased to hear that the people I talked to had no complaints about their experience with the program at Walter Reed.

IDES is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year, and is the joint VA-DoD program used to determine if servicemembers dealing with injuries or illness are able to continue to serve.

It is our duty to ensure that those who have defended our country receive their earned VA benefits as soon as possible.

Honorable Mike Bost, Chairman

Let me tell you a story and many of my colleagues have heard this.

We want to keep working to try to cure this problem.

Thank you, Ms. Esty.

Okay. I am having trouble following that line of logic, okay. You have got a new system and the new system is so good that you are having overpayments?

We will also look into the Department's debt collection process to ensure that the VA is being both fair to the veteran and a good steward of the taxpayer dollars.

This hearing will review the reasons overpayments are created and how VA can prevent them.

Yeah. That is what we really want.

During that time we received a call from one of the veterans who spoke specifically about the assets that is held by the VHA.

We thank you for this nation. We thank you that we can live freely, that we can debate issues to try to make this nation a better place for our families, for the prosperity of this nation.

Thank you for the testimony provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs for the September 13, 2017, Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs legislative hearing.

Chairman Bost, Ranking Member Esty, and Members of the Subcommittee:

And we should contact the Committee with Natural Resources too. Because that is where, you know, they would be the overseers and we would not want that to happen.

If they are going to start charging veterans to take photos at the wall, I mean, that is kind of--it is unfortunate.

I don't think it is the intent of the--we don't think it is the intent of the sponsor.

I have to believe that everybody at the table, along with everybody here, believes we should cure the problem, the question is, is which agency handles it and how do we handle it most effectively? It is a real problem that is occurring.

Because of our veterans' service on behalf of each and every one of us, it is our responsibility to do our best in this Congress to serve them.

My bill, H.R. 3656, amends Title 38 of the United States Code to provide for a consistent eligibility date for spouses and dependent children.

I appreciate all of you taking the time out of your day to be here with us for sponsoring legislation that will help our Nation's veterans.

Lord, we thank you for this nation in which we live.

It's a republic, madam, if you can keep it.