I look forward to working in partnership with this committee to ensure that there is full accountability for these activities so that we can begin to restore the trust of the American people.

I think that we all can agree on that there is no place for this type of an abuse of taxpayers' funds.

I believe this is critical not only because we owe it to the American taxpayers, but also because we owe it to the many GSA employees that work hard, follow the rules and deserve to be proud of the agency for which they work.

We need to ensure we get back to basics and conduct this work better than ever.

Families and small businesses throughout Maine should not have to pay for employees of GSA to take lavish vacations.

So do you have a definition in mind of serious illness?

Getting accurate, up-to-date information on pre-deployment and post-deployment health records... has in the past been characterized as very difficult.

I think a lot of veterans feel that way. I know if the resources are limited, as you all have pointed out, we need to get those resources to the most needy veterans.

Do you believe this number is accurate given that, to the best of my knowledge, the VA hasn't even defined under the legislation the term of serious illness?

What happens to--what are the effects of the toxic, other toxic chemicals in burn pits, we don't know.

If you can't come up with a cost estimate, you should say you can't come up with a cost estimate.