Mike Michaud

I share your view that this hearing is not just about accountability for individual Congressional requests, but also an opportunity to discuss what can be done to improve the relationship between VA and this Committee.

Oversight is a fundamental power provided Congress, and a fundamental obligation.

I can understand during the campaign, the President wanted to keep his message focused and, therefore, departments were kind of restricted of what they could do during an election year, but now is the time to govern.

My consistent response to that question was my concern about our collective ability to meet the mental health needs of servicemembers, veterans, and their families.

That is what I expect from the VA, just a swift, simple, direct, you know, doing the business that people in the VA, I know, at that staff level want to do without having to be filtered through OCLA because that is cumbersome, delays the…

I recognize that thoughtful, thorough, and complete responses take time.

Oversight is a fundamental power provided to Congress and a fundamental obligation of Congress.

I am encouraged by the shift in tone conveyed by your participation in your written testimony.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, for having this hearing today.

We do not need an administrative bureaucracy over at OCLA that filters the process, that inhibits the ability of the department and this committee to work collaboratively together.

VA's responses to congressional inquiries should be thoughtful, thorough, and complete.

I believe that my legislation provides a commonsense solution that will result in veterans with complex medical conditions having their complex condition adjudicated at a VA center of excellence by a specialist who has been trained to…

Enactment of H.R. 813 will generally free all VA services from the political gridlock that has crippled the appropriations process in Congress.

We cannot emphasize enough the importance of ensuring that sufficient, timely and predictable funding is provided to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

Help us help you and the veterans you serve by coming out today in support of H.R. 813.

As you are well aware, for several years now Maine has had an excellent, real-world experience with the use of heavier trucks, 6-axle trucks, that are permitted on both State and interstate highways under our 20-year pilot program.

FRA is officially on the record stating that we believe a multiple-person crew enhances safety.

PTC should not be a pretext to eliminating a member of the train crew.

Those who have given their lives deserve to be honored by saying enough is enough with the delay and foot-dragging.

AAR, NTSB safety advocates, and numerous lawmakers, including myself, have called for retrofit or phase-out of the older tank cars.

It is absurd to suggest that inward-facing cameras are a tool to reduce fatigue.

We owe it to America's veterans to provide certain and stable VA budget funding.

Those individuals who today are upstanding members of the community and suffered from posttraumatic stress ought to be given a second look.

I am also personally committed to determining what we can do more and better to help veterans who suffer from posttraumatic stress.

There is nothing partisan about supporting this bill or any other measure that provides what we owe to our veterans.