According to the VA's report to Congress last year, the potential expansion of the family caregiver program to pre-9/11 veterans under the current resource framework poses the risk of compromising resources needed for its core veteran…

I understand. Do either one of you know exactly what the assessment is that the coordinator provides when they go--I assume that these people are doing home visits on a quarterly basis and then assessing what is going on by talking to the…

when you ask them for a date, it is very hard to get a date out of the VA.

What is the plan? I mean, it is very nice that you are here and you stated all very laudable goals in your testimony, but from what I understand the facts, that there is backlogs, at certain centers up to 400 people who have applied and…

Tell me how I should make that happen Mr. Ramchand? Explain to me how I can get the DoD and VA to have the same medical record.

We really need to be more on top of this possible exposure, because like you say, the Agent Orange issue didn't come out until 20 years after Vietnam, if not longer.

I have a concern about this alternative therapy, for example, equine therapy, because to scientifically prove that the equine therapy is actually helpful to the veteran, that study may take years.

I certainly want evidenced-based therapy. But it is just that we have such a crisis on our hands here.

I think we should look into that a little bit more.

I am also proud to sponsor H.R. 5484 the Toxic Exposure Research Act of 2014.

Let me just say that frankly I brought up this toxic exposure bill after talking to veterans in my District.

I certainly agree with you about the glacier-like attitude there.

With an estimated 22 veterans each day committing suicide, it has never been more important for us to take aggressive action.

I am still very disappointed in the way the VA is taking care of veterans who are suicidal.

I want to thank you gentleman for appearing before us today. And I really appreciate your input.

So on September 18th you are having a town hall at the Saginaw VA. What time is that?

The availability of this data has benefited the people of Michigan significantly.

Might as well try to finish it off a little bit. Yes.

I agree with Mrs. Lummis.

I think we all just want to be sure that we have an Inspector General that we can rely on to be inspecting independently of VA coercion or enforcement or discussion.

As the National Research Council reported in 1995, data are the lifeblood of science and the key to understanding this and other worlds.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I really appreciate the time to introduce this bill. And thank you for holding the hearing.

This is a big problem. This is a huge problem. This is a problem that has to be addressed.

But we are being burdened down so much, and there are so many things that could happen to us.

I was honored to be joined by my colleagues in the House and the Senate from both sides of the aisle in a conference committee that just a few weeks ago created a bipartisan agreement.