I have seen this personally myself, including with a Gold Star mom and a Gold Star wife.

We think there would be a real impact on both.

We just need to get better at hiring than we are. Period.

What do we do to connect directly with the family?

We take great pride in the fact that we send a package to that family within 10 days of the death announcement.

It is simply a fact that we have to do better--and we have identified this fact--we have to do better with our survivors.

This is a really heartbreaking case.

It's our responsibility to serve veterans as well as they have served us no matter who they are, where they are from, or the status of their citizenship.

We are still not competitive with docs. We're still not competitive with medical center CEOs.

President Biden describes our country's most sacred obligation as preparing and equipping the troops we send into harm's way and then caring for them and their families when they return.

This Budget will ensure VA is moving swiftly and smartly into the future as we serve our two core requirements: timely access to world-class care, and timely access to earned benefits.

we support the PACT Act and we do that for important reason, because it will, from my perspective, it will help us get access to more vets and get those vets into our care.