Jon Tester

As we address sexual assault in the military, we must do everything we can to support the survivors of service-related trauma.

I want to talk about partnerships, particularly between the VA and the Wounded Warrior Project.

Since then, Congress last year enacted legislation making it crystal clear that authority exists.

Yes, I agree with that, and that is the worst possible outcome, quite frankly, as far as care goes.

I look forward to working with you to help improve issues, whether it is health care or something else.

We need to invest in technologies like telemedicine and bring health care closer to home.

We need government agencies to aggressively and effectively work together to make progress and to ensure they are working in collaboration and not in competition.

We have struggled to overcome shortages in mental health professionals for years.

The VA has made a commitment to hire 1,600 new mental health care professionals and I think about 300 support staff.

Addressing these challenges will certainly require a multifaceted approach.

If you guys could shed light on programs like that, their effectiveness, and how we might be able to expand on other programs.

Well, thank you, Mr. Morris, for your testimony.

As a Montanan and someone who has worked very closely with veterans and the Native American population, I am aware of the challenges in rural and frontier areas of accessing quality health care in a timely manner.

We will just call them the 'unseen injuries' coming back from war.

If you could check on it and get back to us, that would be very much appreciated.

We've got to break the cycle. We're spending money on fighting fires when it would be much better to cut some wood and get us a permanent supply.

You did some great collaboration. And it really shows what can happen when you do collaboration versus what happens when both sides dig in.

We're hoping that will be completed later this year, hopefully by September.

I'm a little frustrated with this whole thing because, quite frankly, I've seen what's happened in Montana's forests for a long time now.

I really hate to say this, but you know very well we'll either be flooded out in June or there will be fires in June.

If we can get her out, maybe we can show her collaboration in Montana that does work.

Are you looking at a $21 million expenditure to make the adaptation and have them up in the air?

My problem is not with the contracted aircraft per se. And I'm not for privatizing Government.

I have serious questions as to whether the USFS is getting the best value for the dollar.

The fact is we lost 1.3 million acres to fire last year, another million acres to beetle kill.