Jon Tester

In the good old days, you used to take a loan and you used to pay it back. Under the current scheme that goes on with credit card companies, you take out a loan and then they start attaching fees and increasing interest rates, and by the…

The fact is, and I will go back to Senator Brown's comments because he brought it up with the Web site from Ohio State. If, in fact, this is true, then why do we see consumer debt going up for kids, going through the roof?

The folks who have been in service to our country deserve nothing less than full, fair hearings before our government, and when we do not give them that, we fail them.

I want to thank the witnesses for being here, of course, and to share their recommendations to address what I think is the single biggest challenge that faces the VA right now.

Oversight of this TARP program is critically important, and I listened to my Members' opening statements and it continues to frustrate me, as it does my constituents, about what has transpired with this program.

Thank you very much for being here.

We need to continue to work on that and make sure that the veterans of this country do not have to come back every year, hat in hand, begging for money.

We need to continue innovation. The Ranking Member talked about innovation in the VA. It is critically important, particularly in rural America and in Indian country.

OK. What role would the Veterans Administration itself play in veterans' courts, if any?

I appreciate what each one of your folks' organizations do in helping fill in the gaps and addressing families and issues.

We need to deal with the backlogs in disability claims. It is a big issue, and hopefully we can do something about that in this Committee this year.

We have veterans that suffer these injuries and go undiagnosed and, unfortunately, untreated.

We just confirmed General Shinseki to the head of the VA. I supported that confirmation. I think he is a good man, and I think he is somebody that we all can work with.

I just want to tell you that there is a wealth of information you folks have put in your testimony, both written and verbal, and I think there is some good stuff that we can take away from this hearing.

I think we can do a lot of things to make giant leaps forward to address some of the needs in Indian Country.

One of the first questions I asked them was, what are your needs.

Ms. Schapiro, you are seeking one of the most important positions in the Federal Government at a time of economic uncertainty.

We need to work with the SEC and the other financial regulators to put in place common sense regulations--regulations that protect the consumer first.

It is critically important, and it is an opportunity to do some things and do some things right.

The VA's rating process in my opinion is outdated. It really has not evolved with the modern technologies or the new kinds of injuries that our troops are facing, particularly neurological and psychological injuries.

I am frustrated, to say the least, about the fact that the VA and the DOD don't have a seamless electronic medical record.

I believe that Secretary Shinseki and, if confirmed, I will join him in the process of demanding that we hold people accountable for the results that they achieve.

I just want to touch on electronic medical records...

We need to eliminate that kind of frustration as much as possible. These are folks that have served this country.

He is putting together a top-flight team, yourself included in that.