I commend you for understanding that and encourage you not to back off from any attempts to begin to change it.

Nobody knew when we went to war whether we were Democrats, Republicans, Independents. Nobody knows.

At a minimum, that means making sure veterans and their families receive the correct amount of benefits on time.

When you are confirmed as the head of the VA, you would be entrusted with one of the most noble missions of the Federal Government.

I look forward in the 111th Congress--to us working together to improve the lives of our Nation's veterans and their families.

General, as Secretary, your charge would be to ensure that as more veterans come into the system, the quality of the health care provided by the VA does not deteriorate.

This is critical because VA programs cannot help improve the lives of veterans if veterans do not know about them.

Unfortunately, too many wounded servicemembers do not experience a seamless transition from active duty to civilian life.

You have a huge challenge, and I think you will find all Members of this Committee more than willing to help remove any impediments that you might find because I believe the solution is in an architecture that we have yet to create.

does not benchmark itself versus good private sector organizations to determine where gaps exist.

We have a lot of good people and a lot of good ideas, but we consistently try to stuff it into the old framework of something that is antiquated and has proven time and time again will not allow innovation and creativity because it has no…

No veteran should ever have his access to DVA services blocked because of geography. Just as it did not matter where my hometown was when I enlisted, where I live now should not prevent me from getting the DVA services that I need and…