Richard Burr

We know both the Chinese and the Russians are making something that would put our kids at a handicap down the road.

Yet what we really need in order to stop the things that appear to be true is maybe $25 billion more for the military.

I don't want to be overly critical of President Clinton, but as they were bringing down the forces and delaying our modernization programs, I was very critical during those times.

So you're fairly confident that the training that we provided is sufficient for these troops either to transition from Iraq to Afghanistan or to be redirected to Afghanistan?

The decision underscores how military commanders are scrambling to meet President Obama's order.

Do you see the MRAP as significant a piece of equipment for use in Afghanistan as it was used in Iraq, given the difference in terrains between the two?

I have a question for both Generals about the impact on military readiness and operations of support provided by contractors, specifically in Iraq and Afghanistan.

I do want to thank our witnesses for not only being here today, but for their dedication and, more importantly, their service to their country.

Let me express how I look forward to working with you on this subcommittee and on the Armed Services Committee.

How has this expansion impacted recruit quality?

The decision underscores how military commanders are scrambling to meet President Obama's orders.

Ensure that we have better-manned units ready to deploy, and help put an end to the routine use of stop loss.

The total number of Active-Duty BCTs that the Army would grow to would be 45 instead of 48

The Army has undertaken a restructuring of its combat and support forces to a more flexible, brigade-centric force thought to be better suited for the 21st century security environment.

Share with me, if you will, how the claims processing employee will do some things manually.

One of the Department of Veterans Affairs' most important missions is to provide timely and appropriate benefits to veterans and their families.

If you really want to get some idea of what veterans think of the VA, then try to get in chat rooms where veterans talk to veterans about the VA.

I think government becomes increasingly more insulated from its customers.

Are there any specific statutory impediments that stand in the way of further improvement; and if so, what are they?

OK. Ms. Graves, over the years VA has tried to improve the delivery of benefits for our veterans.

But Scott, for any company going through this massive of a transition--transformation let us say--the expectation would be or the result would be and the expectation of that goal would be that the productivity per employee involved would…

I would take for granted that one of the goals of this entire process is the ability, at the end of the day, to look at a particular reviewer to accurately know what the process time is of a claim, to begin to establish some type of…

So, is it safe to say yeah, this is a lot about technology, but this is a lot about redesigning the way we process a claim within the Department of Veterans Affairs?

And I would take for granted from the standpoint of the veterans and their families it is a more timely response. It is a more accurate response. That is the goal.

And I would hope that at some point you could share with us what you have instructed whoever answers that phone to do and what the timeline or expectation is for the hours that that will be addressed--not days.