Richard Burr

I feel extremely confident that we are the most fortunate at VA to have four incredibly qualified and passionate individuals chosen to be at the VA.

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

It is my belief that we should move this nomination as quickly as we can.

The position you seek is one of the most important roles in ensuring that veterans and their families are being well served by the VA.

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.

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…

I believe that you will find GEN Shinseki to be exactly the kind of tough, innovative and insightful Secretary that the Department of Veterans Affairs needs at this extremely critical time.

I have the highest percentage increase of retired military in my State of any State in the country.

In order to become a 21st Century organization, DVA will have to change some past methods used to communicate with other government agencies, the Congress, the media, and most importantly, our veterans.

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…

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

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.

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.

I cannot think of a better person to look after our 25 million-plus veterans than this true American hero.

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

I hope for those that are shocked by the 70 percent graduation rate in high school, that they are even more shocked today to hear that barely 60 percent of our higher education students graduate in 6 years.

The United States is now the only industrialized Nation in the world where a kid has a lesser chance of graduating from high school than their parents did.

Every year, more than a million full-time, first-time degree-seeking students start college. Yet fewer than 40 percent of those students pick up their degree in 4 years.

The FDA is struggling today due to lack of funding, low morale, and an increasingly expanding mission.

The only thing that is contentious in the veterans bill that he has referred to is a new special pension that has been created in this bill of $300 to Filipino veterans who live in the Philippines, who have no service-connected injuries…

My answer would be, probably not. It would probably not be involved in research to the degree that they are.

How does the VA change its marketing strategy to market itself to these unbelievable academic institutions?