Thom Tillis

I think it's irresponsible. We've had this--the Secretary come before this committee and say that the number and severity of threats have not been greater since 9/11.

If we need a backlog to be created because we have people who may have legitimate claims, create the backlog and then we will figure out how to fund the operation to draw down the backlog.

We owe it to these veterans.

I think Secretary Mabus should be ashamed of the statement he made this week because he has taken the eye off the ball of solving this problem.

There is not a single veteran that has ever served in the armed services who will say, we will not fight one battle until we can win them all.

It is unacceptable and irresponsible not to have that position filled by somebody and I call on the Administration to do their job.

I have been told that there have been claims denied since I was given an assurance that they would not be for at least the three types of diseases.

If we fail to do it, I think it's a failure on the part of all parties to fix what to me is a blinding flash of the obvious, something that needs to be fixed.

These people are evil people, and they are going to continue to expand in the areas where they think they can.

We have got to move pretty quickly if we have any hope of hitting that trajectory.

If we do not make the changes, how can we actually achieve the goal of zero homeless veterans?

I think in Minnesota and Iowa, we are talking 1.6 billion in economic impact over the past year.

I think we need to continue to restate that so that we focus on the root problem.

I am a real proponent of going ahead and just doing what we need to, what I believe many people think that we need to do, to just move forward.

I think there is some good thinking in there. I look forward to speaking with you about it.

Senators should expect up to two votes tomorrow morning at 10:15. There are several more amendments in the queue, and my colleagues should expect votes throughout the day tomorrow to make progress on the bill. Amendment No. 1506 to…

We do have Senator Alexander scheduled briefly. Could I have a moment before the Senator seeks recognition?

I would like to associate myself with your comments on the RAC Program and trying to get a broader base of audits out of it.

I do not think anybody should leave this Committee meeting thinking that anybody here has any serious goal or objective to privatize the entire VA.

I think that that is critical in order for what you have requested in the letter that you sent us to have any prayer of serious consideration, you need to map out how we would have assurances that it does not really materially affect it…

The other question that I had or the thing that I think is very important is we need to get a 5-year, 10-year, 20-year picture of what Choice non-VA care means.

I also have concerns about the overrun in the Denver hospital.

It was just a bad decision that really raised--one of the reasons why you are probably experiencing the threefold increase in requests is that these kinds of things just absolutely undermine the confidence of the American people.

We should not lose sight of the fact that most of the solutions to the VA are good things that are going on in the VA.

The question is, can we provision it properly and can we make sure that it is done in the most efficient and effective way possible?