Chris Pappas

The Restore VA Accountability Act would make sure the VA has the authorities it needs to remove poor performing employees and deliver the high-quality benefits and care that veterans deserve.

My bill will help Congress and the VA understand these challenges better by requiring the VA to gather information on the type and frequency of criminal activity at the medical center over the past 12 months.

We believe that these alterations are crucial to a warrior's quality of life and should be increased periodically to keep up with inflation.

I was very disappointed to see in the president's budget a cut proposed to SBDCs, and I hope that Congress can work to maintain or increase funding for the work that you all do which is a lifeline.

I want to highlight some of the comments on entrepreneurship, which I really appreciate.

I wanted to highlight one piece of legislation that I have introduced this Congress.

Veterans have put themselves on the line for this country, and they often put others before themselves.

There are a number of things we have to address as we build capacity and skills in our workforce, including immigration, including the addiction of mental health crisis that we are experiencing in this country.

I could not be even more adamant that our bill, H.R. 1139 the GUARD VA benefits act is necessary.

I appreciate the opportunity to co-lead this legislation and to support you in those efforts.

I am confident that those disagreements will never be personal. At the end of the day, I know we are both trying to achieve the same goal.

I want to recognize and thank all of our veterans, but today, especially our Vietnam veterans and their families, for their service and sacrifices.

I am wondering if you can address specifically the issues there against the backdrop of the larger picture of the need for more money for maintenance and hospital infrastructure.

I want to stress how important SBDC is to our frontline businesses in New Hampshire.

We are grateful for that commitment and all the work that is gone on the last few years.

I appreciate that, but just getting back, one of the important functions of SBDC is disaster assistance.

Why are we cutting a successful program that provides such important assistance to our small businesses at a time where they need it more than ever?

I have a concern. Included in this budget is a 14 percent cut to the Small Business Development Center.

We are grateful for that commitment and all the work that is gone on the last few years.

We are going to hold them accountable and pass some legislation on it.

We are going to hold them accountable and pass some legislation on it.

One of the provisions in the law, the Workforce Investment and Expansion Act under Title 9, which will help expand the VA's workforce by enhancing hiring practices and incentives, was something that we authored.

The PACT Act obviously was a historic expansion in terms of VA benefits and access for veterans who have been impacted by toxic exposure.

We are going to hold them accountable and pass some legislation on it.

USDOT has committed to a Safe System Approach to roadway design, and the witnesses reaffirmed this approach to get us toward zero deaths.