Dina Titus

Would it not help veterans that as you rate some of the easier aspects of these cases... veterans get paid for those as you rate them instead of waiting until the end?

I wonder if that is really effective. Is that not oversimplifying?

You could create a law that essentially orders the secretary to establish a complete set of repercussions and an oversight agency...

We do not want to see anybody else have to go through what you have.

Specifically, my bill, the Pay As You Rate Act, would require the VA to pay veterans as each of their individual medical conditions is completed.

Earlier this year our subcommittee worked on a package of bills that are forward looking and would help the VA provide better services to veterans.

It is important that we are working towards solutions that will improve the processes of providing veterans the benefits they have earned.

I would like to applaud the VA for reducing the benefits backlog by 34 percent since March 2013.

I ask you to relay this message to the workforce - keep up the good work.

We hope that the VA can maintain their momentum and end the decades old backlog.

I also want to thank the witnesses for their attendance this morning.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for holding a hearing on this very important topic.

The VA share a common goal and that is ensuring that our veterans receive the best benefits in a timely fashion.

I believe that the VBA can work with VBMS to broker work from one station to another to ensure that the best employees are working on the most challenging cases.

It is important that the VA look within the current system across all 56 VA regional offices to determine what are best practices for assigning that complicated work.

I believe complexities should be measured not just by the number of conditions but rather by the complexity of evaluating and paying for the medical conditions that are under consideration.

Our numbers indeed show that the VA is on track to reach the secretary's goal by 2015.

We want to end this decades long backlog and we are moving in that direction.

We hope that the VA can maintain this momentum and we are optimistic.

I want to applaud the VA for reducing the benefits backlog by 34 percent since March of 2013.

Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you for holding this important hearing.

I am proud to say that while some of my colleagues are amazed at this new technology and titillated by its possibilities, the State of Nevada is on top of this.

I appreciate that. Because the veterans who are located in the West should not be a victim of geography.

It is my belief that the option of a burial in a VA national cemetery, in the state you call home, is a solemn obligation our government should fulfill.

Have you surveyed the veterans in southern Nevada to see if they think they are adequately served?