Dr. Tim Murphy, who is a Navy veteran, psychologist, Member of Congress, has a very good bill, I believe.

Some form of veterans preference has been a fixture in Federal hiring since the Civil War.

One of the things I am taking away from this is that we don't really have a definitive system that we are working with on this.

In reality, veterans preference is often thwarted by an overly complicated competitive or excepted service system.

It is not uncommon for us to hear from veterans who were blocked by HR officials or managers for consideration.

It is not uncommon for VA hiring managers to complain that they always try to use a special hiring authority.

So those points are in at the beginning.

I look forward to our discussion today, as we have spent several months working on this proposal and listening to key stakeholders.

I think it is important that we also focus on the hiring and retention of high-quality employees within the department.

I want to thank this first panel for your testimony and answering all our questions, and your willingness to serve.

There is a culture that needs to be changed because we are there, they are there, to serve the veteran.

I equate it to kind of being in a box with all of your friends for a number of years. You are in that box, and you can see people on the outside, but you largely do not communicate with them.