I would say to you that my personal commitment is to try to keep the integrity of these programs in place.

I'm concerned, with the 2012 budget resolution that passed the House, the consolidation of multiple programs serving a range of populations... into a single, one-size-fits-all voucher program.

we need the administration to speak much more forcefully than they have on the importance of TAA.

I’d like the administration to take a stronger position on TAA.

African-American unemployment is 16 percent--official unemployment. We know it's higher than that, almost twice the white unemployment rate of 8.7 percent.

The investigation of the VA Dental Clinic has affected so many local veterans and their families that it makes sense to hold the hearing here.

Thank you, Dr. Daigh.

The delay inhibited our ability to both inform the Greater Dayton Area Hospital Association and the community.

But if they settle on the number 535 and it takes them 6 months to do it and the word begins to leak out that there is a problem and nobody really quite knows what is next, the affected population, most of whom were not damaged--I…

What have we learned? What does this review panel--what do these review panels, what did they learn from not being able--from the failure to find this, ferret this out on more than one occasion over 18 years?

Tell me who 'they' is.

Thank you. Walk me through the timeline regarding when the VA knew there was a problem and when patients were contacted.

It was theoretical because--was there no real sense of urgency among this board?

A lot longer than the 18 years that----

So retirement basically protects that employee from--shields that employee from being accountable.

I know I personally wish I could meet every single one of them and apologize for what happened over the course of these years.

Thank you for your work in that new facility.

I believe that the VA is acting more as an obstacle than they are of help to resolve this.

So none of these were Dayton----

What specifically are you doing to give people more trust and more faith and more certainty that this is not going to happen again here?

How could what happened in Dayton over the last 18 years not have been ferreted out?

I would assure--and while this is a hearing, I will for a moment speak to the audience--I would assure anyone in this center or any other, whether it is an employee or a family of a veteran or a patient, that is in touch with my office…

Should I walk out of here today, when I meet with a VFW group or a Legion group or a Vietnam Veterans group and they ask me, is 535 the right number? Should I be tested?

We need this throughout the VA to be something that whistleblowers feel some confidence in doing.

There were significant management problems here.