The DES pilot and expedited DES are in place and already helping our servicemembers and their families.

The only reason I mention that, you know, when you go back and look at a law, there is a reason that laws exist, and history sometimes will say that was a dumb reason.

Can you get this from eating pork? [Laughter.]

I think this is a topic long overdue for discussion.

General Meurlin, have the processes been streamlined or automated?

General Meurlin, if a servicemember is not in the disability demonstration project--that is, the vast majority of servicemembers--what has changed since the 1940s when this archaic system was put into place?

General Meurlin, has the paperwork required for medical and physical evaluation boards been reduced in the last 2 years?

The reason this is important is because we've always wanted a pathway forward.

So, the bottom line is that the stimulus money, which is a 2-year funding stream, is not going to be used to create a program that has a funding stream past 2 years.

I encourage you to stand up for the American taxpayer.

I got a statute passed that put penalties on the Federal Government if they didn't hit their timelines.

When it comes to energy independence, which is a laudable goal, bipartisanly pursued here, the national laboratories, I think, can be very important pieces of that puzzle.