"I don't think that the mathematics of this are that complicated."
"What is missing in the VA is competition. Our veterans deserve the very best, let us not keep them in this institution that is not working."
"We still don't know what wait times are for veterans."
"I think that is an incredibly important finding and recommendation that you made because, you know, until we have the facts and the best information, we are not going to be able to make the best autho..."
"I think it is important, given what we now know about how people are bonused and how that leads to some unintended consequences."
"How do you all decide that Fayetteville gets 7.4, El Paso, 1.9, some other community, another amount?"
"You mentioned 64,000 who have not been able to get an appointment at all, we found in El Paso 36 percent of veterans seeking to make a mental health appointment were unable to obtain one at all."
"From my conversations with the veterans in Maine, Project ARCH has been quite successful. Unfortunately the VA appears to be moving to close down this popular program."
"Are VA Directors' bonuses based on staying under budget? Are there disincentives in place that keep them from sending veterans into the community for care?"
"It also shows you how serious the situation is and the attention that is been drawn to it."
"The problem with that is that money belongs to the veteran, and instead of saying we took an $8-million dollar hit for non-VA care to their budget, they need to say we took and gave $8 million dollars..."
"I think we need to hear from them. And add to Mr. McClain's excellent suggestion of having a management organization identify structural and organizational weakness."