Silvestre Reyes: “We have veterans committing suicide in shameful numbers, the most recent figure being 18 veterans every single day.”

We must continue on a path to making the claims system provided to our veterans first rate, world class, and uncompromising.

I want to express how much the subcommittee appreciates the contribution of the Guard and Reserve Components and want to recognize that they are maintained at a fraction of the cost of the regular military.

We have lost over 6,300 Americans in Iraq and Afghanistan and more than 46,000 have been wounded, since September 11, 2001.

I see today's hearing as a timely opportunity to focus on bringing more solutions to the table about how to improve the disability claims processing system to produce better outcomes for our veterans.