David Roe

I expect today's hearing to be followed by speedy action from DoD and the VA to open the Vision Center of Excellence.

It took almost 7 years for Gil Magallanes to be introduced to his Vision Impairment Services Team coordinator. That's unacceptable.

Nothing has been given to you. You earned every bit of it and we need to make sure that we understand that in this room and in this country, I think.

I'm confident that none of us in this room would actively countenance delays or failures that needlessly hurt our veterans.

I think in all the testimony I have heard screams for a seamless electronic transferable, easy readable, electronic medical records where when you go from one point to another point for care, that it is seamless.

I found it astonishing last night when I read this entire testimony that we had let this go on for as long as it had, and the nonsense that this government funds every day and then not to fund this very needed program was appalling to me.

It looks to me like some sort of tax credit or subsidy would help immediately take a lot of those people off the rolls.

Well, you have got half of the people who are uninsured are in families who work, who are offered insurance at their current business, but they can't afford it.

It is a tragedy--at least in Oakland, where I am from--the accessibility even now for our community colleges is going down, down, down, as the scholarships go away and as the costs go up.

What we haven't done is, as I have said, taken things that already work, grab them, grow them, and green them.

I think that really demonstrated the American spirit, and I want to thank Senator Wofford for all the work you have been doing on this issue for so many years.

There is no higher calling in my mind than to take care of our veterans who protect our Nation.