First of all, Mr. Sullivan, I want to give a shout-out to the National Cemetery Administration. You all do an outstanding job.

Let's get on with it. And I am ready to do it, I know the House is ready to do it, I think the Senate.

Whatever creates an increased wages for workers is a good thing.

I could not agree with you more: Whatever creates an increased wages for workers is a good thing.

I just--I can't--I don't think that this Committee or this country can tolerate any more delays since we have got a clear direction from the Court now.

I mean, I have been on this Committee for 10 and a half years and I know the Chairman worked very closely with me last year.

I may be the only person sitting up here that graduated from high school in the segregated school system in the rural South.

It is clear we have a lot of work to do at every level of educational governance to ensure the promise of Brown is fulfilled for every child.

Those are her words and I couldn't agree more than any effort to fulfill the promise of Brown has to include a commitment to parent empowerment.

I don't see how you can ask a parent in a failing school to keep their--that is the only chance that child has.

I encourage every member of this Committee to record a suicide prevention PSA to highlight VA's Be There campaign.

Unquestionably, too little progress has been made. Unquestionably, a business as usual approach to this crisis is not sufficient.

While suicide is a tragedy no matter where it happens, it is particularly painful when it occurs on the grounds of a Department of Veterans Affairs medical facility with help mere feet away.

Of the 20 suicide deaths per day among our Nation's heroes, 14 have not received, as the Chairman said, VA health care in the 2 years preceding their deaths.

We thank you for the opportunity to testify on this deeply troubling issue of the growing number of suicides amongst the veteran community.

My Republican colleague, Ranking Member Roe, often says we haven't 'moved the needle' far enough to reduce veteran suicide.

It's clear we are not doing enough to support veterans in crisis.

Truly thanking veterans for their service means helping them when they need it most and rise above political opportunism to support veterans in crisis.

I would like to also caution us all in having that discussion to resist narratives that paint veterans as victims, or a tragedy of suicide is insurmountable.

Tonight's topic is the most important, most confounding, and the most heartbreaking one that we will discuss in this Committee.

We do not have the mental health infrastructure not just for VA, but for our citizens in this country anymore, and it is something we are going to have to learn to deal with as a Nation.

the fact that help was a few feet away is deeply troubling.

I commend President Trump for issuing two executive orders in the last 2 years to rally Federal, State, and local government agencies, as well as nongovernmental organizations, around this issue.

We need to understand why this legislation hasn't done more to prevent suicides.

Ultimately, it's up to all of us to reduce and prevent veteran suicide because this is not a problem VA can solve alone.