Patty Murray

This legislation will help us rethink the way we support our servicemembers as they return home and search for living-wage jobs.

The number of servicemembers and new veterans we have lost to suicide is now on par with the number of those who have been killed in combat.

If this Committee is not told that we need more resources or that there are people falling through the cracks, we do not know enough to ask for it.

I am really disappointed that somebody has objected to Committee hearings going because this is really important.

Are we unprepared for the number of soldiers coming home wounded today?

We need to take a serious look at what personal toll the delays and uncertainties of the IDES process is taking on our wounded servicemembers.

I look forward to hearing about how this coordinated effort to improve quality, access, and effectiveness helps improve the lives of our Nation's warriors and their families.

I still believe this is an example of an idea that looks great on paper, but has to live up to its potential.

It has been 4 years since the scandal surrounding Walter Reed brought this lack of cooperation to light.

I think we have got a lot of soldiers transitioning and a few months means a few hundred more soldiers who are getting left behind.

We should benefit from it.

I recently introduced The Hiring Heroes Act to start to address how we can better transition our service members.

I am startled by the rapidly increasing cost of unemployment insurance.

It is a cost to society as well as a cost to the services.

I mandate that the transition assistance program become mandatory for all service members.

It is a legal obligation. It is a moral obligation. It is a real obligation.

It is disappointing that we have to fight the administration year after year after year to meet those legal obligations.

I am concerned that this administration does not seem to take these legal obligations seriously.

Mr. Secretary, in your oral testimony you mentioned the need to find ways to do business better when referring to Environmental Management.

If the administration intends to move forward with the proposed modified funding profile for the waste treatment plant, the only successful way to achieve that is for the administration to increase funding for the entire EM program.

We have got to keep focusing on this because these are real families that are struggling.

I absolutely agree that more needs to be done to meet the mental health needs of veterans.

Something is not working when we have this high number.

I am very concerned about the high number of suicides, as I just said; but knowing that, we need to double our efforts with the soldiers who are coming out of that program and leaving.

Messaging from DOD leaders emphasize that seeking care is a sign of strength, and that seeking mental health care will not adversely affect one's career.