I would like to thank Chairman Dent and Ranking Member Bishop for holding this important hearing, and welcome Secretary McDonald and all of our distinguished guests this afternoon.
This Subcommittee must help address the serious challenges facing the Department of Veterans Affairs in delivering to the men and women who have faithfully served our nation the recognition and benefits they earned.
Mr. Secretary, I thank you for your commitment to bettering the lives of veterans. In particular, your dedication to increasing accountability within your workforce and initiating programs designed to meet the needs of the most vulnerable and at-risk veterans has been an inspiration.
I thank you for your commitment and efforts to reduce the claim’s backlog, an issue of great concern for some time now. I am happy the backlog is down considerably from two years ago.
Yet as the drawdown of forces in the military continues, I hope the VA will prioritize backlog reductions with the increase of men and women seeking VA care and benefits.
In addition, I am concerned about the health care female veterans receive. Female veterans are one of the fastest growing groups receiving medical care through the VA, yet they still face cultural road blocks in a system that has traditionally focused on the care of men. I believe that we need to start a discussion about updating the VA system to better reflect the gender makeup of our armed forces and future veterans.
Mr. Secretary, I again thank you for being here today and for your service to our country, and I look forward to hearing your testimony.
Source: U.S. Department of HCA
