Joint House and Senate Legislative Presentation of The American Legion & Multi VSOs: Paralyzed Veterans of America, AMVETS, National Association of State Directors of Veteran Affairs, Wounded Warrior Project, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, National Guard Association of the United States, Mission Roll Call
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House Veterans' Affairs U.S. House of Representatives
Follow its sittingsSpeaker 4
You are the reason that we have the PACAC today, just to take one example. Yesterday, I went to the floor of the United States Senate and asked for unanimous consent to pass the Major Richard Star Act. Unfortunately, it was blocked. I asked as a fallback for a simple vote on the bill before August. It was blocked as well.
The individual senator blocking unanimous consent is part of a small minority in the United States Senate. The vast bipartisan majority of my colleagues support the Richard Star Act because they know it is unacceptable that tens of thousands of combat-injured veterans are denied the full military benefits they deserve. The chairman just talked about promises. Promises are meaningless unless they are kept. We made a promise to these veterans that they would receive both retirement and disability benefits.
We owe them both. And I promise you, I will not stop fighting until we pass the Richard Starr Act in this congress. And I wanna add that support for it is bipartisan. I thank the chairman, Senator Moran, his support, as well as others on this committee, including the House ranking member, Mister Tucano. Yesterday, the New York Times published an article entitled Despite Promises, Veterans Affairs Department cut thousands of roles for doctors and nurses.
In fact, thousands of positions have been left vacant. The numbers of doctors and nurses' positions has declined by significant percentages, which is a disservice to all of you here and the many veterans around the United States who depend on the VA for their medical care. At our hearing last month, Secretary Collins said the VA needs more doctors, and yet he has eliminated thousands of physicians' jobs. We need your help. We need your advocacy.
We need your voices and your faces, which is why it's so important you're here today, so that we can maintain, restore, and even grow the numbers of doctors, nurses, counselors, psychiatrists, all of the team at VA Healthcare that is so important to making sure that we have sufficient workforce to serve the needs of our veterans. Our veterans deserve nothing less than the best, world-class medicine. Thank you all for being here today.
Speaker 5
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Good morning, everyone. It is truly great to see all of you here, ensuring that, my fellow members of congress, and Americans, tuning in from the country hear directly from you. So I thank all the veterans who've traveled here today, including those who've made the trip from the my home state of California. Where are you?
Thank you, California. Welcome, and welcome to everyone from the American Legion. I'd especially like to welcome American Legion national commander Dan Wiley of Kansas. Mister Wiley, commander Wiley, you and I have personal conversations about how I actually spent time in Lawrence, Kansas one summer. And so, welcome.
Auxiliary national president Pam Ray of Illinois and son of the American Legion national commander, Bill Clancy of New York. And I offer a hearty welcome to the representatives from all of the organizations on our second panel of witnesses. Very good to see all of you, and I look forward to hearing, engaging in an enlightening conversation. Now just two weeks ago, Secretary Collins published an interim final rule to cut veterans' disability compensation benefits for veterans whose service-connected conditions were improved by medication. Now, thanks to a public outcry from VSOs, members of Congress, and many of you here today, Secretary Collins paused enforcement and eventually rescinded the rule.
Senator Blumenthal and I led the effort here in Congress against this rule, but our Republican colleagues were unwilling to join us. Protecting rep protecting veterans benefits should be a bipartisan issue, and my colleagues across the aisle should be willing to stand with us in holding the VA accountable when veterans and their benefits are on the line. Now in addition to the secretary's harmful interim final rule, VA is also carrying out a massive reorganization of the Veterans Health Administration. This reorg effort warrants bipartisan oversight. Now VA does need improvement.
No doubt about that. But VA leadership appears to be trying to align VA with developments in for-profit health care. Now VA is not a business, and it should not mirror business models. Following that business mindset, this VA aims to, quote, do more with less, end quote. Now that approach has never really served veterans, in my opinion.
And the data suggests VA is already struggling with the lease. The New York Times reported yesterday that VA cut thousands of clinical positions that were filled before the administration and DOJ started pushing staff out. VA told us that these were unneeded COVID-era positions. But VA's own damning data tells us that is not true. As was reported by The New York Times, about 73% of the 10,500 vacant positions VA just eliminated were filled just sometime in 2025 or 2026, well after the COVID era.
These were recent vacancies, and rather than filling them, secretary colleges wiped those clinical positions off the books. Clinical positions that the medical centers said they needed. Expanding care and benefits for veterans requires people, doctors and nurses, claims processors, social workers, researchers, police officers, and support staff. All these roles help VA fulfill its mission. Now, I know each of you sees the value in securing veteran care and improving the VA because each of you has served, and today you continue to serve your fellow veterans and their survivors.
Now when you raised your hand and put on that uniform, you set yourself apart. That commitment came with our nation's promise that you and your family would be taken care of afterwards. You fulfilled your duty. We must fulfill ours. We sit here just days after President Trump committed our nation's most precious resource, our young men and women in uniform, to another conflict.
Several service members have already been killed or wounded. Our service members are carrying out difficult and dangerous missions far from home. They deserve the full support of a grateful nation. That support cannot end when they take off the uniform. So I ask, has this administration planned and budgeted for the long-term costs of this conflict?
Is VA prepared to provide a lifetime of medical care, disability compensation, mental health services, prosthetics, and caregiver support to the new generation of wartime veterans? President Trump and this Republican congress have added 150000000000 for the Department of Defense in the so-called Big Beautiful Bill, but it did not include a cent for VA. If this administration is willing to send Americans into harm's way, it must be willing to fully fund and strengthen the VA system that will care for them for decades. That means passing the Caring for Survivors Act. That means passing the Love Lives On Act.
And that means passing the Major Richard Starr Act as well. Just a little bit of history. I was chairman of this house side of the committee when I passed the blue water Vietnam blue water navy bill out of the house for the second time unanimously. And why I had to do it a second time is that the previous chairman, a republican chairman, passed it also with an overhaul. I think it was unanimous as well.
But procedures in the Senate blocked it. Just a couple of centers, like, ran out the clock at the end of that session. And, look, the politics in both houses, it's the procedure that is stopping the major Richard Starr act. It is the will of the majority of both houses of Congress, and I'll be damned if we allow procedure to stand in the way of passing the Major Richard Starr act, and you should be damned as well. Keep the pressure on.
And with that belief, senator Blumenthal, yesterday went to the floor yesterday to ask for a vote on this bill, and shamefully, it was blocked. Procedure again. In objecting to a vote on the major Richard Star Act, Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin lamented how much it would cost, arguing that we needed to prioritize funding for ongoing defense capabilities. I say this is unconscionable. We are talking about compensation for combat-injured veterans.
This is a cost of the war. And as we sit here watching the president drag us into another conflict, we must reckon with the long-lasting impacts it will have on our service members, our veterans, and their families. Paying for the true cost of war means investing in the VA now. Mister chair, I thank you for bringing these organizations before us today, and I look forward to frank and fruitful discussions. And I thank you, and I yield back.
Speaker 1
Frankie member, Tucano, thank you. I now have the honor of introducing a Kansan and a friend, the national commander of the American Legion, Mr. Dan Wiley. Dan, of course, has a long history of serving veterans, particularly those in the neighborhood of his hometown, Leavenworth, Kansas. He has also been a trusted adviser to me on issues impacting veterans at home and across the country. Dan served his nation in the United States Air Force, and following his service, he obtained a law degree from the University of Kansas.
He told me this morning he's a K-State fan. He used all his skills as an attorney to establish the Leavenworth County Veterans Treatment Court. He was a district court judge in the state of Kansas, and he used that opportunity to find a new way to care for veterans who appear before his and other courts in Leavenworth and across the state. During his service with the Legion, Dan has pretty much done it all. He's held 24 different positions within the American Legion, making certain that veterans have a friend who will listen to them and advocate for them.
I've seen that in my own circumstance at pancake feeds and American Legion events in my hometown, across the state, as he has been there for every veteran of our state. Dan, like many veterans, has faced his own challenges and hurdles in his life after service. But rather than hide or shy away from the challenges, he has shared them openly, letting veterans know that they are not alone. I respect Dan for being vulnerable and honest about mental health, and using his experience to reach out to veterans. As national commander, he's a strong advocate for the American Legion's Be the One campaign to prevent veteran suicide.
Thank you for working to extend hope to veterans who are struggling with their mental health, and helping reduce the stigma around asking for help. Outside the American Legion, Dan is very involved in his community back home where he is worn many different hats, helping organize and be the master of ceremonies at the Leavenworth County Veterans Day Parade, to serving on his local board of education. Commander Wiley, you have been a friend to me and a friend of veterans, and I have no doubt that your vision and experience is strengthening the mission of the American Legion and making certain that the voices of veterans are heard and their needs are met with honor and with respect. I thank you for those things. I thank you for your dedication to serving veterans in Kansas and across the country, and for being here to testify today.
I appreciate your family's sacrifice for your service in this capacity, and I look forward to working together on our shared mission of improving the lives of veterans across the country and back home in our home state. With that, Commander Wiley, you are now recognized.
Speaker 2
First, thank you, Senator, for that kind introduction. Thank you, Chairman Moran, Ranking Member Blumenthal, Chairman Bost, Ranking Member Tacano, and distinguished members of these committees. On behalf of the 2,500,000 members of the American Legion family, I appreciate the opportunity to discuss our legislative priorities for the second session of the 119th Congress. I would like to begin by introducing the members of the American Legion family here with me today. Please stand if you're able, as I recognize you, our national officers serving with me this year.
Please stand. Our past national commanders, please stand. Pam Ray, national president of the American Legion Auxiliary. William Clancy the third, national commander of the Sons of the American Legion. And my daughter, Christie, my son, Austin, and his wife, Jessie, with their son and my grandson, Noah.
And, of course, the most important person in the room, without a doubt, my wife, Sonia. Thank you. Our written testimony contains our complete list of legislative goals, and they are all important. With limited time, however, I will focus on several critical issues. This is a pivotal time for our country.
Recent military action reminds us of the cost of service shouldered by a shrinking minority of American families. In our all-volunteer force, military service has become a family business. And while average time in uniform is just four to eight years, the cost can potentially last a lifetime. And as we mark the 250th anniversary of our nation's founding, it is essential we examine those costs and make sure they are paid in full. That is precisely why Congress chartered the American Legion after World War One, to promote a strong national defense, encourage civic education, and to create a community of veterans to support one another whose voices are heard by our nation's leaders.
Since 1919, the Legion has been instrumental in landmark changes like the GI Bill, creation of the modern VA, appeals modernization, and the Mission Act. We created programs like the American Legion Child Well-being Foundation, legacy scholarships, and Boys Nation. Our mission every single day is to serve those who served us. At the post level, legionnaires serve their communities in times of crisis. Just last year, after the tragic floods in Kerrville, Texas, Legion Post 208 provided urgently needed resources for those who had lost everything and served as a relief point for aid workers who came from across the country.
American Allegiant service officers assist veterans with disability claims, and in 2025 alone, processed 29,500,000,000 in claims for veterans. This was free of charge, regardless of whether they were members of the American Legion or not. Nationally, we partner with VA on the buddy check week and our Be the One campaign to reduce stigma, provide critical training, and ultimately save lives. Our system we're saving in regional office action review programs provides policymakers with on the ground feedback regarding health care and benefits. And we have continued to work with Congress to ensure that while the administration seeks bold change, there is no reduction in accessibility of services and benefits to any veteran or their family.
Just two weeks ago, the American Legion spoke against a proposed rule that would change the way the VA rates a veteran's disability based on medication management. We were glad to see Secretary Collins listen to the veteran community and, ultimately, rescind the rule. We will remain vigilant, and we will give you all our feedback on what is working and what needs to change. The legion's number one priority is ending veteran suicide. VA estimates more than 17 veterans die every day by suicide.
Traditional approaches to this problem, pills and therapy, have objectively not worked. We need stronger transition programs, innovative therapies, and improved safeguards to medication management. That's why we support things like the Fox Grant program, the Beacon Act, the written informed consent act, and other bills that seek to address this problem. It's also why after a decade of Legion advocacy, I was proud to be in the Oval Office as the president signed an executive order reclassifying cannabis as a schedule three drug. This allows for federal research on how it can reduce the drivers of suicide.
Now the American Legion does not support the use of illegal drugs, but we strongly support research that could result in new effective treatments. An important part is suicide prevention, and ultimately, VA's core mission is access to timely, quality health care. And while most veterans prefer to receive their care from VA because it's a one stop shop. Community care has exploded since the passage of the Mission Act. Congress must provide the necessary funding to ensure the VA system remains strong without curtailing a veteran's access to community care if it is in the veteran's best interest.
It is a difficult balance, but one we are committed to helping Congress achieve. Ultimately, veterans should get the care they need when they need it. But we must remain the center of all veteran health care in the VA. As we discuss VHA reorganization, the NextGen Community Care contract, and acceleration of electronic health record deployment, Congress must also address aging infrastructure and give the VA authorities and funding it needs to compete with the private sector job market. As we all know, the veteran population is changing, and so are its needs.
Women veterans, the largest growing subpopulation in our community, experience homelessness, depression, infertility, migraines, and other issues at a higher rate than their male counterparts. This is attributed to military sexual trauma and domestic violence. Congress should pass legislation to improve research on how issues unique to women veterans, including menopause, affect outcomes, and increase the availability of gender-specific rehabilitation programs. Enabling veterans to thrive in civilian life is a huge task. Congress can make it easier by ensuring our service members don't experience financial uncertainty prior to separation.
When I served in the United States Air Force, I never worried about getting paid on the first and fifteenth of the month. But as government shutdowns become more frequent, that is no longer guaranteed. Now not long ago, the Legion provided over 1,000,000 in grants to Coast Guard families because Congress failed to do its job and ensure they were paid on time. We need ironclad protections to ensure uninterrupted pay for all service members in our all-volunteer force. Finally, consider Major Richard Starr, who deployed multiple times and was diagnosed with lung cancer linked to burn pit exposure.
Before his death, he endured the indignity of a wounded veterans tax, an offset of his disability compensation against his pension because he was medically retired before 20 years. This is wrong. Collecting both benefits is not double-dipping. Retirement is for time served. Disability compensation is for harm caused during service.
Congress must pass the overwhelmingly supported bipartisan Major Richard Starr act. Chairman Moran, ranking members Blumenthal and Tacano, and members of the committees, the way America treats its veterans directly influences whether the next generation raises the right hand to define our 250-year legacy. On behalf of the entire American Legion family, thank you for this opportunity to share our priorities, and my staff and I welcome your questions.
Speaker 1
National commander, thank you for your testimony. We'll now turn to questions from you and your colleagues at the desk. The Richard STAR Act, let's start there for my first question. Would you share perhaps a member's experience, a real world example of a veteran and their family who would directly benefit if the Major Star Act were passed? Explain how it would change the quality of their life.
Give us an example of why it matters.
Speaker 2
Thank you, senator. And without naming the individual, you and I both know an individual that suffered harm while he was on active duty. He was in a Ghilly suit, and he was burned by that active duty service, and because of that, he was medically retired. So he receives that medical retirement for the time in service. He also, you wouldn't find surprise because of the burns on his body, he was entitled to disability compensation for the harm caused.
However, because of the fact that he didn't have the twenty years in time and service, he has to waive dollar for dollar his retirement for the disability compensation he receives. And quite obviously, this takes funds away from his family that would benefit his family for a lifetime, and he's got lifetime care and a lifetime of loss as a result of those injuries. And I appreciate the opportunity last month as I sat in your office, we talked about the major Richard Star Act. And you know me. I'm probably more passionate than articulate.
But to that extent, it just frustrates me that Congress can't get this passed when we have 316 members in the House that have signed on and approximately 75 members in the Senate who've signed on, and yet we can't get it to a vote on the House floor. The buck stops with leadership. They need to get a vote on this, up or down, because our veterans are entitled to know whether your congressman supports our disabled and wounded veterans or your congressman is against us. That's what we believe we're entitled to a vote on this on the house and senate floor. Thank you.
Speaker 1
Commander, thank you for answering my question. I would use this moment, again, as I told you in our office, when we last visited that, I'm committed to trying to do everything I can to accomplish that. Folks in this room probably know but should know the jurisdiction of this bill doesn't rest with the Committee on Veterans Affairs. It rests with our Armed Services Committee. But we're working with the leadership of the Armed Services.
I'm working with the leadership of the Armed Services Committee to find a path forward. And, I hope and I spoke yesterday, on the senate floor about this topic, and I've also spoken to my colleagues in the senate that there is no opportunity for the sponsoring of a bill that you're not willing to vote for when the time comes. Sponsoring is insufficient. We want you to do that, but if the time is right, we wanna make certain that the votes occur, and there's no hypocrisy demonstrated by members of congress. You mentioned community care.
It's a topic that I have significant interest in. In large part, when I was a congressman, I represented a congressional district the size of the state of Illinois, not a VA hospital in that congressional district, and distance was often the enemy of a veteran in being able to access quality care at the VA. Would you elaborate on, I mean, let me say again that American Legion is a strong supporter of the ACCESS Act. Senator Blumenthal and I are trying to work out our differences to see that we get it passed. Would you explain to the committee the importance of the Access Act and why the American Legion is supportive?
Speaker 2
Absolutely. Thank you, Senator Moran, for that question. Community care is obviously important for our veterans. Most of our veterans, as I said in our opening remarks, are very happy with the care they get at the VA, and they prefer it. But as you know, just like Kansas and much of this country, there's a lot of distance between VA hospitals.
You're in western Kansas. You might be four hours from a VA hospital, so we have transportation issues. We have issues with regard to obtaining care from a specialist. And, ultimately, we believe that the veteran should receive the care that's in their best interest. And we believe that this Access Act will provide more oversight.
We need to continue to have VA oversight of community care, but community care is obviously important in the best interest of our veterans. Thank you.
Speaker 4
Thank you, national commander, for calling attention to some of the most pressing needs of our veterans. Obviously, the Richards Star Act is a priority for me, not only as the ranking member of this committee, but also as a member of the Armed Services Committee. And you have correctly identified where the point of persuasion has to be with the leadership, the leadership of the United States Senate and the House of Representatives. So I urge every member here, if you think the Richard Starr Act ought to be passed, contact the leadership of the United States Senate. And, again, I thank Senator Moran for his advocacy and his support.
I wanna call attention to your advocacy on behalf of women veterans. As you say in your testimony, they are the fastest-growing cohort among veterans. They are serving right now in harm's way in the Middle East. Tragically, one of the fallen is a woman National Guard member. We owe them the same kind of health care and compensation benefits that our male veterans receive.
What kinds of specific measures, if you could talk about them, would you advocate to expand the service that we provide to our women veterans?
Speaker 2
Thank you, ranking member Blumenthal, for that question. And, again, I appreciate your time as we had an opportunity last month in your office to discuss these very issues, and I know they're of concern to you. Obviously, to women's veterans is the single biggest growing demographic. And I can tell you that VA care has improved significantly in the 30 plus years I've been a member of the American Legion. I visited VA hospitals throughout the country.
We now have hospitals, not all, we need to do a lot more, but that have separate entrances, for example, for women's veterans. And I know there's a lot of bills that impact women's veterans, and so I'm going to ask our Veterans Affairs and Rehabilitation director, Cole Lyle, to expand on that answer.
Speaker 3
Thank you, commander, and thank you ranking member Blumenthal. The American Legion has publicly supported the SAVES Act, which would expand the evidentiary standard for VA to be able to consider non-VA evidence, lay statements, nexus letters, things like that, and disability process claims. As the commander alluded to, infrastructure at a lot of VA facilities is specific for women veterans. Residential rehabilitation programs secure areas in VA facilities for them to feel safe if they've been experienced military sexual trauma or intimate partner violence. Also, Congresswoman Brownlee has a bill to expand research on menopause.
There's not a lot of evidence. There's a lot of anecdotal evidence. There's not a lot of research on menopausal links to certain things that drive suicide. And as we know, women veterans experience suicide at a much higher rate than their civilian counterparts. That's a great answer, and I wanna just volunteer my.
Speaker 4
My services, my office on this issue, and others that you have raised, commander, most especially the continuing scourge of veteran suicide, the need to expand the PAC Act, the importance of recognizing the next generation of toxic exposures, very, very important. And, I want to just commend the American Legion for a program that is very close to my heart. In Connecticut, I don't know how many of the other states have it. We have a boys' state and girls' state program, which fosters future leadership. Young people are chosen, it's a very competitive program, to participate in a nearly week-long series of sessions, in a usually school location.
They live in dormitories. They participate in mock Senate and House sessions. I think their conversations are considerably more erudite and informed than I often find around here. But I just want to say to the American Legion, providing the role models, fostering the leadership, is so important. We need to develop our future veterans.
My son who served in the United States Marine Corps as an infantry officer in Afghanistan, my other son who served as a Navy Seal had you as role models. And they, in turn, will be role models for others. But you in the American Legion, whatever your age, are role models for our future leadership. Thank you for being there for our great country. Thank you.
Speaker 1
I'm quite certain I was never a senator at Boys State. Representative Tucano.
Speaker 5
I was at Boys State, California. I didn't get elected to anything either. So, commander Wiley, one thing I've heard loud and clear from the veteran community this month is veterans should never be punished for following medical advice. When VA issued changes to how medication effects would be treated in disability evaluations, did the Legion receive advance notice or a chance to weigh in?
Speaker 2
Thank you, ranking member Takano. And, again, I appreciate your time and having the opportunity to meet with you last month. The simple answer is no. But I will also tell you that was an aberration for this administration and the VA because we have been fortunate enough in the American Legion to be advised of most things, but we were not advised of this. And if we'd been, we would have told them exactly what we told them in the end, and that it was a terrible idea.
And so we were glad they rescinded it. But thank you.
Speaker 5
Well, thank you. Well, do you think VSOs like the American Legion should be brought in early before policies are rolled out, so they aren't surprised and trust isn't shaken?
Speaker 2
Absolutely. The veteran community is entitled to and needs to be heard. Yes.
Speaker 5
And there are several important bills pending that would radically improve benefits for veterans, their families, and their survivors, like the Major Richard Starr Act or Representative Hayes' Caring for the Survivors Act. Commander, you've been very clear that these are earned benefits, not favors. I see you're nodding your head. On bills like the major Richard Star Act and survivor reforms, do you agree that Congress should not force veterans or survivors into a trade-off where one group's earned benefit is paid for by cutting another group of veterans' benefits? Yes.
Do you think Congress should put the burden of pain for veterans benefits increases on other veterans or on the American people as a whole?
Speaker 2
It's a service. There is an obligation to pay for what a veteran has earned, and that's incurred at the time of service and the time they were put in harm's way. So, yes, the American people and the American government, when they do that, they have an obligation, but it shouldn't be put on the shoulders of other veterans.
Speaker 5
Yeah. Yeah. I thank you. Thank you. That was the point.
I think the American people are very much willing to honor the obligation that we made to them. Commander Wally, I sponsored the PACT Act, has certainly helped many veterans gain access to VA benefits and health care that they've earned through their service. But even as we were writing the PACDAC, we knew that the PACDAC was only a step, and that there would be more work left to do in the future. Where should Congress push next? And what exposures or cohorts are most urgent to address a PACDAC follow on? As you were.
Speaker 2
Thank you again, Reiki member Takano. And, obviously, the PACDAC, when it was passed, there's a mechanism in there for identifying future toxins, that hasn't been adequately used. But to further elaborate, I'm gonna call on our VA and our director, Cole Lyle, to answer.
Speaker 3
Thank you, commander. And I see time is short, so I'll try to be brief. But, you know, the mechanism that the commander was talking about existed because, congress didn't wanna have to legislate individual presumptive conditions going forward. That process has been slow, and sometimes the process has been opaque. So I think if there were mandatory timelines requiring VA to review prospective presumptive conditions within, let's say, 180 days, mandate some sort of external review if presumptives were removed or an external review right after they were finalized.
And then codify that presumptives could probably only be removed if there's overwhelming evidence that contradicts the existing science that was used in the approval process.
Speaker 5
Well, is secretary fully leveraging the authorities granted by congress to establish new presumptives in your view, or could he be more assertive? I
Speaker 3
I think he secretary Collins and the or excuse me, secretary Collins and the VA, as I said, there are some conditions that particularly with, k two veterans, Red Hill, that could be advanced more quickly.
Speaker 5
So, what would help better? What would be more helpful? Faster presumptive decisions, clearer transparency on where conditions are in the process, or better access to exposure records so veterans are not left guessing?
Speaker 3
I sir, I would say all three. I think the DOD was the EYLER, the individual I'm forgetting what the acronym stands for, but, basically, the individual record of exposures to service members while they're on active service, that the DOD could track and then give to VA. That was supposed to be made available, I think, a year ago, and we're still waiting on that. There are definitely things that could improve in that process.
Speaker 7
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thanks, everybody, for being here today. I always like it when my colleagues ask for people who are from California or whatever state. I'd like to know if we've got anybody here that either is from North Carolina or spent a little quality time there in the past. If you please raise your hand.
There you go. First off, an explanation of the bolo. The Lumbee tribe in North Carolina got recognized, excuse me, after 137 years of racism, neglect, and more recently at the target of the casino cartels. The reason I wear this today is because they have disproportionately, in spite of all those challenges, they are among some of the most courageous and disproportionately represented people in armed services in the state of North Carolina. So, I'm looking forward to them now that they've been federally recognized, putting a mark in Lumbee and Robinson County focused on veterans and all those great Native Americans that have served this country in the same way that you did.
Thank you for your service. You know, as I was looking at the written testimony of my staff this week, I was trying to think of what I can do in my remaining time here. It's 305 days. Now some people think I'm counting the days, before I'm out of here, but I'm a project person, and I am always mindful of how much time I have left in my budget. So as a US senator, I've got 305 days to do everything I can to help you guys.
One of the ways I wanna help you is by having a frank conversation about how we address all the things the commander has outlined, but not kill you with kindness. Because what we do here a lot of times is we rush to pass a bill, and we get it, and we high five. And then about a year later, we come back and figure out why it failed to be executed properly. And quite honestly, I'll give you the best example of that. You all know that I voted in spite of being an original cosponsor and in spite of having the team act and the camp pleasure toxics being written out of my office and promoted.
I voted against the PACT Act. And the reason I voted against the PACT Act, even knowing that it was gonna pass by overwhelming majorities, is because I thought we were gonna come up short on the execution. And that, by God, is exactly what happened. So one of the things that I hope to do in my remaining time here, and my time is short on these comments, is to try and convene a meeting to figure out how we can get to all these priorities, past and future, Mr. Commander. But do it in a way that's honest, that's instructed by the reality of the resources that we have here to make sure that we can have maximum impact on you all.
And not only kind of fulfill the promise by passing a law, but true to the state motto of North Carolina, it says, a quam vaderi. It says to be, rather than to seem. Instead of seeming to support you all by passing bills, they get caught up in the execution. I wanna be somebody that helps you do that in the remaining tenure in my remaining tenure in the senate. So you'll be getting a call from me, and we'll get other veteran services organizations together, and we're gonna figure out how to make the most out of the 305 days I have left to begin to make an installment on a debt we'll never repay.
Thank you.
Speaker 2
Thank you, Senator Tillis. And I will tell you me and my staff are more than happy to contact with your staff and work together to accomplish just that.
Speaker 8
Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Commander, thank you so much for your testimony here today. I don't wanna thank everyone from the American Legion family who's joining this hearing. Thank you for your service and sacrifice. It doesn't go unnoticed by Congress, and we certainly owe you all a debt and have to work to repay that.
And I think you've given us an important road map of how we can pursue our obligations to the veteran community in our nation. Thank you for highlighting veteran suicide as your number one priority. It is on the minds of every veteran I talk to in the state of New Hampshire, and a shout out to all those from the Live Free or Die state of New Hampshire who are joining this hearing today. I want you to know that this is important, and we need to focus on the kinds of alternative therapies that can help veterans manage pain and ensure that they're living with a high quality of life. We've got legislation called the No Pain for Veterans Act that can help reduce reliance on opioid-based treatments for veterans.
I'm just wondering if you can kind of evaluate how we're doing at opening up the doors to some of these alternative therapies that can result in a better quality of life and less reliance on opioid-based medications.
Speaker 2
Thank you, representative Papas. I appreciate that question. It's no secret that for too long doctors have prescribed opioids which are destructive and addictive to our veterans. And the American Legion by resolution supports alternative therapies, which is one of the reasons why we were proud to be in the Oval Office on December 18 when the president signed the executive order reclassifying cannabis from a schedule one to schedule three. There's a lot of other therapies that we believe would be productive for veterans, and I'm gonna ask, again, our VA and our director Cole Lyle to address those.
Speaker 3
Thank you, commander, and thank you, congressman. The No Pain for Veterans Act. Right now, the VA still treats many of these nonopioid pain management things. So long-lasting topical pain cream, things like that, non-opioid injectables as non-formulary. It makes it harder for physicians to prescribe.
They have got to go through extra, you know, red tape to do it. And it often costs more to the veteran out of pocket. So this is the bill, and why it would fix that problem is it would mandate that VA add these non-opioid alternatives as VA formulary, to make it easier for those prescribers or for those providers to prescribe alternatives, which, as the commander noted, obviously, we had an opioid crisis in the United States. As the VA and other agencies have worked to kind of lower or reduce the impact of that on the population, veterans still have to find a way to deal with things like chronic pain. So without alternatives, they turn to self medication and things like that.
This would provide realistic alternatives.
Speaker 8
Well, I appreciate those observations. We're committed to working with you on this and on all the other priorities on the list. We've got to make some progress here. So let's get things moving. Your presence here in Washington is a big show of support for priorities that are gonna positively impact the lives of veterans and their families all across our country.
So thanks for being here, and let's keep up the pressure. I yield back.
Speaker 9
First of I wanna say thank you for your advocacy and your leadership, and I wanna thank all the members of American Legions for being here and for your continued work to be able to get Congress to move on some of these priority legislation. I appreciate all the hard work. I read your testimony and I appreciate the clarity and the urgency in your testimony that you've submitted. One of the things that I wanna get a better understanding of, after reviewing your testimony, is from the priorities that you have outlined, what do you believe is the single biggest systematic failure in how we currently deliver benefits to veterans, and what specific legislative action should we be prioritizing to address it?
Speaker 2
Thank you, representative King Heinz. I'm going to ask again our VA and our director Colisle to address that question.
Speaker 3
Thank you, commander. I think the if we're gonna talk specifics in the benefits process, it's the high rate of remands from the board of veterans appeals, and that is directly resulted from the quality of CMP exams in that process. The VA largely utilizes contractors to conduct those CMP exams, and, you know, there is fairly consistent in our regional office action review site visits. We find inadequate DBQs that are submitted for CMP exams, that result in appeals, delays, things like that. So I would say that's the biggest.
Speaker 3
Point of failure. And there are several bills to include the MDEO. I'm forgetting on what the specific bill number is off the top of my head, but to improve the oversight of those contractors and ensure there's quality in those CMP exams.
Speaker 9
Okay. Where do you see is the widest gap then between some of these legislation that have been enacted, going back to the point that Senator Tillis was making with regards to the delivery? Is it, in terms of connecting legislation and the actual delivery and the way that the VA currently does its job?
Speaker 3
It's a great question. From a 30,000 foot view, perspective, I would say really education and advocacy and, you know, educating veterans, many of whom often feel like that if they apply for disability compensation, they're gonna be taking something away from another veteran. So I would say from a top level view, that's the biggest thing between legislation and actual delivery of benefits is educating veterans.
Speaker 9
Well, I'd like to continue working with the American Legion to figure out how to actually address those systematic failures. Thank you. I owe my time.
Speaker 10
Well, thank you, Mr. Chair. And to you and Chairman Boast and our ranking members, Blumenthal and Tucano, thank you for this hearing. And, to everyone here today, to commander Wiley and everyone from the American Legion, including the Granite Staters who are in attendance. Thank you for your service. I also just wanna note that as the country is at war, our troops in harm's way are in all of our hearts today, as are the families of our fallen heroes.
Our country owes all of you a debt of gratitude, not just for your service in uniform, but also for your service to fellow veterans. Commander Wiley, I wanted to start with a question about how we are handling services for women who are, of course, the fastest growing group of veterans. They obviously deserve easy access to care that is specific to them and their needs. Senator Blackburn and I are working on this issue, and we're going to introduce a bill soon that would codify the ability of women veterans to directly schedule gender-specific care without having to get a primary care referral first. But we know we need to do more.
Commander, what else can Congress do to ensure that women veterans have easy, reliable access to the care that meets their specific needs?
Speaker 2
I think a couple of things that they can do specifically. As I suggested or saw in one of the VA hospital visits, it's having a separate access for women's veterans. It's also having a sufficient number of doctors that can treat women's veterans. You know, twenty years ago, you would never heard of an OB GYN in a VA. Right.
And, you know, we have, obviously, veterans who are having babies. Yeah. And we need more women physicians and more of those types to treat women's veterans. So those are the big things we can do right off the bat. Mhmm. I think to help women veterans.
Speaker 10
Well, thank you for that. I look forward to working with you and your members on that issue. Another question, concerning families of veterans. It's not just to care for our veterans. We also owe a debt to their families. Right?
And after a veteran passes, surviving family members may encounter financial strains. Some can qualify for monthly payments under dependency and indemnity compensation, but those payments can be much smaller than what a veteran was receiving for VA disability. Commander, what are some potential options that Congress should consider to help these families through this adjustment period so that they don't have to immediately worry about money while they're grieving for their loved one?
Speaker 2
Thank you again, Senator Asson. I agree with you 100% on the premise, and I'm gonna ask RVA and R director Cole Lyle to address that specifically.
Speaker 3
Thank you. Oh, excuse me. Thank you, commander. And thank you, senator. I think the American Legion has supported the Caring for Survivors Act and the Love Lives On Act, specifically to raise the DIC, the Disability Indemnity Compensation.
Because as you pointed out, they while their service member is alive, they rely on a certain level of income for their quality of life and standard of living. And when it gets significantly reduced, that's a pretty big financial shock.
Speaker 11
We are veterans, not victims. Veterans, not victims. And we're not entitled to anything. We've earned the benefits that we deserve, and we deserve those benefits in the form in that they should come. And I think, the best thing we can do for our veterans when we get home from war, and I'll talk to Mister Sharp at Espinosa about this, is make sure that they can serve again.
And that can be as a law enforcement officer. That can be as a firefighter. That can be as a small business owner, a machinist, a welder. Right now, America has a skills gap. We don't have enough pilots, police officers, firefighters, welders, and electricians.
And these careers are actually well-suited for veterans. Probably the best careers for veterans even is agriculture. We don't have enough producers, ranchers, and farmers, and we're not afraid of getting up early and working until the sun goes down. And these jobs are important for the future of America. They sustain our economy, they feed our nation.
So, mister Sharp and Esbenos, I'd like to hear from you what you think we can do to make sure that when our veterans come home and take that uniform off, they don't spend the rest of their life talking about how great it was to be a veteran. They spend the rest of their life achieving new great heights as veterans and make us proud yet again.
Speaker 12
Thank you for that question. The American Legion has always supported the expansion of the TAP program. We believe TAP programs should be a way for veterans to find possible employment and also be gainfully employed. Currently, not all our veterans are aware of the various services that are out there for veterans as far as finding employment. So the American Legion has, for our resolution, we believe that there should be a transition app with an AI component to it to put all veterans that are leaving the military on a level playing field because depending on what installation that you're leaving from, it may not have all
Speaker 12
services, for everyone. So we believe that transition app is the one thing that will level the playing field. Keep veterans informed of all the services and programs that the TAP office currently has, but also keep an eye on what is happening in the private sector as well. Thank you.
Speaker 11
Well, I'd say one thing I could use all of your help with is, one of the requirements to receive your DD-214 upon discharge should be a full transfer of your health records to the VA. A VA disability physical has been completed, and you are ingested into the VA before the DoD lets go of you. That would solve this chasm that too many veterans fall into, which is they step off active duty and spend months or years or the rest of their lives trying to get into the VA, trying to get the disability claims adjudicated. That should be a condition of discharge. And I think the sooner we adopt a clean transfer of health records and health status from the Do to the VA, we'll solve that problem.
Thank you.
Speaker 6
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I don't wanna throw shade at you guys, but you were talking about Boise State. I was governor of the American Legion Boise State. Now the tricky part is, Boise State was Virginia, and later I was elected governor of Maine. And the people of Maine are still trying to figure that out.
But, and also I want to congratulate you on Matt Chubau being your legislative director. But it's pretty sneaky because he lives a mile away from me. Having your chief legislative guy as my neighbor, I think that's, you know, come on, man. I wanna follow-up on senator Sheehy. There's a bill we're hoping to get in markup that would allow and in fact mandate the registration of people into the VA health system before they leave active duty.
So I hope that's something we can work on together, because I think that's a really good idea. One of the things I've been focused on since I have been here is transition. My rule is very simple. The government should spend as much money, time, and effort on transition out as they do on recruiting in, and they don't do that now. So I hope that's something we can work on together.
TAP promotion, I think, is we almost made it last year, giving the VSOs access to people during the TAP process. The whole idea is to give people leaving active duty more information about what’s available. You're nodding. I hope you agree, Mr. Commander.
Speaker 2
Senator King, thank you. We absolutely agree with you. To have the VSOs, to have access, will make that transition to the community much easier because we can provide them with the information necessary so they can make that transition into the community.
Speaker 6
And something else that I'm working on in the area of veteran suicide, which is one of the great tragedies of this country, is for the VA to provide free lock boxes for firearms to any veteran. Seventy-five percent of veteran suicides, almost seventy-five percent, are with firearms. And as we've learned, the data shows that if there's any gap between the idea and execution, self execution, that can be a real help to somebody who's thinking about this terrible act. So I hope that's something you can also help us with. It's based on a pilot program in Utah that's been very effective.
We're not taking any names. This isn't gun control. This is safety for the veterans. So I hope you can help us with that one.
Speaker 6
And then, finally, staffing issues at the VA. We all know that the VA has lost a lot of people in the last year. The number I've heard is 30,000. I've heard more. What I want from you is reports from the field as to whether or not that's having an impact on service for veterans.
We've gotten the word from the VA. They feel the secretary you heard the other day, everything's good and wait times are down. But I'd like some feedback from people in the field as to whether that's the case because you're the ones that are actually experiencing this. And, we're looking to fix problems here, but we can't fix the problems if we don't know what they are. So I look forward to working with you on that as well.
And thank you very much for your leadership, and, look forward to continuing our work together on behalf of American veterans. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Speaker 14
Thank you, miss, thank you, mister chairman. I'm sorry. Thank you for being here. Thank you all for being here. In the last several years, congress has been able to step forward.
And, again, as somebody who's just added 20 years, I understand that these are, as senator Shihi just said, you know, these are certainly earned benefits. And we've been able to accomplish a lot, but the only reason we've been able to accomplish it is because of you all. And so there's nothing more heartwarming than to sit here and look out and see a full chamber. People on the wall, that's a good thing. There's no substitute for you being here talking to the people representing you, telling them how important these things are and why they're needed.
And because of your help, like I said, we've been able to do a lot of good things and continue to do that in a very bipartisan way. That's really what it's all about. So the VA recently released its annual veteran suicide prevention report with the data through 2023. It shows that veteran suicide crisis, as you all know, is continuing to rage. The report highlighted the success of the staff sergeant Fox grant program, making more than 24,000 referrals and 854 lifesaving emergency service connections for veterans.
Mister Wiley, what have you heard from your members regarding the program and aspects that need to be changed or improved?
Speaker 2
Thank you, senator. I appreciate the question. I think there are several things that can be done with regard to the epidemic of veteran suicide. And as you know, this is our number one mission in eliminating the stigma, but more resources are needed for mental health. We need more resources for things to combat homelessness like the Hoddash program, and we need, basically, I lost my train of thought.
I apologize. So, I'm gonna ask Cole Lyle to elaborate on that. Sure. Thank you.
Speaker 14
You're trying to make me feel better that I'd have to listen to me more often than not.
Speaker 3
Thank you, Senator Bozeman. I think, the success of the staff sergeant Parker Gordon Fox grant program over the years, we've seen the VA move closer and closer to the community from medical centers to CBOX to vet centers, and now things like the Fox grant program that are not VA organizations, but leverage VA funding to provide that outreach to veterans, which is crucial because less than 50% of veterans use the VA. The number of veteran suicides with the declining population has stayed stagnant. So the rate of suicide, if you look at the data, has actually increased. Right.
And these types of programs are local programs that provide that veterans trust, that are in their community, that provide that outreach and deal with the upstream factors of suicide, like transportation, relationship issues, acute financial stress, any number of different things. So if we wanna get to the veteran before there's a critical mass of despair. Mhmm. And programs like that are really helpful.
Speaker 14
Okay. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank again, thank you all for being here and the fact that you're pushing hard and, together, we're getting a lot done.
Speaker 1
Senator Bozeman, thank you. Senator Murray, former chairman of the committee.
Speaker 16
Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Thank you to all of you who are here today, and everyone in this country who has served our nation. We all owe you, and we all say this, a debt of gratitude for your service, but it is more than that. We owe you to keep the promise that when you come home, we will be there for you in any way, both to the current veterans and to the ones who we will see in the future. I think it's really important today, Mr.
Chairman, and this has kind of been glossed over this point of time that we are in, where we have a President who's taking us to war in Iran, who seems to have no problem sending other kids off to a war, but seems to have a problem in picking up the tab when it comes right by doing our service members when they come home. With a VA right now that has waiting lines that veterans can't get served, that we see doctors and nurses who are not being hired, and no thought has been given to that. What we hear from Trump is that he's saying that this bombing campaign in Iran could go on indefinitely. He's saying the death of our service members in a war of choice is, quote, and he said this, just the way it is. He's saying he won't rule out putting American boots on the ground in Iran.
I think it is a very serious time for our country. I've served on this committee for more than 30 years. I know the consequences of war as each and every one of you does in front of me. And to go to war without preparing for the future and making sure that we are there for the men and women who serve us, and we thank them for that. But when they come home as well, and, mister chairman, we are not ready for that today.
This has to be a consequence that we consider for numerous reasons. I'm gonna be voting using my voice today to vote no on the war in Iran. But it is the responsibility of this committee and every member of Congress to think about all the consequences of war, take that into account, hold this administration accountable, and make that clear when we make our choices moving forward. I felt it was really important to say that today, with all of you who served our country and know what those sacrifices mean. So, mister chairman, I only have a few seconds left.
And with that, I wanna change the subject. Thank you, Commander Wiley, for saying the word menopause. Having been on this committee for more than 30 years, this is the first time I've heard it, and I think I counted four times. For our women who serve us in this country, we know that they experience early menopause after having served in the military more than the women in the general population. We need to know why, and we need to be able to make sure that we are doing the right thing for those women. So, I did introduce a bill last year for the VA to do more research on that.
That, along with all the other things that you were talking about today, has as serious a consequence today as we are in this time where a President has taken us to war in Iran without congressional consent as any other time. And I want to thank every one of you for being here. And my promise to all of you is I will fight to make sure, no matter what goes forward, that this committee and this Congress will do for our veterans who serve us the right thing when they come home, and we have to take that cost into account as we make these decisions. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Speaker 1
Senator Murray, thank you. Senator Murray, thank you. Now I recognize Mr. McGarvey.
Speaker 17
Yes. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you all for being here today. Thank you for your continued service to our country. Mister Wiley, thank you, guys.
The American Legion, you all have spent generations making sure that our veterans are taken care of when they come home, that they continue to have meaningful lives after their service. And I know everyone on this committee shares that same goal of making sure that we get our veterans the care that they have been promised, that they have earned, and that they deserve. I think one area where the VA could be doing much more right now is getting innovative ideas off the ground. You heard Senator Murray talk about the need for research, particularly among our women veterans right now. Look what the VA has at its disposal.
It's the largest patient population of any hospital system in the country by multiples: 9,000,000 patients. We have the largest longitudinal dataset of any health system in the country, by multiples. Again, think about it. We get you often when you're 17 or 18 years old. We keep you till the day you die.
Seventy-five percent of physicians do some sort of training or work in the VA right now. And what are we doing with this treasure trove of talent and information? Not enough. Not nearly enough. Right now, even really good ideas can sit around for years before veterans are able to see them, because the VA doesn't have the tools or the flexibility that other agencies use.
We have this stuff there, but we have structural impediments to it. At places like the Department of Defense and NASA, they can partner quickly with early-stage companies that guarantee a market for promising technologies, and they can move these good ideas and these research things from concept to real-world use without getting buried in red tape. The VA doesn't have those same authorities, and the veterans are the people who feel the impact of that delay and that bureaucracy every day. It doesn't have to be this way. We can empower the innovation team at the VHA to conceive and test new solutions that go after the hardest problems that our veterans face.
And think about this. We solve these problems for our veterans. We can start solving them for everyone in the country. So, I wanna go to you, mister Wiley, and just say if the VA had flexibility and authority to test and scale these types of new care models quickly, what kinds of innovative programs would you want them to prioritize first to better meet the needs of your members?
Speaker 2
You, for that question. And, absolutely, we're always looking for different methods of treatment to treat our veterans that might be more successful than those that have been in the past, because we believe that is one of the main ways to combat the epidemic of veteran suicide. But with regard to the specifics, again, I'm going to ask our VNR director, Collao, to address that.
Speaker 3
Thank you, commander, and thank you, congressman. I think, you know, some basic, sorry, some basic programs, like digital matching tools. I think there's a pilot program for identifying substitute caregivers that could be directly expanded and utilized nationally so caregivers could have trusted resources for substitutes to come and care for their service member. Hybrid in person telehealth, type things where there is remote monitoring with the wearables and home sensors. So for rural veterans that have to travel long distances for chronic pain management and things like that, they only have in home visits for severe cases or in hospital visits for severe issues that are not routine, and they can do telehealth appointments for things that are pretty routine.
So it would reduce readmittance rates, wait times, things like that that the VA could utilize, pilot, and expand rapidly if they had those authorities.
Speaker 17
Thank you so much. In the amount of time, Mister Chairman, I yield back.
Speaker 19
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And I tell you, I always knew I liked Senator King because it turns out I was boys' state governor as well in New Jersey in 1980. Haven't gone on to become a governor, but it certainly was a very impactful time of my life that certainly has paved my way to going into elected office. Thank you, Commander Wale, for your testimony, and thank you to the American Legion in this panel for your advocacy and leadership. I wanted to take this time to shout out to my local American Legion post, which I'm a member, Slate Valentine Post in Burlington City.
Three 36. Where are you guys? I think they're here. But New Jersey folks, there you are. Happy you're here with us in the audience as well.
As a physician and veteran, I have been extremely disappointed with the VA's decision to shrink its medical workforce. We all know that in order for the VA to continue to provide quality care, it must be fully staffed. Just yesterday, the VA reported 1,500 vacancies among a physician workforce, and 4,900 vacancies, with respect to RNs, in the VA. Our veterans depend on these medical professionals. Quality care depends on a quality, fully staffed workforce.
What would you say are the biggest barriers? And particularly given your emphasis, rightly, on mental health services for veterans. And here, I wanna thank Senator King who's working with us on trying to get telehealth services on a pilot to veterans who are incarcerated. And also for his effort, and he's mentioned it here today, to lift the cap so that we can help the VA recruit more physicians into the service. But, what would you say are the biggest barriers to veterans trying to access mental health services within the VA?
Speaker 2
Thank you. I appreciate that question. And, I'm gonna ask our VA and our director Collao to address that question.
Speaker 3
Thank you, commander, and thank you, congressman. I think, obviously, outreach is a huge thing. The VA's budget for mental health and suicide prevention outreach, I think, is hovering around $600,000,000 right now, which sounds like a large number. Big portion of that is going to the Fox grant program, advertising, things like that. And that represents less than one tenth of 1% of VA's overall budget.
So outreach could definitely improve, I think, utilizing VSOs, things like the Fox Grant program, making it easier for local and state level organizations to access those funds and expand those funds, permanently authorize the program, would be very helpful.
Speaker 20
Alright. You're almost done, I think. I'm Senator Alyssa Slotkin from Michigan. I'm a former CIA officer. I did three tours in Iraq alongside the military.
And I want to associate myself with Senator Sheehy's comments, but particularly mention a piece of legislation he and I are working on, on making sure that the GI Bill gives the same benefits for a veteran choosing an apprenticeship versus going into education of some kind. Right now you get dinged every six months if you're in an apprenticeship, and your benefit just doesn't go as far. We've talked to the Legion about this. I think we're on the same page. But I just want to put a marker down that at a time when our country needs, again, so many specific career types, a lot of those career types that Senator Sheehy mentioned, especially skilled trades, are apprenticeships, and you shouldn't be dinged because you want to go into a successful career in the trades versus going to a four-year university.
So I just wanted to put that marker down. But as a part of this kind of post nine-eleven generation, I wanna raise a separate issue, and if not get an answer, get this community thinking about this. Artificial intelligence in deciding what benefits our veterans get or don't get. There's a lot of discussion about bringing artificial intelligence into the VA. I'm working on legislation right now, debating this, and there are lots of pilot programs being looked at.
What I am concerned about is that before we hardly know what's happening, we're gonna let, you know, software decide if a veteran gets a benefit or not. And I got a problem with that. And we understand that AI can do amazing things and can amalgamate data and figure out if a veteran has got all their paperwork in. But does the Legion have a thinking on this? Who's the thought leader that's trying to help our veterans' organizations think through this new hot issue that is coming to a theater near us?
Speaker 2
Thank you, senator. I appreciate your question. And let me give you an example of a recent visit I had to a regional office, and explain, in my mind, how artificial intelligence can be productive. What they do is use artificial intelligence for administrative tasks such as organizing records and putting those all together for a reviewer or rater. What should not happen and what we cannot allow to happen is for artificial as Yeah.
Artificial intelligence to substitute for judgment.
Speaker 2
Judgment has to be by a human being that can review all of the evidence and make an independent determination using everything they know. Artificial intelligence is not a replacement for that.
Speaker 20
Yeah. So, thank you. And, mister chairman, I just think this is an issue we're gonna deal with as a committee, both chairmans here and ranking members, of just how much power are we gonna give to AI to decide if a veteran gets reimbursed for something, if a veteran qualifies for something. I just think we're moving very fast, and there's some real benefits, I know. But I just a human being needs to be in the decision tree before we start making life and death decisions for veterans.
So appreciate everyone's work here, and thank you. Yield back.
Speaker 1
Senator, thank you. Representative Chicano has an additional question. I'm gonna allow him to ask, and then we're gonna turn to the senator, and then we're gonna conclude this panel. There's a vote that started in the senate, and, we'll have a change of, to our second panel during that vote. Senator?
Speaker 5
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. You know, with the New York Times article yesterday, I wanted to quickly ask a question about staffing. You know, veterans care doesn't happen without staff. And, commander, are you hearing from legionnaires about appointments being pushed out or services getting harder to access? Anecdotally, the answer is yes.
So, anecdotally, for the legionnaires here today, I just want to, by a show of hands, are you experiencing delayed care or longer wait time because of a clinic, a C. Bach didn't have enough staff? Just raise your hand by a show of hands. Alright. So a number of hands have been raised.
Thank you. I yield back.
Speaker 21
Senator? Thank you, Mr. Chairman. First of all, welcome to the many Hoosier legionnaires who are in the audience. Very proud to be your senator. I am a member of the American Legion Post 98 in my hometown, Columbia City, Indiana.
I'm very proud of it. Our veterans count on the American Legion and all of our great veteran service organizations to advocate for the very best possible health care, education, and disability benefits for our veterans every day. And I wanna thank all of you for the important work that you do. Commander Wiley, I strongly agree that veterans deserve a claims and appeals system that is simple, efficient, and worthy of their service. I appreciate the Legion's support for my Veterans Appeals Efficiency Act that I've introduced.
Can you talk about the we worked with you on it. Can you talk about the bill and why it would be helpful?
Speaker 2
Thank you, Senator Banks. And it is something that's important to us, I'm going to ask our VA and our director Cole out to specifically address that.
Speaker 3
Thank you, commander, and thank you, senator. The act you cited is a great idea. There's a lot of specific provisions in there, reporting requirements from the VA, making the process more transparent. Transparent. I know there's been concerns in the veteran community about aggregation of data.
I think there obviously, as mentioned earlier, is a high remand rate from the court. Aggregation, particularly for presumptive conditions, could be a good thing if granted. I understand we've had conversations with your office about an opt out if they choose not to, because one of the big concerns would be the veteran losing their individual POA, and that would be, you know, particularly difficult to deal with if it was an aggregated claim that got denied. There, it would just kinda clutter the system. So if we could work with your office on improving the language for the bill, just discussing some of the concerns and make it more effective if passed.
Speaker 21
I'm glad to work with you on that. Thank you for that explanation. Commander, the VA's legal authority to care for homeless veterans expired during the government shutdown last fall. We can never let that happen again. And I'm introducing legislation to make the health care for homeless veterans program permanent so that it can't shut down during a shutdown.
Can I count on the lesion support to help pass that bill? Yes. Very good. All right. Well, thank you for that.
Again, thank you for all that you do, each and every one of you in the room, and your leadership. I'm a big fan of the American Legion. I'm proud to be a member. With that, Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
Speaker 1
Senator Banks, thank you very much. National commander, thank you for you and your team's testimony. Use a moment to recognize national commander of the Sons of the American Legion. I'm a member of the Sons of the American Legion and use this as an opportunity to indicate to others like me that there's an opportunity to serve veterans and to be a part of the American Legion program. With that, we close out this panel and transition to the second panel.
Again, Commander Wiley, thank you. I'll see you in Kansas at some point in time, but thank you to your entire team of American Legion advocates and workers on behalf of our nation's veterans and their families. We'll take a brief recess to allow the American Legion panel and the audience members to depart, and our second panel organizations and members to get situated. We are pausing. Thank you.
Speaker 22
Welcome, everybody. You can take your seats. We'll get started. Welcome to our second panel of witnesses and audience members. Thanks for being here today.
In our second panel today, we have Mister Robert Thomas, national president for Paralyzed Veterans of America. Mister Paul Shipley, national commander for AMVETS. Mister Terry Prince, president of National Association of State directors of veterans affairs.
Speaker 22
You have a pretty good continuing here, Terry. Lieutenant General Walter Piatt.
Speaker 22
Piatti. There you go. Chief executive officer of Wounded Warrior Project. Thanks for being here. Miss Anita Sullivan, surviving spouse of Navy Petty Officer Third Class Michael Sullivan, testifying for the tragedy assistance program for survivors.
Major general Frank McGinn, president for National Guard Association of the United States, and mister Jim Whaley, chief executive officer for mission roll call. Thank you all again for being here and for your organization's hard work and dedication. You provide tremendous value to our committee. So we'll start now. Mister Thomas, you are recognized for five minutes, and we'll just go down the line.
Speaker 23
Chairman Rand, chairman Boston, members of the committees, thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today on behalf of tens of thousands of veterans with spinal cord injuries and disorders who rely on VA's benefits and care. The VA is the best health care provider for veterans with catastrophic disabilities. The department of spinal cord injuries and disorder system of care provides a coordinated lifelong continuum of services. There is no comparable private system of care in this community. Thus, preserving and strengthening VA's specialty care system remains VA's highest priority, and it should be for you too.
When I appeared before these committees last year, I spoke about the ways that ongoing staffing deficiencies and infrastructure problems were undermining not just VA's SUD system of care, but VA specialized services in general. Not much has changed since then, and it is frustrating to have to bring this up year after year without resolution. Unfortunately, the previous administration's practice of simply eliminating unfilled positions continues. This is extremely concerning because it presents the illusion that staffing levels are better than they really are. And I must call a file on this because at the same time positions are being eliminated, it could be difficult to fill them due to the staffing caps and funding limitations. I urge you to continue to press the VA for answers regarding how it plans to care for the tens of thousands of veterans with SCI who are on its registries and depend on the VA for quality, timely, direct care.
This cannot be allowed to continue for another year. Access to lifelong services and supports continues to be crucial for PBA's members. We are very appreciative of Congress' passage of the Senator at Elizabeth Doe Act. VA says the veterans directed care program is now available at all major facilities, but the feedback we have suggests some programs exist in name only or serve few veterans. Congress must ensure that the Elliphodox provisions are carried out as intended.
Another important aspect of lifelong support is VA's bowel and bladder program. For veterans with SCIDs, support for neurogenic bowel and bladder dysfunction is a crucial aspect of their care. Unfortunately, VA's current bowel and bladder program is fraught with challenges for caregivers. Timely reimbursement and the tax treatment of payments are the two chief complaints I hear. Quantifying the program will provide the opportunity to fix many of these problems.
I thank Chairman Moran for his bill, the Disabled Veterans Dignity Act, which would help to address these issues. We also appreciate the interest from the house introducing a similar bill that includes provisions addressing the taxability issue. Another area of concern is transportation to the VA care. We are very concerned about new VA guidance that ends facility prepayment of round-trip common carrier airfare for veterans traveling to VA SCID facilities. This change requires veterans to arrange and pay for travel upfront, and seek reimbursement after their appointments, effectively preventing many from receiving necessary care.
We appreciate that the VA is attempting to figure out a solution to this problem, and call on Congress to provide the VA any resources, including clear statutory authority to ensure veterans can access specialty care. Finally, special monthly compensation is arguably the most important ancillary benefit for veterans with severe service-connected disabilities. Given the extreme nature of the disabilities incurred by most veterans in receipt of SMC, we do not believe that the impact on the quality of life can be totally compensated. However, SMC does at least provide these veterans a final financial resource to help accommodate their individual needs. In similar fashion, survivor benefits are intended to protect veterans' families from impoverishment after the death of a service-disabled veteran.
Unfortunately, they don't always do that. And many survivors who, in many cases, were once caregivers, face a financial cliff. Congress established the baseline rates for these programs decades ago. They must be updated now. We urge Congress to quickly pass the Sherry Breenly and Eric Edmondson's Veterans Benefit Expansion Act.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify. I will be happy to answer any questions.
Speaker 22
Thank you, Mr. Thomas. I'd like everybody to pull your microphone just a little closer. You got people in the back. Make sure that you speak into it, because we're a government entity. We don't run well up here.
So, as you all well know. Mister Shipley from American Vets, you have five minutes.
Speaker 15
Chairman Bost, chairman Moran, ranking members Takano and Blumenthal, and distinguished members of the committees. On behalf of Amvets, thank you for the opportunity to present our legislative priorities, and for your continued commitment to the men and women who have served our country. Amvets represents more than 20,000,000 veterans from every era of service, including active duty, National Guard, Reserve, and those who have transitioned to civilian life. This past year marks a new chapter for our organization. After more than 80 years in the National Capital Region, we relocated our national headquarters to Washington, Pennsylvania, where we also established the Amvets Family Services Center.
This 35,000 square foot facility will serve our homeless veterans and their families. Our veterans will be able to remain with their spouses and children while they secure employment, permanent housing, and long-term stability. Through the center, we administer Department of Labor Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program grants in Salt Lake City, Utah, and Phoenix, Arizona, along with workforce programs and veterans stand downs across the nation. These efforts reflect what experience has taught us. Housing, employment, mental wellness, and family stability are interconnected.
Effective policy must reflect that reality. Mental wellness and suicide prevention remain our top legislative priority. Despite significant federal investment, suicide continues to take an unacceptable toll on the veteran community. We have seen strong evidence-driven results from community-based efforts supported by the Staff Sergeant Fox grant program, which often reach veterans for whom traditional care has not worked. As Congress considers reauthorizing the Fox grants, we urge expanding proven models and continuing to focus on measurable outcomes.
Our current approach spends billions while delivering minimal improvement in reducing symptoms and suicide. After two and a half decades following 9/11 and more than 140,000 veteran deaths, the time has come to invest in programs where outcomes are front and center. Congress and the VA must embrace a proactive, outcome-driven approach and move beyond an expensive, reactive system that is not working for the vast majority of veterans. Wellness interventions must begin earlier and be embedded throughout a service member's career. The real antidote to suicide is not slogans or billboards telling veterans to seek help.
It is ensuring that the men and women who serve are equipped with the tools to build meaningful lives and know where to turn when times become difficult. A similar forward-looking approach is needed in the treatment of traumatic brain injury. Since 2000, more than 500,000 service members have been diagnosed with TBI. Many face lasting cognitive and emotional effects that disrupt employment, relationships, and overall health. Legislation such as the BEACON Act and the Veterans TBI Adaptive Care Opportunities Nationwide Act will allow the VA to evaluate and expand innovative patient-centered therapies.
We are also thankful to Chairman Moran's leadership on the Precision Brain Health Research Act of 2024, which would help broaden our understanding of the impacts of repetitive low-level blast injuries on veterans' mental health. Veterans deserve care that evolves with science and focuses on meaningful recovery. We must also honor our commitments to the surviving families. Dependency and indemnity compensation has not kept pace with the comparable federal survivor benefits. Modernizing DIC through the Sherry Bryley and Eric Edmonson Veterans Benefit Expansion Act, the Caring for Survivors Act, and the Love Lives On Act is a matter of fairness and dignity for families who have already sacrificed so much.
Modernization with the VA is equally essential. A fully interoperable electronic health record between the Department of Defense and the VA reduces duplication, improves patient safety, and ensures continuity of care. As the rollout continues next month, sustained oversight and disciplined execution are necessary for success. Failure is not an option. Fairness also requires passage of the Major Richard Star Act.
For decades, the federal government has reduced military retirement pay simply because a service member was wounded badly enough to receive disability compensation. Compensation. This has been framed as concurrent receipt, suggesting veterans are double-dipping. They are not. Military retirement is earned through years of service.
Disability compensation addresses injuries sustained in service. When the government offsets one against the other, it is taking away retirement that was already earned. Let me be clear. It is time to stop stealing from our service members. Congress needs to immediately end this injustice and pass the Major Richard Starr Act.
Finally, Amvette supports the development of a coordinated national veteran strategy focused on measurable outcomes. This nation invests hundreds of billions of dollars each year in veteran-related programs. Those resources must be expended around clear goals, accountability, and results that improve health, employment, and quality of life. As the men and women who defend our nation are once again placed in harm's way, we depend on this body to ensure that they are cared for when they return home. Our veterans and their families deserve more than promises.
They deserve measurable progress in their health, their opportunities, and their quality of life. Thank you for your continued commitment to those who have served. I look forward to answering any questions you may have.
Speaker 13
Ranking member, Takano. Great to see you again. Visiting LaSalle last year, chairman or mister or senator Tumberville and ranking members, distinguished members of the committees. My name is Terry Prince. I'm a 31 year veteran of the United States Navy Hospital Corpsman and currently serving as the president of NASDAVA, the National Association of State Directors of Veterans Affairs.
That crowd and yellow you heard behind me is the distinguished members of 50 secretaries, directors, and commissioners that lead the states, territories, and districts of Columbia Veterans Affairs. Collectively, these veteran leaders make up the membership of NASDAQ, and together, they're the second largest provider of veteran services in our nation, second only to the federal VA. These are your government-to-government partners who've worked together since 1946 to serve veterans where they live and work. They should be your first point of contact for constituent issues and ensuring that the nation's 18,000,000 veterans and their families and survivors receive the benefits and services they've earned, in order to improve the quality of life and their overall well-being. In our testimony, we cover a lot in our written testimony.
A few of the important items. One is our state veterans homes that provide more than 50% of the total VA long-term care in 175 operational veterans homes and 30,000 beds. We recommend $600,000,000 to provide priority group one construction projects, where the overall cost to fund all of the necessary need to build and maintain our veterans homes is nearly $1,300,000,000. On a separate note, the state veterans' homes are having to pay for high-cost medications for veterans in their care. This needs to be addressed by passing HR 1970 so that VA reimburses our state veterans homes for medications that exceed eight and a half percent of the per diem rate, which is what the VA pays to private nursing homes that are contracted by VA to provide health care.
The other grant program is the National Cemetery Administration's Veterans Cemetery grant program. 124 cemeteries across 47 states. The far number exceeds the amount of funding to the establishment just to cover priority one and two for establishment and maintenance on cemeteries is in the neighborhood of $220,000,000, and NASDAQ recommends addressing at least these groups for FY '27. It was mentioned earlier about VA health care, and for the 9,000,000 veterans receiving care, we also recommend they continue to emphasize enrollment, better access, and quality care at the VA regardless of gender and whether it's provided by the VA or community care programs, which accounts for nearly 40% of that care and is in all essence VA care. On to health records.
We support the need for congressional oversight to ensure that the VA modernizes the electronic health record. It's currently cost nearly 16,000,000,000, with a projection of over 40,000,000,000, with full deployment not expected until 2031. The American Legion mentioned tap class. As a military service member, I'm very familiar with this process, and I can tell you that every service member describes it in a different way. What I do know is a corpsman and married to a psychologist that transitioned from anything in life, especially the military, is one of the most dangerous periods in a service member's history, especially towards suicide and other things.
Our state directors need to be a part of the TAP program and need to be brought in early and often to ensure that these veterans are connected with their state benefits. The major Richard Starr act, it's time. This is a wounded veterans' tax. Nasdaq strongly recommends that this Congress pass this critical legislation for these deserving disabled veterans. Veteran homelessness, we commend what the VA is doing.
However, we would like them to expand eligibility to any veteran who's homeless, at risk of homelessness, or receiving assistance through another housing program. And I'm gonna close out my testimony with the number one issue that hits home to me and everybody in this room: suicide. Every eleven minutes in America, a family loses a loved one to suicide, and NASDABA believes that the prevention of veteran suicides requires a whole-of-government engagement with fresh ideas and approaches. Your state directors in veterans affairs play a crucial role in suicide prevention by connecting veterans to their earned benefits back home, where they live, working with their state and human services and the governor's challenge. We also recommend new treatment modalities to eliminate pharmacological intervention and other issues that do not allow veterans to explore nontraditional methodologies.
Your partnership with NASDAQ is important to our veterans, as it is to us. It's a promise kept to those who once stood watch for all of us, and together we can ensure that their service is honored, not just in words, but in action through strong policy, sustainable funding, and unwavering commitment. All of us sincerely respect and appreciate your work to improve the well-being of our nation's veterans, and we're honored to be part of that noble mission with you. Thank you.
Speaker 22
Thank you, Mr. Prince. Next, we have General Piatt from Wounded Warrior.
Speaker 24
Yes, sir. Chairman Moran, chairman Bost, ranking member Blumenthal, and ranking member Tucano, and distinguished members of the House and Senate committees on veterans affairs. Thank you all for today's hearing and for the honor to join you on behalf of the Wounded Warrior Project and the warriors and families we serve. First, all of us at Wounded Warrior Project are deeply saddened by the recent loss of service members, and we stand ready to serve all those impacted by the current military operations. As 23 years ago, Wounded Warrior Project was founded on a promise, a promise to be there no matter what for those who defend our freedom.
It is that same promise that grounds the work we do today. Our nation's military remains engaged globally, fighting to keep the world and our nation safe. We should never allow the strategic purpose for war to mask the toll it takes on those asked to fight it. For the dangers our military has asked to face, we cannot accept the warrior simply coming back as the final tally of a successful transition out of military service. We must see them fully, home, mind, body, and soul.
This is not captured in one moment in time, but through a process of hope, healing, and reconnection to a life of renewed purpose. Last week, 125 of our warriors visited many of you, members of Congress. They were honored to tell you their stories and share the living, breathing impact of why your support matters. We discussed three priorities with you. The first, a passionate plea to do right by our past, current, and future combat veterans by passing the Major Richard Starr Act this year.
Finally, allowing for those who were forced to medically retire due to combat-related injuries to receive the benefits they earned in blood. Second, on ending veteran suicide. In 2023, we lost more than 6,000 veterans to suicide. We must explore advanced treatments for those who are suffering. The time is now to push forward evidence-based solutions like psychedelic-assisted therapies for PTSD, traumatic brain injury, and substance use disorder.
We must explore all alternative treatments, coordinate research, expand access to clinical trials, and ultimately make these treatments accessible to all veterans. Third, ending veteran homelessness. VA and supportive communities are making historic progress, with nearly 52,000 veterans moving into permanent housing last year. Let's finish the Housing and Unhoused Disabled Veterans Act to ensure no veterans' disability compensation is counted against them. Your time spent with these warriors last week and your genuine appreciation for their service touched them deeply, and reminded them that their sacrifice is a big reason why our nation remains free.
With the continued support of Congress and that of our grateful nation, Wounded Warrior Project will continue to push the boundaries of what is possible as we pursue the path to save a million more lives, cure PTSD, end veteran suicide, and end veteran homelessness. Warriors are the foundation of our freedom. They have done and continue to do their part. It is now time to do ours. We must keep the promise and find every warrior everywhere and bring them home, mind, body, and soul.
I am honored to be of service to this distinguished committee and for the opportunity to testify. Thank you for helping our nation keep the promise to our veterans, and I welcome your questions.
Speaker 25
Chairman Marian and Bost, ranking members Blumenthal and Tuscano, and distinguished committee members. Thank you for the opportunity to share my family's story. Seven years ago, on 02/09/2019, I became a widow, a title no one pursues. My husband, the father of our three children, Navy Petty Officer Third Class Michael Sullivan, died by suicide after faithful service to our nation, and decades of physical and mental health battles that plagued him during and after his time in the Navy. Much has changed in the seven years since he passed, but one thing has not.
I am and always will be his widow. No passage of time will change that, not my 50th birthday or becoming someone else's wife. I met Michael in 1999 while he was stationed in Jacksonville, Florida. He was funny and captivating, and we married quickly. But soon he became seriously ill.
He was diagnosed with cyclic vomiting syndrome, which landed him in the hospital every six weeks, like clockwork. When he returned from his last deployment in June 2003, we welcomed our first child. His physical health had impacted his career and his mental health, and by July he officially separated from the Navy. His health worsened, and over the next 16 years he was hospitalized approximately 35 times. I became the primary breadwinner while caring for our three children and being Michael's caregiver.
I couldn't leave his side during those hospital stays because he wouldn't know where he was, would often rip out IVs, and even try to leave the hospital. On his good days, he coached our kids' baseball teams, volunteered his time to youth activities, and was involved in our church. But on his bad days, he truly suffered, and so did we. His suicide in 2019 ended his physical and mental health battles, but it was just the beginning of new challenges for our grieving, traumatized family. I was at a TAP seminar when I learned that Michael's suicide was deemed service-connected.
After going for Michael's 100% VA disability compensation to zero overnight when he died, we would only have 43% reinstated. Our eight-month process was fast by VA standards. The wait for DIC is financially devastating for many survivors, and the month-to-month stress continues for families, mine included. Raising DIC from 43 percent to 55 percent may seem insignificant to some, but for surviving spouses like me who struggled to maintain a career because it always came second to military service and caregiving, it makes a meaningful difference. Passing the Caring for Survivors Act would provide long overdue breathing room and ease financial pressures.
Surviving families face drastically reduced income, the lasting impact of career limitations, ongoing therapy costs, and the full responsibility of providing opportunities for our children in single-parent households. As the only living parent of our now 11, 16, and 22-year-old, Championier health benefits are critical to our family stability. Under current law, my oldest son will age out of Championier in just a few months, despite being a full-time college student. Unlike most other health insurance programs, Champ VA does not extend to age 26. Seven years after Michael's passing, I am still his widow, and we are still dependent on the benefits he earned to support our family.
After a three-year and counting engagement, I'm still waiting to marry a man that I love who will never replace him as a husband or father but cares deeply for the four of us. My youngest child, Sofia, was just four when her daddy died. She's growing up without a legal father in her life, which can be confusing for her and her friends as she goes around and is sharing so much of her life with him, but knows that if love lives on, does not pass, she will be almost an adult before she can officially call him her stepdad. John is sitting beside her today, here supporting us both as we advocate for benefits that were earned through service and sacrifice, benefits that dissolve under the current law if I remarry before age 55. Marrying John does not mean that we should become his financial responsibility.
He's already doing so much, bringing happiness back into our lives, but I will not become his financial burden. When my late husband joined the military, our country made a promise to support his family if anything happened to him. There were no restrictions attached to that commitment. My family's story is one of many. I hope that my voice is loud enough to bring attention to long overdue legislative changes, like finally ending remarriage penalties, treating suicide as a presumptive condition, increasing DIC, and bringing CHAMPVA in line with civilian insurance.
Thank you for the opportunity to share my story today.
Speaker 22
Thank you. Next, we have General McGlenn of the National Guard Association.
Speaker 18
Chairman Moran, ranking member Blumenthal. Chairman Bose, ranking member Tucano. Senator Tupavill, and distinguished members of the committees. On behalf of the National Guard Association of the United States and the 435,000 soldiers and airmen of the Army and the National Guard, thank you for the opportunity to discuss some important issues affecting today's National Guard. We appreciate your bipartisan support and recognition of the Guard's vital role in our national security.
Over the past two decades, the National Guard has evolved from a strategic reserve into an operational force. Guard members deploy globally, strengthen alliances through the state partnership program, and provide key capabilities to the total force at less than 4% of the defense budget. At home, they remain the nation's first military responder, supporting disaster response, protecting critical infrastructure, and assisting civilian authorities. As missions have expanded, policies have not kept pace. Today, I'll focus on three priorities: duty status reform, GI bill parity, and the development of a reserve component specific track within the transition assistance program.
First, duty status reform. As of this week, more than 40,000 guardsmen are on orders serving at home and abroad. They frequently operate alongside active component forces under identical conditions. Yet, while their service is equal, compensation and benefits are not. The current system of over 30 duty statuses was created piecemeal over the decades.
In fact, six additional statuses were created between 1999 and 2013. It's overly complex, confusing for service members, and difficult for states to administer. In the FY '16 NDAA, Congress directed that the Department of Defense submit a duty status reform legislative proposal. While studies and discussions have continued over the years, legislative proposals have not yet advanced. We're grateful to finally have some momentum this year.
With bicameral and bipartisan support of the duty status reform act, this bill aligns authorities with how garden reserves are employed today and ensures fair treatment when members are mobilized. The new framework provides equities and paying benefits, efficiency in programming and budgeting, and streamlined accessibility to the garden reserves. Duty status reform is our top priority for FY '27. We strongly ask for your support of HR 6976 and introduction of a Senate companion bill. Next point I wanna discuss is GI Bill parity.
The post-9/11 GI Bill remains one of the most powerful recruitment and retention tools. It provides those who serve with access to education and the opportunity to build a successful future. However, many periods of garden reserve service still do not qualify for GI Bill benefits. Title 32, including annual training and drill weekends, is left out, which falsely implies lesser value. Each day in uniform should count as a day of service to our country.
The benefits earned should reflect that sacrifice. The GI Bill parity act corrects and equity. We thank Jim and Moran, Recommendment Plumbentau, Congressman Tucano, Levin, and Kelly for leading on this issue and request swift passage of S 649 in HR 1423. The third and last issue I wanna address is the Reserve Component Transition Assistance Program track. The transition assistance program is critical to preparing service members for civilian life.
However, most guard members return to their civilian employment and normal routine. This presents unique challenges not fully addressed in the traditional TAP model. Guardsmen receive limited counseling tailored to retirement points, TRICARE coverage, GI Bill benefits, and the VA claims process. Transition assistance without these topics is a misuse of time and resources. We are grateful for your support on this issue.
The FY25 NDA directed development of reserve component specific track. Continued oversight is necessary to ensure that this tailored is tailored to the reserve, and not simply a modified active model. We respectfully request updates on this implementation, and stand ready to assist. In closing, thank you for your continued leadership and commitment to those who serve. These are not abstract policy concepts.
They are tangible issues that affect readiness, retention, and the long-term well-being of the National Guard members and veterans. The National Guard stands ready to meet the nation's needs. In return, our service members ask only for fairness, clarity, and recognition of their service. We look forward to working with you to address these issues and ensure the National Guard service is treated with the equity and respect it deserves. Thank you for the opportunity to testify today, and I welcome your questions.
Speaker 5
Thank you, Major General, again. Mister Whaley, you are now recognized for 5 minutes.
Speaker 26
Chairman Bost, Moran, ranking members Tacano and Bloomathon, distinguished members of both committees. Thank you for the opportunity to testify today. Mission Roll Call represents veterans by doing one thing consistently: listening. We survey veterans, their families, and caregivers nationwide, and we bring that data directly to policymakers, so decisions are grounded in lived experiences. Our 2026 priorities come straight from those surveys.
Veterans told us 4 issues should guide the work ahead. Access to quality health care, support for service-connected injuries, suicide prevention, and housing stability. For veterans, these priorities are connected. When access falters, injuries worsen. When injuries go untreated, mental health risks increase.
Without stable housing, even effective care becomes difficult to sustain. First, access to quality health care, both VA and non-VA. Veterans define access by timing, distance, and follow-through. In May 2025, Mission Roll Call surveyed more than 1,200 respondents in all 50 states on the Access Act. 67% said the legislation would improve health care outcomes overall.
Among rural veterans, 71 percent said it would improve timely access. Mental health access is central to this discussion. Sixty percent of veterans told us they are comfortable receiving mental health care from a non-VA provider. 79% said following that allowing veterans to access mental health or substance use care in the community without a VA referral would improve access. Veterans are not voting against the VA.
In fact, many we speak to report very positive experiences, but they are asking for options that reduce delays, shorten travel burdens, and help them get care before a problem becomes a crisis. Second, support for service-connected injuries and conditions, including traumatic brain injury. In our 2025 TBI survey to more than 2,500 veterans, family members, and caregivers, 14 percent reported a TBI diagnosis in their household. Among those seeking TBI-related care, more than 70 percent said accessing appropriate treatment is somewhat or very difficult. Distance, wait times, and fragmented care remain consistent barriers.
Mild or moderate TBI is where we see the greatest gap. Symptoms persist, but care pathways are often unclear, and coordination between VA and non-VA providers remains inconsistent. This is the space the BEACON Act seeks to address. The legislation creates a structured evidence-based framework to evaluate innovative approaches for veterans with chronic mild to moderate TBI, with rigorous outcome measurement and independent evaluation. Veterans are not asking for lower standards.
They're asking the VA to test promising therapies responsibly, publish results transparently, and expand access when evidence supports it. This urgency is reinforced by the VA's 2025 suicide report, which shows that suicide rates among VHA users with a TBI diagnosis was nearly 94 percent higher than those without a TBI. Early intervention in TBI care is not separate from suicide prevention. It is part of it. Third, veterans tell us the current trajectory of veteran suicide is unacceptable.
In July 2025, Mission Roll Call surveyed over 2,200 veterans, family members, and caregivers nationwide. Sixty-seven percent of veteran respondents said they have struggled with suicidal thoughts or mental health challenges themselves or know someone who has. Nearly one third describe access to mental health care as difficult or very difficult. Veterans also told us the barriers are not only clinical. They pointed to isolation, stigma, and loss of purpose as early warning signs.
We have come to describe this as working left of clinical, not instead of care, but before crisis, early engagement, more on-ramps to stability, fewer veterans reaching a breaking point before help arrives. Fourth, and lastly, housing stability. Housing is foundational. Without stability at home, treatment adherence, employment, recovery, and family life suffer. Veterans consistently rank housing access and homelessness prevention among their top priorities, because instability magnifies every other challenge.
Across all our surveys, veterans are asking Congress to do a few consistent things. Expand access where delays persist, strengthen community care pathways, treat TBI in chronic conditions as long-horizon rehabilitation challenges, invest in early suicide prevention strategies, and protect housing stability as a core element of veteran wellness. None of these priorities replace the VA. They strengthen it by recognizing that veteran wellness is built upstream, long before prescription drugs, an emergency room, or an inpatient bed is involved. Veterans are speaking clearly.
We are listening. Mission roll call is here to ensure those voices remain central to the work of both of these committees. Thank you. I look forward to any questions.
Speaker 5
Thank you, Mr. Whaley. I will now recognize the former Boise State governor of Virginia and former governor of Maine, Senator Angus King, for questions.
Speaker 6
That refers to the prior hearing. Sorry about that. General Piet, one of the provisions that I've been pushing is preregistering for VA health care before you leave active duty. It's called the Service Member and Veteran Health Care Connection Act. Is this something the Wounded Warrior Project is interested in?
Speaker 24
Thank you, senator. We are extremely interested in this. I think if we get transition early, we're doing a lot of work ourselves registering members of the Wounded Warrior Project while on active duty. We feel if they're registered before they transition, the higher success rate we will have during transition. So we appreciate this, Bill.
We fully support.
Speaker 6
I appreciate that. And, my position on transition is very simple. The government should spend as much money on transition out as they do on recruiting in. Because right now, I think transition, although it's been improved in the last several years, I don't think people realize what a dramatic moment that is in a veteran's life. And suicide rates are higher among people in the first two or three years.
Mister Royle, I very much appreciate your comments on TBI. We had a tragic case in Maine, as you may know, several years ago that involved TBI. And, I think that's something we have to focus on. Something I've been looking at is a bill that would have the VA provide free lockboxes for firearms. No lists.
This isn't a gun control bill. No names are taken. But the data shows that if there's any gap between the idea and carrying out a suicide, that can help. And 75 percent of veteran suicides take place by firearms. Is that safe storage something that you could support at mission?
Speaker 26
Senator, yes, it is. I think all of us on this panel are concerned about the continuing rise of suicide and our inability to really bring those numbers down. So any effort to reduce those numbers is something all of our members, and all veterans and their families, can get behind.
Speaker 6
Thank you. Mister Prince, we passed a provision in the defense bill last year that will increase the number of people who are leaving the service whose contact information is shared with your representatives across the country at the state veterans offices. It used to be you had to opt in your paperwork. Now you have to opt out, and we expect that will significantly increase the people whose contact information is made available. I hope that your organization and your members are getting ready for what I suspect will be a very large number of contacts so that the purpose of this law, which is to have people met at the airport, to advise them of their rights and what options are available to them.
I don't want those names coming to your offices and sitting in a file somewhere. I hope you'll work with the VSOs to develop a system whereby veterans emerging from service will be able to you'll reach out to them, not wait for them to reach out to you.
Speaker 13
Thank you, senator, for that, very much appreciated. Our membership is receiving additional information. We're getting the VA to work even closer with the Department of War, because the sooner we can get in, even while they're on active duty. And as a former master chief, it was my intention to get to sailors a year or two before they got out of the military, start the conversation then, and connect them with service. So you can absolutely count on NASDAQ to be a player in that and making sure that we're at the front of the line when it comes to getting that information into the hands of our VSOs and our local communities.
Speaker 6
Thank you very much. Thank you all for the work that you're doing on behalf of our veterans. It's and one final comment. It's about damn time we passed the Richard STAR Act.
Speaker 5
Thank you, Senator King. I will now take questions. General Piat, you know, what is the urgency on and why congress should pass the major Richard STAR Act now?
Speaker 24
Because these young warriors have been asked to go to war to defend the freedom of this country. And in the course of that, they were wounded, and they spilled blood in foreign countries. The reason we're free is because they serve. Most of them, sadly, are young men and women that are serving, not even close to retirement years. So they have to accept the end of the life they thought they were gonna have, and embrace a whole different life they didn't think was possible.
And we cannot punish them for their sacrifice on the combat fields.
Speaker 5
That's a I wholeheartedly agree with you, and I'm very moved by your answer. And it needs to happen as soon as possible. It needs to happen this congress, and this congress and its leaders need to be held accountable for getting it done. Now, do you agree that this is also about fairness? That ending a wounded veterans taxed, and that congress should not pay for it by reducing other earned benefits.
Speaker 5
What about that we shouldn't be asking other veterans to pay for it by reducing their veteran benefits.
Speaker 24
I think all veterans deserve the benefits they earned in the course of their service.
Speaker 5
And so you would agree with me that the American people and this Congress, that it's part of our obligation to take care of the veterans, not to shift, ask one veterans group to pay for another veterans group's benefits.
Speaker 24
We appreciate the service, our support of this committee, and getting veterans all their benefits they deserve. Thank you.
Speaker 5
Thank you. Miss Sullivan, there's been a lot of discussion over the past several months on disability indemnity compensation. And I read the moving testimony from survivors such as yourself in TAP's written statement about the impact, a full DSA benefits increase would have on their lives. Can you give us a quick snapshot of the reason why Congress needs to do this full increase and why it needs to happen now?
Speaker 25
Yes. Thank you for the question. So our military and veteran survivors currently only receive 43% of what a 100% disabled veteran receives. Other federal survivors currently receive that 55%. So, we're asking for parity.
That's simply bringing us in line with all other federal programs to bring it from 43 to 55%, or an additional $454 per month. So, our base rate currently, the actual number is 1,699.36. And for most of our survivors, myself included, that is the only surviving benefit we receive. So, that increase could have a very large impact on our families. And for some of us, it's the difference in providing for families in ways that can include keeping their homes, being able to really do what's necessary to raise grieving children, and to do just critical care for their families.
So, this is something that ultimately we believe is fulfilling a commitment to saying that our sacrifice and our loved ones' service is just as important as other federal benefits, federal employees'.
Speaker 5
Agree with you, and the wait's been long enough, and it is urgent we get it done now. Thank you. I wanna now recognize Mister McGarvey for his three minutes of questioning.
Speaker 17
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you all for your service, for your continued service here today. And, look, I wanna echo something that senator King said earlier. Right now, we have an administration who is coming to us asking for billions of dollars to send people into war again, but are unwilling to find the money to take care of those who served in those wars prior to this. The money for the major Richard Starr act, the money for widows and widowers.
Miss Sullivan, thank you so much for your courage and your testimony, who have sacrificed and served. These are benefits they have earned, they have deserved. We'll keep fighting for them. I wanna switch gears a little bit, Mr. Thomas, and come to you. Talk about your testimony.
We were talking about how the VA doesn't have enough staff in the spinal cord injury and disorder system of care. That many of the buildings are old, that they're not designed for the care of our veterans that they need right now, and that more than a third of the jobs in these units are unfilled. That means that beds are staying empty, even though veterans are waiting for them currently. It's our veterans who feel this neglect every day. So what should our VA medical centers be doing right now to fill these critical spinal cord injury and disorder positions, and keep beds open for the veterans who depend on them?
Speaker 23
Well, the VA should prioritize the hiring for the VA, the SCI system of care, as well as the other specialty care system within the VA. Yeah. Currently, there's no other system out in the community that can take care of the unique needs that you have when you have a spinal cord injury. So they should prioritize hiring that. And, also, they should, for the infrastructure, prioritize some of the projects within the SCID system of care to ensure that they have the most modern equipment to take care of us with our unique needs.
Speaker 17
Yeah. I totally agree. And, of course, part of the reason we need to do this is this is both a legal and a moral promise we have made to our veterans. We said if you come in and you serve us and are willing to sacrifice everything for us, we will take care of you. And I think we are falling short of that with this issue.
You also described facilities that are decades old, with outdated layouts, with long construction delays. Where do you think Congress needs to focus first to modernize spinal cord injury and disorder facilities so that veterans are receiving care in safe, accessible, and up-to-date spaces?
Speaker 23
So, currently, there's only one long-term care center, you know, west of the Mississippi. And long term care as we all age, and we need to have these long term care facilities because, again, in the community, there are no nursing homes that could take care of us.
Speaker 17
Thank you. That is very helpful. My very quickly, in my remaining time, general, I just wanna talk to you. Thank you for highlighting the struggles of mental health that our veterans are still experiencing, particularly post 9/11. Quickly, where should we focus first if we want veterans to have timely access to effective mental health treatments through the VA, not just in the private sector?
Speaker 24
First, I would say residential rehabilitation treatment programs. We need more beds. We need more states to have them. And second, I would say, pursue alternative medication. Do the research.
Get the trials going. We're seeing real promise here. Warriors should not have to travel to other countries to get the treatment that they think works. They should get it here. We're the best country in the world for medical care.
That's right where I start.
Speaker 17
Thank you so much. I agree with you on that. General, I appreciate you bringing it up. Mr. Chairman, yield back.
Speaker 5
Thank you, Mrs. McGarvey. Now I recognize the Doctor. Morrison for questions.
Speaker 27
Thank you, ranking member Takano, and thanks to Chairman Moran, Chairman Bost, and ranking member Blumenthal for convening our hearing today. Thank you so much to all the witnesses, for being here today, and the work that you all do every day, advocating on behalf of fellow veterans and service members. Special shout out to any Minnesotans in the crowd today. Come on, y'all. You out there?
Well, met with some of them earlier, it was a pleasure to see them here in Washington, advocating on behalf of their fellow vets. General Piatt, my team has been working with yours back in Minnesota to partner on supporting our women veterans, and we've been very impressed by all the work that you're doing. As you know, women are our fastest growing group of veterans, and as an OBGYN myself, it's important to me that women veterans can receive top-quality menopause and infertility care. In your view, where can Congress act to ensure that VA is equipped to meet the needs of a growing women veteran population in 2026 and beyond?
Speaker 24
Thank you for the question and your help with our work there. First, I would say women veterans are veterans, and our country needs to recognize that. Munitions don't discriminate by gender. They need the same care, but their medical care is gender-specific. We need to meet them where they are.
Allow them to choose the provider of their choice. Allow them the care they need where they want it. If it's at home, if it's via telemed. Meet the needs. Don't just consider their needs the same as their counterpart male veterans, because they're very different, and we support going forward, more work on the menopause act.
We think that is the right way to go because the course of their service, their medical challenges will be different later in life, and we need to get the research net now so we can provide them the support they need later on in life.
Speaker 27
Thank you, General. I appreciate that answer. Ms. Sullivan, thank you so much for being here today. I just want to take a moment to recognize the immense sacrifice you, Sofia, and the rest of your family have made.
And I just want to share my admiration for your advocacy on behalf of survivors everywhere. And I'm excited for your future as well. It's such an injustice to me that surviving spouses risk losing their benefits if they choose to remarry before the age of 55. And that's why we need to pass the Love Lives On Act. Ms.
Sullivan, can you share a little bit more about what it would mean to you to eliminate the remarriage penalty for surviving spouses?
Speaker 25
Thank you so much for your support and the question. At its most basic tenet, to myself and to others here with us, it would mean that the government is keeping its promise. It would mean that it's keeping its promise to myself and to Michael, and to our children, that if something were to happen to him as a result of his service, we would be taken care of. We did not expect that there would be some limitation on that. We did not expect that in the indemnity portion of that there would be an end to that simply because of a decision to not replace him.
That could never happen, not as a spouse and not as a father. But to choose to also carry on with our life and our love, that could end, and could end some things that are very critical to our family. And so it would mean that we no longer have to choose between doing what feels very right for myself and John or for our families and financial security. And in the end, it would mean that we would marry fairly soon after it passes, and that we would really, truly celebrate that love lives on.
Speaker 27
Thank you, Miss Sullivan. And thanks to all of you for your ongoing service.
Speaker 28
Thank you, chairman. And, general, I was rude. I walked in, you were talking a little bit about the veterans being penalized when it comes to their VAASH vouchers because of the disability. Is that correct?
Speaker 24
Yes. It's one of the on housing the unhoused veterans act. We support it so they won't be disadvantaged by their disability compensation.
Speaker 28
That's great. So in the Road to Housing Act, I authored a portion of the bill which is gonna permanently exclude veterans disability compensation from the annual income calculations under HUD VASH programs. So that way, we veterans won't have to make this decision going forward. So it is in the bill. It was actually moving through the Senate.
We just need some friends in the house side, Mhmm. To make it. But just to assure you that we have thought about this, it is in that bill, and I've kept it in both times, that it's gone over the side. So we are definitely looking into that, actually, and are trying to fix it. Hopefully, we'll have it fixed by next week or so.
So I just wanna make sure we have some progress on that. Obviously, it's not everything we need, but it's definitely moving in the right direction. Mister Wiley, you also mentioned the American League of Support for expanding innovative therapies for veterans' good use of MDMA for the treatment of PTSD. As you may know, I'm working to introduce the innovative therapy centers of excellence in the Senate. I wanna continue to push it to get this important logic across the finish line.
Mister Roy, can you please discuss the current use of innovative therapies like MDMA at VA and why centers of excellence are important to ensure veterans have access to these therapies, which have proven success at reducing PTSD symptoms.
Speaker 28
Mr. Wiley. Okay. You know what? And I have, I'm sorry. I'm star I need to get some readers pretty soon.
Whaley, I apologize.
Speaker 26
Yes. No work. No worries. We support that because we know right now that the number of TBIs across the nation, but certainly among veterans, is much higher than we think. We don't have the ability right now to treat all those TBIs.
The TBI issue affects not only that service member but the family as well. We have a number of children in our country that are primary caregivers to veterans because their mother or father needs that service. We need to make sure that we're partnering with the very best in the civilian world. Yep. Hospitals that are doing cutting-edge research when it comes to TPIs.
Speaker 28
That's the way I don't want to interrupt to be rude, I just want to make sure we get we communicate that. There are some veterans that are actually getting MDMA therapy, but it's not necessarily guided, some that's overseas. Right. Some, they're paying out of pocket. Is that correct?
Speaker 26
It is correct. And, of course, I agree with General Paya that is unfortunate and should not be happening in a country such as ours. And we should know that these issues have long lasting effects, and we need to make sure they get the health care when and how they need it. And we need to explore different ways to solve TBI or mitigate it using a variety of methods.
Speaker 28
And, mister, general, could you do you want to jump in on just kind of my thought? One of my concerns is that whoever gets good MDA therapy now, it's basically connected to how much money you have if you get to one of those really good programs. I know there are a couple programs in Mexico. There are some actually, in Europe that some veterans that have the wherewithal or can bundle the money from donors are able to do. But then there's also some veterans, unfortunately, that I know personally who are so desperate that they're using any type of program that they hear is good.
Of course, when you have desperation, you have potential fraudsters, peddlers, and people who will try to take advantage of these men. So by having some kind of regularized, VA approved therapies, we could potentially both be saving these guys money and potentially some from some damage they may incur. Correct?
Speaker 24
Absolutely correct. We've done initial research on our Warrior Care Network already on MDMA use with evidence-based other therapies and seen great results. We're going to help with trials next year, and I think the more we do that in this country, the it'll be done correctly. We'll be able to follow the science. The treatment may not be for everybody, but it is showing that it's working for some, and we should not send them, you know, to a different country where we don't know and where it's not regulated.
But we're seeing great promise here, and we fully support the Centers of Excellence Act, because I think that will help the VA tie all that science together and promote more, quicker trials so we can get more in. Our numbers that signed up for initial trials that we advertised far exceed the numbers that we'll be able to do. There is a big appetite there for it. I think the Centers of Excellence will help tremendously. Thank you.
Speaker 28
Thank you, Mr. Jared. I really hope that we can push this. I know this is more of an issue of a cultural resistance to actually using this versus an actual medical resistance. And, you know, with proper training, therapy, licensing. There are so many veterans that could actually benefit from this.
I think people have to get over the ickiness of the idea, that this is, you know, MDMA or other types of therapies. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Speaker 5
Well, thank you, senator. I'm aware that there were some trials done at Loma Linda, which is near me. I haven't checked into where VA is recently. I will have to also say, regarding this whole area of TBI and traumatic brain injury and PTSD, I was with some neurologists recently. I'm concerned about the state of VA research, the number of researchers, and research positions that have been left vacant.
And that's a topic I want to explore further, because it also bears on the research capacity of VA to be able to move this forward. But thank you. I share your concerns. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I now recognize myself for some more questions before we conclude. General McGinn, I saw your testimony on duty status reform, and I will be following the Armed Services Committee's progress closely as that greatly impacts VA benefits for our reserve component service members. I'd like to focus on one benefit specifically, and that's the post-9/11 GI Bill eligibility. National Guard and Reserve Service members are serving in the same uniform, taking the same risks as their active duty counterparts, yet not getting the same GI Bill eligibility. Three out of the four chairs and ranking members on the Veterans Affairs Committee are lead cosponsors or lead sponsors or cosponsors of the Guard and Reserve GI Bill Parity Act, which would fix this inequity.
As we are watching our country enter another overseas conflict, how imperative is it that Congress get this bill done?
Speaker 18
Yes. Thank you for the question. It's imperative. We've been working this issue for years and years, and congress has been great. The GI bill, really, was initiated years ago from congress.
But, again, it's an inequity. If you're flying a 60 Blackhawk helicopter during your weekend drill or your two weeks of annual training, how is that different service than flying it off an active-duty base? It's the same service. It's the same risk. And we think a day in uniform, regardless of what your status is, should be a day that counts towards post nine eleven GI bill and other, early retirement as well, early retirement credit.
So we think it's imperative that this finally gets passed. And we appreciate what congress has done thus far, but, we think it's time to take it to that next level. And if they're serving in whatever status they're in other than state active duty, that time should count.
Speaker 5
Well, major general, here's my point. As National Guard and Reserve's service members are on the front lines and under threat right now, that's what I'm hearing. And so that's my point, that there's an urgency now to deal with this inequity, because we have garden reserve right now. It's not the garden reserve that we knew back in the Vietnam War days. Right?
They've sometimes been called up for service and deployed many times. It was not a safe haven. And I think Americans understand that, and we need to make sure we update how we administer the GI bill accordingly. Would you agree with that?
Speaker 18
Completely agree. I enlisted 1981, I've had a front row seat of the transition of the government reserves from the one weekend a month and the two weeks in the summer to where we are today. We've got, as you know, guardsmen and women who have done multiple deployments. They're coming on and off active duty a lot. That's why the whole TAP issue is a concern too.
My colleague here with me today has been through the TAP process, I think, 4 times. And she just comes off duty, comes back to her regular job, but she has to do twelve hours of this mandatory training. And I just got an email from Jabaddi or somewhere in Africa of a service member over there having to put his whole unit, brigade size unit, through that program. And none of it is really relevant to what they're gonna experience when they come back from active duty. So we really gotta get these benefits, rightly aligned.
And, to your point, this is the time to do it. We were as I mentioned, 40,000 of us are deployed today somewhere, either in the homeland or overseas. So it's time to make equities in those benefits.
Speaker 5
Well, I hope you and the other VSOs and veterans themselves will hold the chairs, ranking members, congressional leadership accountable to getting this legislation passed and signed into law without delay. And, of course, we wish Godspeed to all of our service members abroad. Commander Shipley, this will be my final question for the day, and we'll kind of bring this to a close. Your Commander Shipley, you're over here. Your written testimony highlighted the need to equalize the disability indemnity compensation rate with that of other federal survivor programs, taking it from the current 43% to 55%, a monthly increase of $450.
I am a cosponsor of Representative Hayes' bill, Caring for Survivors Act, which would do just that. We've even offered it as an amendment to a bill last month, that would only increase the DIC rate by 24. Unfortunately, our majority rejected the full increase. From my direct interactions with my constituents and nationwide polling, I believe that the American people are willing to pay for the full increase and are willing to do it without taxing other veterans. In other words, without creating a pay for that, we diminish the benefits of other veterans.
I'm strongly opposed to doing that. Do you think that the American people are willing to pay for or would ask their members of Congress to pay for the full DIC increase and live up to the promises made to our service members and veterans?
Speaker 15
Thank you for this question. I absolutely believe that the American public would support this. It's bringing the fairness of the promise that is made to the service members to take care of our families, no matter what, especially those that have made the ultimate sacrifice for this nation.
Speaker 5
I agree with you. I agree with you 100%. I think we ought to apply that in this policy space in order to make sure that we resolve the inequities. And here we're talking about the survivors of veterans being paid less for their survivor benefits than those that are survivors of federal employees. And that gap simply doesn't make sense when you kind of explain it to the American people.
It's kinda complicated to listen to this percent versus this percent. But we need to take care of that inequity, and I believe that we need to do it without asking other veterans. Who will, in many cases, say we want to help other veterans? But here's my point about that. We shouldn't be asking veterans to do it.
We as members of Congress should take it upon ourselves to make sure that we find a way to take care of these inequities and veterans' benefits. And with that, I will just say before we gavel out of this hearing today, I wanna thank our second panel for everything, our second group of panelists for everything that you do in every each and every day to support not only the members of your individual organizations, but all veterans and their families. Your work and your advocacy do matter, and we thank you for that advocacy. And with that, this hearing is adjourned.
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