Will call this hearing to order. Will be waiting for senator hatch and will make an introduction. I want to welcome the nominees, i want to thank you for your willingness to serve thisssector country. Coming from the private sector myself and this is absolutely true, ive been very impressedhe with the quality of individuals that work for the federal government. This is nomination process is not easy, as youre well aware, but the fact that you have so many people who will step up to this plate and subject themselves to this process you can make a lot more in the private sector so this shows your dedication. In your Opening Statements, will introduce your families, i want to welcome all of them and ill leave it to you, just dont forget to introduce your family members. For my Opening Statement all i want to do is read the description of the jobs that youll be filling. And out. Ill turn it over to my Ranking Member, senator mccaskill and then senator hatch will be here to make an attentio
Will call this hearing to order. Will be waiting for senator hatch and will make an introduction. I want to welcome the nominees, i want to thank you for your willingness to serve thisssector country. Coming from the private sector myself and this is absolutely true, ive been very impressedhe with the quality of individuals that work for the federal government. This is nomination process is not easy, as youre well aware, but the fact that you have so many people who will step up to this plate and subject themselves to this process you can make a lot more in the private sector so this shows your dedication. In your Opening Statements, will introduce your families, i want to welcome all of them and ill leave it to you, just dont forget to introduce your family members. For my Opening Statement all i want to do is read the description of the jobs that youll be filling. And out. Ill turn it over to my Ranking Member, senator mccaskill and then senator hatch will be here to make an attentio
[inaudible conversations] good morning we will call the hearing to order were waiting for senator hatch to good morning, well call this meeting to order. I just want to welcome the nominees. I want to thank you for your willingness to serve this country, and this is absolutely true. Ive been very impressed with the quality of individuals that work for the federal government. This nomination process is not easy as youre well aware of. But the fact weve got so many patriots that are willing to step up plate and serve in the federal government for probably a whole lot less than youd make in the private is sector shows your dedication for this government. So i want to thank you for that. Specifically i want to welcome all your family member. And leave it to you dont forget to introduce all your family members. I want to quickly read the description of the jobs, basically youre going to be filling, what the agencies basically do. Now i turn it over to my Ranking Member senator mccatskill, a
[inaudible conversations] good morning we will call the hearing to order were waiting for senator hatch to good morning, well call this meeting to order. I just want to welcome the nominees. I want to thank you for your willingness to serve this country, and this is absolutely true. Ive been very impressed with the quality of individuals that work for the federal government. This nomination process is not easy as youre well aware of. But the fact weve got so many patriots that are willing to step up plate and serve in the federal government for probably a whole lot less than youd make in the private is sector shows your dedication for this government. So i want to thank you for that. Specifically i want to welcome all your family member. And leave it to you dont forget to introduce all your family members. I want to quickly read the description of the jobs, basically youre going to be filling, what the agencies basically do. Now i turn it over to my Ranking Member senator mccatskill, a
Health and other issues facing veterans is Tom Tarantino, a former army captain and current chief. Announcement last weekend a good sign for veterans waiting for their benefits claims to be processed . Guest it was an expected announcement. The backlog has been reduced by about 1 3, which is outstanding news. There is some light at the end of the tunnel. We have about 400,000 claims still in the inventory. They were going to halt the mandatory overtime. We expect it to resume after the holidays in february. We have 400,000 claims. If they want to make their goal, it is going to require overtime and other initiatives that have put into gear that have started this trend downward. Host 400,000 claims that is down from 600,000 claims in march. Talk about the impact of the government shutdown. How did that affect the claims . Guest it slowed it down. We averted a potential disaster. The processors were technically protected. The v. A. Could not accept any new claims but they could continue