Hope we can all do. Not only improving that helped but also educating the country to know that there is treatment for that and they can be great contributors to society and the workplace. We thank you very much for those thoughts. We leave it up to you to connect those dots and help others as well. [applause] friday he attends ceremonies in normandy, marking the 70th anniversary of the dday invasion of world war ii. Russian president Vladimir Putin is also scheduled to be at the ceremonies. House hearing on programs to help veterans returned to civilian life. Then, former president george h. W. Bush is honored. After that, q and a with author brett the behr. The soviet system in Eastern Europe contained the seeds of its own destruction. Many of the problems that we saw at the end again at the very beginning. I spoke about the attempt to control all institutions and control all parts of the economy and political and social life. One of the problems when you do that, when you try to control everything, you create a position and potential dissidents everywhere. If you tell all artists they have to paint the same way and one artist says no, you have just made him into a political dissident, somebody who might otherwise have been a political. If you tell boy scout troops they are not allowed to be boy scouts and now they have be young pioneers, and one group decides they dont like that and form a secret underground boy scout troop, which absolutely happened in poland throughout the communist. , you just created another group of political opponents from otherwise apolitical teenagers. Read more of our conversation with Anne Applebaum and other featured interviews from our book notes and q a programs in cspans sundays at eight. Now available for a fathers day gift at your favorite oak seller. Favorite book seller. The hearing took place before the resignation of Veterans Affairs secretarys eric shinseki. Linda halliday says she has concerns with other areas because the priority has always been to decrease the backlog. As a result, other issues are not being addressed in a timely manner. This is two and a half hours. Todays hearing will focus on the v. A. s role in the transition from Service Member to veteran with a particular focus on the integrated to stability Evaluation System commonly known as ides. The quality of the ace components in the process. Further, i would like to hear today about the quality of communication, both within the transitioning Service Members as well as between the department of defense and the department of Veterans Affairs in this process. First, while i understand that timelines are improving, we want to start off by making it clear why continuing improvements matter. I am frequently contacted by Service Members were frustrated with the process. They do not know how long it is going to take, when they will get answers, and they dont know when they can make plans for their future. I understand that the dod reports hide dissatisfaction from Service Members undergoing but is i understand that it may not be a top priority for the v. A. Because the v. A. Has chosen to put fairly exclusive focus on eliminating backlog claims. To the detriment of these transitioning Service Members. So, lets begin the understanding that if this belief exists at the v. A. , it is not ok. These transitioning Service Members have served in recent years during a decade plus wars of in iraq and afghanistan. Many with serviceconnected injuries that event continuing military service. Here i have correspondence from the past couple of months received from soldiers who were awaiting the start of the post military lives. It has been four years since i spent christmas with my family. I have gone through the processes and currently awaiting ratings. Another reads, i have been waiting for my leave for a long time. Ive contacted my v. A. Reps and the only way i can contact them is if i go down to their office. I call and call and leave emails but never get anything back unless im in their offices. It puts a strain on my family and i try to convince my family it is going to come any day now. It hasnt and now my wife wants to get a divorce. I dont know what i would do without my two daughters and my wife. If there is anything you can do to help me out or get me some information that would be great. I wouldnt reach out if it werent so important. I have been under so much stress that my Blood Pressure has shot through the roof. If there is anything you could do to assist me in figuring out what it has taken so long for the v. A. To rate me and expedite the process i would be grateful. This is defining the v. S Performance and the transition process. If nothing else, i want that to be the takeaway, define the expectations. They have served honorably during a difficult time in the military. They deserve reasonable, defined expectations as their timeline, futures, their transition to the civilian world more must be done to define expectations. In addition to the updates at the forefront of todays hearing, we will seek information on the process including the uses of brokering as well as timelines and accuracy that delivers Quickstart Programs. We will hear about the v. A. s new Quickstart Program that macon sol date the new Quickstart Programs. I look forward to hear from todays witnesses and with that i begin intro duxes. Seated at the witness table we have all members from the panel. From the department of defense secretary of defense, who is accompanied by david bowen director of Health TechnologyHealth Agency and from the department of Veterans Affairs deputy from under Field Operations with the benefits administration who is accompanied by the director of compensation services. Upon the conclusion of the first panel, we will seek two subsequent panels that will include linda halliday. Accompanied by nora stokes and with the specialist vision. Panel three is a representative from the American Federation and the agfge national v. A. Counsel. Debra gipson is here today and she will be introduced shortly by our congressman. Mr. Gerardo avila a National Representative with the American Legion and the assistants director with disabled American Veterans and veteran with the foreign war of the United States. I must advise pursuit ant to title 18 of the United States code section known as the false statement act. This is a crime to knowingly give false statements in federal jurisdiction, including a congressional hearing. I thank you all for being here today. I yield to the Ranking Member for her opening statement. Thank you mr. Chairman. Thank you for holding this hearing today. Thank you for coming to provide us with some needed information. As you heard the chairman describe, today were going to look into the performance of v. A. And d. O. D. Utilized for determining fit for duty status for ill or injured Service Members as well as expediting claims for separating Service Members. Particularly, were going to focus on the disability system, the discharge program and the Quickstart Program. All of these programs have been up and running for a number of years. Ideas was initiated in 2007 as a followup on the poor conditions and fragmented care that was exposed at Walter Reed Army hospital. B. D. D. Was launched in 1995 as a Pilot Program and became fully operational in 1998. The intent was to assist disabled Service Members to make a seamless transition into civilian life to get their claim completed as early as possible while they have their medical information readily available. Quick start launched in 2008 aint was established to provide an expedited process to Service Members who is going to be discharged in 59 days. Despite having long been established and have enough time to get over growing pains and any of the problems in the early stages, all of these programs continue to face challenges and are performing far below expectations. The one similarity that they seem to have is they suffer from a continued poor performance in the ad jude cation in each of the three programs. A particular interest to me is a number of claims under quick start and b. D. D. That have dropped off. There are fewer claims now than they used to be and im concerned that the reason for that is Service Members are choosing to bypass these programs that are designed to provide an expedited system that it delays the process of receiving benefits. In fact, quick start has been known to been called quick start and slow finish as a result of that. Weve had highlighted for us by the v. A. s o. I. G. About eliminating the backlog has shifted priorities and come at the expense of other benefits and claims such as ideas and quick start, which have been moved to the back burner and that is unfortunate. You heard the chairman read some of the emails weve been receiving. They all have the same ask, im in the army, im waiting on a decision. My family and i need to get on with our lives. Our staff has witnessed first hand the poor culture that is often present at these ideas stations and Wounded Warriors battalions. I want to thank ms. Gip son who recently went to the process and came with us today to talk about the negative culture that is in the programs and how we might address it. It is just a concern that these programs are supposed to be so helpful end up being harmful because they hold our Service Members lives in bureaucratic limbo. A Service Member who enters the program wont complete the program until 180 days will be spent waiting for a v. A. Raider to pick up the claim and provide him or her with a rating, just to get a rating it takes that long. As our Service Members wait for a rating decision, they are forced to delay critical aspects of their transition. They and their spouses hesitant to relocate, buy a home, enter a school program, to find a new job because they dont know what is going to happen to them. Now we know that Service Members face obstacles when they are transitioning out of the armed services. That is difficult enough. The v. A. Should be an asset not a hinderance to that process. I think we need to take a hard look at the resources were dedicating to these programs and figure out how we can meet their goals today and not tomorrow. So we need to take a fresh look at these programs. We recently, with the staff recently looked at this and found that 95 of the Service Members who enter the program are not fit to serve because of an illness or injury so they know they will be discharged. 95 , if we know that many are not going to go back into the service or be discharged, shouldnt we take a different approach offering them flexibility, options while they are making that transition . I hope those are the kinds of things we will look at today in this hearing and see if we cant reprioritize and shift our emphasis on being flexible and making this work as opposed to having family sit around waiting for the rating. Thank you and i yield back. Thank you with that i recognize the chairman of the full committee mr. Miller for a statement. Thank you very much, mr. Chairman. I appreciate the indulgence. I want to make a few remark on the process in regards to ideas. The timeline to receive benefits is targeted not to exceed 295 days but recent d. O. D. And v. A. Reports place the average timeline at over 350 days. Thats an average but that average means there are many Service Members that take longer to complete. In an effort to address ideas and efficiencies i introduced a amendment to the act that would do the following. It would require the use of a standardized form set that would be approved by d. O. D. Secretary and the v. A. Second it would cocoa late to allow greater inner Department Collaboration and reduce delays in transfers of information. Third, it could compel the usage of Software Solution between d. O. D. My ideas, and dashboards to allow Service Members Greater Transparency as to where they are in the process at the current time. Finally, the amendment would establish a working group comprised of personnel and d. O. D. As well as private Industry Leaders to evaluate the program itself. The working group would make recommendations on how to better serve those going through the process and better utilize the resources that are allocated. I want to emphasize that goals of my ideas amendment is twofouled. First, increase transparency and increase accountability for the departments. I think everyone in this room is already aware of the issues of transparency and accountability are at utmost levels. Whether it is quick start or the traditional claims process is a Service Members first exposure to the v. A. System, we want to ensure that it is a positive expense for all who use it and those who it was designed to serve. Those very people who have served our country. Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, thank you for your indulgence and i yield back my time. I want to recognize him, i believe he has an opening statement. Thank you mr. Chairman. I wanted to introduce someone who is going to be on one of the later panels debra gipson. Im sad to say a former constituent of mine moved out of el paso in march. Were going to in this her. A former captain in the u. S. Army. During her time as a commissioned officer, she served as an executive officer for the transitional unit at fort bliss texas. She was separated through service ideas. She is here to deliver a statement about her experience with ideas and offer recommendations and i wanted to be here to welcome her and introduce her to the committee. With that, i yield back. I dont believe any other members have statements. At this time, i welcome the panel. Youre complete and written statements will be entered into the record. Thank you, Ranking Members and distinguished members of the subcommittee. Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today to discuss the integrated Evaluation System. Since 2007, the department of defense and Veterans Affairs have collaborated and integrated a transparent disability system for Service Members who have illnesses or injuries that may impede their ability to perform their military duties. Ideas account for 97 of all d. O. D. Evaluation cases. Service members receive a set of disability examinations according to v. A. Protocols. Departments military departments determine fitness for duty and only company Service Members for conditions that compromise their ability to perform their military duties. V. A. Companies for all conditions incurred or aggravated during military service. The advantages of ideas compared to legacy systems, include the almost of duplicate medical exam consistency between d. O. D. Ratings and reduce wait times for benefits since rating determinations are completed prior to Service Members separations. These advantages have contributed to improve Service Members satisfaction within the ideas process. Were continuing to implement process enhancements such as improved policy, increase Staffing Levels, and new training requirements for case workers. These and other improvements have enabled us to achieve and remain below our ideas Core Processing goal of the 105 days for the past several months. Information technology can also help us gain more efficiency within the ideas process. Thats why were working to develop a system that will support endtoend Case Management, tracking reporting and abide directional electronic case transfer. We will work to ensure requirements are identified early. The department of defense is working dill diligently to support a system to ensure Service Members receive transparent compensation for injuries or illnesses incurred by the line of duty today, tomorrow, and in the future. Thank you and we look forward to your questions. Thank you. You are now recognized for five minutes. Good afternoon members of the subcommittee. My testimony today will focus on the status of the integrated disability system. Benefits at discharge and the Quickstart Program. With respect to ideas d. O. D. Ests and results and changes in our Evaluation System. Together, the departments have created an integrated process for Service Members who have been medically retired or separated. This process was designed to eliminate the elements within the v. A. And d. O. D. The goals of the integration