dr. shulkin, not employees who seek to protect the status quo. we agree that waiving budgetary rules and improving va's enhanced use authority will enable v.a. to expand access. however, the vfw cannot support a brock position. the v.a.'s skip process already addresses the issues of unused property. it is congress who has failed to remove these properties. the reason congress has failed to act is the same reason it would fail to act under a brock style process. local pressure from the veterans community. the solution is to develop the better communication plan with the impacted veterans and develop a replacement plan that insures veterans do not experience a lapse in access to care. veterans fear losing va care drives congress in action and no commission or board will fix that. mr. chairman, thank you for the opportunity to testify. i'm happy to answer any questions you may have. >> vietnam veterans association mr. weidman. >> thank you, very much, mr. chairman for allowing us to be here. much of the material that i might have covered has already

dr. shulkin as well. >> turn one.me to talk about va's ongoing transformation of the commission on care's final report. i wish the house had lobbied the same opportunity last week but neither i nor the veteran service or decisions were invited to testify in person. i asked my written statement be submitted for the record. >> without objection. >> first let me thank ms. schlichting for chairing the commission. i know it wasn't easy but nancy did an outstanding job in keeping things together. over all i see the commission's report as validation of the course we've been on for the past two years. there's hardly anything report we have not already thought of or are not already as part of our own test ongoing efforts. we differ on the details but we wholeheartedly agree with the intent of almost all the commission's recommendations. 15 out of 18. we certainly agree on how wrong it would be to privatize the health care. privatization would be a boon for some health care corporations, but at seven leaders told the commission

dr. shulkin accepted the nomination. but he is not the typical person who has occupied that rule. he is the first noncareer va employee to be confirmed as undersecretary of health since dr. ken kaiser who led the largest and most successful health care transformation in va's history. congress and va must ensure that the position of undersecretary for health attracts more candidates like dr. kaiser and dr. schulkin, not employees who seek to protect the status quo. we agree that waiving budgetary rules and improving va's enhanced use authority will enable va to expand access. however, the vfw cannot support a brock position. it is congress who has failed to remove these properties. the reason congress has failed to act is the same reason it would fail to act under a brock style process. local pressure from the veterans community. the solution is to develop the better communication plan with the impacted veterans and develop a replacement plan that ensures veterans do not experience a lapse in access to care. veterans fear losing va care drives congress in action and no commission o