mr. filner? >> thank you, mr. hanson. not easy to talk about your own life here. but in your written testimony you do mention certain things you think the va could do to serve you and your comrades better. can you go over those a little besides the one you just mentioned to the chairman? >> yes, sir. i felt that very often it was just kind of like i was a number -- another number in a revolving door. i never felt there was much of an actual care whereas when i eventually did go to minnesota teen challenge i felt there was an actual effort for me to get help to get better, not because it was their job, because it was something they were passionate about. and that was a big part of it for me. and another big part of it was i was able to go to the va medical center to get help once a week but then i was removed. i didn't have to be the marine, combat veteran every time i went back to get help. i wasn't around a lot of veterans and i can understand that there is a certain benefit to it but there is also a benefit to not being with all the people that know what i went

mr. filner. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you for taking the leadership on this subject. of course, we have all raised serious concerns over many years about the backlog of claims and there are now a record number of service men and women returning home with scars from the war. now is simply not the time to delay their benefits. the report you mentioned that was released last year by the va inspector general focusing on the delay of our service members getting an appointment for medical exam in order to process their claim for compensation is just one more example of how the va seems to be failing our veterans. that system has many obstacles for our warriors by putting them through numerous medical exams for each individual ailment for which they are filing a claim. the va i think could easily streamline this process and allow the veteran to receive one complete medical exam to expedite the claims process, alleviate the stress on our veterans, and save our veterans and taxpayers money. you mentioned the recent decision by the ninth circuit court of appeals in veterans for