mr. heller: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from nevada. mr. heller: thank you, mr. president. as has been discussed this week i believe our nation needs a comprehensive energy policy that allows us to develop our own domestic resources and use existing resources more efficiently. the united states is blessed with an abundance of natural resources and we have the ability to ensure an affordable, stable supply of energy needed to power our economy by developing them responsibly. democrats and republicans must work together to develop concrete policies that will lower prices, expand domestic production and reduce our dependence on foreign sources of energy and minerals. that's why the debate we're having in the senate this week is so important. as a member of the senate energy and natural resources committee, i have seen how much work has gone into the energy savings and industrial competitiveness act so far and have enjoyed being part of that process. this committee also has oversight over many of the other important energy policies we've been debating this week. that

mr. heller: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from nevada. mr. heller: thank you. thank you, madam president. i want to go back to the v.a. claims backlog working group that was introduced several months ago. it's a comprehensive bipartisan piece of legislation that addresses three areas. first, claims submission. two, v.a. regional office practices. and, three, the federal agency's responses to v.a. requests. i'd like to thank my colleagues, senators casey, moran, heinrich, vitter, murkowski, warren, klobuchar, warner, toomey, thune and pryor for joining me to address this very, very critical issue. i recognize that the claims process is complex. there is no silver bullet that's going to solve this problem overnight. but the v.a.'s current efforts will not eliminate the backlog. and it's common sense. targeted solutions from congress that will address some of the inefficiencies that are keeping veterans from receiving a timely decision. that is why this bill has been endorsed by a number of veterans service organizations, including the american legion, veterans of foreign war, the disabled am

mr. chairman. >> thank you, senator blumenthal. .enator heller >> thank you, mr. chairman, and thank you for taking time to be with us today, and for the veterans in the room with us and those watching the hearing, thank you for your service. what has come to light about the v.a. in recent months has proven to congress, the president, and the american people, is that there is a problem with accountability at all levels within the veterans ministry should. that nevadalem veterans are facing, and it is not something that is new, and in fact it is something i have raised repeatedly with the v.a. to no avail. i think it is long overdue for this committee to exert oversight and hold leadership within the v.a. accountable. last week i sent a letter to senator shinseki asking for immediate answers about the lack of accountability on the local level, and whether the v.a. leadership finally plans to do something about it. i look forward to receiving a timely response and action on the concerns that i highlighted. as nevada's presented on this committee, i believe it is also my role and response ability to get answers for nevada's veterans for the problems they are facing with benefit. they have complained of access -- excess weight times in emergency rooms, which in itself is too small to meet demand. there was anago, inspection of a blind female veteran that waited five hours in the emergency room and two weeks later died. the ig also found that one quarter of the veterans in the emergency room wait over six hours before receiving care. veteranore, a las vegas wrote me a letter recently and said he had to find care elsewhere because the wait time for an appointment at the v.a. was longer than two months. , i wantese concerns assurance that all of nevada's v.a. medical centers and clinics will be fully audited, and that i will receive and be able to review the results immediately. as the cochair of the v.a. backlog working group, i am concerned with the claims backlog in nevada. although the secretary promised me that would be changes, nevada veterans are still waiting the longest, at 355 days on average, for the claims to be processed. when my office requested the status of claims, it was unresponsive. it is unacceptable that veteran officials would limit any ability to get answers for the veterans. despite my repeated requests, these ongoing issues have not been resolved. ifsome point i have to ask these problems in nevada are the demonstration of failed leadership at the time. -- at the top. it is failing to care for those that sacrifice on our behalf. promises to change and do better for veterans have not produced results. i want changes, not empty, says. if the v.a. continues on this course, i think it is time to alternately looked to the top 40 changes. thank you -- top for these changes. thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you. .enator hirono >> to her, mr. chairman for holding this hearing and i certainly echoed the -- q i mr. chairman, for holding this hearing. i certainly echoed the concerns of my colleagues and the need for structural and systemwide changes. health-care system is a promise that we made to america's veterans that we will take care of them in return for their service and sacrifice. the close to 10 million veterans that access care through the v.a. systems need to trust that they are receiving high quality care when they need it, and i do note that 10 million veterans signed up for the health-care huge here that is greater than the population of a number of states, including the state of hawaii. when we fail to provide proper care for our veterans, we not only fail them, but their families as well, and these families have also sacrifice for our nation's security, and provide essential care and support for our veterans. while the immediate focus might be on the phoen

mr. chairman. >> thank you, senator blumenthal. .enator heller >> thank you, mr. chairman, and thank you for taking time to be with us today, and for the veterans in the room with us and those watching the hearing, thank you for your service. what has come to light about the v.a. in recent months has proven to congress, the president, and the american people, is that there is a problem with accountability at all levels within the veterans ministry should. that nevadalem veterans are facing, and it is not something that is new, and in fact it is something i have raised repeatedly with the v.a. to no avail. i think it is long overdue for this committee to exert oversight and hold leadership within the v.a. accountable. last week i sent a letter to senator shinseki asking for immediate answers about the lack of accountability on the local level, and whether the v.a. leadership finally plans to do something about it. i look forward to receiving a timely response and action on the concerns that i highlighted. as nevada's presented on this committee, i believe it is also my role and response ability to get answers for nevada's veterans for the problems they are facing with benefit. they have complained of access -- excess weight times in emergency rooms, which in itself is too small to meet demand. there was anago, inspection of a blind female veteran that waited five hours in the emergency room and two weeks later died. the ig also found that one quarter of the veterans in the emergency room wait over six hours before receiving care. veteranore, a las vegas wrote me a letter recently and said he had to find care elsewhere because the wait time for an appointment at the v.a. was longer than two months. , i wantese concerns assurance that all of nevada's v.a. medical centers and clinics will be fully audited, and that i will receive and be able to review the results immediately. as the cochair of the v.a. backlog working group, i am concerned with the claims backlog in nevada. although the secretary promised me that would be changes, nevada veterans are still waiting the longest, at 355 days on average, for the claims to be processed. when my office requested the status of claims, it was unresponsive. it is unacceptable that veteran officials would limit any ability to get answers for the veterans. despite my repeated requests, these ongoing issues have not been resolved. ifsome point i have to ask these problems in nevada are the demonstration of failed leadership at the time. -- at the top. it is failing to care for those that sacrifice on our behalf. promises to change and do better for veterans have not produced results. i want changes, not empty, says. if the v.a. continues on this course, i think it is time to alternately looked to the top 40 changes. thank you -- top for these changes. thank you, mr thank you. .enator hirono >> to her, mr. chairman for holding this

mr. chairman their. >> thank you, senator blumenthal. senator heller. >> thank you, mr. chairman. and ranking member burr bowling this ring today. i want to thank secretary, dr. petzel for also been you, the other witnesses. thank you for taking time to be here with us and also the veterans in the room with us, those who may be watching this hearing, thank you for your service. what has come to light about the va in recent months has proven to congress, the veterans and to the american people that there's a real problem with accountability at all levels within the veterans administration. poor management and care from the va is a problem in nevada. veterans are facing and is not something that is new and effective something that is raise repeatedly. i believe it's long overdue for this committee to exert its oversight and leadership within the va and accountable. just last week us in a letter to secretary shinseki, asking for immediate answers about the lack of accountability on the local level and whether the va leadership finally plans to do something about it. i look forward to receiving a timely response and action on the concerns that i highlighted. as a that is represented on this committee i believe it's also my roll and responsible to get answers for nevada's veterans of the problems they're facing with va care and benefits. in las vegas veterans have complained of excess weight times in the emergency room, which in itself is too small to meet demand. just a i want changes. i do not want empty promises. if the va continues on this course i think it's time to look to the top for these changes. thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you, senator heller. senator hirono. >> thank you, chairman sanders for providing this forum for us to drill down at the root of the many issues facing veterans hospitals and finding solutions to these problems. i certainly a good the sentiments of my colleagues in expressing concerns regarding the va culture of the lack of enough accountability, the probable need for structural and systemwide changes. the veterans health care system is a promise that we made to america's veterans that we will take care of them and read -- in return for their service and sacrifice. close to 10 million veterans have access to care through the va system need to trust that they are receiving high quality care when they need it. and i do know 10 million veterans signed up for the health care system is huge. that is greater than the population of a number of states, including the state of hawaii. when we failed to provide proper care for our veterans we not only failed them but their fa