chairman jon runyan of new jersey. we expect this to get underway shortly. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] stanback good afternoon, everybody and welcome to the oversight committee subcommittee on assistance disabilities and affairs outcome can't order. for the past year, members of the subcommittee as well as full va initiatives on in order to fulfill the secondaries: disability benefits claims for 2015. vba implemented national initiatives within its regional offices, including challenging quality review teams come at those certification test them, simplified and fully developed claims. bba also rolled

chairman runyan, members of the sub committee on behalf of paralyzed veterans of america come out tothank you for the opportunity to discuss complex claims, a topic that is near and dear to veterans like me and those who represent tba. complex claims in both cases they require the most experienced minds to properly adjudicate. this video is claimed for mandatory but small school issues with the most complicated circumstances to unravel such as military trauma, pts and catastrophic disability. since the membership is predicated on disability, that would be my focus. they have expertise in advanced and complex claims and assist them. the special monthly compensation offered the exception and we appreciate the focus on complex claims. veterans benefits has made tremendous backlog since launching initiatives. during our june 2012 testimony, complex claims remain problematic because disability benefits questionnaires, evaluation builders and will space calculators too often oversimplify cases they require critical thinking and objective reasoning, not algorithms to adjudicate with true ef

chairman runyan, members of the sub committee on behalf of paralyzed veterans of america come out tothank you for the opportunity to discuss complex claims, a topic that is near and dear to veterans like me and those who represent tba. complex claims in both cases they require the most experienced minds to properly adjudicate. this video is claimed for mandatory but small school issues with the most complicated circumstances to unravel such as military trauma, pts and catastrophic disability. since the membership is predicated on disability, that would be my focus. they have expertise in advanced and complex claims and assist them. the special monthly compensation offered the exception and we appreciate the focus on complex claims. veterans benefits has made tremendous backlog since launching initiatives. during our june 2012 testimony, complex claims remain problematic because disability benefits questionnaires, evaluation builders and will space calculators too often oversimplify cases they require critical thinking and objective reasoning, not algorithms to adjudicate with true ef

you're playing for the damon runyan cancer research foundation.he stocks you have picked as part of this competition, i think people would be interested in hearing about a couple of these. >> sure, sure. >> sandridge energy is the ticker's s.d., and you own that as omega, as well, correct? >> go on the assumption that anything i pick, we own, because, like, it's -- you know, when elliott spitzer became famous, and was afraid of them, and they asked, why would you get on tv and recommend something they didn't own. sandbridge is one. it's an energy company. this year, tpg's hedge fund launched a proxy fight, and in their literature they filed on the website, asterisk was 11 or 12, and better motivated, you know, high-quality management. they won the proxy fight. the stock is now about 5 1/2. our own independent analysis indicates value of around 10. the company's been on a fundamentally improving trend and the market has been slow to recognize it. this is one that, with contest, going up against marc, rich, you have to be looking for triples and dou

chairman runyan, ranking member of nine, members of the panel, better and faster to express gratitude for inviting ourselves as delegates to represent their views on the va's handling of complex claims and the challenges that are faced with most of this panel has no idea who veterans awareness is. it's exactly what it sounds like. we are just a bunch of veterans. but we are specialists that come from a wide variety of fields and bring in some cases decades of experience table in the team. our perl-based is to do with not just complex claims, but all issues relating to the va function. in particular, i am a combat that. i served in the navy for seven years before i was medically retired. i contracted a terminal lung disease in iraq. i also crushed both of my hands, parts of my hands and had to have my hands rebuild. i am 100% disabled. i can no longer work in my life expectancy now is probably less than two years. my husband is my primary caregiver. i don't need anything from the va any longer. my complicated claim took four years to adjudicate. not once enough for years that i ever pr

. >> chairman runyan ranking member tightness, thank you for providing me the opportunity to discuss va policies and procedures for adjudicating complex disability claims. the company today by ms. edna macdonald of the regional office. the vba continues to express an increasing number complexity number complexity of regional issues you between 2011 and 2013, the average number of issues and claims increased by 31% from 5.52 mike 72. in response, bba implement the new operating model. epa has noticed increase in complexity from the newer generations of veterans who participated in operations during iraqi freedom and udon. you can hear a greater chance of surviving are his injuries and often return home with multiple serious conditions. in addition, vba continues to receive credit for veterans of the vietnam era. many become complicated because they are subject to federal court orders in the u.s. department of veterans affairs department of veterans affairs. organizational model incorporates cross functional teams working on one of three segmented lanes, express cooperations. things we

jon runyan chairs the committee on disability assistance and live coverage will start at 3 p.m. eastern here on c-span2. >> friday on c-span, "washington journal" looks at the mission and role of the national institutes of health. starting liv line at 7:30 a.m. s with director francis collins on their medical research priorities. future projects and the impact of sequestration. at eight, allergy and infectious diseases director anthony fauci followed at 8:30 a.m. by eric green, director of the national human genome research institute. at nine, national cancer institute director harold varmus. and at 9:30 a.m. and look at the national institute of mental health with director. all with your calls and comments live on c-span. >> as you walk in to our tables out in front with lots of pamphlets. not, prior to entering the country. the templates country. the templates are haul out the government is trying to take away rights trying to take what he writes him down and become as in this and vomiting that and obamacare star will. so those with the guys i wanted to talk to because they ar

runyan, for bringing up this important piece of legislation today, senate 1471. mr. speaker, during the season of christmas, we seek to surround ourselves with our family and our friends to give thanks for the blessings in our life. but unfortunately one family from my district will be spending yet another christmas season without their wife, without their mothers, without their daughter-in-law because of a senseless act of violence that took place at an apartment complex in indianapolis, indiana, on may 30, 2012. on that date michael anderson, a deranged army veteran, went on a shooting rampage that took the life of alicia cole who was an apartment management -- apartment complex manager. after taking her life he also severely injured three others. mr. anderson shot alicia 13 times before taking his own life. alicia's killing left a whole in communities throughout indiana. she was not only a mother of two young children and a loving wife, she was a girl scout leader, volunteer of the year at spring mill elementary school, and an active member of her church. paul koe