and in listening to your testimony, justice kennedy, i got to thinking about our friend over at va and dod, and they are having such a difficult time coming up with a platform that can kind of serve a very special grope of female in the country -- group -- our veterans and getting these systems to talk to each other. do you encounter that conflict in the judicial realm in dealing with matters of information technology? >> my guess is, and justice brier is more well versed in this than i am my guess is by comparison with other agencies our problems are predictable. there is going to be a trial with a plaintiff, and defendant and an appeal and appellate and appely appel appele and an aa petitioner. so the universe of problems is well known and predictable. we don't have to protect for un uncertainties to the extent other agencies have to. ... i was talking to people from scotus. they do the same kind of thing and that's not easy to do. we put in a web site, but the question is will they use it? will school children find out? some teachers say i want to know.this case. i get on the web and te

va's infrastructure needs including major medical facility leases and reduce the wait times for health care including mental health care which is needed so badly right now. finally, it would help va and dod provide fertility treatment to critically injured veterans and servicemembers to realize their dream of starting a family. it is long past time for these departments to provide this type of modern medicine. i will keep pushing to provide additional support to make changes needed at va to get veterans the care they deserve and improve programs as they transition into civilian life. we're moving in the right direction. fixing some of these problems but the work is far from over and this amendment will make sure we continue that route work especially improving care and programs to support our veterans and servicemembers. i think this is a priority we all can agree on. i urge its adoption. i would ask unanimous consent to add senator wyden to the amendment. >> without objection. we already have a section 307 which is a deficit neutral reserve fund. it could include these things but doesn't specify these things. anybody else wish to comment in opposition? no mr. chairman? i would also ask

and they didn't know what their next appointment was. we provided that visibility. we are meeting as a set all the standards that dod has had there are challenges between the va and the united states military dod and we are supporting the va to help them with those objectives as well. it's been something of a moving target but i understand the va now thinks they will be in compliance with the processing hopefully i believe it's by the start of next year. >> what secretary mcsally said we have no greater responsibility than to care for those who board the battle. through the experience we have had secretary mcsally will describe some of these things. the marines and the wounded warrior battalions and eight the navy has a program called safe harbor and it is to aid in a medical care, their reintegration either back into the military or into civilian life of those who have been wounded and to give each of them an advocate to help them through the process, to make appointments for them, to tell them what benefits are available and to do it for them and for their caregivers or their family members or friends who have assumed the burden of caring for them. we are also meet

and the united states military, dod. and we're supporting the va to help them meet those objectives as well. it's been something of a moving target. but i understand the va now thinks they'll be in compliance with the processing. hopefully i believe it's by the start of next year. >> thank you. >> what secretary mchugh said, we have no higher greater responsibility than to care for those who have born the battle. through the experience we've had. secretary mchugh described some of the things -- the marines have the wounded warrior battalions. it is to aid in the medical care, the reintegration, either back into the military or into civilian life of those who have been wounded and to give each of them an advocate to help them through the process. to make appointments for them to tell them what benefits are available and to do it for them and their caregivers, for their family members or friends who have assumed the burden of caring for them. and we are also meeting and exceeding the requirements in terms of time. i would say that even though we're d

va. and it is something that we're very, very conscious of. and trying to eliminate some of the duplication in terms of disability determination that both dod and the va run. and sometimes they do the same things just at different times. >> thank you. thanks mr. chairman. >> thank you mr. chairman. thank you for being here today general dunford i'd like to start with you sir. the budget we have right now in front of us reflects a switch from land-based operations, large scale battle, back to being a quick reactionary force for the marines. and i know that the marines are going to adapt accordingly. they always do that very well. but i do worry that our forces are going through a lot of uncertainty with financial constraints. and we seem to be caught off guard by our adversaries. our enemies are capturing stockpiles of weapons. some of which are the m-16s and the m-4s. using this individual weapon system for 50 years now. it was developed in 1964. this still remains our soldier and our airmen's basic rifle. and that puts us at an equal playing level with our adversaries on the ground. is it possible that while we're taking a look at advancing ou

and trying to eliminate duplication in terms of determination that both dod and the va run and sometimes they do the same things at different times! thank you. i appreciate your service and that you're willing to testify. i'd like to start with you, sir. the budget that we have right now in front of us reflects a switch from land base to operations large scale battles back to being a quick, reactionary force. >>> we seem to be caught off guard by our adversaries. our enemies seem to be stockpiling weapons, some of which are the m-16s and the m-4s. we have been using this individual weapon system for 50 years now. it was developed in 1964. is it possible while we're modernizing our aviation platforms, within the budget, is there room to move on advancing individual weapons systems that put us at a technological advantage over our adversaryiesadversaries? >> that actually is one of my greatest concerns. we know the marine corps needs to invest a minimum of 11, 12%. this year, we're at about 9%. today, i think we're doing a pretty good job. i'm not satisfied we're investing enough in the ca

upgrades are going and listening to your testimony justice kennedy, i got to thinking about our friends over at va dod, they're having such a difficult time coming up with a platform that can kind of serve a very special group of people to our country, our veterans, and being able to get these two systems to talk to one another. do you encounter any of that kind of conflict within the judicial realm in dealing with matters of information technology. >> the guess is justice brirz is much more well versed in this than i am. my guess is that, by comparison with many other agencies, our problems are predictable. we know there's going to be a trial with the plaintiff and the department, we know there's going to be an appeal. we know there may be a petition with a petitioner and respondent. so the universe of problems is rather well known and rather predictable. we don't have to project for uncertainties to the extent -- nearly to the extent that other agencies do. and our system, the legal system lends itself very well to the electronic technology. >> in my own mind i classify three different things that t

in listening to your testimony, justice kennedy, i got to thinking about our friends over at va and dodthey're having such a difficult time coming up with a platform that can kind of serve a very special group of people to our country our veterans, and being able to get these two systems to talk to one another. do you encounter any of that kind of conflict within the judicial realm india with matters of information-technology? >> my guess is justice breyer as much worse in this than i. my guess is by comparison with many other agencies, our problems are predictable. you know there's going to be a trial with the plate and defend. we know there will be appealed with an appellate and and appellee. we know there maybe a petition with a petition and of respondent. so the universal problems is rather well known and rather predictable. we don't have to project for uncertainties to the extent, nearly to the extent that other agencies do. and our system from the legal system lends itself very well to the electronic technology. >> in my own mind i classified three different things that this techn