 Chairman, I exist in Chairman Rowe and members of the Committees on Veterans Affairs. Thank you for providing me the honor of presenting the 2018 legislative program of DAV, Disabled American Veterans, an organization with over one million members, all of whom were injured or became ill as a result of wartime service. I am grateful and humbled to be here in front of you as the first, but I am confident not the last woman elected national commander of our organization. However, I am not speaking to you today as a woman veteran, but as a leader in DAV. And like all who are called to lead, I recognize while I sit here today, I stand on the shoulders and legacies of so many women and men who came before me. Legacies like my father, Joseph Robert Taylor, who was a Buffalo soldier in a renowned all-black Calvary during the Spanish-American War. He was an inspiration that led me to join the Army. I served in Operation Desert Storm, Desert Shield, and as a first sergeant for the Graves Registration Company. I look back with great pride on this solid service to my soldiers and I perform to honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice. When your job involves looking daily at the human cost of war, you developed an unwavering appreciation of what our nation owes to those who serve. That's one of the reasons all of us are here today, to ensure that our nation fulfills the promises to all of the men and women who have served. One of the most critical promises to those who were wounded, injured, or became ill is providing timely access to high quality healthcare. When that promise faltered several years ago and thousands of veterans were found waiting too long for care, Congress created the Veterans Choice Program. Since then, there has been ongoing debate about choice and the future of healthcare. Over the past year, an argument finally emerged among VA Congressional and VSO leaders. They agreed that VA must develop an integrated healthcare network with VA acting as a coordinator in primary care for community providers filling access groups. Last year, your committee responded by approving separate bills to do just that. Although both bills have merit, we believe that S-2193, the caring for our Veterans Act, offers a best plan to meet the needs of enrolled veterans. We urge all of you to continue working to find a bipartisan compromise to strengthen and reform the VA healthcare system. Just as important, no reform can succeed unless Congress and the administration provide sufficient resources. So we also call on you to fully fund veterans' healthcare. Messers Chairman, DAV's highest legislative priority for 2018 is to ensure all veterans, not just those after 9-11, have access to VA's comprehensive caregiver program. I personally know the sacrifice caregivers make. My husband Jimmy, who was also an Army veteran, developed Alzheimer's and dementia, and I was suddenly thrust into the role of a caregiver. I did my best to give him the support that he needed, but I also had to work because we had limited income. As much as I wanted to keep my soldier home, his condition worsened. I grew older, and soon it was too much for me to handle. If Jimmy had served after 9-11, we would have been eligible for comprehensive VA caregiver assistance. He could have spent the rest of his life where he belonged at home with me. Sadly, my story is not unique. Behind me are hundreds of other veterans and caregivers who are unfairly left behind. That's why DAV launched an unsung heroes initiative to ensure all caregivers of severely disabled veterans have access to comprehensive caregiver benefits. We are pleased that the Senate Committee voted to phase in full caregiver assistance to veterans of all eras as part of S-2193. We now call on the full Senate and the House to pass legislation for our most severely injured or ill veterans of all eras. Messrs. Chairman, women veterans are another key priority of DAV. As a service-connected woman veteran who uses a VA system, I see that VA has made significant progress, but there is more to be done. In 2014, DAV published a special report entitled Women Veterans the Long Journey Home. DAV is in the process of updating this critical study to identify remaining gaps we hope you will hold a hearing before the end of this Congress to consider our recommendations. I urge Congress to act now by passing the Deborah Sampson Act to help ensure all women veterans using VA has timely access to comprehensive quality care that meets the unique needs. Last year, thanks to your leadership, Congress passed several new laws to strengthen and expand the delivery of veterans' benefits, including Appeals, Modernization Act, and Forever GI Bill. At the same time, we are concerned by proposals which could reduce and even eliminate existing veterans' benefits. Proposals to cut individual unemployability for thousands and reduce disability compensation coldest for millions would be devastating to our nation's veterans. Fortunately, Congress rejected these proposals, but we continue to hear these recommendations and even discussions about changing the entire veterans' benefits system. Some say our nation just can't afford the rising costs of veterans' benefits. We say that a great nation can't afford not to pay for veterans' benefits. These benefits have already been paid in full by the blood, sweat, and sacrifice of men and women who have served. Finally, Mr. Chairman, we want you to know the DAV does more than just talk about supporting veterans. With almost 1,300 chapters and more than 1 million members across the country, DAV empowers our nation heroes and their families. DAV has 4,400 credit service officers across the nation, providing representation to over a million veterans. In 2017, we offered nearly 650,000 rides to get veterans to VA medical appointments. Our 13,000 DAV and DAV auxiliary volunteers provide nearly 1.1 million hours of essential services to hospitalized veterans. Since 2014, our National Employment Program has led more than 50,000 job offers to veterans and spouses. Last year, our Disaster Relief Program provided direct finance to nearly 4,000 veterans affected by hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, and fires. Since 1988, the DAV Charitable Service Trust has donated over 100 million to non-profits serving veterans and their families. All of our services are offered at no cost to the veterans and families and survivors. When it comes to caring for American veterans, DAV is second to none. Professors, Chairman, Navy Veteran, former Senator, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy once said, Every generation inherits a world it never made, and as it does so, it automatically becomes the trustee of that world for those who come after. We are now the trustees. We must work together to fulfill our promises to the men and the women who have served. That is a legacy that I, that DAV, that all of us must strive to leave for our next generation. May God bless all of the men and women who have served, those who are serving, and those who will serve on behalf of this great nation. And may God bless the United States of America.