 Chairman Isakson, Chairman Takano and members of the Committee on Veterans Affairs. Thank you for providing me the opportunity to present the 2019 Legislative Program of DAV, Disabled American Veterans, an organization of more than one million members, all of whom were injured or became ill in wartime service. My full statement thoroughly details DAV's key legislative priorities in the 116th Congress and reports our many accomplishments. I ask that my formal testimony be submitted for the record. Mr. Chairman, ever since I was four years old, I knew I wanted to serve our great nation. In 1964, when I turned 17 with my mother's consent, I enlisted in the Marine Corps. Less than a year later, I began my first tour in Vietnam as a combat engineer. I was a proud Marine and I re-enlisted as a Sergeant and was gung-ho going into my second combat tour. However, my dream of a military career was cut short on June 5, 1969. While on patrol near Da Nang, I tripped a booby trap and was severely injured. I underwent numerous surgeries, ultimately losing my left leg and was medically retired in 1970. It was a devastating personal blow as my only plans in life were to serve my beloved Corps. But this ending was also a new beginning for me. During my extensive recovery period at the VA Hospital in Big Spring, Texas, I learned about DAV and the free assistance we offer veterans and their families. With the help of a DAV service officer, I was able to get the benefits I earned, which allowed me to focus on my recovery and begin planning a new direction for my future. I was so personally moved by the help I received from DAV that I entered DAVs on the job training program, became a service officer myself and spent the better part of the next four decades assisting my fellow veterans. I strongly agree with my fellow veteran and Hall of Fame coach of the Dallas Cowboys, Tom Landry, who said, I've learned that something constructive comes from every defeat. Messrs. Chairman, a hundred years ago in 1919 in the aftermath of World War I, millions of American doughboys left Europe's trenches and began returning home. Over four million served. More than 116,000 lost their lives. Another 200,000 were wounded or gassed. Many bearing visible and invisible wounds that would last a lifetime. Although the warriors who fought that war are now gone, new generations of veterans have followed and will continue to follow. We as a nation must commit to fulfill our promises to all past, present and future veterans. One of our nation's most sacred obligations is to provide healthcare to those who served and whose lives were changed in uniform. Last year, Congress approved the VA Mission Act to replace the choice program, expand access and strengthen the VA's healthcare system. VA just proposed regulations to implement that law, including new access standards that will provide options for using community care when VA care is not reasonably accessible. We want all enrolled veterans to have timely access to care. However, VA must be able to deliver what it promises. If VA's proposed regulations are adopted, will the private sector be ready to handle the large influx of new veteran population? Will VA be ready to coordinate the care of veterans using both VA and private facilities? And will the VA have enough funding to meet the new obligations of the Mission Act while continuing to fully fund VA healthcare? Or will VA be forced to divert funding from its hospitals and clinics to pay for community care? These are critical questions that still need answers. But let me be crystal clear on one point. We will not stand for cutting services or closing hospitals that disabled veterans depend on. The VA Mission Act also included a historic expansion of VA caregiver program for veterans severely injured before September 11, 2001. We thank both committees for making this happen and ask for your help to ensure the VA influence implements this law properly and on time. In addition, we continue to call on Congress and the VA to include not just severely injured veterans, but also veterans whose serious disabilities were caused by service-connected illness. Another critical priority for DAV is ensuring our women veterans have equitable access to healthcare and hand benefits. Last year, DAV released a special report, Women Veterans The Journey Ahead, which included 45 specific policy recommendations. We call on both committees to hold hearings on women veterans, consider our recommendations, and pass legislation strengthening women veterans' healthcare and hand benefits. We also need Congress to finally end the injustice that exists for Blue Water Navy veterans of the Vietnam War. In January, an appellate court ruled that Congress clearly meant to include Blue Water Navy veterans for benefits related to age and orange. It is not yet known if VA will appeal this decision and we have urged them to accept the ruling. However, regardless of whether it is appealed, Congress should still move forward and pass Blue Water Navy regulation. We also need help from Congress to prevent a similar injustice to veterans who were exposed to toxins from burn pits. The VA does not provide any presumption of service connection for diseases related to burn pit exposure, but research may soon establish such medical links. While awaiting scientific studies, Congress should enact legislation to at least concede exposure for all veterans deployed in locations with active burn pits both pre and post 9-11. We should never leave veterans waiting decades to receive earned benefits due to exposure suffered by in the defense of our nation. When Abraham Lincoln gave his second inaugural address, he spoke of those who had borne the battle, but he also made sure to include widows and orphans who had also laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom. To honor our nation's obligations, we called on Congress to pass legislation to strengthen benefits for surviving spouses and family members with totally disabled veterans, including finally eliminating the offset for DIC and SBP benefits. Masters Chairman, while much of our focus in Washington is on VA programs and policies, DAV's core mission around the country involves providing direct service to veterans and their families. DAV represents over 1 million disabled veterans free of charge. Just last year, our national service program filed over 200,000 new claims for benefits more by far than any other organization. Our disaster relief program granted more than $1.2 million to veterans impacted by hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, volcanoes, fire and fires in California, Georgia, Kansas, Texas, North Carolina and Puerto Rico. The 23,000 DAV and DAV auxiliary volunteers provided more than 1.3 million volunteer hours to hospitalized veterans in VA facilities, saving taxpayers more than $33.5 million. In 2018, DAV volunteer drivers spent over 1.4 million hours transporting veterans to 630,000 VA medical appointments. In less than five years, our national employment program has helped over 130,000 veterans and nurse spouses receive job offers. And DAV's Charitable Service Trust has awarded more than $112 million in grants to organizations supporting veterans over the past three decades. That's who the DAV is and that's what we do. Messers Chairman, we have a saying in Texas, never miss a good opportunity to shut up. So, let me conclude with the words of another fellow Texan, Roger Staubach, a Navy veteran who served in Vietnam and began his legendary career for the Dallas Cowboys 50 years ago. Roger said, all of us get knocked down, but it's resiliency that matters. All of us do well when things are going well, but the thing that distinguishes us is the ability to do well in times of great stress, urgency, and pressure. To me, those words describe perfectly the men and women I served with and those I've served since. They are the ones who inspire me. They are the reason that I and my DAV brothers and sisters in this room are asking you to help us fulfill the promises to the men and women who served. May God bless all of whom have stood, are standing, or will stand in defense of this great nation, and may God bless the United States of America. Thank you.