Thank you, Colonel Jardine, for your service. Thank you for joining us today.
Mr. Schippers, congratulations on your new position.
I'd like to address a couple of things that were said earlier on. I felt that earlier in the questioning, we were failing to recognize that the ombud report is an independent report. You're actually providing a report card concerning how well Veterans Affairs is performing.
I felt that there were maybe some comments made earlier on that suggested you were there to direct Veterans Affairs, when actually you're there highlighting some of the issues. I know you could expand on that relationship a bit.
Could you please expand, then, on your relationship with Veterans Affairs, on some of the recommendations you bring forward, and on how well they respond to those?