Veterans Affairs committee  I can take that. In terms of unemployment services, the Department of Veterans Affairs works primarily with veterans with disabilities to help them bridge the gap both in education and in employment skills and seeking-employment skills. We also have in the Veterans Benefits Admi

Veterans Affairs committee  For the VBA benefits, if the veteran has a disability they can access it up to 12 years from when they exit the military, but that can even be extended to longer if their disabilities are severe. For the Department of Labor programs, as long as they are a veteran, they continue t

Veterans Affairs committee  They would be eligible if they served. Able-bodied veterans who do not have a disability who served post-9/11 are eligible for the education benefit if they choose to pursue education. If they are only in need of employment services, they would not be eligible under the VBA benef

Veterans Affairs committee  For an admitting service member, it's 20% or higher. For an individual who is already a veteran, it is 10% or higher. That's the basic eligibility, and then there are requirements in addition if they have an employment handicap.

Veterans Affairs committee  Are you referring to public sector employment and employing the veterans in the federal government?

Veterans Affairs committee  Yes, they receive priority points. Veterans with service-connected disabilities of 30% or higher get the maximum points in the hiring process, which I believe is 10 points. Veterans who meet other criteria are eligible for up to 5 points. So we do give hiring preference to vetera

Veterans Affairs committee  We do, and I believe, Susan, we've had some statistics for the VA.

Veterans Affairs committee  So the secretary of the VA has a goal of 40%. Then within each business line we keep metrics as well, and we have initiatives in place to hire more veterans and veterans with disabilities.

Veterans Affairs committee  There is a priority scale, and I'm not so familiar with that. For spouses or dependants of veterans who died as a result of a service-connected disability or who are permanently and totally disabled...there is a priority for hiring dependants.

Veterans Affairs committee  In rehabilitation, I would say the focus is on faster services but also more extensive outreach to make sure that more veterans take advantage of the program.

Veterans Affairs committee  I think we all probably work on the homeless veterans issue, so I'll jump in there and address what I know. The Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs has stated that it's his goal to eliminate all veteran homelessness. I do not have the statistics, but I do know that

Veterans Affairs committee  The benefits records are still in the process of migrating to the paperless environment. We still have paper records in the benefits we have.

Veterans Affairs committee  Unfortunately, we did not bring budget information. We're not prepared to answer that. I apologize.

Veterans Affairs committee  I mentioned earlier there are two different budgetary categories: discretionary and mandatory. What you've just described falls into our mandatory expenditures. That is the same way we operate. We do not turn down a veteran based on budget. We budget according to our anticipated

Veterans Affairs committee  I think the climate currently is on enhancing benefits and ensuring that service members who are transitioning out are fully aware of their benefits. We're focusing a lot more on outreach and on ensuring that every veteran who is entitled to a benefit has access to that benefit.