legislative process. through principled compromise. it wasn't supposed to be about one party winning on their own. the times as you know in history where one party has been able to do this on your own. are very few. fdr dealing with the depression lbj 64 even he reached out to republicans. watch afterwards sunday night on the 2019 a budget request the veteran affairs secretary defended a trip to europe last year.

they told the house veterans affairs committee that the trip was appropriate. colorado republican responded saying it is not the objects that are not to good it is the facts that are not good. congressman kaufman spoke with reporters after he concluded. this entire event is two hours and 15 minutes. [inaudible conversations] the

committee will come to order. good morning and thank you for all to be here to discuss the president's fiscal year this fiscal year's budget request holds a $198.6 billion million dollars in va funding. that is a huge number. and even more striking when you compare the growth in the va's brother jim. since 2006 the va budget is up hundred and 75 percent.

and gdp grew only 40%. given the aggressive expansion of the eight resources i appreciate the secretary's testimony the departments core objectives that support those objectives. it may -- it must stay focused. they will take action on many important items in fiscal year 2019. some examples include implementation and the start of what will be a costly and lengthy record placement on the health records just to name a few. they cannot possibly recover all of these important issues and the coming weeks our subcommittees will hold committees on specific aspects. today we will discuss the proposed budget and help ensure that department provides better quality. one a priority we share with

secretary soak in. his is consolidating and improving community community care. about the many obstacles. to augment in house healthcare services. in one cohesive program. it is a key investment for the future that will make every dollar spent go further. another important priority is the establishment of a asset and infrastructure project to help the department repurpose for dispose of dollars to be spent where they make the most impact. many times modernizing the physical infrastructure to ensure the future success of the the a care system. i was pleased to see present trumps infrastructure plan mentioned these assets.

they are one of the largest property held entities. the average va building is approaching 60 years old and i know something about that number. and was designed to meet an older inpatient model of care. and many more are unutilized. we need a methodical view to adapt this physical footprint to meet the needs of the future. lastly but not least is the implementation of a modern commercial effort. it is very expensive. the contract has a price tag of about $10 million. that doesn't even include the cost of updating these. up until the day it can be turned off.

recently i'm not sure you can ever turn this off. we also had to resolve the hr capabilities it is un- thinkable that ba could potentially spend billions of dollars on a project that does not substantially increase the department's ability to share information or community providers. that is exactly what could happen. therefore i was relieved when the secretary paused the overlord process. of the operability and look forward to discussing the updates he can provide us for on that process. the department of veterans affairs has a secret mission to serve those who have served our country. to date they have entrusted with significant resources to carry out that mission. for the substantial resources that comes those dollars wisely. on that note before i yield.

i like to address a report. regarding the trip to europe last year. mister secretary like i was disappointed by the allegations in this support. they were briefed on this yesterday. i have gotten to know you well over the last year. and actually two years and i believe your intention to serve and care for our nation's veterans are well clear. you have that mission at heart. with that said as public officials we are all expected to be held to a higher standard and be good stewards of tax dollars. take every step and make any changes necessary. on behalf of the nation's veterans. to keep us from doing our work. i look forward to seeing your response. to the members here today i encourage you to remember the importance of the topic at

hand and they want to ask this secretary about the findings. keep in mind we are reviewing a budget request of nearly of nearly $200 million. we have a responsibility to taxpayers to review that proposal as well. today the secretary will testify that this is not business as usual va budget. how this fiscal year request will support at transformation to an excepted va -- va. we are all eager to receive the testimony. i will leave it at that for now. i will yield to the ranking member walsh. as we get started today i would just like to say a heart felt thoughts and in prayers interactions go out to our fellow citizens in the tragedy of florida that once again has

the phone them. again i appreciate chairman on this. i have gotten the opportunity to know you over many years. your intention to help veterans is clear. the trust you head on this committee is strong but we do need to address the allegations. to have an a when i hearing in here. you three and half days to respond. i would just say before moving on to the budget the allegations of a potential hacking of a be a computer system with ill intent is a serious matter i would ask you mister secretary we are prepared to as the department of justice to look into that if you think that's appropriate and we will follow up to see if that is the appropriate action to go on. the budget reflects the priorities many of these we

are going to agree upon. some of them are going to be contentious. we know those are there. i would address and i had been here for much of the increase in the budget i would note several things have happened. twelve things of war have happened. it was so underfunded that they were asked to leave the system. they came back on and 2009. account for every penny of that. understand where that's at. i think in the snapshot of things that baseline where we started in 2006 was grossly inadequate from where it was. there were things that needed to be corrected. is not the end money a dollar. several issues last week.

included a va budget gap raising them $4 billion. so $4 billion was to address the significant structure. this budget proposes spending almost half of the increase on community care instead of va hospitals. it was after we between fiscal year 17 and 19 request the community care spending well have a increase to 49%. this is compared to 9% increase in va funding care inside the four walls. members of this committee had raised concerns over privatization of the ba. va. these numbers lead credibility set your intent is not to privatize the va. huge increase is not enough.

it was meant to provide greater accountability. an issue that you had championed and how much care was been spent outside the va. the vacancies and another 4,000 vacancies. in the contracting positions had not been filled because of a unofficial hiring freeze. i want to know how they plan to fill the vacancies. additionally present trumps budget proposal is a pay freeze for federal employees in fiscal year 19. i want to know how that department expects to the president does not appear to value the work. commitment took care givers would be reflected in this budget. i didn't see it. you are willing to make astronomical request.

you are not willing to do the same for caregiving communities. you can honestly come from each side of the witness table in the chairman has been a champion on this. i'm doing the best from our site to be the same. caregivers deserve no less in our commitment from all veterans in all areas. the cost of this expansion is small compared to what veterans and their families have been forced to pay. i'm pleased to finally see a request. like to make sure that we are updated on it. here is one that is a touchy one. i noticed the budget for the ig would be scaled back 27 ftes in 2019. it would lead leave them far short of the level. when it meets increased demand for programs and services. it will prevent them from hiring investigators. the optics of cutting this is really bad. it's something i am a chairman of champion for years. i look forward to the testimony today. our common goals are absolutely clear our

commitment to the nation's veterans are clear. it's our job up here i think this committee is up to the task. i yield back. we are joined this morning by the honorable david sorkin. that is the honorable john rafalski. the department of veterans affairs, welcome. the chief financial officer. from the health administration for the benefit administration. the deputy under secretary. and richard chandler. deputy assistant. for the va office of information in technology. you are not recognized for as much time as you may consume. i want to thank you and ranking member walls i want to thank you for your leadership

and all of the members of the committee many of you have a chance to come over to my office and spend some time all of you are committed to the work we are doing here. we have the best committee and the veteran committees in the house in the senate. as we work well together in a bipartisan way. mister chairman and ranking member thank you for keeping the focus today on the important work that we have. it's a big deal in the resources rate for veterans i do regret the decisions ahead that's why all of you are here we care deeply about the subject and it's the reason why to keep the attention focused on the important things that i've made the decision to reimburse the treasury to follow the ig recommendations and i'm

committed to doing what we have to do to focus on veterans and make this better. today is about president trumps 200019 budget and the 200020 appropriations budget. it's a very strong budget. it reflects the president's commitment to veterans and their families it provides the resources to continue monitoring is asia and to respond to the changing needs with increasing investments. greater access in modernizing the infrastructure in the written statement that i prepared. i had detailed how we had had planned to invest these funds by targeting certain areas. 2019 budget request. 196billion for the department that's 89,488.9 billion and discretionary funding which includes medical care can the

discretionary budget represents an increase of $6.8 billion or 8.3% this reflects an additional $2.4 billion in discretionary funding that's now available as a result of the legislation to raise discretionary spending caps. the recent deal. they are important to fully fund the community care and the choice programs. although we are talking about fiscal 200019 today i would ask for your support in securing a full appropriation for the va in 2018. they rely on a second the budget also sees the opportunity to expand assets which are focused on the five priorities that i had outlined providing veterans with greater choice, monitor and eyes in the systems. focusing on resources improving timeless -- timeliness and services.

suicide is my top clinical priority. the budget includes $8.6 billion. an increase of $468 million. 5% increase they also enable the hundred 602000 more outpatient mental health visits. and directs the hundred $90 million for suicide prevention outreach. it enables us to provide emergent mental health services they are other than honorable conditions. to effectively impact the july and ninth executive order that supports transitioning military members during the first critical year as veterans. one of the fastest growing populations by adding 29 million an increase of nearly 6% over 200018. the budget provides a $1.1 million for funding as well. i am proud that the request

for infrastructure as a largest in the last five years that will allow us to address the renovation. that you mentioned. in it this budget also allows us to innovate operationally and increases that above the budget of last year to enhance veteran access and improve the veteran experience. another major project made possible by this budget is a financial management business transformation. replacing the old financial systems and providing us with the monitored innovative solution. the implementations of the health record as we mention so that we can coordinate care for veterans who have received care not only from va but also the department of defense in the community partners. the budget includes

$1.2 billion to advance the implementation of this lifetime health record. it also makes important investments in benefit services. we will hire an additional 605 personnel for the appeals management office in increase of 40% to implement reforms and also hire an additional 225 to ensure protection of our most vulnerable population. this budget reflects the efforts intended to do what's right for the veterans and does not is not and was simply asking for more money is our belief by focusing on the well-being and the enhanced functioning of veterans and the stop and wisely use taxpayer resources. it says significantly reduce the impact.

to increase your need for compensation. more importantly veterans and their families deserve access choice in control over their healthcare. they are working the veterans and in community providers and va employees. the court needed access in rewarding experiences and veteran care. it will allow us to simplify eligibility requirements and build a high-performing network to implement new care coordination. a secretary at my job is to build a modern va for a changing world. my job is to ensure that the benefits in their care and policies are stronger in the future. it supports the mission of va

to our nation's veterans. i look forward to working with you and the committee on doing what's right for veterans. i look forward to your questions thank you dr. shelton. i will start by saying we are going to continue that with a roundtable. i would like to make it by camera. so that we can get both the senators and us all and room together. i thought it was a great start the other day. i just see a pathway forward where we can do this right and get this done hopefully this year it would be my goal on choice i sent all of you. i still read the medical journal. there is a great article there on ensuring timely access to quality care i would encourage all of you. it's a just a two-page read. and also mister secretary you mentioned yesterday we talked about this. in the va most people don't

realize how extensive the va is. and all of the facets of medical care that the va does. the benefit process which we know has been slow down a little bit. i'm concerned that hiring people who don't have the skill to do it will actually slow the process down. you get someone that is a really good claims adjudicator. and you might be able to get it out there desk in a very timely fashion. someone what brand it would take it into the appeals process. i would encourage you to make sure that those 605 people are thoroughly vetted and trained before they are turned loose on a single claim. information technology these are all in a of themselves huge projects but the one umbrella of the va and i do want to give in my short. of time a shout out to the cemeteries one thing that they

do in this country is i have a national cemetery within a mile and a half of where i live. it is a park like setting. i want to thank you all every cemetery that i had visited have been immaculate and will care ford i want to thank you for that. in construction. we know the va is in the process of modernizing. 6,000 plus buildings that you all run. so getting that footprint right is a huge project that we have. i'm the start out you ask us to have a choice of program put together a little sooner than we have. but assuming that all committee care is enacted next month. how much more funding for the existing choice program in the not a vm daycare program it

would be necessary before we implement the consolidation. all of this funding has provided as you know the president's budget as proposed that would be a 9% increase in funding the situation that we had right now is without new legislation we had funded the choice program through the end of this may. it puts more money into the 200018 budget but we do believe the legislation is important so that we can collapses into a singular program and that's can be a better use of the money and make it utter for veterans.

it was about a year process to do this. two transition to a new system to integrate all of the programs together about 36% of the health care is provided in the community. when i arrived at ba in july of 2015 it was about 22% now it's to 36%. you announced your healthcare record last june. and recently we posit that contracting office. what well they look like in a couple of years. in my time is about expired. i think this is a huge decision. no one has ever implement it a

change this big. we are taking it very seriously. with the big it projects. we have to really make sure that we've got this one right. we will clearly first of all. everything thinks they have a electronic health record today. it is proposed to be the same system. we will have an inter- system. the reason i pause was because i want to make sure that those 36% that are getting care in the community we can actually understand what care they've got and make sure that we are doing the right job for veterans. we have to make sure that we can interrupt and be interruptible.

that is a challenge that frankly the american healthcare system has not figured out yet. we think they can help lead this for the whole country. thank you mister secretary and there is a lot of issues that and we will dig down into deep once. the big question we had is striking that balance between the care and the research in the va versus the community care. it has always been there. trying to streamline it under choice and trying to respond to some of the issues that arose --dash -- arose several years ago. do you have enough money to make it until may in the choice program. we are tracking this on a weekly basis.

you authorized we are okay until the end of may. the latter. we are putting the veterans needs first. i don't think that's exactly right. it certainly makes sense that there has been some confusion about tracking that money. i think you are talking about 2019. where it is most needed. what i would point to is the major and minor construction

request is a largest in five years we also as i looked to the non- recurring maintenance for the last two years it is a substantial. i think when we look at the absolute need and i'm not discounting the agent facilities. we can better use that funding frankly in community care were talking about the $20 billion in backlog and backlog of how we had attempted to handle that i turned on my morning news one day had issued an executive order on mental health care. an ash issue that i had been that's $500 million. where is that coming from we were able to get that once the deal was reached we were given an additional $500 million to do be able to support the executive order.

we made the decision as you know the focus was on suicide and we did not worry about the money. we are that it was done thoroughly and appropriately. i am sure they are busy. our phone number is down here. we were under the assumption that all of the research shows is far more successful than mental health care. the probably the discussion for them to have. now what i'm seen as request for fiscal year 2020 is based on the baseline. it will start increasing 50% in the community. i don't think so. i think we have seen a significant increase as we have begun to address the access crisis.

they're getting veterans out to be seen. i think that's what we all agree upon. we had reached essentially a much slower growth rate of that. but we are doing what you said. we are making sure that the veterans are being cared for appropriately and then we let the money and then we let the money. that they were complex. and finally now three years later their understanding how to use it and that is what we saw such a big growth. the choice is not being given as the va that's funding they are not going to get the eight v-8 because there's no one to see in the va so now the alternative is that we are going to care the community.

we will continue to shift. we've never been against trying to strike this balance but when we appropriate for billion. and a big chunk is going out. we have it shifting money out after we haven't seen full implementation it was passed and signed into law and now we have an executive order on a saturday morning that none of us know about. i think it's becoming more and more difficult for you to say i'm not supporting that. i say that non- pejoratively. in many cases it is the best way to get care. but not in the bulk of it. and not what we are asking on the research. this budget is can continue that trend without the input and the knowledge. and i think that is a wrong approach because it veterans themselves have made it very clear they wanted not fully funded ba. an announcement john just told me our caregiver roundtables

can be march the sixth. mister secretary i'm looking at your construction budget you say $1.1 billion in major construction and minor construction. for the infrastructure projects. the last four hospitals the va managed each were at least a hundred million dollars over budget. years behind schedule. the recent worst example being in my congressional district. one of the efforts that i lead in the congress was to strip the va of their construction management authority for building major construction projects i think that number

is way too high and it's obviously going to go way down. the same people that had that single prints on the four construction projects that were years behind schedule. in the department of an veterans affairs. it is unchanged. the people that have their fingerprints over this stuff. are still the same people there i want to encourage it without legislation and if it requires that we need to move it forward that you need to find these people another job ultimately somewhere outside the federal government and you need to shift that responsibility as we did in my hospital in my district to the army corps of engineers to some third-party the waste and

abuse is just incredible congressman you had been very vocal on that. there is no excuse for these past projects and we cannot continue to do business as usual the army corps everyone every one of our major construction projects. i think we need to do a different way in the future the private sector helps us build. that's why we are excited about the project in omaha nebraska that we will do it groundbreaking on. a different model of constructing the facilities. 400million of the major construction will be for seismic improvements nor those for a long time.

in terms of reorganizing we are committed to doing that. we cannot continue to do it the same way we are going to be reorganizing our whole internal approach and logistics. in that job was being recruited for we think you are pushing us in the right direction in terms of disability. our growth in this budget the va budget from 2016 -- 2006 is increasing by hundred 75 percent. the federal budget has increased by 52% during that same time we cannot continue

and think that the va is a substitutable structure. we know it needs to be. we have got to look at things differently. we want our benefits to focus on getting them back to independence and well-being. in all of our efforts should be to help restore the quality of life. we want to change the focus of our program to make sure were doing it. the last point i know this is not about the ig investigation you issued a memorandum prior to your trip last summer and i will quote from the ig report instructed staff that before approving any employee travel they must determine whether

you think your trip last summer met that criteria. i believe that this was essential travel. this was the five eyes conference. we had have this conference for 43 straight years. it has been attended by every fee a secretary if the united states is the largest of those military forces and they do not go to talk about veterans health issues and was on veterans mental health. i planned on going to it for a year and half. because we play in the things ahead of time. i do recognize the optics of this. i accept responsibility for that. i do believe it's important the united states it's not the

top six that are not good it's the facts. mister secretary. regarding the ig report that was written use. it is a significant breach of the trust we place. i am frustrated of the mismanagement has interfered with our mission of doing the more sustainable ba. now it's vital that you work to restore the trust of the american people in our veterans. so we can get back to the critical work of caring for those who serve. and i too with the chairman and the ranking member have gotten to know you and know your dedication to the mission of this department. i want to ask quickly a few questions how does that budget

address over 30,000 vacancies administrator staff. specifically logistics. there is no hiring freeze. do you support the proposal to freeze federal employee pay in fiscal year 19. i'm in a take the leadership be across the administration i think it's essential for us to get the right people in va that we have competitive salaries we are to use the market assessments that we have particularly using title 38 to make sure that our salaries are competitive. i gather there would be some concern over a hiring freeze.

how would it reflect recruitment. we are competing particularly in healthcare but in all aspects to get the very best employees and we know where we don't have competitive salaries that are vacancies stay open on the benefits and salaries. with regard to the hiring freeze would you be willing to ask president for a waiver if you felt the needs of the va were affected. i would want to make sure that we are maximizing our authorities under title 38 and 35 if we got to the point where we are not able to recruit the people that our veterans deserve to have caring for them when i recently met with management.

because pay was too low. now ascii seen staff may not be the most glamorous position. you know the many cases. specially trained. .. .. i think you're saying this. it is not the same as cleaning and office building. making sure people understand the type of microorganisms that live in hospitals and the reason why you have to clean these environments is lifesaving. and so, we are working to change the job specifications. so that we can be ahead of that. but we have a big problem

hiring enough environmental workers right now. so we have to change that to request more than that exacerbate this problem and endangered patient safety? >> if we did not change the grade of that position, that with. yes. >> what resources you need to ensure that these viable positions are filled? >> we need to be more nimble about how we grade these positions and how we change as essentially the outside world changes. and we need to make our hiring practices easier to be able to get the right people on board. and this is the transformation. >> we have heard reports that human resources at local facilities were directed by va central office. to not have sent ã >> if that is true let me make it clear that it should not be. we want all facilities to do the market surveys. they need to be competitive. we had to fill these vacancies.

there is no hiring freeze. our people who work in our facilities are our most valuable assets. we have to make sure that we have the right people serving veterans.>> mr. kevin my time is up can i ask him a question? yes. class -- vacancies and staff and leadership positions often affect patient care. how does this address vacancies for this personnel? >> this fully funds our needs. people should be filling those positions. and i think that you are right. in the case of the d.c. va were understaffed. we had to bring in a large number of people in procurement. human resources should not be under resourced that than the rest of the organization does not work. >> thank you. >> the ranking member and i were talking.

i think part of the problem is not va, it is countrywide. we have at home, our hospital home suffering a terrible time filling nursing positions and other positions. it is not just hospitals. businesses in general. the jobs are out there if we can find trained people. you are recognized for five minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. secretary, we, there are concerns that now as a new appeals process goes into place, the va will prioritize and fill oracle after the new system that the newly filed appeals and then kind of walk away from the old legacy appeals. i know in the presidents budget, the request for additional 605 full-time equivalent dedicated to being appeals. how many of those ftes will it va dedicate to processing legacy appeals?

>> is a great question. do you want to take that? jamie is from vba. >> the first thing we are doing to just legacy appeals is where giving the opportunity to opt in to the new appeal process as we speak. what we have done as we have undertaken a process where we have gone to the appellant that had the longest appeals and said, you have the first opportunity to opt in. and we are going along several thousand a week. sending letters to them and the powers of attorney and telling them not to have the opportunity. >> but that is not my question. my question is, of the 605, how many are now going to be dedicated to clearing up the old backlog? >> are they specifically going to be that or will just be across-the-board work? oh the appeals personnel will

be working appeals here will have roughly 2005 i believe is the number of appellants. >> he is not talking about appeals. segmental legacy. so, they are making progress. i do not think any of those are going to the legacy claims but what they have done is they've implemented something called a new type of claim drc , a drc claim and they are making great progress. >> i so concerned about this. this is across-the-board as we work through the committee. this should concern that we have is the legacy appeals, we are trying to catch up on. if you're asking for 605 more employees. we've got to speed the process up. is that going to speed the process up to answer these appeals and get them taken care of? >> absolutely, it will speed the process up. if you will, we have more fte

to work appeals. and we will do a blended approach to working appeals. the legacy appeals and the new appeals. >> i think it is a concern that our committee that it is one thing to panel the new ones. but these people have been waiting a long time folks. and the concern that we see out there and the weight on their family trying to get an answer, the reason for changing was to try to straighten it out. my hope is that they are aggressive. >> absolutely! i indicated earlier we are giving opportunity to opt in to the new process. those of the moon waiting the longest in the appeals line, if you will. >> mr. secretary, using you not think any logo to the -- >> the 605 are, i think as jamie said, are going to be focused specifically on

addressing the appeals. not on claims. >> okay, yes. i want to go to another quick question because you know, the problems we have had in my district. right now, the presidents budget is requesting 172 million for the office of inspector general. to strengthen accountability. i have two questions. was this level of funding sufficient to properly inspect and keep up with the problems in the va? and second, do you need new authority to establish clear-cut qualifications for physicians like hr? >> on the inspector general, my understanding -- john, i will ask you to confirm this. va increased levels last year. and this allows them to

continue with a raised last year. is that correct? >> i think what happened is they used, the under executing the program previously. had some carryover funding so they hired people above the baseline funding level. and so, it is the same infinite that it was less than what they had hired above. they requested an increase and did receive an increase. i would say i would support a strong idea. i worked in the financial realm. we need to look at -- you cannot just have self-determined needs has to be validated. >> i think if you look at the line actually decreased. the total budget, fte. >> i just described how it occurred. they hired above the baseline funding with carryover funds. then they hired more than they had money for in one year. and they requested the

additional funding, they received some of it but still hired above with the funding level was. my point is that the actual needs should be validated. they can be more or less. >> thank you. my time is expired. >> thank you. you are recognized. >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. secretary, i wanted to focus a little bit on the open nominations. i think there is only a lack of consistent leadership within the va that i think is a barrier to many of the challenges of the va that they face. and at least the last i heard, there is 822 leadership positions in vhabeing filled in an interim or acting role. i know that we cannot have an undersecretary for health. we do not have a permanent one anyway undersecretary of health or undersecretary of benefits. what progress are we making in

finding candidates to fulfill longer-term leadership within the va? >> i appreciate that. i share the same concern. it is taking us to long to get these positions filled. the undersecretary for health, we had our third round of commissions. in other words, this is the third time we have had the commission interview candidates. that was on tuesday of this week. yesterday i was given three names. from the commission that completed their work. i'm in the process now of evaluating them. then we will make the three names, if they are embedded through to the president for a nomination. i am hopeful on that for the undersecretary for benefits, the commission did me. we did submit three names to the president and they are in the process now of vetting process candidates at the white house. the cio position in a similar way. where we have submitted some

names to the white house and they are bending them. this is a long process. it takes too long but i feel like we are making specific recommendations to be able to get these positions filled. >> are you waiting for these to get filled for those folks that are in the position to then hire and fill other important -- >> no, no. >> thank you. i share the concerns and the line of questionings that my colleague asked and to me, in terms of these many vacancies throughout the va, one of the -- at the heart of the issue is predominantly around lack of human resource personnel and i just need to hear from you, a commitment that you have a laser sharp focus on filling these positions so that they can roll up their sleeves and

get down to work to actually fill these other very critical positions across the country. >> i agree. i would be concerned if anybody out there believes that there is a freeze or any desire not to completely staff the human resources office. i agree with both of you. this is a critical area to make sure that we are fully staffed. >> i know within my area and beyond that it is the primary issue. at least when i asked the questions it is because human resources has been able to fulfill their responsibility in a timely basis. i wanted to ask in terms of the presidents executive order, on mental health in the community, what is the implementation of that look like? >> we are planning on

presenting a detailed plan back to the president march 9. i will be 60 days after the president issued executive order. what that looks like is re-enrolling the servicemembers before they leave on the last day of service so they do not have to wonder how they get access to benefits. they really have them right there. offering an initial, what we will call a introduction to the benefits and services that every servicemember would have so that they understand that asking for help and getting the type of services that are at the va is available to them. we plan to use peer counselors. because we feel that is one of the strongest ways to help people understand what they are going through and how they might get help. and providing expedited accents

-- access to those in need at the right time to request when the plan is complete you will presented to the president. we also presented to the committee? >> absolutely. >> thank you. i yield back. >> thank you. >> we will stick with five minutes.mr. secretary, in the idea of flexibility and being able to make decisions that make sense and we take a look at our unused or underutilized assets and i think there is 131 vacant or mostly vacant buildings. that have been repurposed or disposed of and i'm wondering how much revenue we gain from that or did it cost us more to get rid of them in the short term but may be saved in the long term? >> i think you're correct. part of the reason these buildings remain standing and

vacant become problems is because it sometimes takes capital to knock them down and clear the site. you got. the recurring savings from the 131 buildings is about $7 million a year. in some cases, we have had to invest some money to be able to remove those facilities or get rid of them. it is overall a savings. the infrastructure that is the president has just introduced when they talked about that they will allow us to use the saving work selves buildings,. four. >> that leads to my next question. you are tracking the particular amount of money. if you will. and it is going strictly to new infrastructure, modernization, what is the plan?

>> currently today, if we as a property the money gets returned to the us treasury. they're not able to reinvest that. the infrastructure bill will change that. so, that is why we are very supportive of that. but we do save of the recurring savings, and maintenance. so we don't keep the buildings, we don't have to repair them if we get rid of that. that remains in our general, with all our recurring maintenance budget. >> do you think there will be away in some way, to get an idea of how it is converted directly or indirectly to care or services? >> yes. and what we would plan on doing is reinvesting that money back into probably, minor construction projects. >> thank you. another question i have is one of the things that budget talks about, foundational services.

and service connected disabilities but then the list includes geriatrics and primary care. all part of the mission. i guess i am trying to understand what we consider foundational services, if you can give me some clarity. >> yes. we spend a lot of time on this congressman. clearly, this is about making sure that those things that the va needs to do well it's, for the people served. we are doing this in a world-class way. there is no doubt like a spinal cord injury for posttraumatic stress and focusing on the suicide issue and other things, clearly our foundational services. but as part of the va definition of health, how we do this. we do believe a system of strong, primary care, geriatrics care as a primary

care specialty of older people. women's health, as well as mental health is the foundation of what a strong integrated system needs to have. you do not need to be doing everything. and we cannot do everything well. we have learned that in the past. but these services, every va facility needs to be focused on to do in a world-class way. >> transfer the clarity. i tend to agree because something that may be fairly service-connected, can't be treated as efficiently if you don't have proper primary care. that is what you are saying. rest. >> yes. >> i yield back. >> you are recognized. >> thank you for your focus on reducing veterans suicide. you mentioned this is your number one clinical priority for you are the first va secretary to my knowledge to make this such a high-profile issue. i'm convinced that as we

acknowledge a problem that we have and bite your estimate is 20 veterans a day every single day are taking their lives we know for those veterans that have honorable discharge hundreds of thousand euros veterans of other than honorable discharge. many of them have ptsd or traumatic brain injury or other conditions unique and caused by the service through art effectively denied access to be a healthcare. we have worked with others to try and expand access and thereby save more lives. in all possibly know there's a correlation between the number of mental health care providers and access to mental health care health and reducing veterans suicide. we went from 68 full-time mental health care staff and today we have 122. more veterans are getting care. they're waiting few days to wait to see a psychiatrist, psychologist or therapist. i want to thank you for

helping. to that point, if there are 30,000 authorized appropriated for unskilled clinical positions, how many of those 30,000 positions are psychologists and psychologists, therapists, neurologists, others that help with unique conditions connected to service the unique conditions that are too often connected to veterans suicide? >> last year we hired evan hundred and -- 763 psychiatrists. but it was and that being a net of 260. because some people end up finding a place to work and there is retirement. we have a need right now for at least 1000 new mental health professionals in this fiscal year. henry focused on trying to hiring them. the budget allows us with an increase of close to $500

million and mental health funding, to find for an additional 162,000 mental health visits all. when you look at how you have to step back is a thousand mental health professionals. >> how many of the 30,000 unskilled clinical positions are primary care providers? >> i do not have an exact number. but my guess is that we probably aren't, we say primary care providers i will talk about advanced practice nurses as well as family doctors and internists. >> let me do this. both answers are very important. and so i am going to hang out until the end of the hearing. i know that your team in your office is watching this. have them gave the number and i will wait. i want to see those. let's understand what the delta is and what we are all going to do to bridge the gap in the hiring and resources, prioritizing for those hires. do you think that a veterans

primary care provider should be in the va? >> i think that my preference would be that we have, since va uses a different model primary care, doesn't -- in the outpatient environment where i may primary care about in the private sector, patient sees this in about every 15 or 20 minutes. the va gives a longer period of more comprehensive evaluation. our definition includes hegel health integration, illicit military issues in a broader way. so i believe primary care providers need to have a military confidence. >> is that a yes? we want veterans? >> or you need to be trained well if they are in the private sector. quickly make the case i can get you to agree that if we make the va central to the veterans care, we understand they may

need to be referred out if there is not a capacity or specialization within a given va puberty? the va central that veterans care, the va provider will know the signs to look for for suicidal ideation. they have taken care of other veterans and service members that they will have a higher proficiency and a greater level of experience taking care of those veterans. i think the veterans will get better outcomes as a result. i'll just request that if it is not today, it sounds unclear. i think it needs to be va policy and a va priority. i would add that i think for those treatments that are unique to service in combat, posttraumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, amputations, that has to be within the ba. i would ask you to prioritize your hiring to ensure that care for the veteran is anchored

within the va. share some of the concerns that others have raised including veterans who come to our town halls. that there is a move to privatize care. i want that care center in the va. and so i will await the essence of the specific questions i asked him hiring. hopefully the stress. >> hope that you are right that there watching so we can do that for you. because i agree it is better to have good numbers. but what you just described is, if you did a much better than i did, so thank you. it is exactly our strategy around foundational services. the focus on the things that veterans really need is to be good at. absolutely, i agree with your description. >> time is expired. i would argue also that a va primary care physician who has never served would not be as well prepared as a veteran like myself who is a military dr. who retired from the military

would understand also. there are people on the outside who can provide the services. like myself and others who served in the military and certainly understand those needs. mr. higgins. you are recognized for five minutes. >> thank you. i thank you for your continued dedicated leadership. i will remind those present including the media, and my colleagues that the nation of american veterans, 242 years have fought to establish and maintain a nation of laws, a nation where man is considered innocent until proven guilty and i would hope that we are not sliding towards a nation of allegation and accusations. regarding extended care facilities. i've seen in the budget that

there is a 66.7 increase request for grants for state extended care facilities. and a zero percent request for grants for veterans cemeteries. there seems to be a disconnect there. concerned about our veterans, especially our aging veterans population. as we attempt to provide for these veterans who in some cases, certainly our vietnam veterans. did not return to open arms from a nation that they served at the time. these are the same veterans that are not cared for in the caregiver program. they are approaching their golden years, their last years on this earth. an extended care facility and long-term care facility, i would think that we would at least seek to provide for our aging veterans, end-of-life.

dignity where they can be revered and visited by family and their community where they live and i just see a disparity in budgets. when you adjust that? >> we did significantly increase the amount of funding available to the state homes. where 50 percent of the veterans are being cared for right now in the state homes. i met with all of those directors this week and they are extremely grateful for the support that we are providing for them to be able to do the work. because the number of veterans are aging of course is increasing.i think we have an increase of -- >> we do have a large increase in the fiscal year 19 budget to

address major construction and minor construction for national cemeteries. the grants program is a flat request with that program amount is adequate for funding, historically the grants on the list that do have the matching funds and assurances necessary to provide a grant awarded for the fiscal year. >> you for the funding that is in the fiscal year 19 budget request is sufficient for states to perform at that level? >> yes, sir. i do. >> an aging veteran, the next stop is the cemetery and it should be our goal as a nation to provide our veterans with end-of-life dignity and that would include appropriate services, military services, patriotic services and to be buried amongst their veteran brothers and sisters. >> yes, sir.

that is exactly the mission of the national met cemetery administration and we operate this network of 135 national cemeteries as well as 107 grants funded cemeteries that provided -- >> thank you. noninstitutional care settings are more cost-effective and institutional care settings. this budget allocates $556 million as a quote - continued investment and noninstitutional settings. how exactly with this budget invest in noninstitutional care settings? >> we are, as you know, i think it is exactly correct that we believe it is often better to allow people to remain in their home and look at alternatives. even things like adult daycare. which we want to make it easier for veterans to get access to.

but with the advances in technology, like telehealth remote monitoring, our aids in attendance and home care visit programs, we have a package of services that is now a priority focus for us to make sure we implement that. and who are supportive as i know you aren't in our last discussion about expanding caregivers to older veterans. we think that is an important piece of this as well. >> thank you. my time is expired. >> thank you gentlemen. you are recognized for five minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman. welcome mr. secretary. we are happy to have you with us and i appreciate your comments at the top. i think it's important to restore confidence in our executive officials and so i hope in the coming days you will be forthcoming with the american people. i want to return to the issue of coordination of care and

collaboration. we will be introducing a bipartisan bill today that is a pilot parted for integrating veterans care in our federally qualified health centers. and in my area will have rural northern part of the state, often the fqhc is the place that people can get access to care without traveling long distances. could you comment on that issue or other elaborative ventures that the va is getting into? >> well, thank you for introducing that. i am not sure people recognize around the country just how important these federally qualified healthcare centers are. they do amazing work for a very vulnerable population. i believe that as a large provider of federal healthcare services, that these organizations should look for the chance to collaborate more and to integrate in ways that

we really have not in the past. i think it's a pilot program that would be productive. such excellent. thank you and we look forward to working with your team on that as we go forward. i want to focus in on the leadership structure in the va here you know we have had issues in new hampshire around manchester, we have learned of some very serious concerns in massachusetts at the va hospital. and my biggest concern is i don't seem to -- stepping in when there are problems in the va hospitals. do you think we might come to a time where we need to change this organizational structure and particularly, with regard to hospital leadership and their report directly into your team as compared to one that is maybe not sufficiently

responsible. >> first of all, i appreciate and i appreciate you sharing his concerns as you have. you have been a very strong advocate for getting this issue right. this was introducing the concept over 15 years ago. yes, it is time to take a look at how modern healthcare system operates. and that is what we are doing in our modernization work. we have looked at large health systems that have multiple hospitals throughout large regions and how they are organized. and are looking at those best practices and seeing what we need to do. the basic strategy though is we have to give the people running our facilities, or medical center directors, more authority and accountability to be responsible for the decisions. we have to look at what the law is and how that modernizes. >> i appreciate that. and again look forward to working with your team on revealing that structure as it

particularly focusing on hospitals where this has not been any effective oversight structure. i appreciate that. in my last minute and 1/2, i would love to hear your thoughts on, it looks as though you've created a new account for the va modernizing the electronic health record system. i want to drill down a little bit. is this new account, will this include funding to support and maintain the current electronic health records during the modernization process or will these funds only be used on the adoption of the and implementation of the department of defense electronic health records that we are adopting? if you can walk us through how those two things will be funded at the same time. >> yes. it has to be both. this is going to come in order to implement new electronic medical records, we will have

to invest in the infrastructure of our connectivity, service to get ready to do that. we are going to have to undergo significant change management because when you implement the e hr, it is about technology but only little bit for pager business. we will take 130 different systems and we are going to really be creating a single instance. that is a major change. it should create great efficiencies, improvements and quality as well. and so, we are going to be focused on maintaining this because we have 130 transitions to happen. that is why we are a 10 year period of time, you will be running vista up until the very last instance is turned over. >> my time is up but i hope you will keep the committee informed of your timeline and your progress as you go

forward. >> yes. >> thank you and i yield back. >> thank you. just a comment and i think will get into this more as we go along. stressing for me when i was at fairchild.i'm not she will ever be as long as a current veteran -- when you get to the new system is fine with the old system you will never be able to turn it completely off for 50 years because of the last of us died in that system, there is no way to download all of that.it is so much information in the system that they cannot download all the information you have to have a way to look back to get information. i don't how complicated that will be but it is a major undertaking to do what they are doing. mr. banks, you are recognized. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you for being a secretary. i am enormously proud of what we have accomplished with this partnership with the administration and the president of the leadership, this committee over the past 14

months. we've done a lot of great work for veterans that we should be proud of. i appreciate the seriousness they taken the report and addressing it. and i look forward to continuing to see you do that. to dive a little deeper, to the question, i know you agree veterans deserve a scheduling system that gives them immediate access to care, short wait times, the ability to track and manage information and progress through the care continuum. i want to make sure that we passed budgets that the money we provide to the va is effectively utilized. which is the reason you are here today. we have seen this past year that with the electronic health records roll out, that there is trouble. seeing a delayed implementation even further. my question is with a readily available cut solution and appointment scheduling system, the program that can be deployed nationally in a two-year timeframe, what are your plans and timelines to be

more specific to utilize funding they receive for ip improvements to pay for a deployment not dependent on this installed -- roll out. >> the strategy that we are using now is to move towards off-the-shelf products. and there are plenty of good commercial systems that are out there. the mass schedule system is being implement in right now and promise ohio. and we look very much forward to seeing how that is working. that pilot is on track to be, do you remember the live date that will go in columbus? >> i think it is march. >> it should be in the next few months that this goes live and we are very much looking forward to see how that is working. we have some other products that are being tested in three

other sites. i think bedford is one of them. that we are very much looking forward to see how that is working as well. in the meantime we have rolled out right now, it has gone to 35,000 different veteran transactions. an internal system called veteran scheduling enhancement. i think our plan is to go towards a off-the-shelf product. >> thank you. please keep us posted. earlier this year on a different subject i was disconcerted when the va consider taking funds from homeless program case manager is and converted them into general-purpose funds. you and i and others in your team, i talked about this. i appreciate the motives and mind to provide flexibility to the directors but i do not believe it should come at the cost of assisting veterans most in need. i know you agree with that. especially because if less veterans find their footing into stable situations we will be spending more money and not saving money.

and for fiscal year 19 it appears to be eight intensities it is at this again once again by soliciting stakeholder input which is a healthy part of the process. stakeholder input remains opposed to this change as it was overwhelmingly for fiscal year 18, can you guarantee sit in the va will not go execute this change and most programs affecting fiscal year 19? >> the mistake that we made was letting anybody think that we are taking the foot off of the petal on ending veteran homelessness. we are not. we are laser focused on appeared we have money in the presidents budget friending veterans homelessness. what we are trying to do when you look at the data, as you know veterans homelessness went the wrong direction last year. it went up two percent. but there were five specific cities that led to the increase. two of them, seattle and los angeles, were by far, the overwhelming increase. we wanted to find a way to be able to use is 1.8 billion to

focus on whether veterans are having the most problems. we need stakeholder input. we need to do it thoughtfully before we make any changes. we do not want to have the unintended consequence of anything we are doing. we have not decided to do anything until we have a chance to sit down and review it with you. reviewed with stakeholders. make sure that decisions made would be good decisions. we are not going to do anything until it is a very thoughtful plan. but we do want to get the resources to where the veterans are almost. >> i appreciate that, i yield back. >> thank you. vice chair of the committee five minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you, mr. secretary for being here. and testifying. i have a few questions. the va fiscal year 2019 budget request is $8.6 billion for veterans for mental health

services. part of this funding is critical for a one year. following uniform service and transition to civilian life. my colleagues and i and the committee have had multiple hearings and roundtables. one just the other day on the transition assistance process. can you specifically tell me what the department is doing to assist in this transition in the upcoming year? >> yes. first thing that we are doing. we have taken a look at this tax program, this transition program and recognize that we could be doing a lot better. this is a shared responsibility with the department of defense. all veterans experience office has really looked at this and made a number of recreations but we are working through this to make that a better program. i think changes already took place and make this a better program. we need to pre-enroll all veterans in the benefits so they know that they have them when they leave instead of

wondering and going through a lengthy process after they leave. wondering how they get access to benefits. that is our biggest issue. to make sure people know the services are there for them. make it easy for them. essentially auto enrollment process. so that there is no work to be done. >> thank you. next question has to do with the blue water navy veterans be to be a budget 62.9 billion including disability compensation benefits programs for -- as you know thomas veterans such as blue water navy veterans are excluded from these benefits. you have said in the past that these veterans should not be waiting any longer. that is a quote. i want to know if the va has any plans to re-examine this in the upcoming year? if not, why not? ask congressman, the problem is

that there is not much to re-examine. there is not dated there that we can go back. i tried every which way to see if we could find ships and to microscopic analysis or new studies.there is not going to be new studies. this is about our obligation to those who have served. and to simply keep on passing the buck on this and not honoring this countries obligation to the veterans, i do think is morally the right thing to do. so i am committed to working with you and i know the chairman feels the same way. to try and find a way to honor our obligations to these veterans. and we are working now to have this discussions with the administration to work with congress. we need to find those offsets. we need to find a way to do this. i believe it is morally and ethically the right thing to do. there is not going to be scientific data unfortunately,

40 or 50 years later to be able to rely upon. >> so you would consider this a top priority? >> i think we have to do this. and i think we have to find the offsets to be able to go ahead and to resolve this issue. they waited too long. >> the chairman has found the offsets. i know he wants to proceed. hopefully we can get this done very soon. they cannot wait any longer. >> thank you. >> the question number three has to do with the -- fiscal year 2019 budget request 727 million for direct research. 14 percent increase over the fiscal year 2018 levels. one of my priorities in this committee is to examine efforts to improve research and treatment for veterans who may be experiencing negative health effects. due to toxic exposure such as

burn pits inhalation during military service. and it was a priority for a lot of members here on the committee. both on republican and democratic side. what is va doing to further this goal? >> i'm trying to say. i do not know the answer to that question. can we get back to you on that? we should. >> please do. >> thank you. >> at 20 seconds. i guess i will yield back. >> thank you. you are recognized. >> thank you, mr. chairman and thank you secretary for meeting with us yesterday. i think it's important that we keep open lines of communication. we are to talk about how we can better deliver care for veterans and their families. i know we have a shared goal. we in congress every responsibility to make sure the taxpayer funds are wisely

spent. and i do appreciate your willingness to speak with us on the report and we will deal with that at another time. i do want to associate myself with the remarks of the good gentlemen -- and bluewater veterans are very big issues in my district. have legislation on both of those bills and we're looking forward to passing that one other issue i want to flag is what we discussed at breakfast yesterday. really be thinking a little bit on the disability, ability issue. what can we do four more temporary disability status in order to enable our veterans? to get back in the economy and i think that is something i hope that we pursue and figure out a way to do that. i want to focus with our time

here. my former district minnesota, i would like to give my 30 seconds of my time. i want to change the appeals organization. and what we talked about over the last several months. looking at the appeals modernization enacted and ramp expands into new va regional offices, do you feel the proposed fiscal year 19 budget will appropriately handle the continued focus on completing pending legacy appeals? there are a lot of concerns on legacy appeals. >> yes, i do. i think that we are adding 605 ftes to the appeals process. we are hoping that in fiscal 19, where as much is 25 percent that are going into the process. the numbers are extraordinary. up to 680 veterans and have chosen the process

electrically. they have gotten an answer in 38 days versus over 1000 days in the judicial process. working with the vs owners and work with you and outreach efforts we hope to make people aware of this as an option. because we want them to get these resolved quickly. >> we are encouraged by their drive to reduce redundancy of self reporting income status. you know this is an issue. for pension benefits. as i understand income information will be provided by the social security administration, what systems will be in place to ensure that reporting errors are not taking place in that communication? >> jamie, do you know? on the reporting errors? >> i will have to get back to you on that. what checks and balances we have in place. >> okay. i would like to turn now to a follow-up on the caregivers hearing last week we propose

limiting an extension of the va program of comprehensive assistance for family caregivers is only those a phone to tier 3. the most severely ill or injured veterans. can you clarify, i have said that was some disagreement within the press and those in the room and understanding what you meant by that limitation. whether your recommendation is to maintain the current eligibility criteria for post-9/11 veterans and expand only to pre-9/11 and tier 3? or if the post expansion will be -- >> thank you. first of all, this is of course, your decision. i am giving you my advice on this in terms of using our resources most effectively. my recommendation would be that everyone who currently has the program should be grandfathered under the current rules. i do not think it is fair to award someone a support and then change the roles after you

started the process. for the 27,000 that are currently in the program, i would not recommend changing that. but going forward, if there is a decision to expand eligibility, i believe you should pick a standard that is used by other professional standards today. which would be, equivalent to a tier 3. >> thank you. i yield back. >> europe. >> thank you for being here. i not had to step out to a different event here in a while. i know that my colleague asked questions about the va facilities. in the reinvestment of the dollars you're getting from

closing or shutting down unused space. can you track trances on a short-term basis and then a long-term projection as to exactly how you are going to reinvest the dollars that you save from not maintaining a space open that is not being used? >> yes. we will be able to do that. currently today, when we dispose of a property property like whisper and more leads we dispose of a wholesale loss in katrina. we give that back. not to the va, we give that back to gsa for the general treasury. under the presidents infrastructure program he announced on monday, and there would be a proposal for the va that they could retain those proceeds if we were to get back property. and we would track that very

specifically. and they would be reinvested in infrastructure. >> if we looked at the inventory, if you will, of facilities whether they are not being used at all or whether they have just, you know they are being phased out because of new buildings. in a particular area. could we do a, if you will, a multiple listing? in real estate that has the va, if they hear what we have in the inventory across the country and here is what is for sale, if you will? >> yeah, i think that is a great way to do it. we have been handling them individually to local markets. >> the reason i asked the question because i have been involved for decades. i know sometimes people get scared you use the term but i have been on both sides of the equation. there will be arguing for them to stay open or for something to be repurposed. we've had some really

outstanding examples of how to do it over the course of the last 40 or 50 years. it takes an informed partnership between those trying to dispose of the facilities and those within a local community or whoever you might want to use that. i look forward to you continuing to developing that and also, providing that availability for those of us who want to see how it has gone. what does the market look like? a different subject, the -- in your pamphlet here we talk about this yesterday, the additional full-time equivalents to handle new tasks. bringing people up and online. is there an alternative? rather than just adding full-time people in a specific appeals process. another there is probably a

ramp we have a peak and if we do it right it will drop off. it is just the way it is. do we really need to add the full-time equivalents to the point -- will they be up to speed and what they are doing in time for that peak claimant or have we got things synced up? -- what we are doing is using a program where we recruit military members as they are transitioning from service to civilian life. and teaching them to be claims processors? what do we do when the claims has passed? what is their job after that? because we have a number of veterans that will be applying. and there will be a spike.

what do we do with the full-time equivalent after that peak has passed? >> is a great question. i would respond, we experience about 55 fte per pay period. i think natural attrition will take care of the issue of the additional ftes in the book. >> thank you.we, as a committee, do not always -- as a committee to work together with all of you, we hold each other accountable up here. we know that you do the same to figure the question i will have is how do we do it together? i yield back. >> thank you. you are recognized for five minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman and ranking member for holding his hearing today. thank you, secretary and your team for coming in early to answer our questions. it is always a pleasure to see you. thank you again for yesterday's meeting. it was very useful.

my home district consistently boasts one of the highest rates of recruitment in the nation. of course i never get tired of emphasizing this fact. i'm extremely proud of and thankful for our veterans. unfortunately, this increased enlistment means the disproportionate amount of our community suffers from ptsd and mental health issues associated with service. i have friends, neighbors and close relatives to bear these invisible wounds. and while it would be a great dishonor to characterize these soldiers as victims, it would be an even greater dishonor to lapse in our obligation to provide them with the care required for their complex and often misunderstood mental health issues. mr. secretary, several different charts and figures have come across my desk and i hope you can help me interpret some contradicting figures. could you please clarify whether or not the budget proposal requests more or less

funding for medical research compared to the 2018 request and how much research funding to help to dedicate to mental health research? >> yeah, our research request in the 19 budget is $727 million. that is an increase from the fiscal year 18. in addition to that, we have about 1.1 billion of external grants. some of the government grants and some of the commercial grants. together is about a $2 billion budget for research. mental health is one of the key areas of focus. this is critical. i do not have the exact number, do you have them number for mental health and research? >> not for mental health, sir. the actual increase of appropriation was 640 million

in 2018 -- and $87 million increase. we can get the number for mental health. >> my staff and i have had meetings with companies and groups who are interested in working with the va to do ptsd and mental health research. >> you have dedicated all for the help of veterans. we need to be working with the private sector.

been working particularly with ptsd and mental health issues. >> think you, you'l i yield bac. >> i want to focus on the stewardship aspect of research, 12 million additional funds to deliver for our veterans on behalf of the taxpayers. as somebody who helped run a government agency another challenges you face it will help manage your assets. how many people were this $12 million translate into a smart new people?

>> i believe our budget prior to this was an incremental 6200 people but it may be more. >> a 6200 additional employees. >> is that your biggest budget expense? >> sure. >> i must say that my initial introduction was frustrating with respect to managing respect to achieving the desired outcomes. it's a challenge in any organization. but especially bureaucracy. unions, how do you do this?

under the leadership of chairman role we give you the accountability, tools and some accountability. how is that going? are you exercise it? do you need more? >> thank you for giving us that authority. since we opened up the office 1300 employees have been removed in the last eight months. we don't have a target or goal, it's not our objective to reach that. our objective is to make sure that we are doing the job they were doing and everyone understands who serves veterans that were doing that job. were focused on that and. >> can you tell the difference?

can you feel a shift in the culture with this new set of tools? >> i think one of the things you learn when you run your organizations is there's a different culture. there's a lot of work to do and there's some they clearly have used this to improve and that is not yet noticeable. >> i'm so grateful for the ranking member for subcommittee and i'm delighted we've been able to achieve a lot of bipartisan work, probably the most productive committee in congress, 35 bills passing the house and 12 have become law. we have a great team including the president pushing on it.

this is the biggest point of frustration for me. my first turn we got a report from the gal that there were hundreds of union members who spent their time on union activity. the tracking was terrible and we have been asking for the 70s. but the people find it outrageous that they would spend a hundred% of their time. i have a bill, what can we do to help you? is that a challenge? after this answer you back. >> i come from the private

sector, run institutions that i have not seen that before. the time that is spent on union time is usually supported by the union dues on the union itself. i do believe our unions are productive partners bias. and i appreciate the collaboration but i do believe that the time that the government pays for its employee should be to serve veterans. this is non- antiunion position. i believe very strongly that we need to look at alternative wa ways. >> thank you for yielding.

>> i'm in a change focus a little bit. you requested a major increase of $1.13 billion. the largest element is a seismic correction fun. your suggested appropriation language stipulates the fun be available regardless of the estimated cost of the project. what is that mean exactly? >> i think you're right in answering that question. 400 million should be 400 million. >> i'm reading that and i'm thinking/fun. in the past the gal has reached concerns about the gaming of the capital projects ranking system by improperly quoting our make

sure these are truly not an earthquake sounds. >> i familiar with the ratings of the skit process? when i took a look at this last time i was concerned about the same thing. i was afraid that if you are not in that part of the country you are not can it get any of the funding. we change the prioritization of the seismic. this is the first time were able to tour the seismic issues that are decades-old. in terms of these projects, i know the specific projects i

believe they -- >> we have the appendix that lists some of these in arkansas and illinois, south carolina, not famous earthquake sounds, 44 states are involved in the shopping list of a correction and puerto rico no doubt needs -- pillow $7.6 billion seismic correction. these are truly for seismic projects. i'm concerned about that. >> i think you free several good issues our leave you with a

thought, even though this is a quote out of -- even though some facility level planning didn't think they would score higher those who oversee this get process of the project narratives link back such a seismic corrections but they wouldn't get priority that they sometimes wouldn't. it's a narrative that causes concern. >> heard mention on the seismic issues about 200 years ago there is an earthquake in the western sea area along with where the mississippi river backed up, church bells rang in

philadelphia so there needs that you may not be aware of. i recognize you for five minutes i know the chairman put this graph out here earlier and it's important for people to see, where in the business of caring for veterans. if i'm not mistaken when we have the wwii folks in the korea folks now moving on, the population of our veterans responsible were caring for strapping. the same time a lot of art young men and women coming back are

gravely injured i need to be cared for. what i'm looking at is a budget that has grown, greatly outpacing the growth of our economy. when you have an economy that is growing and the department is growing at six-time sex, it's not sustainable. i would also like to remind you that our federal government is horribly in-depth. horribly in debt. $21 trillion to be exact. with interest rates rising in the economy picking up the debt

service is just gonna continue to go up. it's a budget that has gone up dramatically and greatly outpacing the growth of the federal government and the economy is clearly not sustainable. could you please tell us whether the two or three top drivers that is causing this to happen if i have to come back to us every year asking for another $12 billion. >> i shared your exact concern. i think it's why we produce that crap. this will eventually lead to us not being able to support our countries veterans should be a

great error and lapse of our responsibility. we have to do things differently. we are dealing with problems that have been neglected in the virginia for decades. putting in a financial management system that runs on cobalt, hundred and 50 different versions doing without hiring practices and not having the right accountability in the past. we are doing everything we can to change that to bring us modernize systems and decrease the rate of increase in my team knows that's the goal. we cannot have another one like that for five or ten years. the driver side vietnam veterans, getting older and requiring more services he

talked about people who return with significant needs. mandatory benefits rising at huge growth rates in our veterans have earned those. we need to make sure they're designed. >> the goal is when a veteran comes to us and us to get them better you talk to us about sleep apnea versus somebody who comes in as an amputee. >> what we're doing is that we started the process six or seven years ago to look at our body systems. were now looking at sleep apnea, that has a connection with it.

fortunately, medical advancements that helped us treat this condition, we need to diagnose it properly then people can go on in a normal and healthy functioning way. once we get people back and being able to function in the way they should with adequate treatment there should be a recognition and that. >> will work with her vss in this process and we believe a good system needs to evolve the science changes. >> could i please just have a few more seconds? >> thank you.

you will zero out virginia's liability to the judgment fund? >> have a no further members here, i will yield for closing statements. >> thank you ranking member. i had asked you for outstanding mental health hires and vacancies in your staff got back to us. i also asked for outstanding primary care hires and they give us a number in the hundreds. apart from mental health, how many outstanding primary care providers there are? were getting lots of slick you

get that to me and the members of the committee? >> seem small. i think inadvertently my colleague completed an official time in activity. if someone is spending their time on official time that's one thing. that is that union time. and for the record advocated sure that you intended to say official time that union time. >> thank you for clarifying th that. >> thank you for being here. i want to be clear what distinguishes this committee. our ability to focus together on issues that matter. i'm glad there is press your

today no one is that taking this seriously. it appears to have been, conduct. grateful for you and the decision to move on. i would note have chosen collectively to not allow partisan majors. your predecessor sat there because he was a democratic president's nominee. i hope everyone here understan understands. i'd also like to clarify. i have carried the blue water navy bill. it's been a passion. i was there with parkinson's.

my disagreement is not about getting it done is that we should not be asking one group of wounded warriors to pay for another. i asked for top 1% off the tax bracket. if you had a deferment you can help pay for the ones that were there. the chairman's commitment to fixing blue water navy is second to no one. he's done yeoman's work of doing the sinks. i hope in the perspective of where you're at work committed to getting this right. i understand the commitment. i think there's valid arguments that they're not coming from a position that we don't care about it. the accountability act 30% of the people who move come from food service and laundry.

maybe were going perhaps training were quick to move people before we get them in. i believe strongly in accountability. my intention is not to get rid of housekeepers they can be done with training and hr. i understand there some tensions around this. the constitution is very clear on this. and it's to find it out with the input of folks have to deliver it. there's a lot of commonality in getting there. once again i don't disagree, i would argue that the virginia

and the clinical folks are doing a fantastic job that we have added two and a half veterans. fear not veterans are going through the rabbit with the python thing. there's other things that work. and, to go to war there's a cost. it does not end with the last bullet. we been at war for several years and will have to budget for that. this is one that i do not see it's an option or discretion of funding. the mandatory requirement and will have to budget accordingly. i thank you for your leadership and for being here i yell back. >> i was sitting here thinking that as we close that for the

folks that are watching this one of the services they provide. i've been cured nine going on ten years. it provides quality healthcare whether it's inside or outside the virginia it provides memorial benefits. over 100 30,000 veterans per year are now past and those benefits and their families. pension benefits, hundreds of thousands get pension and requirements. home loans. over 3 million get home loans from the virginia. compensation benefits four to 5 million get educational

benefits, and the veterans are able now in half separate from the military use that g.i. bill benefits. one is sitting in that chair. i want to thank the president for his focus on the virginia. i remember sitting up at night late in the evening when he gave an acceptance speech. one of the first things out of his mouth was his commitment to the nation's veterans. every time he does is he gives looks at our nation's hero. in a bipartisan way will be huge amount of work to do. we have a transition of the choice program. we have the asset review and to

go down into a more efficient care for veterans live. we have appeals reform that we are just now talking about. one of my passions that i want to get off the seventh of march we have our first roundtable on that. those are really quality places that veterans can go. you mentioned suicide prevention. we have enormous work to do on that. it's a huge investment for reducing the suicide we have in this country. and lastly, i know privatization

comes up and it's hard to do that with a straight face. in the nine years i've been here there are 250,000 employees at the virginia. i think you just said there's now 373,000. that looks like a commitment that they're making to the veterans. when i go home i live in a very conservative area of the country. i don't think a person on here does. i think we can go here proudly in this entire congress lastly as we close, one of those i want to get out his transition to choice. we have until the end of may and

then it was appropriated had we get from 30 september until march of 19? your team will have the time to get this new charge fully implemented. all members have five legislative days for their remarks. this hearing is adjourned. [inaudible] [inaudible]

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presidential candidate mitt romney will be speaking at the republican candidacy in utah. he's running for the senate seat. you can watch live coverage of the speech around 10:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. marks from presidential candidate jeb bush on school of choice in education savings account. he recalled his past efforts as florida governor which included him limiting the first statewide school larger program. mr. bush spoke at the american enterprise institute and that will air saturday at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. >> this weekend c-span cities tour takes you to lynchburg, virginia located along the james river. it is home to both liberty university and thomas jefferson were treat, poplar forest. with the help of our comcast cable partners we will explore

lynchburg's rich literary life and history. on saturday at 5:00 p.m. eastern on book tv we will visit the m spencer house to visit and learn how the poet brought the harlem restaurant on renaissance to lynchburg. >> [inaudible] unfortunately, there's a whole group of people associated with that period of time like anna spencer and the people don't know about. >> on sunday at 2:00 p.m. eastern on american history tv and interview with liberty university president jerry falwell junior about the origins of the university. and its impact on lynchburg and the role evangelicals play in politics. >> in spite of trumps background there really pleasantly surprised with how he has come

around with issues that are important to evangelicals. he has been the best president for those issues and for, i think, feel and that being one of the greatest presidents never had. >> then a conversation with lance johnson his grandfather, doctor johnson hosted a tennis camp in lynchburg for young african-american athletes including althea ibsen and arthur ashe. >> this created this interest and my grandfather in his ability, phenomenal position but somehow he managed to be a student of the tennis team and transform that learning into a program that was for decades provide players an opportunity for african-americans to integrate the sport. >> watch the c-span city tour of lynchburg, virginia beginning saturday at 5:00 p.m. eastern on book tv on c-span2 c-span2 and t

2:00 p.m. on american history tv on c-span3. working with our cable affiliates has explore america. >> c-span for history unfold daily. in 1979, c-span was created as a public service by america's cable television companies and today we continue to bring you unfiltered coverage of congress, the white house, the supreme court and public policy events in washington dc and around the country. c-span is brought to you by your cable or satellite provider. >> we talked about the criminal justice system and the role of prosecutors this morning. this washington journal segment runs about half hour. >> lauren is at our table the story, founder and president of the national association special assistant attorneys