on c-span's landmark cases, will explore the 1886 case where the san francisco city ordinance discriminated against an ordinance it found in favor of the laundromat owner and establish that equal protection applies to immigrants and citizens. examine the case in the high court's ruling at columbia university and author of the lucky one, one family and the invention of chinese america. the founder and president of the heartland institute. watch landmark cases on c-span, c-span.org or listen with the free app. for background or to your cap be the companion book available freight 95 plus shipping and

handling for an additional resource with a link on our website to the national constitutional centers. >> earlier today veterans affairs secretary announced a new joint effort on mental health care for veterans. held an event for american veterans this is 35 minutes. >> thank you for attending our press conference. i'm excited to announce new initiatives and a po partnership with the department of veterans affairs to address the veterans and mental health crisis. in just a moment will bring up

marian but before i do i like to ask you that will make it to the question-and-answer portion we have this wireless mic will pass around the please use it for the benefit of the audio for the television cameras in the back. if you be kind to turn up the ringers on your phone will begin very shortly. it is my pleasure to introduce you to marry him. [applause] >> a morning ladies and gentlemen, i want to thank all of you for attending the press conference today today were pleased and excited to partner with the virginia to announce a new program to confront the mental health crisis in our country by providing direct

services to somebody people who need access to the virginia mental health care. were calling on our new program which stands for healthcare, evaluation advocacy and legislation. in a moment you'll get an opportunity to speak about the details of the program with senior officials will lead our team. first, it's my honor to introduce the secretary veterans affairs. >> good morning, i pleased to be here for this special event. thank you for your leadership and great job thank you all for

being here. i think you all know that mental health and suicide prevention is the top priority of the veteran affairs and that's why wanted to be here because it's so important to us. it's these collaborations that will have the biggest impact. at the virginia we've done a lot of things to try to impact and reduce veteran suicides. we have an executive order that will be given the president a plan this week to give every active service member benefits. currently only 40% use those benefits. were expanding mental health professionals, but most important is to work with our partners who are in need of help, we know that mental health

care saves lives so we can do more this initiative is important. every program i know of that has been effective government virginia has two essential components. the essential component is to have a good acronym. and he'll commander that's exactly what this program is intended to do, to heal our veterans. number two is picking the right people to leisure initiatives. the good leaders and good people do is take effective people to run their programs. i cannot imagine picking someone more effective. this is a man that lives the passion for helping fellow veterans. he tells the truth, sometimes i

wish she wasn't so truthful but he speaks his mind i will not let anything stop him from doing what is right. he is clearly the right person to believe this. like good leaders he picks good people to lead the team. there's no way this could fail with the right acronym and people leading this this program which is really run by the vets of the virginia is something we welcome. we need more of it. effective people talk effectively but they act. in this case you had the individuals and organizations talking and acting so this initiative is action on helping us reduce suicide. the helpline in case management

on the town halls you're going to do is what i think is on target. partnering with virginia to leverage our services and help leverage our services is the right thing. it is my pleasure to introduce the man who has made this a reality and has the visit vision to see this implemented. he always learn something from an event, not only himself a decorated combat veteran and has spent his life dedicated to serving others but work for military times, i did not know that work for dav, so he has a breath of experience he brings.

were fortunate that he is one of the top leaders of veteran advocacy and he spending his time and energy to help us. thank you. [applause] >> this is founded in 1944. almost 75 years later were the most inclusive national service organization. as advocates for veterans we realize the community is in crisis that's why wanted to make the investment to start this team and as the landscape evolves of the virginia unfolds there's informed advocates to confront rising suicide rates

were making this investment to place a team of healthcare experts on the frontline have direct access to a clinician who can guide them through the maze of the healthcare system. it's a pleasure to introduce the leader of our team. her buyer i bio is in your media kits. i'm proud to present the chief medical executive. >> good morning everyone. thank you. thank you for giving me this opportunity to join you today. thank you member of the media policymakers for joining us

today as we take this proactive approach to one of the most critical issues facing our country. military and veteran mental health. while this issue is not new to most of us we can agree that it's research the crisis level and deserves to be treated as such starting right now. this is why were here today. we have one of the longest-serving and most inclusive veterans service organizations in the country. now, the organization stand out for another reason. for being the only veteran service organization that is prioritized and confronting the mental health crisis that so many veterans are facing. we have all heard about 20 per day. they take their own life.

those who get dishonorable discharge from the military or become incarcerated without first receiving race support and treatment they need. it should include mental health services. today, we are here to change that. with the real investment toward invoking change. they're allowing me to use my long-standing record advocating for nation hero. i will lead the team that am vet team will consist of a group of license professionals where veterans with traumatic brain

injury commonly referred to as tbi and mental health issue fall in the high risk category for suicide and need the most complex care. you may be thinking why now. the answer is simple. because we all know better. we have a responsibility to do better. they're more than 300,000 veterans have returned from iraq and afghanistan to a situation where many face posttraumatic stiffness or major depression and an estimated 320,000 veterans who incur some degree of tbi during deployment. not to mention those who likely suffer these through training

exercises. they have that heal team will not only ensure that any veteran who seek or support have access to many virginia services available we will also proactively seek out those veterans who have fallen into a gap of a system of care. those veteran and returning troops or all of these conditions who need the most help but receive the least support the amphetamine seal team has challenge itself to bridges many of these critical gaps as possible. whether it a proactive community approach. first we will facilitate access and a treatment plan to ensure

with proper follow-up, it cannot be overemphasized as essential to successful recovery secondly, will provide immediate access to our services by joining in a series of public forums, roundtables and local communities around the country. third, will hear directly from veterans, family, caregiver virginia clinicians and community provider so that we can appreciate the challenge at every level and talk away through real action that bring about change. as you have heard this effort will require all hands on deck. he has made mental health and a

lemonade of veteran suicide his top priority is via a secretary. and they're actively engaged in a leader of coalition of leaders that have stepped up. now it is our turn. we will work closely collaborating veteran affairs and share the data with the user virginia community services who turn to to remove to better access. to summarize, the goal is to ensure every single veteran this country valve will receive the appropriate level of sustained and holistic care he or she needs to live a full complete life after service. as part of the virginia we've

taken on the challenge of taking on any solutions to end veteran suicide. we intend to heal veterans no matter how tough or challenging. our work will continue until one day we can finally report zero suicides per day and in and veteran mental health crisis in our country. i understand doctor show can have silly. we'll give him a few minutes to make his way out. as he does like to invite that chiefs officer to join me at the podium to answer any questions you may have.

done on. >> will now take your questions. >> talk to me about the cost of this partnership, the senate costed and how much is in that investing in this. >> we talk about investment real investment that's part of it,

when we approach leadership about standing up the real cost was in the talent, the cost is in the people we invested in. we have license professionals who we brought on who we brought on to be a part of the outreach to veterans which will entail facilitating access to virginia in dealing with leadership so they had to be familiar with the healthcare system. so that's what we paid to have this group of professionals join us. as far as the cost of virginia it's really just the time to collaborate with us. we did not add cost of our relationship except to put time as well as at every level in the virginia. there are travel costs things of

wall doing to the town halls. guess was stepping up to pay those costs? people who invest in am vet. this is an opportunity for the public and the corporate sector to find a role in how we carry out the program. we've already fielded requests from companies and even in the and that post but the cost is minimal compared to the return we were getting. we've lucked out in that way. >> just had to that, i cannot overemphasize how important it is to have this assistance on the front line connecting veterans you hear 20 per day and the veterans who get into our system for mental health

services have better outcomes and their risk of suicide is dramatically lower. it's not flawless but much better than if they're not connected. some veterans may not be enrolled i think it went be a good thing for them to do or whatever the reason. i know firsthand having interacted with many veterans whose family member does not want to come into the medical systems that getting them to the vet center if they know about virginia is incredibly helpful. i would expect this would have the same effect and it's hugely important. >> hello i'm joyce i wanted to follow up on the previous question if there's anything

that you can release in terms of a dollar amount it's helpful and if we can find anything about the scope of this and the number of people doing outreach nationwide. are you hiring people full-time or part-time, how is it working? >> when he first conceptualized the planet was a lofty price take, plus $1 million. we reduce that by being frugal about what the needs were versus everything else. we it did not at flush jumpoff in the budget. that's probably professionals and again companies will invest in what were doing. there's no upfront cost but depending on how many people

want us to come to their communities it could go up but it will be spread out across opportunities of folks who see this as an investment. about $700,000. >> we have a lot of confidence in our ability to pull this off. the people so this is going to

grow legs, right now we are a team of six all license commissions and always say the front line so i talk about being accessible to veterans, families and caregivers are also going to go find these people. we've had the ability to find these and find them where they often end up with a delicate the services they need and then pull them back in. the statistic is that 11 out of 22 not have a relationship with virginia, we need to find them and find resources they need so they are not part of the 20 per day i wondered if you could explain more about the relationship between amvets and

virginia. or how that relationship is going to pan out in reality. >> the veteran service organization has a long-standing relationship than the veteran health administration have lost it working with them with advocating for healthcare challenges. we work by bringing real issues to the table. also to contribute solutions and how we can collaborate in resolving these issues the issue that we brought is normally from the issue the clinic is not operating friendly hours maybe

we should bring them back in, those are some of the issues we work closely and at all level we call upon the local medical director to the central office and that's how we work with the virginia. >> once we heard about the executive order mandating that veterans are one your post service in earlier somebody actually asked to implement that. one of the first things we did was met with doctor franklin who is in charge of the executive order and ensure that not only

the field staff get the word but the veterans understand how to benefit from that. were the vulnerabilities in the gaps are our to the veterans go as community care expands will see more veterans and we need to find them. the virginia doesn't have unlimited resources and we don't either. we are force multipliers in that effort. that's just an example of how we intend to work together. we help other organizations will follow in our lee we hope other organizations will follow suit so we can expand our ability even more. >> you mention community care, how does this play into the virginia choice expanding as

well? >> let me emphasize one thing that may not be self evident. about 9 million of the veterans are enrolled in our system. were talking about her efforts and suicide prevention were talking about all veterans. so it's quite vital to reaching those who are not part of our system. some are not part of it because they have their own insurance through work or medicare are scope and attention is focused on all veterans. in some cases you can get into all of our facilities today if you have a problem in mental health. in some communities some veterans may prefer roads easier geographically to get care in the community.

that is and will continue to be covered by the community care programs. if you saw this study last week i'm trying to see if your magazine cover this, they were funded by a new york state foundation to look at how well they're equipped to deal with mental health issues. were be trying to figure out that they understand how they can avail themselves with continuing education programs and so forth. this is one area it's widely available online. it's very much part of community care. >> you said that this includes better access to services some

wonder what the logistics are. >> we have a helpline that's toll-free and also we receive e-mail under setting up a chat online. we know there's certain generations that want to chat online. were trying to make it user-friendly for those who face the bear to gain access and talk about their challenges or maybe help them navigate the complexity of the system. >> there's two issues where this is helpful one is reducing the stigma having another veteran from an organization you trust say it's okay and it's a good

thing to do and many others have gotten help that they need. it means far more than anyone could necessarily share. it's not that they wouldn't believe us but it's a different source of credibility the other thing is many of the veterans live in rural areas and one of the most rapidly growing areas is telehealth for mental health services. we have hubs providing care to veterans all over. doctor show can provide servic services. >> to piggyback on the the just ask question i was wondering with the -- if it was mobile.

>> we have an array of mental health labs. we've been discussing whether we should be evaluating them. we have already developed more than three dozen which you can download for free they range from apps that are very practical and easy strategies for dealing with stress to an array of other approaches a lot of other folks would like that. i do have people i know that cannot imagine you would ever go in to talk with someone because that's never been their experience and they are free.

>> any other questions? i invite each of you -- one answer the question of why now, why do we do this? it's my observation that most of the country does not have a relationship with the veteran community. we hear about veteran suicide and it's a nameless and faceless statistics. we don't have that luxury. this is badly needed a long time ago. right now it's a time when we have the will within the virginia the right leadership in place we present ourselves as informed partners you can get six people who care and offer to help of volunteer but oftentimes

it's a matter of what you know that's a successful intervention and one not really of service. now is the time to do this. this is our intent to motivate those who don't have a relationship with veterans and the unfortunate crises many face to find a way inhaling american veterans. >> i agree, this is actually a public health crisis for the nation.

in every age group the suicide rate is up. for veterans there are two big areas in particular, one is older veterans which surprises some people. the second is the year after transition. we are trying to work with many partners on all fronts and i think virginia leaning forward on this will pay benefits for the rest of the nation as well. >> we have a toll-free number that will go live on march 19. 1833 vet hga l. also an e-mail address that you can correspond is that he'll at amvets.org. my last word is that we're hoping we have a better understanding from talking to the user about what the reason is whether or not seeking care

or a barrier to lift that barrier and make a seamless transition says a clinician i'm hoping to motivate other clinician an entire health care system to recognize the symptoms when you see a patient or veteran and to identify maybe from grassroot where we can stop veteran suicide. >> i want to thank you for coming out to the press conference. right outside the door you can pick one up there's a fact sheet and a press release also if you'd like to set something up to speak about these things and more depth i can set up

interviews for you. you can just get one of my cards thank you very much. [applause] is fans "washington journal", live everyday with new some policy issues that impact too. coming up on wednesday morning, voted democratic congresswoman discusses election security in school safety. the we'll talk about president trumps trade policies. were live from phoenix, arizona for the next stop on the 50

capitals tour with secretary of state michelle reagan discussing election security in her state. watch each sunday for a special series 1968 american turmoil. we look back 50 years to that time including the vietnam war and a presidential election. >> tomorrow, the intelligence committee holds a hearing on security clearances. industry and executive branch officials are expected to testify. that's on c-span three. the chief economist will look at the trump administration's economic policies. that's live wednesday at 2:00 p.m. eastern on c-span three.

the senate is out for the night, earlier today members wanted to move forward on a bill that repeals the dodd frank regulations bill. it exempts banks with under 250 billion in assets from heightened regulations of the federal reserve. several members came to the floor. we'll start with mitch mcconne mcconnell. >> today the senate will vote to consider s2155. the economic growth and regulatory relief and consumer protection act. the bill recognizes a simple truth. street credit unions are not in the same as a multitrillion dollar banks on wall street