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tv   Veterans Homelessness  CSPAN  June 5, 2018 7:56am-8:44am EDT

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>> next, we'll are from deputy veterans affairs thomas baumann who spoke at theational coalition for homeless veterans in no conference earlier today. it runs about 45 minutes. [applause] >> good morning. it is a distinct pleasure for me personally and professionally to introduce our speaker. as many of you know, i had a career here in d.c. i was on the house veterans
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affairs committee staff. i was on the senate committee staff in 19 years at the department of veteran affairs, most of which i served as direct or of homeless veterans programs. so, for those of you who are outside of washington where all the real work get done, i will tell you that inside washington there are people who make things happen and one of those people is one of the people i am here b morning. tom bowman has a long and distinguished career. you've got his bio in your book. he is a pariah marine corps veteran. 21 years back in service, 31 but more importantly, to what we do here, he is a man who listens, understands, and evaluate and takes action.
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when i was at the va i work directly with deputy secretaries and chiefs of staff on a daily basis. and i c tell you there is no finer person that i've worked with ben tom bowman. i will tell you he's going to make some remarks, but usual for top leadership officials coming it will stick around for a little bit and take some questions from you all as well. it is a distinct honor and pleasure being able to introduce tom dolan, it deputy director oe n affairs. [applause] >> it truly is a pleasure for me to be here. i am wearing my flashy tie. there is a little story behind that i will share with you in a
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minute. listening to pete talk about our time together at va and if you want to talk about a class act and a real advocate in keeping the leadership focused on actual execution, it was a real pleasure to work with. [applause] before that as i was parked in front of the library they are, i found this on my car. figured i would give it to you. that was easy. [laughter] so, i think pete for that truction. i want to acknowledge some folks that are here. we work together in the years
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past. he has been not only a tremendous advocate, but also for veteran's writ large across the country. i think individuals are reesented here. i don't know most of you, but i do know the reputation nature organization in the community. i do have some prepared remarks i'm going to kind of deviate from god because this is going to be my last public event is the deputy secretary. we do plan on staying very act and the federal space and especially in the world of homeless veterans.
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.. hopefully dispel is, i i know over the last year there has been some consternation, some confusion about whether or not the department of veterans fairs truly committed to a homeless veteran and programs for homeless veterans. let me straighten the record, if anybody has some confusion about it. we are, and there is going to be a continuing focus and funding in support of homeless veterans. [applause] despite the fact that there is some movement in place right now
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regarding a new secretary, we will have a new secretary and we will have a new deputy secretary, and the department s going to be in good hands. this is a process that you all are aware of, that political appointees, and go, depending on what their personal or their professional circumstances are. but the department remains. you have 360,000 employees in the department of veterans affairs across the country. 260, 270,000 more, kind of oriented more in the health arena with the veterans health administration, but all focus on one thing, and that is taking care veterans. their ability to do that is, in my opinion, based upon the years that i have had working at the va but also as an active duty
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officer, my last roughly four years at the pentagon, that we in the country but we especially in the department of veterans affairs i believe are at an inflection point. there is something happening at the va to move us in a direction of where do we really need to be as the department, what programs do we really need to have into the future, and that assessment is going on right now in any number of ways. there was over the last, , what, six or seven months the issue of the veterans choice program and the difficulty in coming to agreement and then having it pass, but we now have the mission act, and so we now have
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a piece of legislation that is going to help redefine the issue of choice in the committee, health care choice in the community. now, whyhat important? i think the reason it's important is because it's going to help to solidify the understanding and the reality that va and its hospital and its outpatient clinics and its vets centers, that is not the total picture of va healthcare. it is also what occurs and the healthcare that is provided b providers in the community. and i think what you you are gg to find over the next three to five years is, not a redefinition, but i think some greater clarity on exactly when somebody says va healthcare, what does that mean? i know that when people and i
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were at the a1 somebody said va healthcare, what first came to mind was va hospital, outpatient clinics, the vet centers. and then we needed veterans go to the community. but that community provider system was not looked at as an integrable part of va healthcare. it was a default. what we would look to because we couldn'tde it inside the campus. here we are 15, 18 years down the timeline, and i think where we are at now is giving greater definition, greater clarity as to what we expect of health care being provided in the community. and funding it to help address the real needs out there, and homeless veterans are a part of that. and you all and this organization helps define the
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focus for that particular cohort of veteran, and their families. 15, 18 years ago when people said tyomes veteran, a homeless veteran, you know, was homeless, you know, living in tents. i spent a number of years living in florida in hernando county, and there were tent villages for homeless and integrated in those homeless tent villages were veterans. and they were not well taken care of by the healthcare system that we had in va, in tampa and in saint pete. i was part of that, and we didn't do as good a job as we should. we are doing much, much better now than we were then. why? because of organizations like yours. you all are the echo chambers to make sure tt we in washington
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see, hear, and feel the needs, the unique needs that need to be addressed by the homeless veteran and their families. 15, 18 just ago thatll ph andheir families, was never part of the dialogue but now it is. that's progress. it's real progress, because on the hill now legislators when they say and they think of homeless veterans, it is now homeless veterans and their families. because there is an echoing out of, if you're going to dress and homeless veteran you are also going to be able to help address what may be dysfunctional family, what may be a disrupted family just by the simple act of helpomeless veteran.
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another point that i would like to make is that some people say that the va is broken because of all this bad press. is not broken. it is not broken. it's changing, and like any large department or healthcare system, we have problems. but let me ask you this. how many private healthcare systems are as open and transparent when a problem occurs than the department of veterans affairs? you tell me one -- is united health? they are good. they are wonderful system. is humana? they are not going to push out into the public arena the fact of their errors and their mistakes. they may become known, but what is our obligation?
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our obligation is to be transparent and to make the problems known, becse once we makehem known, they are going to g corrected. and why are they going to get corrected? because organizationseours are the guardians to make sure that the department does pay attention and does follow through. and the congress relies upon you all to be there echo chamber, you inform them as to what's working or not working right. we are a better department because of organizations like yours. i think that you take it personal, make it personal, as an orgion. if we are not dngha we are supposed to be doing, we want to hear about it. your obligation is to make sure that we hear about it. i think that is where the va is
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beginning to move. some people will say it's broken because of t culture. i think that's worn out right now. the culture that we had that va is we have significant employee force thaants t do the right thingoreterans and their families. and the definition of the right thing is ever-changing. if you take a lincoln's phrase to care for him who shall of borne the battle and for his widow and for his orphan, the word care to me is the most important because if you look at it, back then what was the care ma times it was toak themteran? off the battlefield, try and find up their wounds, and then they were just sent home. and then it begin to develop thatre wasreaterse of obligation that the country had t take care of the and
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the word care begin to have a broader definition than just minimal healthcare. it was pension and benefits. i think the last inflection point of significance was right after world war, as world war ii was ending and general bradley passed by president truman -- tasked -- to come up with a manner, means and method how do u upgra t verans administration to be able to take care of all ofhese returning soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines? they have needs. they need to be reintegrated back into the community, and if you take a look at what he organized and structured back then and compare it to where we are right now,s it'heame organizational structure. the three administrations, the g.i. bill, home loans, the
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affiliates to medical center and medical schools. that was allesigned and thought of at the end of world war ii. we still have that structure. it has bn matured and it still is going to change. the culture of va is you change to be able to accommodate the specificeeds of the veterans of today, yesterday, and anticipate what are going to be the needs tomorrow. [applause] you all will help shape that need of tomorrow. especially in the realm of the homeless veteran and their
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family. be aggressive about it. don't be timid, make it personal. if you takeg away from arks today is, your mission, make it personal. because the me personal it is to you as individuals as well as an organization, the greater clarity and the greater impact ure going to have in the congress as well as in the department. make it personal. i don't how many of you have heard of the speech by admiral moore craven, make your bed. let me see a show of hands of people who -- that may be a little less than half of the room. i strongly recommend -- all you have to do is google make your bed here and it's about a 19 minute set of remarks fro 2014
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by admiral mcraven who was the head of u.s. special operations command at the point that he was retiring. shortly after make that speech he retired and became the chancel of the university of texas system. now, i'm a graduate of the university of texas, the same rotc unit that -- [laughing] hook 'em horns. the same unit as tricky dickie graduate seven or eight years after me but he commanded the same rotc unit that i did, and you saw how successful he is, and i take all the credit for that. [laughing] because of the leadership lessons that i left for him to follow through on. now, haven't been able to communicate that to them yet, but absolutely wonderful man.
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you will enjoy listening to his remarks. and what it is, it's how do you change the world? that's his theme. and he gets ten points to it. i'd like to talk to you about a couple of them, but it is well worth your time watching him present. because i think the lessons there that he speaks about are not only lessons for you dividually but the bome a template of how many of our homeless veterans, many of them i think are coming out of homelessness and reengineering their lives based upon the simple principles that the admiral talks about in there. the first when he says is make your bed. you wake up in the morning. ever since i saw that i had been intimidated because occasionall
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occasionally, not occasional cup most of the time i didn't make my bed. after listening to the admiral, gee, just takes me a minute or two and i made my bed. but his point was if you make your bed, you know you've accomplished something if the rest of the day has been nothing but failure. you come home, you look at the bed and go, not bad. i'm good. [laughing] you have success. he talks about challenges. he talks about failure and success can be borne out of failure. we are all going to fail in one way or another. i've had any number of a failure experiences, so have you all, but each one of them kind of gave you an insight into how you can turn that failure into a success. and i think many of our homeless
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veterans are beginning to do that, more so now than in the past because of the programs that the va has and that will be developed into the future, influenced and shaped by people like you. so don't hesitate, you want to try, and as you try, if you fail, you're not successful, you get up and continue on. and that was his message, because it will be a success. and that success may be for one person, but that one person then can generate three over other people just by reason of their experience and what you did. what you individually did to change that one persons life. and that one person can influence real for others, and then they influence tended to others. and that happens. that is happening today.
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it's going to happen tomorrow in the world of homeless veterans. our partners to make sure that every day at the department level, every day that w make sure that people who are involved with the homeless veteran programs and execution of those programs, that they do their job, and they do it willing. if there's one cohort i found in my experience, by ten to 12 years in the va where there is really a heartfelt mission dedication, it's in the realm of homeless, , taking care of homeless veterans and their needs. i mean, it's heartfelt, because each of those veterans has a story, and each of those veterans are experiencing failure, but from that failure, and you, your organization, you individually, taking it personal, are going to change
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the lives of many, many more homeless veterans. i think it's part of the reason why when we start talking about the number of homeless veterans decreasing, our goal is functional zero. it's kind of a bureaucratic term. there will always be individual who are experiencing homelessness or near homelessness. so we're going to get better at trying to see those individuals before they actually become homeless. that's what we want to be. what are the indicators? and then we had programs, in the future, we are going there. we're going to be much better at predictive analysis, but it's going to be organizations like yours that will have to keep us as a department focused on moving in that direction, making sure the right amount of resources are dedicated to it. the extensions of programs that
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we have, the veterans justice outreach programs in va, the federal courts, the treatment courts. those are extensions, and i think they were motivated at the beginning, i think the first court was in buffalo, and then since then with over 500 around the country. there are going to be more. there are more judges who want to have either calendars on the docket or actual courts that they can get the resources to help address the veterans who come in, many of whom are from the world of homelessness or will find themselves moving into homelessness if the program that they're being offered, or should be offered in the court system, isn't there. we as a country, i think, are
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looking at homelessness and veterans, taking care of veterans homelessness to me is how the country can lead the way in helping to address the homeleue,rit large nationally. how will we do it in va and become a template for communities around the country. and you all to me are the messengers, not only going out, but also what you learn out there tha exactly right, can be done better, and you bring the message back. one of the other principal points that admiral mcraven brought up, and going to get my list here, i did make my bed this morning, i want you to know that. oh, yes. he was talking about hell week
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and wednesday of hell week is when they go out to the mud flats, the tijuana mud flats. the individuals who go out there are going to be there are roughly about 12 hours, as a ral there i t water. it's cold, and it's all meant to boost test the fiber at that point and training to see who else do we need to weed out, who else is not going to be able to demonstrate the strength, the commitment, despite the cold weather, despite the pain, but they are going to stay. and he talks about how they are in the mud, and the instructors are kind of touting them, listen, all we need is five if you, five if you to quit and we will take you home. we will take it out of the mud.
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there must've been about 40 or 45 people there there. so the instructors are saying justified, five of you just need to quit. the admiral was saying that you're looking to rent and they could see that there were about two or three who were ready -- looking around -- bent over in pain, they figured these individuals probably are going to step out pick and he said, now, he was a participant in that class so he was in the mud. he's up there. he obviously wasn't going to be one that quick, but to prevent, somebody in that group, he can't tell you who, somebody in that group knew that there were three or four of these individuals who are probably ready to quit. and what that individual did was to start singing. so here you are abo four to five hours in, you are colder an youe ever been. you are hungry. you haven't slept in for five
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days, and you hear this song start. an instructors were just coming down hard, you know, who was doing that? you got to stop that. i people, we will take you home. and then there were two more voices, three more voices and then pretty pretty soon everybody in the mud was singing. and then he says the night got shorter, the pain seemed to go away, and everybody who was in the mud flats went home. eight hours later as a group. the four owe five who probably were close didn't. what was the point? the point there was, individually you have your own inflection point, , you have yor own thoughts about what is the maximum that you can take, whether it be pain, you know,
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consternation, but is it really all that you can take? there iss more that you ca experience more that you can do. and the point there was find it within, don't quit. his last point was, in seal training there is the bell. no the bl come all you have to do if you w to quit at any point in training is go to the bell and ring it, and then you go, you pack your stuff. you are not humiliated in any way. you just made a decision, that you can't, this is not what you need to be, this is not what you want to do. you ring the bell. the whole purpose of seal training is to convince you you don't want or you don't need to bring that bell. you can be successful.
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you can overcome adversity. you can do more than you've ever done. and it can always start with something simple because if you can't do the simple things in life, how can you expect yourself to do the more complicated? someone builds on the other. and he finishes his ten-point by saying don't ever, ever allow yourself to ring the bell, to mit that you cannot do more than what you have done. you always rely on somebody else. else. don't try to do it alone. find a partner. find somebody to work with. and that's what you all are as an organization. every homeless veteran out there that you impact, that you deal with, every one of them is a potential success story in their own way because of what you do. and it's not that it, not
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everybody's going to be successful, but we don't know that. it's a question of who has touched them. and you all, through your organization, and individually, have saved lives, have saved marriages, have saved children. make itersonal. don't give up. you hold the department of veterans affairs accountable for what we offer as programs. you make us successful, and we will become even more successful based upon what you do and how you communicate that to us. so with that, like i said, this is my last public outing as the deputy secretary. i am probably going to be joining the ranks of those who
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volunteer, you know, working with homeless veterans. i welcome that. i consider it to be a godsend to me. it's my way of gin bac or my last ten to 12 yearsaio helping to develop policy. i want to get out there and be able to live under the same policies that i help pass it because i think they are good. they are good policies, , and ty are going to get better because i'm going to be part of you. so with that, thank you. [applause] >> thank you very much. i will take some questions, for those of you that may have questions. if i can't answer them, i'll
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take the debt and i'll make sure that an answer gets either to pete or two to chick and make e you get them. [inaudible] >> the kind of leadership that is made such a difference and is reproduced results of camaraderie and support but you really need lders,nd especially that message goes to the local folks who control the resources that allow us to get the results we do. the hospital directors, the vision directors, the skilled nurses that are there, all that clinical support that is crucial to get veterans off the street and keep them off the street and alleviate suffering, et cetera. my concern is to make sure the integrated care that's been developed over the years continues in a robust fashion. so that recent act that was passed come on very concerned
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about really have that is intimated, and to ensure that strong message remains for the local resources are as a goes from the central office to the, because for years with such a struggle to get the hospitals represented at our conferences to have that communication. they felt they were outside what was going on with homeless services. so would hate to give that up now because we've struggled to bring them back into our mission. >> right. i don't think, we are not going to move backwards, okay? part of the reason is because you are not going to allow it. congress won't allow if there made aware that this is what's happening. i think the attitude of leadership that is going to be within va, they are going to want to move forward. i do believe that the va you see today is not the va you are going to see five years from now. change is going to occur, whether it be kind of assessing
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the capital asset, the physical plant. we take a look at the demographics of veterans, where they used to be, just millions of in the greater new england area. where have they gone? they have moved south but where was a lot of construction after world war ii? it's where the veterans went back. and so at some point we have to look realistically at where our footprint needs to be to help address and take care of the veterans of yesterday who are in need of our care that also those of today and into the future. you all will not let us regress. there's no doubt in my mind. >> secretary, , my name is ralph cooper, and i don't know if you remember, but when secretary principi had his veterans homeless advisory committee with
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robert fancher and who is -- i know that pete remembers, and we reported directly to the secretary. our recommendation went to him. my fellow founder just spoke eloquently about what's going on and what needs to happen in the future. and i just want to thank you for being there for us so that those kinds of recommendations just didn't get skipped over. the homeless veteran advisory committee, we had -- that was amazing back then, and the result of it are today. god bless you, , and may you hae a fantastic retirement. [applause] >> thank you.
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regarding the reports, the advisory cmiees, my belief is that these reports, copies of these reports should go to capitol hill. they go to the secretary because they are advisory to help the secretary and the deputy at the other senior leadership beside what are the needs of the veteran community. whether it be in the homeless airy or whether it be in women veterans, whatever is the specific mission purpose of the advisory committee. i believe that those reports should go to the hill, and that is, and i know many of them do. they do, but i think that as you continue on executing the mission that you have as an organization in the community, when you work with congressional
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members and you're going into their offices and breaking them, you can just happen to drop the hand and say have you seen the last advisory committee report that was provided to the secretary. and a willing to bet you better than 50% of the cases the answer is going to be no. but again, that's the reason you are there is to help them refocus and ask the department for copies of the recent report. and if congress asks, they will get it. they will get it. >> good morning. first of all, my name is christy chatham, i'm from houston, texas. i'm with catholic charities get my first question is about women veterans. i feel it and i'm grateful for what the va, i am a veteran myself, even though i'm grateful for the va has done so far, there are a lot of other
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initiatives for homeless female veterans that i feel the va can do more. a lot of our female veterans have older children. a lot of shoulders cathouse is 16-year-old. a lot of our shelters won't even take children. therefore, i female veteran is limited in her options. a lot of grants we receive from the federal government are more male dn, andome of them allow easy access for male veterans than the female veteran. what you suggest i do what we do kind of champion those causes for housing for female veterans? and second, as far as a female veterans, again, is there a type of coalition for something that is making major changes within the va system to be or female friendly as far as healthcare? a gynecologist and things of that nature, a lot of women can we have to wait 30 30 days to a female physician, i mean, to see a gynecologist.
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which to me as a female veteran, the same right as a male veteran. a male pattern can get care today i just want to know, i want an answer those two questions. thank you for your service to the va. dav i really appre everything that you have done. thank you. >> let me try to answer both questions. one, i i have to say that the a is attempting to do more to accommodate our women veterans. there is a women veterans advisory committee. i'd recommend that this organization connect with that advisory committee and make them aware of any resolutions you have, any ideas that you have as it relates to women veterans. and have them come once they get it, it's a very active group, i have to say that. it's more active it was early on but it is a very active group. the fastest-growing cohort of
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veteran in the veteran space are women veterans. now, across the country medical centers have attempted, and not all of them he been as successful as others, to try and upgrade the structure, the facilities, the clinics to accommodate women veterans. in washington, d.c., i went through their clinic over there. i was impressed by the difference that i saw from when i first was over there about ten years ago. down in tampa, florida, there has been a separate building constructed just spefically focused on women veterans. the idea, the particular needs for a woman better to feel comfortable in coming to a va
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medical center. that is now where the va is trying to the medical center directors bring their attention. how do we make it more welcoming for the female veteran to come to my hospital? there is a significant amount of funding that is being oriented towards upgrading and creating women veterans clinics at our medical centers. where -- one of the problems, and i have to be very frank with you, one of the problems is staffing. you canld the most beautiful clinic, but he can't staff it, you really haven't provided what the woman better needs. so at the same time then you attempt to contract with ob/gyn clinicians to come in. i think they are attempting to do that. we are not what we need to be,
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but we're going to get there. because of the focus, you know, the comments you just made, because of the focus on it. and because that is the need intoutur i mean, why would, you know, a young woman want to go into the litary, maybe even served serva career with the belief that i served my country, my country going to take care of me when i leave, especially if i've incurred illnesses or injuries as a result of my service. that is an expectation. that is a promise that the country makes. you've heard it. it's kind of cliché-ish, but it's true. it's true. that's a promise. we owe it to you. like i said, make it personal, and make sure your voice is heard. okay, i just got the hook.
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[laughing] but again, i thank you. i wore my special tie here today for your because this is my last event. my daughter happened to pick this thing out, and it happened one day when i was getting dressed. i was going to go speak to a research advisory group, and i was faced timing with my oldest granddaughter. and her sister, she then was i think 16, and the younger one was 14. son getting dressed. grandpa, where are you going? i'm going to go speak to research. while not, yuck, boring. i said no, no, this is a great grp. mookinge so have, you know, a very rewarding experience. okay. what are you going to wear? i'm going to wear a suit and tie. so i did one of these kind of face time around and god, no,
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grandpa, you are wearing that yucky type. come on. where that cool tie. i said, which one is that? you know, the cool one with all the colors. i said, okay. so i went, got it. is this the one? that's the cool. th were really like you. [laughing] >> so that wasn't the goal. [laughing] so with that, thank you very much and i look forward to being part of you. [applause] [inaudible conversations] >> here's what's live on
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tuesday. >> in anticipation of the upcoming u.s. and north korea diplomatic meeting set for june 12, booktv will feature authors with books about the region.
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>> on wednesday at 8 p.m. eastern on c-span2, the memorial service marking the 50th anniversary of the assassination of robert f kennedy. from arlington national cemetery. featured speakers include family, friends, members of congress and former president bill clinton. watch the rfk if the memorial service at 8 p.m. eastern on c-span2 c-span.org, or listen on the free c-span radio app.
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>> next, former new hampshire republican senator kelly ayotte and for some congressional candidate lauren underwood talk about the surge in women candidates in 2018. from the university of chicago institute of politics, this is about an hour and 15 minutes. >> thank you, everybody, for coming out on a beautiful day. it's just, this is evident in chicago at the end of spring, right? 85 degrees and wonderful. notice none of us are wearing pink something that's worth -- you can discuss women without having pink in the audience, on the platform. but i do want to really get, dive right into a lot of questions, both about women as candidates but also as women

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