programs, raising some concerns by senator paty murray. also with some automatic budget cuts in place with congress' inability to reach an agreement on overall spending programs. that issue coming up with the veteran affairs secretary as he testified before the committee earlier in the day. here's a portion. >> like i said in my opening remarks, i believe that all v.a. programs, including medical care, are exempt from cuts. but there is some ambiguity between the budget act and the existing law. and when i asked the acting o.m.b. director to address this issue during a budget committee hearing two weeks ago, he said o.m.b. has yet to make a final determination. so i'm concerned that by not settling this issue now, we are really failing to provide our veterans with the clarity that they really deserve to have. so while you're here, i wanted to ask you, do you believe that all v.a. programs, including medical care, are exempt from any future cuts? >> i think, madame chairman, the

answer that the o.m.b. director provided you is the same one that i understand. they're still addressing the issue. for my purposes, i would tell you i'm not planning on sequestration. i am addressing my requirements and presenting my budget as you would expect me to do. i think sequestration in part or in whole is not necessarily good policy. and i think the president would argue that the best approach here is a balanced deficit reduction. and he believes that the budget he has presented does that. and asks that the congress look at that budget and favorably consider it. >> i think we all hope that that is the outcome. but we want to provide clarity to our vet rarens. they're very concerned about this issue.

last year, we talked a lot about mental health care. and i think we, together, uncovered a lot of serious issues. best summed up by a veteran that i heard from recently who uses the ann harbor medical center had to wait months and months to get into counseling, but he had glowing things to say about his mental health care providers once he got in. so in order to address those types of issues, v.a. has to be certain it has enough resources to not only keep up with the increasing number of veterans who are seeking mental health ca care, but also to bring down that unacceptably long wait time. over the course of the last fiscal year, the number of iraq and afghanistan veterans who were looking for mental health care went up by about 5%. that's about 18,000 veterans every quarter. i wanted to ask you if you believe the increase in mental health funding in the budget request is sufficient to accomplish the goals and keep up with this increasing demand.

>> i believe that the budget -- if you look at the 13 budget requests, i think it's adequate for us to meet what we understand our requirements are in 13. are there issues out there that we'll discover between now and execution on budget? i would say, if we do, madame chairman, i'd be the first to tell you. now, you asked us to do a survey. and we did. >> um-hmm. >> it was very hastily done. senator burr referred to some of the output conclusions out of that survey. out of 20,000 of our health care, mental health providers, 319 were surveyed. and the results were as described. my question of v.h.a. was did you go to the places where we thought there would be problems? and the answer is yes.

we were asked to go figure this out. so i would say we've got a pretty pure response. what i think we need to do is make sure we're going to take another broader look here and make sure we understand across the larger population what our issues are and where there are opportunities for reallocation or if, you know, as it becomes clear, to hire more people. i would offer to the chair, i took a look at what we've done in mental health over the last four budgets. if we look at 12 to 13, it's rather unimpressive. i mean, it's 5% and it matches the increase in the medical budget. but between 9 and 13, our increase is 39%. in mental health. and if you include the 14 advance approves, it will go up 45%. >> and that is a result of the number of soldiers who are

coming home with the invisible wounds of war which is dramatically increasing, correct? >> true. but we are trying to anticipate that there is going to be a larger requirement here in the out years, even if we don't have clarity. we're trying to prepare for that. we want to do a larger survey here as i indicated. and then see what the outcomes are. >> eric shinseki testifying on capitol hill with questions from democratic senator patty murray. also here in washington, the defense secretary telling lawmakers that the pentagon would begin planning for the potential of automatic spending cuts which you just heard a minute ago from senator murray. those would come if congress does not act before them. again, as a way of background, if congress fails to raise a certain amount of money, part of this budget control act that was put in place last year, the automatic cuts would take place beginning in january of 2013.

that would include $500 billion in cuts from the department of defense. you heard from senator patty murray the impact it would have on the department of veterans' affairs and those veterans returning from iraq, afghanistan and elsewhere outside of the united states. >> you're listening to c-span's radio washington today. we're heard on 91.1 fm and around the country at xm satellite radio 119. >> the president will be honoring more than 100 million troops by offering a small cross sex to a formal dinner at the white house. thank you very much for being with us. >> thanks for having me. i'm glad to be here. >> what are you expecting this evening? >> well, i was invited to attend a dinner at the white house by the president of the united states. and when i was told by sergeant major marine corps whose office

was in charge of organizing the event for the 345 remarines, th would be a representative of all of the servicemen and women who served in iraq. and so it's -- it's an honor to be selected for that and to be able to represent them at the white house. and so i'm expecting to uphold that legacy of honor and courage that everybody has demonstrated in this war in iraq. >> when did you get word of your invite. >> it was a couple weeks ago. they contacted us and then that was a process of submitting information for it. >> you are the recipient of a silver star medal. what happened and when? >> the event actually happened in december of 2004 during the second battle. and we got into a fire fight with a lot of the enemy. and after about eight hours, we ended uptaking care of that problem and, at the end of the day, the actions that i took

that day ended up with this medal. >> in the past, there have been parades welcoming home troops. richard nixon holding a gala at the white house to honor vietnam p.o.w.s. is this an appropriate way to say thank you to the troop who is served in iraq? >> i think it is. i think the president has come out and said it's an initial recognition of the success we've had in iraq, understanding that we're still fighting the war in afghanistan. i'm fairly certain at some point when that's over that we'll go recognize everybody who served across both iraq and aftghanistn afghanistan. >> and as you looked at the developments in iraq today, what do you think the u.s. legacy is and will be? >> well, the legacy that we left behind in iraq is largely depending on what the iraqis decide to do right now. we've given them an opportunity to enjoy freedom and liberty and now they need to decide what sort of form that's going to

take for them and their children and their grandchildren. >> colonel, you were in the front lines in iraq. what did you see? what were your impressions about your inwaffvolvement in this conflict? >> well, it was a long process. as we went through a couple years of combat, i was a marine with my experiences largely from what happened there. i took away from that that, you know, we have a very adaptive and very professional force that is able to figure out the many challenges of war. and, in the end, come out victorious. >> and, finally, for your personally, how are you preparing for tonight's dinner? what will you be wearing? and is this your first time at the white house? >> definitely my first time at the white house. and we're in an evening dress, which is equivalent to a tuxedo

for civilians. >> what about your wife? >> my wife is dressed up in an evening dress that would go alongside of a tuxedo. >> is there a sense of excitement? what are your thoughts? >> i'm very excited. i know all the people that i've seen here today that are doing various interviews are very excited. it's a unique experience to sit down and have dinner with the president of the united states and certainly a great honor to represent all the men and women that have served in iraq and contributed tremendously to the success that we saw over there. >> he is a veteran in the war in iraq and a colonel in the u.s. marine corps. thank you very much for being with us. >> thanks. >> as indicated in our interview, richard nixon threw a huge gala in may of 1973. and, so, we were wondering how that event would compare to tonight's event. we did learn from the associated

press that richard nixon holding a lavish dinner for about 1300 guests in a huge red, white and yellow-striped tent on the south lawn. this took place in may of '73. the entertainers, bob hope, john wayne, sammy davis, jr. and other celebrities and this toast from president richard nixon. >> and now i do come to the moment when i propose the toast. it is traditional on occasion to propose the toast to a lady rather than to a man. and, on this occasion, i think of a first lady. and of many first ladies. of course, traditionally, the wife of the president is the first lady of this country. i can tell you, as i look back over those months and years that we have met with the wives and the mothers of those of you who were prisoners of war. they were and are the bravest,

most magnificent women i have ever met in my life. [ applause ] >> and now, if they will give me my official toasting glass, i will propose the toast. [ laughter ] >> if all the gentlemen will please rise. tonight, as president of the united states, i designate every one of the women here, the wives, the mothers and others who are guests of our p.o.w.s as first ladies.

gentlemen, to the first ladies of america. >> president richard nixon, may of 1973. a dinner that took place on the south lawn of the white house honoring those former p.o.w.s returning from vietnam and the tribute to family members who had dealt with the separation of their loved ones. and we showed that or listened to that because it's tonight where the president is hosting a similar dinner with a smaller gathering of about 120, representative of those who served in the war in iraq, a nine-year conflict and the president with members of the military from all 50 states, u.s. territories and the district district of columbia. by the way, we'll have live coverage this evening. let's turn to presidential politics. mitt romney may have won ugly in michigan, but his narrow victory will be tempered by some mou mounting criticism of his campaign, even though his resilience is about to be tested against some bigger prizes next

tuesday, super tuesday. michigan, of course, a must-win state for mitt romney. and he won by three or four percentage points. although, when you look at the delegate count, it will be split essentially down the middle between mitt romney and santorum. speaking to reporters in a teleconference, one of the questions many people wondering is whether or not it would have been better for rick santorum to win michigan in terms of democrats looking at this race from the outside. >> yes, you have a question on the line from abc news. >> hi, all, can you hear me? >> yes. >> thanks very much. thanks for taking my question. i'm just wondering for the governor and senator. mitt romney's win last night, is that at all frustrating or disappointing to you and state democrats given the protest that the democrats organized, the add

campaigns, the money spent, the organizing by some state democrats to get them to vote yesterday and romney eeked out a win. was that at all frustrating or disappointing given your efforts? >> i'm certainly not disappointed because i don't think there was an official organized effort. there was random pockets of democrats who wanted to create operation polarity. but i think that romney should be disappointed by the margin of his victory when it should have been a slam dunk. it should have been a margin like what he saw in 2008. and, instead, he ended up expanding a huge amount of money, a huge amount of resources and a huge amount of his personal capital in a state that should have been easy for him. and i do think that he should be very disappointed that he has blown his general election chances in michigan.

>> i would say i was surprised how narrow the victory was. i thought given the amount of money that he had spent there, given the fact that his family name is so familiar there and his dad was governor, he would have won by a larger amount. and so that's the only thing that surprised me. his win didn't surprise me. it doesn't disappoint me. but i think that the comments he made during the campaign were very disappointing with people of michigan. >> senator carl leven and former governor jennifer granholm, from michigan. mitt romney winning a narrow victory. rick santorum on the campaign trail in tennessee and later in ohio. he points out that he is actually the winner in michigan with the wind at his back. the former pennsylvania senator also argued that because he captured 15 of the state's 30 delegates, it was essentially in terms of the all important delegate count, a tie. mitt romney, however, did win

the popular vote. now the focus is on key states like tennessee, massachusetts, georgia and ohio. a couple of polls showing that rick santorum is ahead in tennessee and ohio. we of course, will continue to have coverage on the super tuesday events leading up to next tuesday. john greybender is a senior advisor to the santorum campaign taking questions from reporter about strategy from next tuesday. >> can you give us a little outlook on super tuesday? what is your strategy and your organization outlook in ohio? especially in the south which you're trying to compete with gingrich. >> well, my first goal is to get all of you folks to get right out there that michigan is a lot different than people have when they went to bed last night. that it is not a win for mitt romney, but it is a tie for mitt romney in his home state. so, number one is that's --

that's one of my most immediate goals. but the second thing is, if you've looked at the super tuesday states, you find that we are doing very well in many of those states. and we believe that we can play in almost every single super tuesday state. we are on tv right now in all but i think two or three of those states. we've made trips to almost all of them and we will be back to many of them between now and super tuesday. in the last week, i believe, there's been polls that show us ahead in tennessee, oklahoma, washington state and ohio. it will feel like it shows us that we are second place in georgia behind newt gingrich, but ahead of mitt romney. so i think our ability to play in many of those states is already there with empirical data. and we intend to be very aggressive in doing that. but we're hopeful, also, that if we can do this well in romney's

home state, we clearly think that this bodes well for super tuesday. and i should mention one other thing is that we are being out spent by romney and his super pack and we have no -- we have no false hope that that will continue to be the case. however, we are finding that we operate in enough money that we can effectively get our message out there. in the month of february, so far, and today being the last day, thanks to leap year, we've had over 115,000 contributors to our campaign in the month of february alone. and we believe that we will today surpass what president obama averages on a monthly basis. and i think that's just a spectacular statistic that shows that this campaign is growing expone exponentially and that there's people out there not just being passionate supporters, they're being sue portpporters by writi checks as well.

>> john brabender in a teleconference earlier in the day. he is a senior advisor in the rick santorum campaign. c-span crews traveling to ohio and keeping an eye on other primary states next week including virginia, georgia, tennessee and massachusetts. we'll continue to have cove ragnell a rage. tomorrow morning, we will continue the conversation as we always do on the washington journal. the co-founder of ben and jerry's, the ice cream company, ben cowen is going to be joining us to talk about other things, occupy wall street. to help the occupy wall street movement around the country. he'll be with us to take your phone calls from new york city. and gas prices, the excel pipeline and what to expect from the obama administration, a republican perspective from the member of the house subcommittee on energy and natural resources.

the chair of that committee is a republican from colorado. he will be with us tomorrow morning. thanks for being with us on this wednesday. i hope you enjoy the rest of your evening. >> tomorrow, a hearing looks at the political unrest and violence in syria. u.s. ambassador to syria robert ford will testify before the senate foreign relations committee. that's live at 10:00 a.m. eastern here on c-span 3. >> secretary of state clinton testified on capitol hill this week about her department's budget request for 2013. here is an exchange she had with senator john kerry that shares the senate foreign relation's committee. >> i'd like to ask you -- i'm confident colleagues are going to ask you specific budget questions with respect to specific countries. what i'd like to do is sort of ask you, perhaps, to be a little bit more broadly reflective and

expand on the comments that you did just make. since this is now your fourth budget and by your own decision, the final budget that you will put before us and having now been in there for more than three years, i wonder if you could put a little meat on the bones, perhaps even more, of the importance of this budget number that we deal with here. egypt, for instance, is teetering on potential economic collapse, unless the right decisions are made. and that would have profound implications on every other interest we have in the region. there are many parts of the world where we're simply not adequately staffed to be able to protect our economic interests. opportunities and so forth. it seems to me that beggaring

the foreign affairs budget, which, as you said, is about one percent of the entire budget of the united states, but which ha trillions of dollars of engagement one way or the other and profit and so forth. so could you -- there must be some measure of frustration to some degree. i mean, this budget is 8.5% lower than the president's request. and the president's request clearly is reflective of his sense of those priorities and your sense of them. so would you share with the committee what you think we get for this. and you've particularly put this fund in there, which, foth i think that's part of this discussion. but what are we missing? and what are we losing for being willing to be a little more critical about a hundred billion dollar as yes a year ane

small amounts that get parcelled out in these long term investment opportunities elsewhere? >> well, that's a question, mr. chairman that, you know, i obviously spent a lot of time worrying about because, as we try to respond to the urgent demands that are made because of changes in the world, we often find ourselves having to reprogram, shift resources, come up with what we can so that america is present, america is a player, america is in there trying to influence the outcomes of events. and this past year has been unprecedented in the demands that we have faced. at the same time, while we're dealing with the urgent, even the emergency humanitarian and political strategic demands, we also try to look over the horiz horizon, which is one of the reasons why the so called "pi t "pivot" to asia is so important.

so it shouldn't be an either or, you know. and there are many other examples of that that i could give you. we need to be very clear-eyed about how we interact in this fast-moving environment in which we find ourselves. and i also firmly believe, as i eluded to in my opening remarks, that were it not for the work that foreign service officers and civil servants and locally employed staff do every day, american businesses would not be as profitable and expanding and creating jobs in this recovery as they are. i mean, we have these thousand economic officers, we have many other people who are there constantly trying to support american business. i just held and hosted a big conference at the state department where we called in american chambers from across the world so that we could be asking them what are we doing right, what can we do better.

we are in an economic competition that has profound consequences. but it is primarily the work of diplomacy as our businesses are trying to open doors. they come to our embassies. they come to the state department. they say what can i -- what do i need to know about this country. what can you do to help me get to the right person so that, you know, my bit can be fairly considered. you know, we are also seeing an increase in travel to the united states. so we have dramatically had to up our budget and our presence in countries like brazil and china because business travelers, tourists, they want to come here. we want them to come. that's good for our economy. it holds forth the possibility of greater benefits. we have to continue to counter violent extremism. i mean, we've done, i think, a good job in going after the top leadership of alquida, including bin laden. but we can't rest. i mean, alquida is made of

coalition with al-shabaab. i just came back from north africa and everywhere i went from algeria to more rack occom talked a lot about security. we have to constantly be responding with our intelligence community and military means, if necessary. but we have to be on the ground picking up the information that can then be shared with our intelligence and military professionals and we also put together, for the first time this past year, a global counter terrorism forum where we have the major players from around the world. i hosted the first meeting with turkey in september. we're setting up a center in the uae to counter violent extremism. so these are all parts of the multitudous role that the diplomacy and development experts that state and usaid

perform y and, obviously, we think it's important work because we do it, you know, with great pride. >> well, i thank you for that. i know they do it with great pride. and to great effect. i think one of the things i was struck by, this is not under the 150 account, it's under the commerce account, which i also serve on chl. but when i was in hong kong, i remember there were about three foreign commercial service folks who were complaining bitterly that they didn't have either the place which other countries had to convene meetings in, or the staff capacity. and that we were literally missing, they said "billions of dollars of business" because we weren't as aggressive as other people in seeking it. so i think this connection is something that we really need to try to underscore to people. >> well, i appreciate your mentioning the commerce department because they've been our partners over the past many decades. their budget has been severely

affected with the result that they are removing commercial officers. you know, here we helped to liberate libya from khadafi and the commercial officer that could be there whether it be in hydrocarbons or agriculture or you name it, is, you know, not going to be renewed. and throughout the world -- and, you know, i -- i have had many conversations with major american corporations. but also with small and medium-sized businesses in our country. we are trying to double exports in five years. we're close to meeting that goal. we have to keep upping the number so that we are always on our toes because that's where a lot of the new jobs are going to come from. you know, as senator luter pointed out, we still have a lot of people hurting in our country. and although i think we're making progress, we want to accelerate that