about a stride. and i think diplomacy does have a chance to work. it is astounding, though, what bashar assad has done. >> would you call him a dictator? >> i would call him a despot. he is more than a dictator. i would call him a barbarian. he is worse than a cannibal. he is a barbarian. what they're doing there, and it's a shock to me. i sat as close and you and i are and talked to him in a reasonable way. he is an ophthalmologist. he is british educated. he has a very cultured wife. my wife joan had lunch with her, developed a rapport. and to see what is going on now is just astounding. but listen, greta, you make peace with your enemies, not your friends. there is an old saying keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

>> athens, georgia, eva, independent caller. you're next. >> caller: good morning, senator specter. >> morning. >> caller: i can't wait to read your book. >> thank you. >> caller: i would ask have you included anything in there with respect to the confirmation hearing of clarence thomas. i know you're teaching a course now in the law school. and i watched those senate hearing and the judiciary committee hearings, and you sat on that committee during the time that anita hill was testifying. i wonder if that was included in your book and if you could comment this morning on it, please. >> well, it is included in my book with respect to justice thomas and citizens united, what has happened now. i go into that issue in great length in my first book called "passion for truth," which was published 12 years ago. great, great detail about those

hearings. i've actually write three books, passion for truth which includes my work as assistant council, one of the warren staff investigating the assassination of president kennedy where i developed the single bullet theory, and i talk about my work as d.a. of philadelphia and about my time in the senate, including the confirmation hearings of justice thomas. and i wrote a book never give in, which is about my battle with hodgkin's cancer, staying on the job, and now the book "life among the cannibals," which updates to the current problems with my suggestions for trying to deal with that. >> about your battle for cancer, can you talk about your health now? are you in good health? >> what you see is what you get, greta. >> still working out as much as you were? >> yeah. i played squash every day last week. played squash on monday, been in washington monday, tuesday and

this morning. so we'll be playing squash this afternoon. i consider a trip to the squash court a trip to the health bank. every time i go to the health bank, i make a deposit. and i made big. >> fort collins, colorado, charles, an independent. >> caller: good morning, mr. specter. >> morning. >> i would like you to comment. i sit here every day as an independent and watch fox news and rush limbaugh. grover norquist, who doesn't believe in economic base multipliers, who came up with this no tax thing, what, in seventh grade? and all these stuff. and i hear these republicans always just parroting exactly what is coming off the media. and it doesn't seem like they have any voice or opinions of their own. and i'm telling my friends who are republicans, this is burying your party, because when you

start getting people and listening to people that are so far to the right, you know, you have to win the independents. you're never going to get anywhere. you're going to end up with romney. you're going to end up with santorums. you're not going to end up with jeb bushs in their party, and they're basically eating themselves up doing this, because people like me look at santorum as you were saying and go what in the world are. are we draconian? i don't know. you help me out with this. >> don't insult the draconians. santorum, you're insulting the draconians when you're comparing santorum to the draconians. listen. we're doing without a lot of people. we just lost olympia snowe. that's a big loss on top of bob bennet. joe lieberman is going. arlen specter is gone.

mike cassel is gone. when you say why don't they have opinions of their own, let me tell you something. they do have opinions of their own. you ought to be in the cloakroom right off the senate floor on both sides there are cloak rooms where people go and sit down and have a cup of coffee and smooch, the yiddish word for converse, talk. you ought to hear the discussions in the cloakroom. there are lots of opinions. when i walked out after my vote on the stimulus package, the first thing that bob bennet said to me, arlen, i'm proud of you. i said will you vote with me? he said no, that might get me a primary. well, he got a primary anyway, and he got beat nene the primary. the thought just occurred to me. they ought to televise the cloakrooms. set up c-span televising the senate chamber which has a

quorum almost of the time. all that good valuable time is wasted on a quorum call, not with beautiful greta and some intelligent questions. who knows about the answer. somebody else will have to judge that. we ought to televise the cloakrooms, greta. never mind what goes on on the floor. televise the cloakrooms, be a different america. >> senator arlen specter, thank you very much for being here. the book is "life among the cannibals." >> hold it up, greta, will you, please? >> we got tonight screen right there. >> oh. >> life among the cannibals, out march 27th. thank you for being here, sir. >> amazon.com. >> and we're going to reair this on book tv as well. on tomorrow morning's washington journal, oklahoma congressman tom cole, a member of the appropriations and budget committees talks about the house gop 2013 gop budget proposal released this week. former tv talk show host phil donahue discusses his film "body

of war." and bradley herring looks at how many americans are without health insurance, and how these numbers will be affected by the affordable health care act. washington journal live at 7:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. up next on c-span 3, a veterans affairs budget hearing with va secretary eric shinseki. then from the national health foundation we'll hear from eric schmidt of google and chris wallace of fox news. >> the genetic scientist who finally nailed down a rough date for when the hiv epidemic starts describes tinderboxs and wet moss. he says most of the world is wet moss. in most parts of the world there is not that much hiv. yet in some place there's is a ton, and it's incredibly destructive. so understanding that these two sort of categories exist and allows you to think okay, what

are those factors to keep this virus moving, and what can we do as a world to end it. >> on afterwords, tracking the history of aids, sunday night at 9:00, part of a book tv weekend on c-span 2. veterans affairs secretary eric shinseki testified about president obama's budget request for the department, which is a 10 1/2% increase over current levels. general shinseki is joined by other members of the department of veterans affairs at this two and a half hour hearing chaired by senator patty murray. >> good morning and welcome to this morning's hearing on the fiscal year 2013 budget and the fiscal year 2014 advanced appropriations request for the department of veterans affairs.

i want to thank all of the panelists for coming and help work out critical issues for our veterans. last week i convened a roundtable discussion with veterans from across my home state of washington. i heard from the very men and women whose lives this budget is actually going to touch. while some of the veterans as always praise the care and access they were receiving from the va, many of them did lay out concerns that must be addressed in this budget and in future budgets. i heard from veterans who still face unacceptably long wait times for mental health care or are still not getting the type of mental health care that they need in their own community. i heard from women veterans who were struggling to receive specialized care, and i heard from veterans who are just really fed up with the dysfunction of the claims system. i also heard from veterans who still find themselves confronted by obstacles to employment, and

who told me they're even afraid to write the word "veteran" on their job application because of the stigma they believe employers today attach to that. last year's passage of the nevada heroes act was a first step in tackling the problems in the high rate of unemployment, but there is a lot of work left to be done. as i'm sure secretary shinseki will talk about, now is the time to take advantage of the public private partnerships and the sea of goodwill that exists in corporate america towards our veterans today, but also require beating back misinformation about the invisible wounds of war. i'm pleased that the administration has shown real leadership in engaging private partners in this area, and i will continue to highlight the tremendous skills and leadership ability and discipline that our veterans do bring to the table. i also look forward to learn mortgage today about va's involvement with the president's proposed veterans job corps.

any way that we can get our veterans employed and more involved in bettering our communities is a program worthy of investment. as everyone on this committee knows, with the end of the war in iraq and the upcoming withdrawal of troops from afghanistan, the budget challenges will only continue for the va. last year this committee held a hearing to explore the long-term costs of war. and what is 100% clear is we have an obligation that will continue long after the fighting is over. today as we review this budget fulfilling our nation's obligation to our veterans not only today, but throughout the course of their lives must be our most pressing consideration. now let me say that as a long-time member of the senate budget committee and as someone who has seen just how difficult this year's budget is for many other agencies, when this budget arrived on my desk, i was very encouraged. given the current fiscal environment, the va has done a good job putting together a budget that reflects a very real commitment to provide veterans with the care and benefits they have earned.

so thank you, secretary shinseki for your efforts in doing that. i also want to applaud va's ongoing commitment to end homelessness this is an area where you are making real strides. and i'm encouraged to see the administration has again requested an increase in funding for homeless programs. i'm hopeful we'll continue to see a significant effort to reduce the number of homeless veterans and prevent those who are at risk from becoming homeless. but i also believe the va has some real work to do in the area of serving female homeless veterans. but while va has done a good job putting together a budget that works to tackle the challenges that our veterans face, there is also clearly room for improvement. for the third year in a row, va has proposed cuts in spending for major construction and nonrecurring maintenance. these continued cuts are deeply troubling given last year was the first time va's budget even outlined the department's vision for a ten-year construction plan with the price tag that approached $65 billion.

yet despite that plan, for the past two years, va has requested only a fraction of the amount that it needs. i'm disappointed at the size of the gap between the funding need to bring facilities up to date, and the funding requested from the congress. in addition, this budget request proposes a series of initiatives intended to save money, including better controls on contract health care, better strategies for contracting and cutting administrative overhead. i'm pleased to see the va recognizes the importance of efficiency, but i have some concerns with those proposals. a gao report released oon monday shows in of the initiatives and last year's budget did not generate the savings that the va projected. i will review each of the proposals with an open mind, but our first priority, our obligation must be to ensure that we're fulfilling and honoring our commitment to our veterans. if the va fails to meet the proposed cost save estimates, it

will have to find a way to make up the difference so veterans don't pay the price. medical care collection series another area where va has to do a better job of predicting targets and collecting funds. it's impossible to build a budget on funding that is not collected. another area of concern to me is mental health care. at a hearing last year, the va witnesses acknowledged they may in fact need more resources to meet the high demand for mental health care. i want a straight forward answer from the va about their actual needs and whether the department's proposed 5% increase is enough. last year i asked the va to conduct a survey of mental health providers which revealed significant shortcomings. va proposed a plan to fix the problems, and they must complete those steps as scheduled. but the va cannot stop with what was outlined in that initial plan. it must continue to work to find ways to make real and substantial improvements. this year we will continue to be aggressive in our oversight of va mental health care. not every veteran will be

affected by invisible wo vetera courage to stand up and ask for help, va must be there every single time. va must be there with not only timely access to care, but also the right type of care. challenges like ptsd or depression are natural responses to some of the most stressful experiences a person can have, and we will do everything possible to ensure that those affected by these illnesses can get the help, can get better, and can get back to their lives. finally, like chairman miller and senator tester and others, i remain very concerned about the questions surrounding the effects of sequestration on veterans health care. throughout the budget control act process that established sequestration, i made it very clear that including va among those agencies that would receive automatic cuts is unacceptable and repeatedly make clear that this should not be the case. and although i'm confident that all veterans programs, including health care will be protected in the event of sequestration, i

want to make sure you knowly not accept anything else. i believe our veterans deserve clarity on this issue. and if you can't be provided today, i'm going to continue to work to get it. in fact, i have already asked the government accountability office to issue a formal legal opinion which will provide some resolution to this issue. secretary shinseki, as you well know, budgets are a reflection of our values. and thanks to your work, this budget request demonstrates a strong commitment to our veterans. but while we're in a position to make sure the va has the increased funding it needs, we should also be mindful the demand for services is going to continue to increase, no matter the number of troops deployed. i look forward to working with my colleagues on this committee and on the budget and appropriations committee on which i also sit. and of course with secretary shinseki and his entire team and the leaders from the veterans community to make sure that we keep this long-term commitment. so i thank all of you for being here today and my committee members. with that i will turn to my

ranking member, senator bury for his opening statement. >> thank you, madam chairman, secretary, welcome. welcome to your leadership team. as well as welcome to the veteran service organizations who are here this morning. we're here today to review the president's budget request for the department of veterans affairs for fiscal year '13, which includes a 4 1/2% increase in discretionary spending. i continue to believe that it's important we provide adequate funding so that veterans of all generations will be able to receive the benefits and services they've earned and deserved without hassles or delays. but we also need to analyze the budget requests to ensure that we spend the taxpayers' money wisely and more importantly, that the fund willing actually lead to better outcomes for veterans, their families, and their survivors. as we will discuss today, i have

questions about whether that is the case for several areas of today's budget hearing. to start with the budget for mental health care includes an advanced appropriations request for fiscal year '14 of $6.4 billion. if adopted, it will represent a 4% increase over fiscal year '13 and a 66% increase over the fiscal year '08 level. but at hearings last year, the committee heard about the devastating -- devastating struggles some veterans face when trying to get mental health treatment they need from the va. in fact, va's survey of its mental health providers last year was pretty clear on the problem. 70% of survey respondents indicate they'd did not have enough mental health staff to meet the current demand for

care. 45% indicated that lack of off hours appointments is a barrier to care. and 51% said it took 30 days or more from a veteran to be seen for a specialty appointment such as post traumatic stress disorder. clearly, this is an instance where increased funding has not translated to better services for veterans. today i hope we'll get a better understanding of how the va plans to address these issues, how the requested funding would be used, and whether it may be time for va to start looking outside the box to find solutions to the barriers veterans face in assessing this needed care. another area of concern is the backlog of disability claims. pretty common discussion we have in this committee. this budget requests a 41% increase in staff since 2008. but let's look at what has

happened during that time. the number of claims pending at the end of the year has more than doubled. the average number of days to complete complete a claim has increased by 26%. the quality of decisions has trended down and is now below 84%. according to one performance measure, there's been a 16% decline in the number of claims completed annually by employees. productivity. the appeals resolution time is increased from 645 days to 747 days. and va decided hundreds of thousands less claims than it received. with statistics like these it must be a priority to episure the initiatives va is pursuing to get this situation under control will actually be effective. so that veterans, their families, and their survivors receive timely quality decisions when they seek benefits from the va. another area of the budget i'd

like to briefly mention is the legislative proposal to spend $1 billion over five years on veterans' jobs corps programs. while i believe it's important that we help our veterans find meaningful work, i'm interested in learning how the va would suggest paying for this program and about how it would be structured. so i hope the va will be able to provide us with more details about the proposed program today. madam chairman, the final item i want to highlight before i turn it back to you is the continued increase in staff at the va central office. and quite honestly at division level. for example, since fiscal year '08 the staff of the va central office has grown by close to 40%. and the office of human resources and administration has seen an 80% increase over the same period.

also, the staff at the vincent headquarters has increased by 52% between '08 and '11. i think we need to ask serious questions about whether this increase in staffing directly benefits our nation's veterans, whether these employees are essential to delivering services to the veterans who use the va system, and whether any of the fund could be put to better use. the bottom line is that particularly in this time of record debt and deficits we need tone sure that when we spend the limited money that we have we do it wisely and that we make certain the veterans are the ones that receive the benefits and services that have been earned and deserved. the trend lines are troubling to me. they should be troubling to this committee. and they should be troubling quite frankly to the va. i'll focus much of my attention

on those today and questions to the secretary and to his leadership team. i thank the chair. >> thank you, senator burr. we'll now turn to our senators for opening remarks. in order of appearance, senator akaka, we'll start with you. >> thank you very much, madam chairman. and i want to say aloha to secretary shinseki and his leadership staff at va. i want to thank all of you for your service to the veterans and of course to our country. and i don't need to tell you what you've been hearing, that secretary shinseki and the leadership staff has been improving the services because claims have dropped and that's

an indication. the care and treatment which is our duty to provide to veterans is something we must continually strive to improve. and you have been doing that. i'm encouraged to see that the total budget request for va was $13 billion above last year. i know we have budgetary constraints. but we owe it to our veterans who have sacrificed for our country, and you have planned, and we're moving along and have been progressive about meeting those needs. i'm glad to see increases in budget requests for mental health, suicide prevention, and iraq and afghanistan veterans programs.

i am also encouraged by major increases in funding for homeless vets and women of vets' programs. while budget increases provide opportunities, we all know that these resources must be utilized with thought and efficiency in order to best serve our veterans and their families. as the defense department continues to reduce its participation in overseas contingency operations and more veterans come home to their families, va's capacity to treat veterans is sure to be tested even more. mr. secretary, we have talked about this, and i know that you are doing all you can to prepare for the anticipated growth in

number of veterans seeking va services. secretary shinseki, i'm also very pleased to see that an important project for hawaii's veterans which i have championed for years is in the budget, a much-needed care facility in west oahu that would alleviate some of the overcrowding at the spark matsunaga medical center at trippen hospital. this proposed lease will certainly help to meet the needs of our veterans in hawaii. and mr. secretary, i have been impressed with all that you and your team have been able to accomplish in your past three years. you have made tremendous strides to improve mental health care and suicide prevention,

homelessness, and help veterans find jobs, among other accomplishments. however, we know there are areas where we can improve the care and services provided to our veterans which they earned and most certainly deserve. so i look forward to hearing your testimony today, mr. secretary, and continuing to work with my colleagues and va to help provide the best care we can to our veterans and their families. thank you very much, madam chairman. >> thank you very much. senator johansson. >> madam chair and ranking member burr, thanks for holding the hearing. very, very important hearing.

let me just start out and offer an observation, mr. secretary. first of all, i want to say thank you for stopping by my office a week or ten days ago. as you know, over the past few years while i've been here and you've been in your position we have had an opportunity to meet on a number of occasions, and i've always appreciated that. i come away with those meetings -- from those meetings absolutely convinced that you and your team have the best interest of vets in your heart and you're trying to do everything you can to deal with all of the problems that we are going to mention today. but one of the things that we have found in working with vets in my senate office, and it's the reality of the veterans administration, is every veteran has an individual problem. that's not easily solved with one sweeping policy approach or

whatever. we have found that we really have to sit down with each threat and talk to them and help them work through that problem. and even in my senate office we have found that we have to staff up to do that. i have more people in my senate offices working on the veterans caseload then any other caseload that we work on. so it is just part of what we have to do. i think you have great perspective on what the veterans need. and you're always willing to bring that to the fore. i've been in your position before, and the complexities of what you're doing are enormous. so i want to start out on a positive note and just tell you i think your heart's in the right direction, but i do think as we look at the