author of "ten letters" the stories americans tell their president. then a discussion of politics in the digital age. later, a hearing focusing on legislation to protect consumer privacy online. >> i want people to get from the book is a better understanding of who she was, what she was like during that four-year period. there have been a lot of books written. most of it has been written by people who talked to friends of friends of friends. they don't have the information themselves. i happened to be there. i knew her. >> from late 1960 through 1964, former secret service agent served with jacqueline kennedy. >> it's just what happened, what she was like, things she liked to do. how humorous she was at times and how athletic she was at

times. how rambunctious she was at times. she tried to put me to the test. i did my best to meet that. >> more with clint hill sunday at 8:00 on c-span's q & a. >> the senate veterans committee this week looked at how veteran's disabilities are evaluated. according to the government office, some service members wait a year or longer for decisions on their cases. this is an hour and a half. >> good morning and welcome to today's hearing to examine the ongoing efforts of the department of defense to provide a seamless transition for service members and veterans. almost a year ago today, this

committee held a hearing on va and d.o.d. efforts to improve tran decision. at the hearing, we had an opportunity to hear from both departments about the state of the joint program. the department's testimony that day spoke to how the department's had created a transparent and expeditious evaluation process. testimony states ides is a fair, faster process. well, now that that joint system has been implemented nationwide, i have to say i am far from convinced myself that the department's implemented a disability evaluation process that is truly transparent, consistent or expeditious. there are now over 27,000 service members involved in the disability evaluation system. as more and more men and women return from afghanistan and as

the military downsizes, we are going to see a larger group of service members transition through the disability evaluation process. this process impacts every aspect of a service members life while they transition out of the military. it doesn't stop there. if it doesn't work right, it can negatively affect the service member and their family well after they have left active duty. getting this right is a big challenge. we have no choice but to step up to meet. i seen the impacts of a broken system. whether it's from a wrong diagnosis and improper decision or never ending wait times. when the system doesn't work and service members can't get a proper evaluation and diagnosis, that means they are not getting the care they need. without the proper care, they may find themselves struggling to readjust to family or civilian life and they often struggle to find work. worse yet, we have heard stories

of soldiers overdosing on drugs and taking their own lives. they are real tragedies affecting real service members. they are happening despite a system intended to provide greater support to wounded, ill and injured. i have seen the effect it can have on a soldier and their family. i met stephen davis and his wife kim. they are stationed in my home state of washington. he led his men in combat in iraq and afghanistan. he was exposed to multiple ied explosions. after being treated by the army for years for ptsd and other mental health disorders he was told he was making up his ailmen ailments. from speaking with him, i can tell you sergeant davis and the hundreds of other men and women are far from satisfied with the

transparency and consistency of the evaluation process. all of these men and women have been diagnosed with and were receiving treatment for ptsd during service. during the evaluation, they were told they were exaggerating their symptoms, labeled and their behavioral health diagnosis was changed. since then, the army has launched investigations and hundreds of soldiers are now being re-evaluated in an effort to make it right. the most recent update from the army shows out of the 196 cases that have been re-evaluated, 108 have resulted in a diagnosis of ptsd. that is more than half of these men and women. still more have received other significant health diagnosis. other referrals are still occurring. i'm still hearing from those who completed their evaluations only

to find themselves stuck back in the same disability evaluation system that failed them. despite all the men and women have been through, they continue to have their behavioral health injuries minimized and feel their chain of command doesn't understand what they are going through. clearly, more needs to be done to build uniformity and accountability in the process of identifying those struggling with ptsd and other health problems. the army has taken a number of steps in the right direction. their recent policy on the diagnosis and treatment of ptsd addresses a number of concerns i have raised. it standardizes the health care through treatments and assessments, recognizes how extraordinarily rare it is for service members to fake symptoms of ptsd. this is critical. addition nally, last week, the

army took another critically important step forward in addressing the concerns i have been raising by announcing a comprehensive army wide review of behavioral reviews and diagnosis in the evaluation system. i want to applaud the army leadership for taking significant steps in addressing the issues. this is going to take continued engagement from the army leadership. i know some may argue this is a joint base problem or army problem but it is not. this is a systemwide problem. we will continue to see issues similar to those at madigan until they ensure policies and actions like those we have seen from the army in recent weeks are adopted across the services and throughout the joint system. ensuring service members receive a proper diagnosis and the care and benefits they earn is an obligation we have as a nation. we owe it to them to get it

right. these are not the only challenges confronting disability evaluation system. we are going to hear about other challenges facing the department. challenges i must say sound all too familiar. everyone on the committee knows the v.a. struggles for the claims backlog. numbers from the evaluation system paint a similar picture. enrollment continues to climb. the number of service members cases meeting the timeliness goals is low. the amount of time it takes to separate and provide benefits to a service member through this system has risen each year since inception. this continued rise in the amount of time it takes to provide a service member with a decision has to be addressed. the goal the departments have set for completing it is 295 days for active duty and 305 days for reservice. last year, on average it took

active duty service members 394 days and reservists 420 days. that's around 100 days longer than the goal and it is unacceptable. dr. rooney, mr. gingrich, right now they are failing the service members. the only thing we are interested in are the solutions to the problem and the dedication of your leadership making it better. we cannot allow the same problems to negatively impact the transition of thousands of service members in the next few years. the consequences are too severe. clearly, a lot of work remains to be done. what we are seen the army moving in the right direction. now you need to take the lessons learned and apply them across the entire system. not only will it require quick action but most importantly, it's going to require the total engagement, cooperation and support of all senior leaders at both departments to get this done right.

while d.o.d. and v.a. are at a critical juncture, i'm confident improve the system for thousands of men and with that, i turn to senator boseman, ranking member burr is here. joined us, so we turn to senator boseman. >> thank you chairman murray and thank you for holding the evaluation system including how well it is working and what is being done to improve it. also, thank you to our witnesses for joining us, today. as we are here today, still facing real and significant challenges, it's taking more than one year to go through the process, one-third longer than the v.a. and department of defense intended. some military bases are taking much longer than that.

in fact only 18% of active duty service members are transitioning to civilian life. during this time, wounded, ill and injured service members are waiting to find out whether they have to build new lives as civilians. ffr those ready and able to move on with their lives, this must seem like an eternity. i think the number of service members in this process who are discharged or court-martialed or died from unnatural causes including suicides and overdoses the impact the delays are having on the personal well being of wounded warriors. also, we need to consider whether the ids is truly setting them up to succeed after leaving the military. as the committee has been told by many service members going through the process, the

uncertainty about where, when and where they might leave the military can actually prevent them from getting their civilian lives in order, such as buying a job. on top of that, it appears this system is not as straight forward or user friendly as intended. listen to what they said about the ids process earlier this year. wounded warriors -- highly complicated, difficult to understand, unnecessarily contentious. other word that is have been used to describe ids are disjointed. there's another hidden liability to know. that is the potential impact that the backlog may have on our washington are talking of drawing down.

right now, there are about process. i am under the impression they are still considered as being in the military. so, that comes out of the bottom line for armies instrument and cannot be replaced until they have completed the ids process. based on these and other issue, it's clear we are still a long way from actually creating a seamless transition for many wounded and ill personnel. i hope they will have a meeting about what can be done to speed up the process for those ready to move on with their civilian lives. with that, i yield back. >> thank you very much, senator. >> chairman, i ask to put my statement on the record. thank you. >> thank you very much. at this time, i want -- senator tester, did not see you come in,

which is surprising. welcome. because i beat you in madam chair. i thank you dr. rooney for being here, mr. gingrich and mr. bertoni. we have been talking about this for about five years. obviously, it's not an easy issue or it would be done already. by the same token, maybe we ought to get the committee on military affairs in here. you are here, dr. rooney. to put the pressure on the d.o.d. as we put pressure on the v.a. to make sure they are going their job. let me give you a quick statistic. secretary mentioned his goal for disability compensation and pension plans is 125 days, 98% accuracy. right now, according to the report mr. bertoni put out, it's 394 days and 79% accurate.

we have an issue here. the reason i know we have an issue is i have veterans calling me all the time. it's too complicated. they don't know how to get through it. the folk that is serve this country deserve better. we have to get it right. i don't think ids is doing it correctly. i look forward to you correcting me. the bottom line is, what this committee does is important but what's more important is the services we get to the vets. they have earned that help and they need to get it now. thank you madam chair. >> okay. thank you very much. at this time, i would like to introduce and welcome our witnesses. the department of defense the acting secretary of defense for personal readiness, jo ann rooney. i really appreciate your willingness to testify before

this committee, again. joining us from the department of veteran's avaries is v.a.s chief of staff, john gingrich. from the government accountability office, mr. daniel bertoni. i want to thank each one of you for joining us this morning. we look forward to hearing your testimony. your prepared remarks will appear in the record. dr. rooney, we'll begin with you. >> thank you. good morning chairman murray, ranking member burr and members of the committee. it's my pleasure to be here today to testify on current efforts focused on reviewing and improving the integrated disability evaluation system. i am pleased to be appearing with one of my partners from the department of veteran's affairs. as departments, we are working closely together to provide an integrated, seamless process for wounded, ill or injured service

members as they transition to veteran status. taking care of our service members is the absolute highest priority of the department of defense. part of taking care of our service members includes ensuring their honorable service d.o.d. and v.a. systems for injuries and illnesses incured during that service. the department is under taken many initiatives to accomplish this. we acknowledge there is much more work to be done. over the past five years, the departments of defense and veterans affairs have worked together with assistance and guidance from congress to perform the cumbersome processes which provide care and benefits to wounded, ill and injured service members when and where they need them. working closely, deliberately and collaboratively, the departments established

governance at the highest levels to facilitate improvements. the joint executive council co-chaired by the v.a. deputy secretary gould and me devotes part of each bimonthly meeting to reviewing the progress and understanding the actions toward achieving our goal of seamless transition from service members to veteran. similarly, the quarterly meeting conducted jointly by the secretary of defense and the secretary of veterans affairs with their senior leaders to oversee and drive progress toward the stated goals. one of these efforts is idez. it delivers a more service member centric design, a simpler process, more consistent evaluations and compensation. easier transition to veteran's status, an established

relationship between the service member and v.a. prior to separation. it provides increased transparency through better information flow to service members and their families as well as the reduced gap between separation or retirement from service and receipt of v.a. benefits. it streamlines a disability evaluation system with service members receiving a single set of physical ability examinations. proposed disability ratings prepared by v.a. that both departments can use and dual processing to ensure the earliest possible delivery of disability benefits. currently, it is in use at 139 locations across all services. since november of 2007, 19,518 service members have completed this process.

it is also reduced the post-separation benefits gap between d.o.d. and v.a. from 240 days in 2007 to 50 days currently, which means disabilitied veterans receive their v.a. benefits 79% faster under the current idez than before. even with the marked improvements and performance, it's brought to the disability evaluation process, we have much work remaining. both departments are committed to constant evaluation of each step throughout the process. we'll continue to seek long term innovative solutions focused on improving the solution of our wounded warriors. we must do that. we also must carefully review the critical steps in idez to reach the 295 day completion goal for at least 60% of those entering the process by the end of this calendar year.

the military services are each in the process of implementing actions to improve efficiency and effectiveness. since october of 2011, this fall, the army has added 513 medical evaluation board and physical evaluation board personnel and enhanced the accountability by establishing performance metrics for measuring the productivity of board staff. the army also completed a senior leader assessment of the idez insulations across the army. this identified specific actions required to enhance and standardize performance across the army. the navy and marine corps added ten doctors and 37 case managers to the medical evaluation board staff this year and anticipate 23 more doctors next year. physical evaluation board staffs increased in navy and marine

corps by 47% allowing them to process 75% of the navy and 69% of the marine cases through this particular phase in less than the 120-day phase goal. the air force started to utilize air force national guard personnel to support the evaluation process and establish a preidez screening process to increase efficiency. they have removed policy impetments. examples include, reducing minimum and formal physical evaluation board staffing requirements from three members to two members. authorizing psychologists to sign medical evaluation boards. prior, they were not able to. allowing military departments to

process initial trainees through the legacy system. addition nally, d.o.d. is working with the v.a. partners to improve the execution by training case management software, implementing a common paperless standard or transfer of files by this summer. developing other integrated electronic file methods that enhance the idez. the departments anticipate these improvements this summer, 2012. it will reduce their time, on average by 20 to 30 days. the department is committed to ensuring disability evaluation and compensation of injured, ill and wounded service members is thorough, fair and accurate. we are continuely reviewing the process and the requirements to adequately staff and when necessary surge the idez so it remains responsive to the needs of service members in the

services as they draw down and reset their forces. yet, we understand there is room for improvement in all parts of our processes and are committed to working toward that end. after two decades of war with an all volunteer force that has seen marked improvements of survival of unsurvivalable combat injuries. the expectations of what happens after the service member becomes ill or injured are different. the department is focused on taking advantage of the medical care, restorative therapies and rehabilitation to allow them to achieve their greatest potential. this includes retention in military service when ever possible. this concept of being made whole reflects a commitment to the service members to restore the highest level possible, physically, mentally,

spiritually and financially and providing the benefits justified. the target of 295 days to complete the process was originally identified to address the concerns and frustrations of service members who did not believe they were being properly cared for. since these issued surfaced, many resources have been brought to improve the coordination of care and benefits. the complexity of injuries, sophisticated treatment strategies, coordination of care and change of the philosophical approach to the goals of patient centric versus military department centric redefined the time lines for complexion of this system. in fact, it has become more of a system centered on approving and defining ability rather than transition of a service member to veteran status.

it is often individualized in this application to achieve this goal. the department reaffirms its commitment to care for and honor our nation by serving in uniform. in order to meet our sacred responsibilities to the next greatest generation, we must fully leverage the capabilities and strategies and strengths of the department of defense and veteran affairs. we must break down the barriers that prevent us from giving the highest quality of care to those that need it and deserve it. thank you for the opportunity to be here today and i look forward to your questions. >> mr. gingrich. >> good morning. -- joined this morning under secretary -- okay. under secretary jo ann rooney and to discuss the system.

we have come a long way to discuss walter reid medical center in 2007. at that time, v.a. and the d.o.d. were miles apart. simply stated, the lack of integration and cooperation between the departments did not serve wounded service members well. since that time together, we have committed to achieve a seamless transition through a multipronged approach with idez as one of the critical initiatives. the process was designed to eliminate time consuming and often confusing elements of the separate disability processes. the goals of the joint process were to increase transparency, reduce the processing time, improve con ssistencconsistency. we have enhanced our online tools to allow service members

to view appointments and lab results and to track their claim. internally, we have increased transparency through the dash board that tracks performance at each site. the second tears have charged us to reach a combined performance goal of 295 days for 60% of the service members by the end of this year. to ensure we reach this goal, i hold biweekly reviews with 116 stations. in a short period of time, we have seen positive results. in january, the oldest case being worked for posed disability rating was 254 days. today, there are no cases over 180 days from february, 2011 to april, 2012, we reduced the average claim development time by 62%. the medical examination time by

60%. on april 5th, i committed the v.a. would clear within 60 days the entire inventory of army cases waiting decisions. for all the services. for both preliminary and final ratings, the combined productivity of our three disability rating activity sites increased 15% in the last month. we have several projects to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness such as the veteran tracking application that increases the flow from d.o.d. to v.a. and the electronic case file transfer system. we have made progress in approving transparency, consistency and process time. but, our biggest achievement