>> and the first question -- >> i should -- >> what is the issue with the computers. >> i share your frustration. >> i know you do. >> i've been there. >> we're past alexander graham bell and we have some pretty good computers these days. >> i grew up in an era when the phones were dial and actually in an era when you had party lines. i can carry a phone in my pocket now. we need to figure out a way to harness computers to work for us and not create obstacles for us. >> i appreciate that. again, my request is that you please look into that it shouldn't be that hard with the computer systems that we have now. mr. chairman, i yield back. >> thank you. anyone have any other questions? go ahead. >> i just wanted to make one final comment before we close here. and i just want to say, i know that the employees within the

va, particularly human services and you, mr. hernandez, are working very hard every day. ms. clifford testified that you're working really hard every single day, and i believe that, and i thank you for your service. i just believe that we need to do more, that you need more assistance, you need more -- you need a larger team. and we have to streamline the rules that are made. and we've got to put on our common sense thinking hats, if you will, and streamline this process. so i didn't want to close without with you thinking that -- i believe that you are working very hard and the people who are working for you are working very hard. i just believe you need more people and we need to improve upon the rules. >> thank you, ma'am, and we appreciate your support. >> thank you all once again for being here today. i think we touched on several

issues that are very important for our veterans, and i really appreciate the work that you do. subcommittee may be submitting additional questions for the record. i'd appreciate your assistance in ensuring an expedient response to those inquiries. and if there's no further questions, the panel is excused. thank you very much. i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and expand their remarks and exclude extraneous material. without objection, so ordered. i would like to once again thank all of our witnesses and the audience members for joining us here this morning and this afternoon. and the hearing is now adjourned. coming up live tomorrow on c-span3, a hearing on the future of u.s.-cuba relations before the senate foreign relations committee happening in the

morning at 10:00 eastern. then at 2:00 tomorrow afternoon u.s. capital police chief ken dooin will testify about issues facing his police some 1775 officers protect the sworn capital. plus our website, c-span.org will cover a hearing looking at the response to the nepal earthquakes. again, c-span.org will have that at 2:15 eastern tomorrow. presidential candidates often release books to introduce themselves to voters. here is a look at recent books written by declared and potential candidates for president. former secretary of state hillary clinton looks back on her time serving in the obama administration in "hard choices." in "american dreams" florida senator marco rubio outlines his plan to restore economic opportunity. former arkansas governor mike huckabee gives his take on politics and couple tour in

"god guns, grits and gravy." and in "blue collar conservatives", rick santorum arguing the republican party must focus on the working class to take over the white house. elizabeth warren talks about the what shaped her career. republicans must offer bold solutions to fix the country and have the courage to implement them in unintimidated. kentucky senator rand paul who recently declared his candidacy calls for smaller government and more by part san ship in "taking a stand." more potential presidential candidates with recent books include former governor jeb bush in "immigration wars." he along with clint bolick argue for new i'm prags policies. in "stand for something" ohio governor john kasich calls for a

return to traditional american values. former virginia senator james webb looks back on his time serve in the military and the senate in "i heard my country calling." independent vermont senator bernie sanders recently announced his intention to seek the democratic nomination for president. his book "the speech" is a printing of his eight-hour-long filibuster against tax cuts. in "promises to keep" vice president joe biden looks back on his career in politics and explains his guiding principles. neurosurgeon ben carson calls for greater individual responsibility to preserve america's future in "one nation." in "fed up!" former texas governor rick perry. another politician who has expressed interest in running for president is former rhode island governor lincoln chafe fee. in "against the tide" he recounts his time serving as a republican in the senate.

carly fiorina shares lessons she's learned from her difficulties and triumphs in "rising the the challenge." louisiana governor bobby engine cal criticizes the obama administration and explains why conservative solutions are needed in washington in "leadership and crisis." finally, in "a time for truth" another declared presidential candidate, texas senator ted cruz recounts his journey from a cuban immigrant's son to the u.s. senate. look for his book in june. the "national journal" writes that hillary clinton found out today what's when a presidential candidate goes almost a month without taking questions from the press, a feeding frenzy of reporters. the former secretary of state faced a bar reasonable of questions after a campaign event in cedar falls iowa, and answered questions on topics ranging from iraq to the clinton foundation to her family's welths. before tuesday, clinton had answered just 13 questions

during the campaign by npr's count. here is that brief five minutes of q&a from reporters. >> okay. are you ready? let's try to bring some order out of this. >> why don't we start with nancy? >> secretary clinton, do you regret the way the clinton foundation handled foreign donations when you were secretary of state? your opponents say the foreign donations and the private e-mails are examples of the clintons having one set of rules for themselves and another set of rules for everyone else. do they have a point? >> i'm so proud of the foundation, proud of the work it has done and is doing. it attracted donations from people organizations from around the world and i think that just goes to show that people are very supportive of the lifesaving and life changing

work it's done here at home and elsewhere. i'll let the american people make their own judgments about that. >> secretary clinton given the situation in iraq, do you think we're better off without saddam hussein in power? >> look, i know there have been a lot of questions about iraq posed to candidates over the last weeks. i've made it very clear that i made a mistake plachbin and simple. i've written about it in my book, talked about it in the past. what we now see is a very different an very dangerous situation, the united states is doing what it can, but ultimately this has to be a struggle that the iraqi government and the iraqi people are determined to win for themselves. we can provide support but they're going to have to do it. >> on your income -- on your income disclosure recently that just came out on friday you are in the tip-top echelon of earners in this country.

how do you expect everyday americans to relate to you? >> obviously bill and i have been blessed, and we're very grateful for the opportunities that we had, but we've never forgotten where we came from and never forgotten the kind of country we want to see for our granddaughter. that means that we're going to fight to make sure that everybody has the same chances to liz up to his or her own god-given potential. i think most americans understand that the deck is stacked for those at the top. i'm running a campaign that is very clearly stating we want to reshuffle that deck. we want to get back to having more opportunities for more people so they can make more out of their own lives. i think that's exactly what america is looking for. >> secretary clinton can you explain your relationship as secretary of state with sydney blumenthal? there's a report out that you've exchanged several e-mails. should americans expect if elected president you would have the same type of relationship

you've had with old friends for so long? >> i have many many old friends. i thit's important when you get into politics that you have friends you had before you were in politics and understand what's on their mintds. he's been a friend of mine for a long time, he sent me unsolicited e-mails which i passed on in some instances. nd i see that's part of the give and take. when you're in the public eye, when you're in an official position, i think you do have to work to make sure you're not caught in the bubble and only hear from a small group of people. i'll keep talking to my old friends, whoever they are. >> secretary clinton we've learned today that the state department might not release your e-mails until january 24016. a federal judge thinks they should be released sooner. will you demand they be released sooner. to follow up in your speecheses, was there a conflict of interest in giving the speeches?

>> the answer to the first is no. i have said repeatedly i want those e-mails out. nobody has a bigger interest in getting them released than i do. i respect the state department: they have their process they do for everybody not just for me. but anything they might do to expedite that process i heartedly support. i want the american people to learn as much as we can about the work i did with our ditch mats and development experts. i think it will show how hard we worked and what we did for our country during the time i was secretary of state where i worked extremely hard on behalf of our values our interest and our security. the e-mails are part of that. i have said publicly i'm repeating it here in front of all of you today i want them out as soon as they can get out. >> will you demand it? >> they're not mine. they belong to the state department. the state department has to go through its process. as much as they can expedite that process that's what i'm asking them to do.

please move as quickly as they possibly can to get them out. >> secretary clinton -- >> thank you. thank you all very much. >> do you regret deleting 32,000 other e-mails, mrs. clinton? a brief session of quels from reporters after hillary clinton spoke at bike tech in cedar falls, iowa. this is her second day in iowa. the democratic presidential candidate spoke about small businesses, getting regulations reduced for community banks and ways to spur the economy through small business. you can see hillary clinton's remarks in our overnight programming on c-span or at any time at c-span.org. more from the campaign

trail. the "palm beach post" is reporting that republican presidential candidate carly fiorina will appear at the palm beam county convention center tomorrow and then at tnd a ribbon cutting at the place of hope foster care agency in boca raton. before that event fiorina will meet with about three dozen donors who have given at least $1,000 to the county gop. carly fiorina spoke with wmur tv last month about why she's running, her vision to tackle issues such as immigration, the nation's deficit and where compromise can occur. >> good evening everyone. welcome to our conversation. our guest is former hewlett packard ceo, republican carly fiorina. tonight we'll be getting to know her and where she stands on the key issues. at the start of the program, as always i'll ask the candidate a

few questions. after a break we'll bring in the studio audience to ask their questions in what is a town hall type format. before that, let's look at the candidate's biography. carly fiorina was born in austin texas, went on to get her mba in marketing from university of maryland and master of science from m.i.t. she worked for at&t in an entry level sales position and led the spinout of lucent technologies. in 1999 she was recruited to hewlett packard the first woman to lead a fortune 450 business. she spent six years at the chairman and ceo of the company. she serves as the chairman of unlocking potential projects, the union foundation, good 360 and opportunity international. she ran for u.s. senate in california in 2010 and moved to virginia to be with her husband to be with her daughter and two

granddaughters. >> thanks for joining us. >> glad to be with you. >> with a resume like that, obviously successful in business. why do you want to get into something like this or consider it anyways? >> because i think our nation is at a very pivotal point. i think ours was intended to be a citizen government. for most of our nation's history, people came out of private life and went to public service for a time when they felt as though their nation called them. i think we have a lot of people in the political class who haven't changed the situation stem and it needs changing. we now have an economy that's underperforming. we're tangling people's lives up in webs of dependent. not leading in the world not getting government out of control. government is costly corrupt huge powerful and only the big, the powerful the wealthy and the well connected can deal with all that government. what i bring to the table is not a lifetime in politics.

what i bring is an understanding of how the economy actually works, an understanding of how the world works and the leaders on the world stage today because i know many of them, an understanding of bureaucracies, how you change them and understand the technology and why it can be a transformational tool, an understanding of how to make executive decisions which are tough calls in tough times and high stakes for which you're prepared to be held accountable. you don't learn that reading a briefing book. you need to live it. >> sure. you mentioned knowing world leaders. some might assume your background in business while is certainly good talking about the economy, might say it's a short coming when it comes to foreign policy. you say quite the contrary with some of the people you've spoken with. >> quite the contrary. i probably know more world leaders on the stage today than anyone with the exception of hillary clinton. i've traveled and done business around the world for 25 years. i also have flown hundreds of thousands of miles like hillary clinton. but flying is an activity.

it's not actually an accomplishment. so my dealings with world leaders have not been photo ops. they've been doing deals charity, business deals. i've met vladimir putin, for example. i served also, as the chairman of the advisory board at the central intelligence agency for several years, advised two secretaries of defense and a secretary of state. so i understand i think quite well why the world is a more dangerous and a more tragic place when america isn't leading. we are not leading. >> you bring up hip. obviously most people see her as far and away the democratic front-runner. recently you said you take away hillary clinton's best weapon, that being the gender card. do you believe the republican ticket is going to need a woman on it to defeat hillary clinton? >> well, i just want you to think about me facing hillary clinton on a general election debate stage. she can't talk about being the first woman president. she can't talk about the

republican war on women. she cannot play the gender card at all. she can try talking about equal pay for equal work. but i think i understand that it is seniority system that disadvantages women the most. so what she'll have to talk about is her record her accomplishments or lack thereof her transparency and candor as a leader or lack thereof. she'll have to talk about her policies and ideas. i think on that ground ki beat hillary clinton. >> obviously hillary clinton is a name known worldwide. you're known in business obviously when it comes to politics relatively new to the game. how do you plan on -- fund-raising is a big part of this. getting the name id is a big part of it, big dpoent. what are your plans to try to break through some of the other names in the republican field as well. >> you're absolutely right. i'm not a professional politician. i haven't been in the political class all my life. so there are a lot of people who

care deeply about politics who don't know who i am. it's one of the reasons that a place like new hampshire is so important, because this is a state where people actually want to get to know the candidates. who are they? what do they believe? how do they conduct themselves? i think a state like new hampshire is very important for me, and i also think the debates are very important because that gives people an opportunity to see all the candidates, to hear them and i think based on my experience and my perspective and my voice, i'm clearly different, and i think i'll stand out. >> quickly, how would you describe yourself as a republican? there's a lot of different definitions under the republican umbrella right now. >> well there are. honestly i have to say i think part of the problem with politics is it's become all about labels, all about sound bites. people don't talk that way. what i will say is i am a tv. i think that every one has god-given gifts. no one of us is better than any

other one of us. i think our founders based this nation on a belief that the right to fulfill your potential, to use your god-given gifts, of which we're allpotential your gifts of which we are all endowed, that is a right from god, and shouldn't be taken away by government or man. in this nation, government is taking that away. someone came up to me after my speech and said, i don't think we think of ourselves as a nation of limitless possibility anymore. and i think he is right. i think when we lose that, we are losing the core of who we are, because this nation has always been defined by possibilities, for ourselves, for our family, for our future, for our nation, we're losing that sense of possibility. we have everything we need to solve our problems. we need leadership and citizenship. >> and i bet you're going to get

questions on that from the audience. we'll do that in a couple of moments after the break. stay with us. >> now, conversation with the candidate continues. >> welcome back to our conversation with the candidate. tonight's guest, republican carly fiorina. time for questions from the audience. for now, let's get right to it. first question jim adams. >> carly, your first hundred days, how would you set the tone on the deficit medicare, social security, and defense? how would you approach that? >> well, nice to see you jim. thanks for being here. so, first the only way we can get our deficits under control, and we need to get our deficit under control is to actually reduce the size of government. i mean, we've been talking about this for years. but in truth all we ever talk about is changing the rate of increase in last year's budget. so we have to start by knowing

actually how much money we're spending and where we're spending it. that's why we need to go to zero-based budgeting as many states have. we have no idea how our money is being spent. literally, we have no idea. so let's figure out how it's think spent and let's talk about all of it. secondly, this is an example to me of how the political class has failed citizens. because government has been getting bigger and bigger and bigger for about 50 years under republicans and democrats. and we never talk about it. every year another report comes out. senator tom coburn releases a report every year that details in excruciating and frankly embarrassing detail hundreds upon hundreds of billions of dollars of waste and nothing happens. nobody wants to go gore

anybody's ox except the american people's ox is being gored. there are many candidates talking about social security and entitlement reform and we have to get there, but why don't we clean up government first. why don't we stop taking money away from the american people and use the money that the american people send to washington every year and use it wisely and well. i would start by saying, government has to get smaller less powerful, less costly less corrupt. and more competent. speaking of military, the most obvious example to me of incompetence is how we serve our veterans. the veterans administration has been an embarrassment for a long time. when scandal hit, a bill was passed within three weeks that allowed the v.a. to fire the top 3, 400 executives, not that it's

a bad idea but why don't we do that everywhere? it hasn't gotten much better. i can deliver a loan to a poor woman in new delhi over a cell phone, yet if you're a veteran you have to spend months filling out paperwork, many more months while some bureaucrat checks your paperwork, many more months to find if you get an point. it isn't just inefficient. it's failing to serve. we have to have the strongest military on the face of the planet. but we have to serve our veterans well. let's spend the american money wisely and well and use the money to get our deficits under control. >> next question from marie. >> hi, marie. >> how are you? nice meeting you. should you run for government, what do you propose to do to unite the conservative wing of the republican party with its more conservative base?

>> you know, i ran in california for the senate in 2010 as a proud, pro-life conservative, you don't do that in california unless you mean it. despite the fact that california is conservative and i lost the election i won more republican votes, more democratic votes and more independent votes than virtually anyone running anywhere in the country that year. that's how big california is. but it also demonstrates to me that we have a lot of common ground on a lot of issues. i'm a conservative because i believe no one of us is any better than any other one of us. every one of us has god-given gifts. every one of us has potential. and i think that when government gets so powerful so costly, so complicated, so corrupt, so complex, it's clear, we're

tangling people's lives up in webs of dependence. we're crushing small and family-owned businesses, which are the economic growth engine of the nation. so i'm a conservative because i think our principles work better. one of the ways to unite people is to talk, not in sound bites not with a vitriolic judgmental tone, but to talk like normally people talk, to have a reasonable conversation, and to say, you know what, we don't have to agree 100% on every single issue but we need to agree on some core principles. nowhere is this more true than in the very emotional issue of abortion, or life. and obviously this is a highly charged political issue. i'm very up front about the issue that i'm pro-life. when people come to me and say i'm afraid your position is extreme. what i will say is have you ever read the democratic party

platform? no one ever has. here's what it says. any abortion, any time, at any point in a woman's pregnancy, right up to the last minute to be paid for by taxpayers and now they'd like to add to be performed by a non-doctor. that policy is it's not a life until it leaves the hospital. most people don't agree with that. just like most women say it doesn't make sense that a 13-year-old girl needs her mother's permission to go to a tanning salon but not to get an abortion. so even on that issue it is possible to find common ground. and i think we have to engage in persuasive conversations stick to our principles but engage in persuasive conversations so that we can find common ground and never should we be judgmental or dismissive of anyone. we should be empathetic and respectful because no one of us is any better than any other one of us. >> thank you marie. next question from brenda.

it's all yours. >> how are you, thank you so much. nice to meet you. >> nice to meet you. >> what is the role of the federal government versus the state government in regards to education, specifically the common core, and how does that relate to special needs students? >> well, thank you so much for that question. i'll be upfront and say, i think common core is a terrible reason for a whole set of reasons, but mostly because federal government bureaucracies don't know any other way but to be heavy-handed. that's just the nature of bureaucracies. so when we think about back to our own childhoods, what was the most important thing when we got an education? who are the two most important things in ensuring that a child whatever their special needs are, get the right education for them? parents who are involved, and a good teacher.

and i don't think common core fixes any of that. in fact, common core and that set of standards that's being rolled out, in conjunction with private sector groups that want to sell text books, sell testing, sell student information, this is called crony capitalism, big government standards and big business kind of get together. but in the meantime, students are being taught how to learn. teachers are being told how to teach, and choice on a parent's part is being taken away. so i think we have to do everything necessary to give every single parent a choice. here in new hampshire for example, you've done something. you've provided education tax exemptions and credits to include home schooling. that's an example of saying, you know what everybody deserves a choice. and particularly, a special needs parent needs a set of choices. one of my best friends in the world has two special needs children, and she had to work

very hard to find the right schooling for them the right teachers for them. she was able to do that. but because she had a lot of latitude in choice and because there were a lot of services provided by the state, funded by state government to give her those choices. >> breanda, thank you very much. next one from dennis? >> yes, dennis. >> good to see you, sir. >> nice to meet you. >> you've been a ceo of a fortune 500 company. >> yes, sir. >> and you're considering a run for the presidency? >> yes, sir. >> do you believe there's a glass ceiling in american business and politics, and if so, what would you do about it? >> well, you know, i hate that term, glass ceiling, because it implies that there's this invisible barrier. you can't see it until you bump your head on it and that hasn't been my experience. i started out as a secretary. a secretary in a nine-person real estate firm.