citizens, but when we exercise that right we are criticized. us to do?u expect when terrorists are tunneling into our communities. what do you expect us to do when our children are being kidnapped and murdered? you expect us to do when rockets are fired at our cities pass a citizens can't single day without running to a bomb shelter. mr. president, iran is exerting its influence to attack israel from the land, the sea and the on every front. it is supplied hamas' rock nets standing by sear supplying hezbollah with missiles in lebanon. groups these terrorist are teaming up to form the dream making terror, intent on life a nightmare for millions of israelis.

support hamas strategy and the to en thetion set conflict. for years, we warned community that hezbollah was amassing tens of thousands of rockets and missiles. mit with silence. will you continue to remain silent? that hamase told you was building a terrorist strong hold in gaza and we called on the international community to condemn the rocket fire. silence.et with for years we warned of the impending escalation and you ignored us. the hardest thing to see is what eyes.front of your israel is in the front line of radicallistgainst islamist terrorism. the buyer civilized world has a the outcome, so it must support israel's right to defend citizens. israel's fight against terrorism today will determine how we live

tomorrow. do nothing and to say nothing, to support our efforts the tyranny and terror is to invite tyranny and terror into our own back yard. the international community must stand together and speak soether and prevail together that all people everywhere can live in freedom. thank you, mr. president. >> i thank the representative of statement, and i'll give the floor to the members of the security council. give the floor to his ex-len sit, the minister for foreign affairs, luxembourg. militantes lambic group, isis, has been fighting against iraqi forces for control of cities across that country. late and defense department will testify tomorrow about the escalating violence in iraq. the houseage from foreign affairs committee starts at 10:00 a.m. eastern on c-span

three. later in the day a member of the international cruise victims association will talk about on cruise ships at a senate hearing. we'll also hear from a woman whose mother got sick on board a carnival cruise and later died. our live coverage starts at 2:30 on c-span 3. the water agree scandal led to the only resignation of an american president. revisitshistory tv 1974 and the final weeks of the nixon administration. this weekend, the house judiciary committee, as it considers i peachment of the the charge of abuse of power. >> what you have here are questions about what the framers in mind, questions about whether the activities that had been found out by the committee and by the senate watergate indeedee were impeachable. and thirdly, can we prove that about themon knew

and even authorized them? >> watergate, 40 years later, night at 8:00 eastern on 3.rican history tv on c-span next, president obama's choice head the veterans affairs department takes questions at a senate confirmation hearing. confirmed, robert mcdonald would replace eric shinseki, who down in may after reports of long wait times at v.a. facility around the country. bernie sanders chairs the senate veterans affairs committee.

we're pleased to welcome mr. mcdonald here and his wife well. we are going to be learning more about mr. mcdonald's many qualifications during his introduction and throughout the course of this hearing, so i won't spend time repeating what we're going to be discussing shortly. it i do want to say is that thank mr. mcdonald for accepting nomination, and when he and i chatted he said something to me that i thought was extremely important and revelatory. i asked him why he wanted to this verythis job in difficult moment with so much partisanship in the congress and and whatin the v.a., he said was the president or commander in chief asked me to want to do well by

my country and i accepted that challenge. much fornk him very that. that the veterans administration runs the largest care system inth the united states of america. today, today, see the scope of it, over 200,000 veterans are walking into the doors of v.a. to get health care, just health care. truth is that the vast majority of those veterans feel about the health care that they're getting, feel good about the staff they're interacting with. but we all understand that there are problems in health care, in the claimslems backlog, there are other problems. is to incdonald's job a very significant way and bold way start addressing those problems. let me just, i don't want to get mr. mcdonald too nervous. mentioning some of these

problems, he may pick up and of here. but he does know that such have anveterans appointment the that is more than 30 days late, the poipt was initially requested from the date desired by the patient, and one of the challenges sureyou face is to make that all of our veterans get high quality care in a timely manner. not so easy, but that is one of your challenges. he was with the troops in iraq and he followed them after they

came home. this book is about ptsd and is a hard.b.i. and it read, it is a very painful read to see what not only the soldiers are going through, but what their wives and kids are going through. the realityal with that some 500,000 people who iraq and afghanistan ptsd.ome with t.b.i. and the truth is if you had unlimited amounts of money that difficult very challenge. how do we deal with that, it's unpress departmented. is my strong it opinion that if the v.a. is going to do the quality health it needs to do, we are going to need more doctors, more personnel,e medical more productivity. in the v.a. ad at a time when we have shortage, national shortage of primary care doctors, psychiatrists, many other health professionals, how do we bring

our system. into so health care to my mine is certainly a major issue, but that is not the only challenge that our new secretary will face. we have the veterans benefits administration, which is now in of the largeste transformations in modern astory and that is going from paper system to a paperless system. and in my view they have done a that.ob of but problems remain. we want to make sure that in transformation as we bring down the wait times for claims, it in an accurate way. and that's not so easy and that's a challenge that you're to face.have think, in scandals, i the modern history of this sincey, certain will vietnam, has been the number of homeless veterans that we've seen all over the country. again, in recent years and general shinseki played a good

percentage ofthe veterans who are homeless has gone down much how do we keep person who going, no put their lives on the line to defend this country should be homeless. progress, but that's another challenge that face.e going to close by suggesting that i think that mr. mcdonald to us two very important qualities. is familiar with the military because he has served in the military for many years. brings with that service a passion to take care of our veterans. and that is obviously an essential quality that we want from our secretary. the other quality that he brings is he has been the c.e.o. american the major corporations, which has many, many employees, maybe not quite as the v.a., but many there's noees, and

question but that we need a good quality management, we need accountability. hope that mr. mcdonald's corporate experience will give tools that he needs to a well run and accountable v.a. so with that i'd like to turn the mic over to the ranking for his opening rashes, and then we'll proceed with the nominee.ion of the senator bur? >> thank you, mr. chairman, and chuckled a that we little bit over here when we looked at the table and thought could afford a little bigger tail for these three individuals. havenk it says a lot to two members of the united states senate on both side of the aisle here to introduce you and forchairman thank you calling this hearing. welcome. i share bernie's comments.

honetough for anybody vision why somebody would take this job. i'm glad to know that we've got people that think enough about the future of this country and the next general expergs the next generation and more importantly the promises that we made to so many americans that we would be there to take care them when they made the sacrifices that they did. youru acknowledged in testimony, the v.a. is an agency in crisis. months thest few nation has been rocked by veteransns that the health administration was manipulating wait time data, leaving tens of thousands of waiting for the care they needed and deserved. in the wake of this scandal, it become clear that v.a. officials failed for years to act on of national scheduling crisis. the president's own team found that this was fueled by corrosive culture in which officials tended to minimize toblems or refuse acknowledge problems altogether. although v.a. has started taking

to improve access to care, much more work is needed to resolve the full scope of the issues facing the v.a. health care. ongoing international, the internal investigation by the v.a. and other offices will be critical in effort.nding that as the head of v.a., mr. mcdonald, it will be thential that you embrace findings of these investigations and urgently work to bring about needed reform. perhaps more importantly, you new culturen a throughout v.a. beloyees at all levels must willing to pro-actively identify in everyss problems corner of this vast department. we need a culture where warning will not be ignored, and twisting performance metrics to it appear that veterans are being well served will not be

tolerated. this paradigm shift is needed not only on the health care side on the benefit side as well. in recent weeks the inspector general and the general accounting office have shed light on a number of troubling issues at the veterans benefit administration. which suggest that v.b.a. is not its responsibility to veterans or to taxpayers. not counted in the disability claims backlog is piling up. taxpayerof millions in dollars have been improperly paid out. serious questions about the integrity of v.a.'s and thethe backlogs quality of its decisions. but in response, v.a. continues the its suspect data as proof that v.b.a. is working well. my hope and my expectation, mr. mcdonald, is that you will v.a. to ignore the signs of deep dysfunction at

to resolvewill work any systemic problems immediately. broadly, your charge moving for will be to ensure that this entire department from top to bottom is refocused on providing our nation's veterans with the high quality service that earned and that they deserve. i look forward to working with you to help v.a. live up to the expectations of veterans, in a nation grateful for their service. i thank the chair. i yield the floor. you, senator burr. the senior senator from ohio, the state where mr. mcdonald hails from, and he and senator are going to introduce mr. mcdonald. brown? >> thanks, it's an honor to be here with my friend rob portman bob mcdonald to be the new secretary of the veterans administration. that, i'md to do also, i think it appropriate to ohioan and-time

second of the v.a., one of the v.a. hospitals was in day ton ohio, and we have a long reputation for caring for veterans. we understand, there are veterans last year, and i assume roughly the same number this year, in the care system that have gotten care, some 85 million patient visits and the responsibility that soon i hope soon to be secretary assume is great. we know he's qualified as the chairman said. when the president of the united states asked mr. mcdonald to be the secretary in the v.a., we as ahis qualifications graduate of west point, as a u.s. army captain, and as a the most one of successful large corporations in with thousands and thousands of employees, and millions of customers all over world. so we know he's qualified to do this. we also know the problems we've

v.a.in the ten years ago, decade or so ago the we went to war, government didn't really envision the number or the wouldty of injuries that cop out of the afghan and iraq war. i think we probably also undercounted the number of agent tonge men and women exposed agent orange that would be under presumptive eligibility would be boo the v.a. system with illnesses that were serious and took a high level of care. the importance of the v.a. we know that those who are in system get good care. it's access to the system that both senator burr and chairman sanders underscored that is so very important. issues that i know myn mr. mcdoned acame to office, we've had two face to face lengthy conversations and wasover the phone, since he selected for in job. he understands reexamining the

evaluations, how important that is, restoring accountability among the v.a. managers, and ensuring the focus of the entire department always be on the v.a. that's why the importance of caring for those who have waited for more than 30 days for a v.a. appointment, why both the burr havend senator led the discussion in the conference committee in making sure that happens, making sure that those who were responsible for many of the problems that pointed out, that they be held accountability and a.t we scale up very much capacity, doctors, nurses, beds, sotherapists, there's no doubt in my mind that mcdonald understands the gravity of this mission. theres no doubt in my mind that qualified to do it and there's no doubt in my mind that he has the heart and the work empathy. the he has an uncommon empathy among

city, ihat come to this think, and that's why i support him 100%. thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you. senator portman is the junior from ohio. >> thank you, mr. chairman, i appreciate chairman sanders, ranking member burr and others for legalling us introduce our fellow ohioan. a pleasure to be here with colleague. this is a distinguished patriot, who is willing to step forward history -- his country, and i hope you'll thatder his nomination, the right questions are asked, but to be sure we can get him to heas soon as possible can provide direction to an agency that provide -- badly.t bob is a friend. job.a tough as i've told bob when he asked me about it. had town hall meet as cross the state of ohio the

the self weeks, no one in senate knows more about this than the members of this committee. but there are a lot of concerns to do withsome have the health care side, others have to do with disability, and lists on both sides. in thist an opportunity leader to help turn this around. the problem, we talk about his record as army point graduate. he understands how critical the having at this point talked to him he also believes that his experience having been involved in managing and helping to reform a huge complex handy.ation will come in he also understands the health and i thinky, that's important at this point. one thing i will say is that one thing that bob mcdoned adid at proctor which was i pressive was push accountability down to every level, and he can talk

more about that specifically. as a branrted off assistant and went all the way to chief executive. but he also launched an effort be sure that everyone at every level feels that that the c.e.o. must feel to be able to provide in that case a good product for consumers. think that's really critical right now with our accountability issues. a lot corporate boards, he's also been involved in some government issues. i was at u.s. trade reps office he would come in and talk to me about trade. he's been on president obama's tradery committee for policy, and so he's had some ateraction with government some high levels. when it comes to running a big organization, again he's a world but ibusiness person, think his experience in the military is equally important. think is, youe i for bobairman sanders, mcdonald and for deanne, this is not about a job.

mission, and he has answered the call before to serve his country. make thepared to sacrifices to do that again. laser oncus like a these problems in a nonpartisan way to create the kind of veterans so our richly deserve. i hope that you will see fit to a strongthe floor with vote and we can get his leadership at a v.a. that needs it badly. thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you, senator portman. we will proceed with opening earlys based on how people came. we'll start with senator murray. >> thank you so much for holding this hearing. it was just last week that we current state of v.a. health care and the department's efforts to address challenges before it. and i want to star by taking a moment to thank acting secretary gibson who stepped up during this chris and is took immediate

increase help transparency around the wait times and planned an ex-tecce al audit of scheduling practices and began the procurement of a system.cheduling about 16.6 billion in critical funding, needs to help increase veterans access to care, including 10,000 more medical providers and support clinicand additional space for patients to receive care. the actions that he laid out are veryis committee important, but their first steps, and even with some of the changes and additional funding it going to take some time to see improvement and waiting will still be for health care too long. and as we know the department's carry out its mission is going to remain ham perfected as long as there's a number of leadership vacancies that unfilled. even while we work to bring down times and improve accountability there many other

serious challenges before the that have to be addressed. we have 22 veterans still taking their own lives each day. thousands of veterans are alone, assault.th sexual and while the department has commandable progress, it will be an july hill bats. next secretary will have to grapple with all of these and a lot more. so mr. mcdonald, thank you for accepting the call to serve your fellow veterans. i think you know that you are the monumental task. if confirmed you'll be department'sor the $163 billion budget, 310,000 importantlynd most the care of over 9 million veterans. buildxt secretary has to the v.a. that can meet the veterans needs today and still of millions needs of veterans in the decades to come. and in doing so the secretary and transform a corrosive culture unworthy of

dedicated ands talented noik providers who only want to help our veterans. has to reformtary the poor management and communication structures that exist, actually at all levels of v. h. a., and in mydonald when we met office several weeks ago you told me you were one of the that duringt in the system your transition from civilian to military life. you understand what a critical moment this is have tov.a. and why we fix men many of these systemic challenges. so i look forward to hearing your plans, and all the problems today and howe us you are going to strengthen the generations to come. we all know our men and women in earned a.ve so thank you for having this hearing and moving this

nomination forward. >> senator isaacson. >> thank you very much for being willing to september this challenge, i think you're the right man for the job and i do a great job. your primary job at proctor and gamble was -- job at the v.a. you also have shareholders, who butt riskingock and are their life for the safety and security of this country. there's no greater call for you secretary but to bring that value back to those veterans. people itany great in, but unfortunately we uncovered a culture that is not con dues toif the best interest of our veterans and in some cases, and i under lynn the word caused many veterans to have health care problems they should not have had because inattentive system and because of peoples who are more motivated to make the number of appointments look good on paper than to help veterans in their

lives. i have some questions that i want to ask. for beg willing to set this responsibility and i hope you'll bring the value to brought toke you proctor and gamble. bob, for to thank you, beg willing to put yourself there you this process and being v.a.ng to serve as secretary. montana has a list of high second per've got capita number of veterans, only surpassed by my friend to the left here in alaska. the first hugh for me, --n i came to 2007 doing goodard to things, we need to support the

problems of the veterans that are coming back. it critically important and during our meeting in our office thepreciate your focus on v.a.'s capacity to better serve veterans. i think that you are in a unique situation. there are some that want to privatize the v.a., they want to take it down the road of privatization. i am not one of those. there are others who want to build the v.a. and make it better, for our veterans and make it more accountable. i am in that camp. willingnessate your to serve. you've got a full plate, once you'dt confirmed i think got the tools that we need to the v.a.s wrong with and improve upon what's right w. that i want to thank you once again. veterans deserve our best and i think we'll be able to deliver that. >> thank you. tester. >> mr. chairman, thank you for today.ng the hearing mr. mcdonald, i thank you for being here and your wife, it's you.to see both of

i appreciate the opportunity that we had this morning to sit talk about some of the issues you will be facing. crisis,idst of this it's imperative that we swiftly vacancy, thethis top position in the organization. secretary shinseki resigned, i noted that his not --s ig nation could his resignation could not be an end to the crisis. so often that's the washington way. make a change somewhere in the organization, if not at the the weep the mess under rug, move on, deal with other issues, and eventually it's all forgot en. but the problems aren't solved. is ahe v.a. really needs transformative leader that can and lastingtrue change. as we have seen in report after a culture of complacency if not corruption has spread

throughout the v.a. it's going to be a monumental ahead of you.have it's not an easy task for you, made especially difficult when the v.a. has been wracked by scandal after scandal and there could be more. so today we consider your nomination with that as the back drop. unlike previous v.a. secretaries, you bring with you management leadership, experience from the private sector. perhaps that's just exactly what the v.a. needs. who has experience and reorganizing, reallocating resources to make an organization as efficient and as as possible. this congress and this committee has may v.a. a priority. we've provided budget personnel ensurees in an effort to

quality of care. we were promised that that was occurring. as we have seen, the v.a. has failed our veterans, eve tin creased funding. just last week amount our hearing, acting secretary gibson said the v.a. could solve its problems with another $17.6 billion. but i can't belief that just throwing more money at the v.a. is the answer. in fact, we know it's not the because since 2000 the v.a.'s budget has bipartisan tripled. however, we continued to uncover problems. in my judgment the v.a. needs what you've experienced in your lifetime. if you didn't provide good yource and products, competitors took your business away from you. permanently believe that the v.a. needs competition.

thatthen will the v.a. see it needs to get its act together. start tothing will we see the v.a. get back to its core mission of serving veterans. without serious changes at the v.a., the reports of fraud, whistle blower retaliation and more will continue. your job will be to root this can to do everything you turn the v.a. in a different direction. hearing fromd to you, i think your confirmation is assured. i do believe you're the right person for the job. best.wish you the very our veterans depend upon you. mr. chairman. senator.you, >> thank you mr. chairman and thisng member burr for hearing. and aloha, mr. mcdonald, it was

to meet but yesterday. and you come to this position i expect you will be confirmed with height ended issues conecause the fronting the veterans administration, of course, do away with a change in leadership at the top. that. all knew i want to publicly thank secretary ship second i for doing that which -- secretary shinseki, i thank him for his decade of service. with yourou come sense of commitment, with your background in the private a desire, what i heard from you yesterday was a desire to really listen to the veterans, to hear what their concerns and to respond to them i call this pretty much not a top down, but a bottom up kind of a leadership style that i think will stand you in good

stead. one issue based on all of the information that's coming out over the last several is, of course, making sure that the veterans get the health care needs met. we knowhe same time through other hearings of this committee that there are other ongoing concerns with the v.a., swum of them were articulated by colleagues including homelessness, overprescription, overprescribing of drugs that .ay make them dependent issues with educational opportunities, jobs, training, of that. so you will have a full plate. and i expect that this committee with you in a very aen and transparent way, in frank way so that we can work together to move the ball and get the veterans the kind of attention that they very much earned. 'yes, i understand that there are capacity issues at the

veterans administration, so i am not going to sit here and say moneyou do not need more to hire more caregivers and personnel.sary to take care of our veterans and at the same time you assured me you wouldting that yourw the actions of employees and take appropriate action as necessary to and hold them accountable. much.you very you.ank and ranking member burr for concerning this hearing for this welcome,and mr. mcdonald and to your wife also, welcome. thanklook forward, and you by the way for the discussion we had in my office. of months,number congress, veterans and the american public have had a glimpse into the failure of the v.a. to provide quality care to veterans across this nation.

leastisturbing to say the that many of our veterans went without health care because employees decided to cheat the system. every time i'm home i re: from nevadansr about their difficult quis with the v.a. and many of them are doubtful it will ever improve. for example at the las vegas hospital, more than 6100 veterans were forced to wait more than 30 days to get an appointment. blind female veteran waited more than six hours in the v.a. emergency room before a doctor.urse or small town outside las vegas pauled pahrump, 6,000 veterans have waited more than two years built.linic to be the v.a. officials have not provided a timeline for final approval of this facility. accessse problems with extend beyond the v.a. health care. many have had difficulty receiving their benefits due to the disability claims backlogs.

mr. mcdonald, i bring this issue up and will continue to do so because of the claims backlog in my stateans face, which is worse than any other. nevada veterans still have the longest wait in the nation. v.a. recent natural office remains the worst performing in the country, and a few months ago a veteran from illon wrote to me saying, and quote, after seven months of no returnedve payment i there again, i spoke with the same advisor and he told me retired from the navy and in receipt of retirement benefit i was priority. a low thatnk you'd agree with me no veteran should ever be told by the v. that that they're low priority.

the conversation that we had in told me you had to take a look at this, and for that i thank you for taking that time. the claimss, backlog, long appointment wait times, lack of access to quality care, rural clinics are just a few of the concerns in expect the new v.a. secretary, you, mr. mcdonald, to tackle these withs head on and work this committee to address them. this agency needs more than a needsitiatives, it substantial reform from within the v.a. in hopes to restore veterans confidence and trust in their system. this crisis, arguably one of the v.a. history, is the result of a corrosive culture due to management and some believe that they are above reproach. to change the v.a. in the long term, new leadership must be capable of transforming the agency to meet what would be its core mission, serving our nation's e veterans honorably and honestly.

the new v.a. secretary to restore accountability and integrity to this organization, leadership and management teams will uphold these values and ultimately the nation'sade to our veterans. and as a member of this committee with jurisdiction over want absolute assurance that the new secretary will be committed to transparency and accountability as the committee conducts describingious oversights moving you,rd. so i commend mr. mcdonald, for your willing position.e this but i also need to be fully confident that you're prepared the needs of nevada veterans. so i look forward to hearing discussingony and these issues further. >> thank you senator heller. senator rockefeller. was withinyou, and i about five minutes of your coming into my office. reasons.very specific you have been a veteran, you've

understood that. you've put yourself in harm's way. you talked to me about should confirmed, which i feel certain that you will, that you into some of those waiting lines. you.aff, just so that, and maybe the veterans will notice you and maybe they you willt the point is have done it, the word will get around. there's all kinds of leadership. of it works on small symbols, where you do things have not done, and therefore you're judged to be different, that you hold to a higher standard and you're willing to do the difference. other is that you have more can think of this extraordinary combination of very dangerousn ways at a very high level, i rank, i'm sorry, in the navyyou're

you're at high risk. but you run a great company. when you run a great company and you have hundreds of thousands of people working for you, you can't afford to make mistakes. here we give you oversight. said. there in corporate america you get your oversigh every day from the dow jones, s&p, your shareholders, you get it every single day. have time or room for mistakes, and yet you have to keep the larger interest of the corporation at heart, which you do, which is one of the reasons which i think it's one inthe best run corporations the world or something like that when you were head of it. a, for me, it isn't just question of what you're going to do. i think the real question is what we're going to do.

how can people possibly talk about all the needs as people here have at the panel, about the need for nurses, for mental health, the 22 suicide per day which is a figure so shacking almost incomprehensible. the homelessness, secretary then in one year -- secretary shinseki in one year time down by one half in a single year, so that can be done. software, youood don't have good software. everything counts. you're very much into corporate culture, you're very much into evaluation. and taking that as a serious process. sense of intimidating but in the sense of truth tell. a hard thing to do. you and i talked when we met the problem in some of our great agencies, and i mentioned

some of the intelligence and other agencies which are huge. huge.partment of defense, withou're right up there the department of defense in terms of numbers of people. so the question is what are we going to do. to you, at you, about we want you to go ahead andget all those nurses psycho therapists and experimental research and cut down the waiting lines and give the fantastic care, and then not give you a dime to do anything about it. fear. what i i have no fear about what you will do when you're in that position. i have a fear about what we will do as a congress to support you not just blather bromides of good feeling and good will sympathizing with the veterans no moneyputting out for you to do something. you cannot hire people without paying them. you not build stuff without paying for it. when you do you do,

in our senate, where you can't put up any money for anything, because it considered, cobb possibly win your next election and it's against the constitution because the founding fathers would have never allowed it. you can feel good on that. ait sure isn't going to help veterans sopt what i pray is through our sue perfect chairman and through people like budgeturray, head of the committee, and others, that we the provide you with resources that you need to be able to pay for what it is that you want to do. here to do the job, you're not sentimental about it. you're realistic. but you need money. and we've got to give it to you. luck.you and good >> thank you very much, senator rockefeller. senator moran.

>> mr. chairman, thank you very much. mr. mcdonald, thank you very much for the conversation we've had. opening to use my statement as an opportunity to talk about a slightly different to v.a.lthough related and i'll use my time when i get to question you to highlight things i want to here your response to. mr. chairman, i'd like to and senator burr as well as congressman michaud and chairman miller to make certain that before we depart a report,ve conference committee report on the veterans choice act. certainly believe that a iw secretary was necessary, indicated at the time that i asked for the previous secretary's resignation that and of itself would be insufficient. it seems to me that the senate have acted in a responsible way in coming up with a plan that addresses the challenges that our veterans are facing today in lack of access

waiting times. and it would be terrible on the part of the united states ofate, u.s. house representatives if we fail to reach an agreement to conclude work. i spoke on the senate floor prior to the passage of that which passed 93-0, indicated how it is so theurbing to me to come to united states senate, i'm in my first term, and we do nothing to solve the problems of the american people because the function.s not we don't have bills on the senate floor, we don't offer dop donts, committees their work, there's not oversight. we can't come together on an issue related to veterans, that we facessues at this point in time in the united states senate, ought to can resolve, and the failure to do so would be a the united states senate, but more importantly terrible for the veterans of our

country. one more time remind the american people how dysfunctional the united states today.is and so what troubles me at the moment is the announcement yesterday by the majority leader that he believes it's unlikely that we're going to resolve our on arences and have a vote conference committee. and we ought not let that be the case. ought not ajern for an august recess in the absence of reaching a conclusion. don't walk away from this issue, senate,ership of the leadership of this committee, individual members of the it our responsibility to see that we accomplish the out for and tot benefit the veterans of the states. while it's been easy to criticize the department of veterans affairs for their veterans, if we don't reach a conclusion on this legislation, the united states of that sameerving condemnation. thank you, mr. chairman.

>> senator blumenthal. andhank you, mr. chairman thank you mr. mcdonald for your willingness to under take this and challenging responsibility. i'm sure your family listening to us here wonders whether you were in your right mind in accepting the president's offer. but i know having talked to you and again i want to join my colleagues and thanking you for publicby to see me, that service is in your blood, it part of who you are, and i thank that ethic and tradition. a comparison to a world more familiar to you than one.ps this au are about to take over bankrupt corporation. the threat is financial, but the real insolvency is in morality and management. background,your

your qualifications, your extraordinarily well suited to these challenges. importance of the truth telling. corporation. with 60,000 employees reporting and the soundness of your decisions on products and depending on accurate knowand information, you that an organization like the a bankrupt truth dealing operation cannot long survive in serving/customers well. and that includes providing bad news. sometimes bew may more useful than good news, and interested and grateful that in your testimony you cite west point ethos of choose

right rather than the easier wrong. that is exactly what the v.a. needs. second, in addition to demanding accurate information, i think you'll need to change leadership. at the v.a. in developingd leadership at proctor and gamble that you well suited to task. and of course changing culture. on theirons depend culture of striving to build new and at the same time veryingg peep for con bad news that has to be known and acting on the data in ways that are important. nation's heros are a public trust. you areorporation that about to take over won't be measured by its profit ability how well it serves our nation's heros. jobs, jobcare,

training, skilled preparation, kind of areas that may not have been directly involved brought yous that to this position. in addition to the continued times andto wait strategies that are implemented as a result of the data access toand improved care, we need concern about the foratory practices of some profit colleges that received funding for g.i. education benefits, concern about our female veterans who all too to the bestccess care. especially when they have been pts or military sexual assault. and the need for strong whistle blower protection against retaliation, from those come to youo may with their concerns. and with the truth telling that is so necessary. want to affirm my own commitment to helping you in any that i can. i believe that we're all rooting

for you. just in some abstract or conceptual way, but we are in we're rooting for you. i believe that you have a unique historic opportunity to get of ourjob that all nation's mere rows will be grateful to you for doing. thank you very much. >> thank you, senator bleul en that. bozeman. mr. mcdonald for being here. youpreciated visiting with last week and i'm glad that you've become familiar with arkansas in your past business endeavors. you have an impressive resume, your commitments to family and from ourre obvious decision discussion, and i know you will remain rooted in these forward.e today v.a. is failing our nation's veterans. issuesm all accounts the plaguing very much a. are

systemic and require big change. certainly in the current culture. this agency is broken and we need a leader at the top determined to and equipped with the skills to change the pattern, and get us back the our main mission and responsibilities. the inability of vice president deliver timely quality care and allegations of manipulation of patient data has given a black eye to the agency. tasked with caring for and our nation's heros, the out across the country are simply heartbreaking and unacceptable. brief that a lack of accountable is the root cause of the problems facing v.a. today. although the mission of vice president a. is stift different from other federal agencies, it's still part of the bureaucracy in washington. and as we all know, bureaucracy must be managed accordingly. failure to do so will only lead to a path of failure itself. of the v.a. secretary comes with tremendous responsibility and commands

theone who understands sacrifices and needs of both their veterans and their families. the next secretary of vice president a. must be willing and ready to lead the v.a. in a new direction. while i'm grateful for the both of both general shinseki and secretary glib son, and the thousands of dedicated employees on the ground, i believe the current state of v.a. affairs, or the affairs at and demands bold leadership a complete transformation in the culture at the agency. the problems naitsing v.a. did not happen overnight and solving easy task.ot be an but despite this, i believe with the right person at the helm, a work withling to congress and other stake holders, the challengings facing met and our expectations exceeded. at the en of the day we must never forget our nation's veterans. their sacrifice and service to none.ation is second to not only do they deseven our gratitude, but they deserve the

earned,s they have delivered consistently and timely, anything less is unacceptable. their commitment to country is without question, and our must be theo them same. i believe choosing the next v.a. the first steply of many toward getting v.a. headed back in the right direction. i'm committed, along with my oh to sees that the next secretary of the v.a. delivers the changes the agency so desperately needs. i welcome you and thank you for willingness to serve, for being here today, and i look forward to hearing directly from you in your testimony on the vision, thank you, mr. chairman. much.nk you very >> thank you very much. thank you for you willingness to and be ar country public servant, thank you to your family because it's going

them, ilot of stress on know that. so it's a lot of work and a lot i didn't really have ipate prepared opening but let me say this. you're going to hear a lot of noise out there. one thing about d.c. is the noise happens every minute and it changes every minute. and my hope is based on your experience and what i've read, and i'm very supportive of seeing you as the next secretary, i thing it's important that you hone in and be bold about what needs to be done, not hesitate when you think there needs to be changes. and when people need to be let go you let them go because your experience has taught you how to run an efficient operation.

i understand it's important. i used to be mayor of a city in which you had to let some people go. maybe wasn't the best time for them but it was important for the broader perspective of what you were trying to do. as i look at your resume and work you have done i commend you for it and people are putting a lot of expectation for you. probably want to lower that. but we look at your resume, i look at you, and thgs an opportunity to take a situation at the v.a. that is struggling with trust among the public and legislative bodies, to figure out what to do next and how to do it. i will also say, and you will hear from both sides, i'm hopeful, too, that we have a comprehensive reform bill to our veterans health care system. but that's not going to be the only answer. and the reality is many of the things we will put in u you can do right now. you can take charge and do these things.

i ask you not to wait for us. the minute you're confirmed get busy because there are too many needs. in alaska, we didn't wait around five years ago when i got elected when i saw a waiting list of a thousand. this is not new. last week i was here. i presented a report in 2003 is, 11 years ago, the same story. it's like here we go again. i wasn't there, i wasn't around in 2003 but i am here now and i can tell you in alaska we've done some things that are very innovative. we don't have a veterans hospital like many of these states that are represented at these table. we have a clinic. and there are then hospitals in seattle. but one fifth of the size of e country is -- we have to deliver health care no matter where they are. i think some people will say just open up the system to every private doctor t in the world and it will all be

solved. i don't know how long it takes you to get a doctor's appointment. i know how long it takes me. and for mental health the waiting list is a mile long. again, i think it's important and i'm anxious for you to get on the job. i hope you don't get caught up into the politics of what goes on around this place. i notice by your disclosure we may have differences in maybe our past politics but i look at it that's the great thing about this body, this committee. we don't look at the politics, we look at what you can do. and your history tells me you're the right guy at the right time and i'm looking forward to it. you will probably hear a lot from me because i am a very detailed system about how to deliver a system. we have it in alaska. we have more improvements. i think there are huge opportunities you can take right now. waiting for us -- i would hope we have a bill before we break but if we don't and we get you

confirmed, get busy, be bold. not reckless but be bold. and inform us as you move forward. keep us in the loop. sometimes that's informing us, we may not want to hear but moving forward is more important to keep the v.a. moving forward. so i thank you for your willingness to step forward. i will have some questions but your public service is an important part and i thank you now for the second time serving our country. so i appreciate it. >> thank you, senator begich. mr. mcdonald, we are now pleased to hear from you. but before we do that let me swear you in, please.

>> now we are very pleased to hear your testimony. >> thank you, chairman sanders, thank you ranking member bur, swished members of the can he on veterans affairs and veterans here and across the country. thank you for the privilege of addressing you today. i am honored to be before you seeking your endorsement to become the secretary of veterans affairs. thank you for scheduling this hearing so expeditiously. i would like to introduce my wife of nearly 37 years who is sitting behind me. we are blessed with a wonderful family, however only deian was able to be here today. i would also like to thank senators brown and senator portman for their kind introductions and for their friendship and their partnership over the many years that we have worked together to make ohio greater and to make the proctor and gamble company greater. i very much appreciate the

confidence of president obama in this nomination and i am fully committed to fulfilling this charge to me. that is to transform the department of veterans affairs into an organization that delivers on its mission. that mission is to fulfill president lincoln's promise to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan and by serving and honoring the men and women who are americans veterans. i also want to create an organization that lives by its core values, integrity, commitment, advocacy, respect and excellence. over the last several weeks i have had the opportunity to meet with many of you individually and i deeply appreciate the committee's concern and unwavering support for our veterans and for the mission of the department of veterans affairs. i have listened carefully to your concerns and advice, and i benefited from your counsel. as explained by senators brown and portman, my life's purpose has been to improve the lives

of others. my time at west point and as an air borne ranger captain in the 82nd air borne division instilled in me a lifelong sense to duty in my country. my values are steeped in west point and the military. those values are what allowed me to be an effective leader at the proctor and gamble company and those values are what i bring to the management of v.a. i am still guided by that west point cadet prayer which encourages us to choose the harder right rather than the easier wrong. for me, taking care of veterans is very personal. i come from and care deeply for military families. my father served in the army air corps after world war ii. my wife's father was shot down over europe and survived harsh treatment as a pow. her uncle was exposed to agent orange in vietnam, and still receives care from the v.a. and my nephew right now is in

the air force flying missions over the middle east. my 41 years with proctor and gamble taught me the importance of effective management strong leadership and of being responsive to the needs of customers. when i joined the company in 19 0 we recorded $10 billion in sales. today that business is over eight times larger at $84 billion with almost double the pg's of employees and pl brands are present in every company of the world. i help lead this transformation. i am a forward looking leader expanding pg to serve new, emerging, and undercurved customers. that's the experience needed to modernize the v.a. as i met with members of this can he over the past few weeks you've told me the depth of crisis. while there's much that's going well, there have been systemic failing yurs which suggest that

some in the organization have lost track of the mission and core values. the department's problems with access, transparency, and accountability and integrity, are all well documented. there's a lot of work to do to transform the department. it won't be easy. but it is essential and it can be achieved. the seriousness of this moment demands action. and if confirmed i pledge the committee and our nation's veterans to take a series of immediate actions over the first 90 days to deliver the immediate reforms our veterans deserve. i will put the veteran at the center of everything we do consistent with our mission. if confirmed, on day one i will lay out my leadership vision directly to all v.a. employees. my charge will be to provide veterans the care that they have earned in the most effective way possible. i will ask v.a. employees to join me in reconfirming our

commitment to v.a.'s mission and core values. i also plan to ask all employees to bring forward any information any concerns any problems that exist so that i as a leader i will know the full picture of what is going wrong and what we can improve. if confirmed, it will be important to incentivize this process and reward those that constructively come forward to solve problems. i have much to learn about the organization and i look forward to gaining valuable input and insights from its employees as well as veterans and other stakeholders. if confirmed, i will also renew the department's strategic plan and ensure it is properly deployed so that every individual in the organization knows how their work, every single day, ties back to the strategic plan and to the mission of caring for veterans. by getting out in the field and talking with veterans and employees, i will learn much about the organization as possible.

and i will be able to determine the processes that would need .o be reorganized the majority of employees at v.a. are dedicated to the mission and the values of the organization. but those employees that have violated the trust of the nation and of veterans must be and will be held accountable. if confirmed, i plan to improve the communication between the field structure and the central office, between the employees and the leadership. i also plan to travel extensively over the first several months to hear directly from employees, veterans, and other stakeholders. i plan to establish a board of physicians to advise the secretary on best practices for delivering timely and quality health care.

if confirmed i would focus on reorganizing the department to more efficiently and more effectively use our resources to get care that the veterans deserve and have earned. the department must improve its forecasting and develop a strategy for meeting increased demand. i believe the department will need to expand the use of digital technology to free human resources that can be applied more to the care of veterans. i plan to take advantage of the scale to improve productivity and the flow of more people to the work. it is clear the v.a. must be more efficient and productive. the department needs to demonstrate they can manage a complex facilities portfolio, it can create with the department of defense an integrated record system, it can regularly and accurately produce key data for oversight entities. most importantly, provide the

veterans the highest-quality and cost-effective benefits possible. all of these things are possible. they are possible through some of the steps i have outlined. if confirmed, i will work to transform the department of veterans affairs. i will continue to partner with you and all the department stakeholders. v.a. has made great strides in serving veterans thanks to the commitment of many dedicated employees and the hard work with our partners and advocates in the community. but, the v.a. is in crisis. the veterans are in need. there is much to do. i can think of no higher calling, no higher calling than to serve our veterans who have so selflessly served all of s. with your support, i am confident we will succeed at the department of veterans affairs. thank you and i look forward to our questions.

>> thank you very much for your testimony. i think you have answered my first question. i will ask it again. you don't need this job. i don't think you're at the age in your career where you need to move up the ladder. you don't need anything more to youryou have done pretty well. resume. in the midst of all of these problems and a dysfunction congree and bitter partisanship, why do you want this job? >> thank you, chairman sanders. i think it is a good question. it is a question my family and i have talked a lot about. i desperately want this job because i think i can make a difference. i think my entire career whether it was starting at west point, being in the 82nd airborne division, being at the procter & gamble company, one of the most admired companies in the world for 33 years has prepared me.

i think there is no higher calling and this is an opportunity for me to make a difference in the lives of veterans. f not me, who? >> thank you for that response. one of the issues we are struggling with is v.a. health care. i look at this different than some of my colleagues who think ealth care is just fantastic and it is just the v.a. that is having problems. the other point i want to make is not just the size of the v.a. 6.5 million come in every year. the fact that because the v.a. is a public entity and,

appropriately so, there is a lot more public attention to the problems facing the v.a. in the paper today, johns hopkins university hospital paid $190 million to more than 7,000 women for inappropriate behavior on behalf of physicians. that was in the "washington post." if that happened at the v.a., there would be dozens hearings, all kinds of investigations. problems happen. a couple of weeks ago, in montana, there is a lacking of 20 physicians. in vermont, we lack them. in phoenix, god knows how many they lack in a nation in which 40 million people have no health insurance, in a nation where we spent almost twice as much per

capita on health care than any other nation, in a nation where 45,000 people died because they don't get health care, how are you going to help us get the physicians that we need, the nurses we need so that when people attempt to get into the v.a., they get in in a timely manner and they get high-quality health care? how do you do that within a dysfunctional health care system nationally? >> chairman sanders, first of all, we will start with us giving you very transparent projections as to what we think the demand is and how many resources we will need. we will have to build those from the bottom up and i promise you i will be, if confirmed, open, transparent with you as to what we think the need is. we will have to restore the reputation of the v.a. this crisis may have damaged it.

we will have to restore that and we do that by acting quickly to make sure every veteran in need gets the care hey deserve. we will have to do recruiting. at proctor and gamble, we talked about this, we promote from within. i left the army as a captain. i worked my way up. we spent a lot of time on college campuses recruiting. last year, we had over a million applicants for fewer than 5,000 jobs because people want those jobs. v.a. is a health care system that people want to work for. what i want to do is help recruit the very best people for that system. >> will you go to the medical schools of this country and the nursing schools in order to bring bright young people into that system so that our

veterans get quality health care? >> we talked about the important role of leadership and changing culture. the fastest way for a leader to change the culture is through their own behavior. if recruiting is important, which i believe it is because we have a shortage. we also have a time where the v.a. is in crisis. i think the leader has to play a role in recruiting those octors and nurses. >> my last question deals with technology. there is no question or debate that the v.a. has very outdated technology in terms of scheduling appointments and other areas. what can you do to utilize the best technology to make the v.a. a more efficient and cost-effective entity? >> i think technology is a real enabler.

it would allow us to release some people and some resources and a flow them to the mission which is to care for veterans. my undergraduate degree is in engineering. i studied computer science at west point, both hardware and software. i wrote an assembly program for the honeywell computer at west point. at procter & gamble, i committed that we would become the most digitized company in the world. creating molecules digitally and shipping to our customers using digital technology. i think the same thing needs to be true for v.a. we need to use technology to free up people and take care of veterans. i plan to do that. > thank you. >> welcome, mr. mcdonald. we are truly grateful to you and your family for this.

i want to start with a couple of housekeeping questions. as ranking member, part of my role is to conduct oversight with regard to v.a. activities. this leaves me or my staff to request information, statistics, or other materials from the v.a. will you ensure that my staff and i will be provided with the requested information in a timely fashion? >> senator burr, you and i talked when we were together, you will have my cell phone number. every member of the committee will have my number. i would expect if we are not in your need, you will call me. when you are on a large corporation globally, you have a cell phone that is on 24 hours a day, seven days a week. if you have concerns, i want to know about them and react to them. >> will you be proactive in alerting this committee, including both sides of the aisle, about significant issues involving the v.a.? >> no leader can do a job this

big by themselves. i need your help if confirmed. >> he has deep concerns that the veterans needs are not being met. i think teachers to new york hospital. he told me this morning the medical staff is the same medical staff that we use at the v.a. facility. that we actually leverage the hospital staff to staff the v.a. is that a model we could expand around the country and leverage for any shortages that exist? is that a possibility? >> from what i know, that is relatively common. i know that -- i think from what i read, two thirds of health care professionals in the united states have at least trained in the v.a. that would certainly be something we would want to look

at, particularly in a case where capacity is trained and e need help. >> i have been told that in 2011, v.a. began an initiative called the harmony project. this was to explore the pros and cons of further integrating emerging operations of the v.a. and the department of defense health care systems. i think this effort resulted in a report suggesting the agencies could improve access and continuity of care while saving billions of dollars annually, but it is unclear to me whether the v.a. ever discussed the findings of that project with the department of defense and whether any action was ever taken on that report. i do not expect you to know anything about the harmony project. can i get your commitment that you will go back and ask was there a harmony project, that you will review it, and then you will provide the committee

with a copy of the conclusions of that project? >> yes, sir, i was certainly like to learn about. demonstrating my own commitment to the importance of the department of defense and veterans affairs working together, i had the opportunity to meet with secretary hagel. we had a great meeting. we both committed to a partnership, a partnership that acting secretary gibson had also had it with secretary hagel. we both agree that it should not be the veterans fault or the service members fault that there was a scene in the united states government between the department of veterans affairs and department of defense. that should be absolutely seamless for those who have taken the oath and became veterans. i pledge and i know secretary hegel does the same to make that as seamless as possible. >> if i could get your commitment, excuse me, to report back to congress or the

committee if what or any interactions taking place between the v.a. and the department of defense about the concepts highlighted in the harmony project. >> i am not familiar with the project, but we will take a look at it and get back to you on what we think about the different items in the harmony report. >> i appreciate that. i thank the chair. >> thank you senator burr. >> thank you mr. chairman. mr. mcdonald, i was really troubled to hear secretary shinseki say he felt like he as misled. the department, they cannot function at the secretary is not given honest information from the field and taking appropriate action. how are you going to create a better team and build trust and transparency?

>> i think that is an excellent question. on day one, what i have to do is meet as many employees as i can. i have to understand how they think about their role in the department. one of the things i pointed out is i think we have a pretty good strategic plan. when i looked at the strategic plan on the internet -- i am only looking at publicly available information. the behavior of every employee in the department is not consistent with that strategic plan. we have to develop a way to make sure the department -- the behavior of every employee and their expectations and their performance each year ties back to the strategic plan. >> do think that was happening? >> i do not want to judge but at the procter & gamble company, what we work hard to do is to take the strategic plan and make sure every blow ranking and every employee in the entire company, if you roll up their behavior, it will be

based on the strategic plan. >> with secretary shinseki was saying he was misled about people that were not telling him the truth. how do you build that trust so that you can -- >> i have to be out there with the people in the field and we have to have the leaders who are vigilant, making sure that trust is real. it is unconscionable to me that you have an organization where one of the stated values, one of the stated values -- the first stated value is integrity, yet you have people lying. you have people tolerating it. the west point honor code says we do not lie, cheat, steal and we do not tolerate people who do. you don't want people in your community lying.

we have to get into this and understand it. >> i appreciate that commitment. i have talked with prior v.a. leaders. the v.a.'s access, many of those facilities for some further investigation. the most recent wait time and quality data released shows shortcomings at washington medical facilities. i have raised real concerns about what is happening with the spokane medical center, including whether staffing and budget shortfalls are hurting health care. if you are confirmed, how were you going to confirm oversight of these facilities and make sure the resources are getting to the places where it is needed? >> i think that is part of the forecasting and projecting that i was talking about in conjunction with the strategic plan.

what i heard from secretary gibson last week during his testimony was that the v.a. had not done a bottoms up forecast before. he was having some trouble getting that done. we got to do a better job of that. we got to be very open and transparent with all of you and all of our constituents as to what we are forecasting. we have to put the systems in place that can make sure our veterans are getting the appropriate care. we have to be able to have doctors and nurses and physicians on the ground to be able to do that. i think digital technology will play a role because it will help us -- i know we have at the v.a. very good electronic medical records. if we can get a scheduling system that is equally world class, there is no reason we can't, i think we can use that to help better care for the veterans. >> you talk a lot about health care. i did want to ask you about the

veterans transition into civilian life. many of them are using their g.i. education benefit. back in 2012, i pass legislation to make sure they had something available to them so they can have resources available to them. schools may provide inaccurate or incomplete information to prospective student veterans and that veterans themselves want independent, objective advice when it came to making their education decisions. i know you are not in there yet but one of the things i hope you focus on is making sure the veterans make good choices when they use those education dollars. >> i will certainly focus on that. i myself a beneficiary of the g.i. bill. i did my graduate degree using the g.i. bill. my father was a g.i. bill user

as well. it is a very important part of this country. we need to make sure it is robust. >> thank you very much. >> thank you, senator murray. >> in your 90-day plan, you're going to travel the v.a. system and meet with providers within the v.a. and veterans and stakeholders. when that is older, will you report back to was what you found and what you were going to do to correct what is wrong? >> i would love to do that because my ideas are laid out in my opening statement are based out on publicly available information. as i learn more, that will be modified. troubled love to report back to you as to what i saw and how that -- i would love to report back to you as to what i saw and he indicated actions going forward. >> your answer is really perfect because all the

discoveries we have made beginning with phoenix and other facilities in the country have been information that is ot publicly available. it took whistleblowers to bring it forward to us which reflects the culture within the v.a. system right now which is a protective culture. you have to open up. there are only two motivators in running a business -- one is fear and the other is reward. the reward is not necessarily compensation. it is the fact you are doing a good job. i hope you will give us a game plan and make it public and make the employees know you are not just passing through. we are going to insist on accountability. >> i cannot agree with you more. for in organization to succeed, it has to learn. for an organization to learn, people have to admit when things go wrong. we try to do the same thing at procter & gamble company. if something goes wrong or

right, you need to learn from it and share it through the organization so it does not happen again. in this culture, you're not getting bad news, you are not correcting mistakes. everything becomes a one-off. that is why we are seeing so many reports and it seems like there was a bit from a different location somewhere in the country. we have to create a learning organization. >> in your testimony, you mentioned creating a position advisory board. did you contemplate those physician becoming only the a physicians or do you have utside physicians? >> my initial thought was to get the very best medical talent in the world. and i have been very heartened by the number of people who come forward to me and said they would like to participate and like to help.

i think the greatest thing about this nomination at this moment in time is the original question about the mission about caring for veterans. there is an unusual coming together of everyone in this country to take care of those veterans. i have got a lot of offers already. i will like to the very best medical minds we could find inside the v.a. and outside. >> i think you have discovered what i have found in my travels over the past six months dealing with this issue and that is a lot of people want help. there is a lot of help out there. there is an example in atlanta today and one of the finest centers in the world and recognizing. they tried to get the v.a. to cooperate. they finally cracked into it last year and now they are taking voluntarily in raising the money to do it. taking spinal cord injury atients.

i think the more we open the door and make the v.a. accessible to the private sector providers, those people -- many of them are veterans -- the better the v.a. will be because there is support from the outside. >> it is a great institution. it is lead innovation in so many areas and does so many unique things that i do not think can be done as well by the private sector. nevertheless, any organization like the v.a. needs the benchmark itself consistently against activities elsewhere to become better. the procter & gamble company, we benchmark ourselves against the very best companies in the world in order to make ourselves better. i think we would need to do that as well if i am confirmed. >> thank you for your service to the country and thank you for the willingness to take this job. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i want to thank you, bob, for willing to take this job. i don't know what you thought

about what you will do on your first day. you mention your testimony about the 90 days. what is on the very top of your list? >> the very top of my list is getting the leadership and the entire organization together and sharing with them what i plan to do. and how important to me the mission and the values of the organization are and how on acceptable it is to behave in a way that is inconsistent with the mission and the values. that is what i will do on day one. >> i know you talked about leading by example. is there anything you can do to restore trust by the veterans to the v.a. again? >> i have already made calls to

the veterans service organizations. i have talked to other veterans. what i would like to do as i travel is to get together with the veteran service organizations and veterans around the country and listen to their concerns. i want to do that as a veteran. i want to do that as one of them. i do not want to do that as a secretary with an entourage. >> good. i want to talk about perception. you said you have gone health care from the v.a. in the past, is that correct? >> my family has, i have not personally. >> it still applies. has your perception of ea changed over the last 30 some years? >> my father-in-law before he passed away suffered tremendous treatment as a pow. he loved the v.a.

he loved going to meet with his fellow pows. he very much benefited from that. my uncle who suffered from agent orange and still is under the care of the v.a. speaks very highly of the v.a. his personal experiences have been all been positive. >> since you became a nominee, has anything changed from your perception of the v.a. in the last month or three weeks? >> when you run a large organization, there are always things that go wrong. the people i have met seem very dedicated to the mission and the core values. what we have to do is figure out who was not. >> right. the big issue that most people are talking about is access

because once it goes to the door, 90% of them think -- there is another issue and that is mental health. the injuries coming out of iraq and afghanistan deal with -- the majority deal with ptsd. we have a shortage of providers. there is also a big shortage in the private sector. how are you going to solve that problem because it is a problem that will not go away. you will have a better success rate if you get to them early. >> i agree with your comment. it is a great comment which is we do have an issue on mental health, not just in the v.a., but in the country. we have to find ways to meet this need. it is one of the most pressing needs that we have within the v.a. and one of the most pressing needs within the country. i think partnerships may be one way to look at it. certainly, talking -- this is a longer-term solution -- talking

to people interested in careers. this is a great career for someone to be able to make a difference in the life of another person through effective mental health is fantastic. we do need more. we do need more. >> last question -- we have a conference committee going on right now. and major cost to those bills deals with outsourcing health care to the private sector. it costs more money. sloan gibson says it costs more to give the private sector than what the v.a. can provide. it is an emergent situation, i believe. that aside, what is your number one priority coming out of that conference committee? >> again, i am dealing with publicly available information. having known sloan gibson for

over 40 years, having gone to west point together and serve together and in the military, i trust what he has to say. i think he has talked about the resourcing needs that we have. that is all about access. >> thank you. i appreciate your time. >> thank you. senator heller. >> thank you. mr. mcdonald, thank you for being here. i don't think there was any secret to my priorities on this committee. the backlog. especially in light of the fact that i has the worst backlog in the country. the v.a. continues to provide is a very rosy picture of how it has reduced the claims backlog. i want to assure you that this depiction is false. last monday, a report was released about how the claims

initiative led to inaccurate processing in part of them feeling pressure to complete claims. i want to go nationwide and then a little locally. nationwide, 32% of the claims reviewed had errors. some claims were denied without waiting for evidence needed to decide. some claims were filed without final decision. some claims without a final decision were counted as closed. my question is -- do you think is responsible for the v.a. to count as progress in light of this report? >> i think we need to improve the claims backlog. i read the report which you shared with me. i am thankful for that but i am also embarrassed for the organization that you had to go to that. we have to get ahead of this

claims backlog and we have to find a way to get it down and get it down quickly so that the veterans are getting the care they deserve. >> if i can get a commitment from you that you will review the entire claims process, whether management has tried to manipulate these numbers. >> absolutely. one of the things i am trained in is total quality where it is a technique taught by a doctor where you take a look at a work process and you work to find out where the constraints are and you streamline that process. given the challenges with the claims process and the backlog, that will be one of my first jobs is to take a look at that. >> there was an ig report recently of the va hospital in eno.

that inspection found that 51% of the claims reviewed were inaccurate and that management had contributed to inaccuracies and other problems. many months ago, i was promised by your predecessor or would be predecessor that there would be changes. i personally have called for new leadership. would you review the management of each regional offices including that of reno? >> certainly, i will. one of the first tasks of the leader, i think i wrote this in my submission, is to get the right people on the bus and get them on the right seat on the bus. i do not care for the fortune 500 ceo you talk to, it took them too long. it always tasted too long to get the right leadership team in place but it is the first priority. >> i think you just answered my question. you are willing to make leadership changes when they are necessary?

>> i have done that throughout my careers, beginning in the u.s. army. >> ok. thank you, mr. chairman. > senator brown. >> we have heard of my colleagues refer to me around the country. ery critical of the v.a. we have seen some of this criticism directed at v.a. employees generally. i think it is important -- i know you will be dealing with very serious morale issues. we had terrible morality shoes at the dayton v.a. i just want to always point out that 30% of the v.a. employees are veterans and close to 100% of the employees chose to serve veterans. how important morale is and how important it is that we recognize most of the employees

are doing a good job.let me ask a couple of questions. your predecessor, he did three things that he was working on that want to ask if you plan to ontinue. he identified an self-imposed a plan for ending the backlog. we have seen major improvements. he worked hard in reducing veterans homelessness, and highlighting one of the v.a's that were considered some of the best in the country in meeting unique needs of women's veterans. want to ask you of what you know if you plan to continue his efforts on those three broad issues. >> i do, senator brown. in fact, i was reviewing the strategic plan.

i noticed the agency priority goals are two of the three things you mentioned. i know that one of the chronic groups of homelessness is women. absolutely, we will continue work on those three areas you targeted. >> the bea conducts of appointment each year. 6.5 million veterans, 80 million appointments. some of those are conducted by private providers. i hear it from these groups about delays and payments for the services. sometimes they go for as long as a year. i want to ask you to commit to dealing with payment and working on this issue on behalf of veterans affecting those health-care people and institutions outside of the v.a. > yes. >> last is one is on a further

field we talked about in my office on your first visit. that is legislation that i have worked on called the significant event tracker where a number of soldiers in combat will get head injuries -- the marine or ranger may say he got his bell rung. it is not recorded anywhere. a soldier gets four or five of these and a space of a year or a space of two or three years of duty. six years later, his behavior changes. his kids notice it. he has no documentation of it. it makes it hard to diagnose it because they do not have the records. it makes it more difficult for the v.a. when this soldier or veteran filed for disability. often times, it is difficult to put together what happened. therefore, increasing the backlog, delaying it when the v.a. does have the information.

weather this legislation passes r not, would you commit to working with the department of defense so they keep that her records on these so-called invisible minor injuries, injuries that have a long-term ffect on that soldier? >> i think that is a really important idea. secretary hagel and i discussed that. i think if anything this really shows why we need a v.a. because the v.a. and the dod working together can do this and they are going to be on the forefront of innovation on mental health as it deals with these significant events that occur. we have to do that but we have to find a way to do it. it will be all new and innovative. it'll be something that has never been done before but it has to be done. >> the burden rests with dod

more. you urging dod to do it just like trying to eliminate what you call a wall between the soldier and the v.a. and how that is so important to smooth that over. >> we will own the outcome. understanding that outcome and being able to trace that back to the significant events that occurred that created the head injury is going to be critical. i think it is very important that we work hard on that. >> thank you. > thank you. again, thank you so much for being here, mr. mcdonald. is a pretty extensive interview with whatever the subject from the press. at the end of the interview, is there anything that i left out, is there any question i have not asked.

i usually reply not. i think you are at that point right now. i just want to say i am very impressed with the answers you have given. i do not think it is feared to get to specific since you're in the position that you were just getting your feet wet. you talked about process, your approach to how he will solve problems -- i think it is excellent. i want to mention a couple of things that i think is important. just mention a couple of things that are on my mind. one of them is the fact that right now when a better and goes to his medicare doctor, he gets a prescription and in order to get that filled at the v.a. which is a pretty good deal for the veteran, he has to go see a be a doctor which -- ava dr. which makes no sense. i would like you to think about

that in the future. scheduling is a huge problem. you mentioned getting some of the providers, getting the best providers and visiting with them. certainly, the administrative people would be good to do along the same lines. that really is the backbone of health care and whatever you re looking at. suicide, prescription drug prescribing -- i think there is too much of that. not prescription drug that the schedule drugs. we put tremendous pressure on the v.a. to get rid of their backlogs and specifically, these things. in treating our veterans that have issues. there has been a lot of pressure to get that solved and eliminate the backlog.

the easiest thing is to prescribe a drug rather than working on the problem. again, the prescription drug abuse. there is so much of the stuff on the street that when i am visiting with my sheriffs, i talk about veterans regarding that and selling that to supplement their income. the other thing that i would like a commitment from you is one of the things that really frustrates the committee and as you are seeing -- the committee is a bipartisan entity when it comes to the veterans, congress works very well together whether it is in the senate or the house. republicans and democrats. one of the most frustrating things is trying to get information and not being able to get that information in a timely way, to be stonewalled. i think you find the committee really does want to help you as we go forward.

i would like you to commit that when we do ask for things that that is honored. this is -- we have oversight, recognizing that fact. and that you will try -- i know you would try to have a good relationship between the committees, but i think that is probably one of the most important things and most frustrating things we had. >> it is certainly my intention to be responsive to whatever questions or demand you may have. i realize the role you have an oversight and are realize that you have people in your state who have needs. it is going to be our responsibility to try to help you meet those needs. i will plan to, if confirmed, to give every member of the committee my cell phone number. i will expect you to use it and call me when you have a

concern. we will try to do that together. >> thank you, mr. chairman. > thank you. i think you were probably the first person to give all of us your cell phone number so i hope this is not a situation where it is be careful what you ask for. >> i mean it. >> we appreciate it. senator brown brought up the question of the significant events of that occurred to our enlisted people, our soldiers that never get into the records as i have heard of veterans as they are trying to make their claims, they are not able to get the information to back up those claims. it leads me to ask you when general gates and secretary shinseki were leading the dod and the v.a. respectively, they talked about seamless records

so that the records follow the person, the individual. here we are. we still do not have the compatible systems. is this something you would pursue so that when our people leave active service and become veterans as their records are with them, it follows them. apparently this require some kind of a huge computer change now we have not been able to achieve even if a lot of money has been spent. would you pursue this course? >> yes, senator. i really think it is important that the dod and the v.a. operate seamlessly. it is not the veterans fault there is a boundary between those two organizations. we need to operate seamlessly. i think when i met with secretary hagel, he had the

exact same interest that i do. in fact, he asked for the meeting which i thought was incredibly gracious for him to do since i am only a nominee. i think that recognizes how well we can work together to get these things done. i know progress has been made on the record. interoperability between the two organizations but more progress needs to be made. >> apparently, there is some tremendous difficulties of getting this done because six years later, we are going to ollow up with you. i intend to see how you're getting along with that. you mentioned in your testimony that the v.a. operates as loosely connected individual administrations so various decisions are being made at the local and state level perhaps.

there is not compatibility or procedures that are being utilized that would enable you to decide or prepare -- compare what is going on with the v.a. and one state versus another state. in a situation like that, how would you address the fact that across the v.a. system systemic problems will be difficult to address when there are multiple organizational management structures in place? >> i think your question is insightful because any large organization needs to operate with one team and one dream. you cannot have separate organizations going different directions. a lot of thought is put to how do you break down boundaries in organizations? my experience over the last 40 years has been if there is a problem in the organization, typically a curse as a

boundary. how do you make those boundaries permeable so that resources, information can flow between those boundaries? one of the ways we have to do that is by putting in place systems that will work so that we get predictably good results every time something happens. scheduling system is an example. the other thing is that allows you to flow resources across the boundaries so that each individual entity is not asking for more resources when in fact the resources may exist somewhere else and we need to flow them there. a good example of that is migration that is a currently happening with the veterans. they are migrating to different places than you may have xpected. we are going to have to be flexible enough to make sure we follow that migration. >> when you're dealing with the huge system like the v.a. system, you are going to get a lot of pushback from people who

are used to being left alone in their regions or wherever. i wish you the best in making sure that we really are working with the system that responds to the way it should. >> thank you, senator. senator moran. >> thank you very much for your presence today. thank you for earlier willingness to serve as the secretary of veterans affairs. i hope you'll consider me and other members of this committee allies as you try to develop a strategy and implement that strategy that benefits those that serve our country. i want to talk broadly for a moment and bring kansas into the topic of conversation. first of all, in the hearing that was held in may, most of the veterans service organizations testified. i think without exception, those organizations that have

consistently requested additional resources from congress to support the activities of the department. my summary of the testimony was that each and every organization, those seven esos all caps the five that while in the past there is additional money going to the department, the president indicated earlier this year that during his time in office, the department of veterans affairs and more resourced than any other agency or department in his dministration. the point they made was yes, we probably could use more resources, but without exception it seems like the testimony was the money is going to the wrong place. it does not result in better care. it does not result in more providers. and resulted in more paperwork and bureaucracy.

as we have conversations about more money, when you make a budget request, we need to make certain this is not about standing the number of people. i am told within the headquarters, there were 800 people in 1990 and now it is 11,000. the focus has to be on the people who provide patient care, not the folks who get into the way of that patient care. i indicated to you in our commerce station that i am looking forward to somebody who can rebuild the trust that i want and the department of veterans affairs and what our veterans deserve to have in the department for their benefit. i look forward to working with you to accomplish that. i want to highlight for you how rural our state is. i served in the house