teacher signed his card, he did not realize he was signing up. a motivatedas teacher he decided that i'm going to be a member and be involved. he became a building are presented for the union. it wasn't until we told him that thatr ship was optional he was able to leave and he saved $770 a year. work state,right to but even a teacher who was part of the leadership did not know they have the ability to leave their union until someone told them it tha. that was stunning to us. membership union decreased by over 800 teachers. that got us to thinking that if there are that many teachers in in oneool district,

state to want to leave their union but do not know that they can, or when and how to do so, how many hundreds of thousands, or even millions of union members around the country want to do the same thing? working with the association of tmerican educators we called i national employee freedom week. that is this week. i am pleased to say that 81 organizations, which we have have to, in 45 states, come together with the sole purpose of letting people know that they have the ability to leave their union. you will hear from rebecca, robert, and jennifer and they stories aboutr trying to leave their unions. i want to tell you about the numbers that their stories

represent. we decided to conduct a poll, a national poll of union members asking if you could out out of your union without any penalty, would you do so? 454 union members across the country and over 28% said yes, i want to opt out of my union if i could do so without penalty. 14.5 union members, so that is about 4 million people who want to leave. amazing is they already can. if they are a right to work state they can leave entirely, they do not have to pay agency fees. non-right ton a work state, they have options. y can redirect their funds to a charitable

organization. withoutnion employees force of penalty be able to opt out of union membership? 82.9% of americans said yes. workers should have that choice, they should be able to make a decision about union membership that is best for them. out ofon americans want their union, the overwhelming majority of americans who support their right to make that decision, and now we have national employee freedom week around1 organizations the country telling union members when and how to leave and that they can leave. as you are going to hear, this is information that union officials do not want their members to find out about. thank you. >> rebecca? >> thank you. thank you for having me here today. imagine with me for a little bit. imagine that you have finished your tallest journey and you have entered your dream job.

upon accepting your offer your told you have to join a labor union as a condition of your employment. pay $1000 a year to an organization that claims to have your best interest in mind. imagine that this union fights for almost everything in which you believe. they badmouth the candidates for which you vote, they spend multiple millions defeating andon sense propositions things you believe would actually improve your community. they even send out voter guides that reflect the exact opposite of almost every vote to you personally cast, but they claim that you agree with the union stance on the issues and the candidates. now imagine that your union is involved heavily in local state

and national politics. they use your dues money to fund candidates that you opposed to become government officials. now imagine that these union friendly government officials sit opposite your union at the bargaining table. they negotiate for the use of taxpayer dollars, but guess who was not invited? the taxpayer. your union enters collective bargaining on your behalf, but they bargain against the taxpayers for things that are offensive to you personally. they constantly seek higher definedd sweeter pension programs just for you. you win,e unfortunately the taxpayers and the economy lose. imagine your state and nation falls deep into debt. of course, you do not have to

imagine that. liabilities,ion largely because of sweet heels that were negotiated on your behalf, you watch helplessly as all money is used to defeat that you hold true and right. now imagine you question your union on the use of your money. that is fair. shunnedbullied, you are , you're treated with disdain. you dare to speak out against what they are doing. you are labeled radical right-winger, and spoke in a shameful terms. imagine many of your colleagues are so intimidated that they simply sit in fear and are afraid to speak up. you to imagine that you are against all of this, but you have to pay for it out of your own pocket.

continually associated with all of these behaviors on television commercials, a newspaper ads to my and simply through the title of your job. world is myry reality. welcome to the world of forced unionism. withrst experience teachers unions was during my year as a student teacher in 1987. every day i witnessed in horror as the neighboring teacher yelled at and belittled her adorable first-graders, six-year-old. they were terrified of her. there is no way that they could have learned in that environment. nor should they have had to. when i asked my master teacher what could be done about this unjust, and what i thought was a dangerous situation, she told me

because of tenure laws and strong union advocacy, districts had a hard time ridding themselves of abusive and incompetent teachers. so these kids did not have much hope. that was the day that my master teacher educated me with the other problems within public sector unions. unfortunately the union impacted her career and my career, and my classroom in ways that were and still are very troubling to me. for over 26 years i've been forced to pay dues to a union whose core belief and political activities are in direct opposition to my own beliefs, my own morals, and my political leanings. for example, although i am for vouchers, and i believe parents

should have the right to choose their parents education, my union dues are used to fight the parents right to choose. tenure, i'm against against higher taxes, and ridiculously high pensions for public sector employees, my unions bargain for all of these things and more with my money. currently in my state of california we have a $74 billion unfunded pension liability. yet my union continues to bargain for deals that are harmful to our economy. because of these issues and more, i opt out of the portion of my dues that the union admits are overtly political. an agency fee payer, but unfortunately i still paid for highly political collective-bargaining against my will. i am not in a right to work state. controls union

teachers by controlling information, it was quite challenging to discover exactly how to opt out and even more how to receive my annual rebate of the political portion of my dues , which you would think would be automatic but it is not. early in my career received a , but thankfully later i discovered california teachers empowerment network. cten is a nonprofit organization that exists solely to help teachers discover their rights within forced units of -- unionism. andscovered how to opt out how to receive my full annual rebate of the overtly political dues. of unionopt out politics, you still have to pay 100% of the collective are getting dues. that is about 70% of the total dues.

in exchange, you lose all rights of membership, and you lose your liability insurance, and you lose the right to vote within collective-bargaining, even though you're paying 100%. the loss of liability insurance scarce teachers so much that most will not opt out. also taught meen how to find liability insurance from an independent source. i chose christian educators association international for my thankfully the coverage and service are far superior and my rebate more than covers the cost. my husband, who was a professor, was an agency fee payer for over 30 years before we discovered cten.

never once mentioned that he also needed to request a rebate of the dues that were used for over politics. for over 30 years, he paid full union dues, funded full union politics against his will. to keepn was too happy his money, even though he made it clear as a fee payer that he did not want to support their politics. of us how tooth request our full rebate so we both receive them he. since fee payers have no collect ,he boys -- no collective voice at 1.i decided that i'm going to become a full union member so that i can have a voice. , i served for three years as a union site representative, and as a local board member.

i continually brought up the fact to many of my colleagues and i that we were disturbed and offended that our forced dues were being used toward politics and high political collective are getting that were against our moral codes. on every single location i was either ignored, or you received this. shoulders. shrugged cta i attended an annual conference, i asked during seminars come and another individual asked in the ballrooms. we were injured in hateful tones rhetoric that made it clear to everyone in the room that if you do not stand with union politics you were a bigot. the entirecasion

room fell silent because of the extreme intimidation of the higher union officials. felt like little children being bullied on a playground. representatives are silenced if they do not toe the line of far left union politics. those who disagreed with unions step down from leadership. brave teachers in california and the christian educators association have had enough. law firmstwo powerful have come alongside us to plead our case. on august 30, 2013, we filed a federal lawsuit against cta, and are 10 local unions. we decided to restore a constitutional, first amendment right to free speech and free association.

we desire to and forced unionism. also desire to end the practice of allowing view units to collect our dues through paycheck conductance -- deductions. you, the taxpayer, are funding dues collection for the union through paycheck deductions. we know this is a huge undertaking, but we believe that like a vid we have the truth on our side. anare being represented by incredible group of lawyers who are lovers of liberty. our counsel includes the center ar individual rights, cir, public interest law firm which specializes in first amendment litigation and one of our attorneys is with us today if you have any questions for him. we are also being represented by one of the largest firms in the world. we're are currently at the ninth wecuit court of appeals, and

wanted it to the united states supreme court as soon as possible. what we are asking for is very simple. we want teachers to decide for themselves without fear or coercion whether or not to join a union. only the supreme court can vindicate our right to free speech and free association, so we are trying to get there as quickly as possible. i would like to imagine one more time. imagine a victory for liberty. americansat all currently forced into unions would be free to make their own choices. they can keep their unions if they like them. they could leave them if they felt abused. imagine that unions were low longer permitted to take many from unwilling donors, and that the bullying of others trapped

inside against their will would stop. imagine that unions could no longer afford our political thwart our political process so that the individual vote would not for something and the economy would work toward healing. imagine that america could return to its former glory in education and our children could thrive in our schools again. inictory for the teachers friedrichs versus the california teachers association could change our world for the good. thank you for letting me speak today. >> thank you. my dad was really a member of the united autoworkers union. my mother was a teamster. i'm from michigan, one of the bluest states in the union. it used to be fair i was . of the teachers

association, but i am free at last. it has been a year ago this month and my story is such -- we had a bit of a rollback in ns, throughf unio competition, overpriced labor and such. things have happened. michigan was doing very well. in the 1960's, 1970's, and then things happen. the michigan education association's power has been rolled back a little bit. our union also collected dues and use them for political purposes. but several years ago our legislature and governor pushed through a law that was able to take the political action committee dues and make them an opt in. we are no longer forced to just and if you want to participate again.

choice reared its head. and then we had about two years ago the legislature passed a law that said new the union never will no longer have your dues or agency fees collected by your local school district. if you want to be a part of that human that is great, but you will pay to the union nor self, we will not and clued the business offices of your local schools. we either wrote checks, or give them a credit card number. and like an idiot i give them my credit card number. [laughter] that is in 2012. december 2012nly, in lansing michigan, out of nowhere, kept under incredible wraps lyrically the legislature in michigan came out with right to work legislation. it was prepared well ahead of

time, it had a lot of groundwork , but nobody heard word until suddenly the separate came through and a lame-duck legislature that was denigrated d through.ia storme i was so happy, i thought it would have choice. according to the right to work law, you can opt out of the union want your current contract was over. i was in a contract that ended june 30. benticipated on june 30 to my last day. julyled my letter on second. i view good i was free. iout a month and a week later saw on my statement a charge for my monthly dues.

i anticipated no charge at all and was very curious. let me to establish, anticipating this glorious day of freedom i had e-mailed and phoned called asking the process to opt out. i heard nothing. ien i saw that charge, thought maybe all of these attempts of communication did not make it through. [laughter] you never know. i told my credit card company to stop payment, i disputed the charge. i looked online as to what was discoverand then i this opt out window that appeared in a bylaw. no one was aware of it before. even my local president. when we signed him back in the , weas newborn teachers apparently agreed to the bylaw that no one was aware of. once i knew that i found the

mackinac center for public policy. they had a wonderful letter that i tailored and sent registered mail. i also canceled my credit card. i did pay the july dues because i did not want to but my credit card company through that nightmare. that is great and wonderful, i am out. it was about a month later that i received a phone call at my home. it was from a vice president. use very nice and friendly asking exactly why would i want to opt out, and what caused me to make such a decision. that was the only communication i ever received. it is a nice organization if you're in that kind of thing, but i was not. that was my story then. unfortunately, not many were made where of that opt out window.

many others did not know until afterwards. law,t, in michigan by public schools will not start until after labor day. some schools will have professional developer days for the week for the -- before. they do not tell you these things. this last school year i was the only full-time teacher to my knowledge and my district to have opted out. i was a target for some. it was not real over, it was somewhat subvert. had a disciplinary hearing, the lives of every jot and tool to make sure that i follow the line. bit ofl face a little resistance. that is how it is. it is all right, because nothing of value is free. mtaichigan right now the

has made a form letter that asks you as a member wishes to opt out to go down the list and check off or initial that you agree you will no longer accept preplannedrful package of coupons. [laughter] nowhere on their does this say i opt out. that is a bit of dispute. there are several teachers who have contacted me in michigan who have said they wanted to opt out and asked how i did. over 8000 teachers in michigan this last school year, from july over a thousand michigan teachers decided not to pay their dues. they opted out by saying i am out.

they do not give their credit card number. [laughter] the question that was brought , was will ther economic impact to the unions or the education association? will that not impact the revenues? i said i do not care, it could. if it does, they will like any other business or service organization taylor their services to meet the demand of the customers, or they will with her an -- wither and die. survival of the fittest was going fine economist b about business. that pay for their services suddenly decide not to paint more, most service organizations with a we are not we can provide you with the services. it is more like you're conscripted into the military and you cannot leave.

it is amazing to myself. some ask the question in michigan that we have a free rider problem. freenow denigrated as a pay any fees not but you benefit from their actions. to which i respond, i will no in take advantage of and these opportunities. i become a member of the american -- association of american educators. they provide equivalent protections and arbitration. all of these things are made available and double the liability insurance for about 1/5 of the annual cost. economicser of and would be a morn if i did not take that.

so i did. that was a question of choice, i chose to do so. others may choose to stay in the union, that is fine. it is supposed to be about choice. invitedo not want to someone over to your birthday party because they are not in the union, that is fine too. [laughter] special, notng so that we are trying to get the message out, across the country the should be a question of choice. if you could choose to be yourte, that should choice. if you choose not to play, that should also be a choice. thank you. thank you for having me. my story is a little bit different in the sense that i am not an employee at all. or --o i have an employee o

i opened a small business, a small child care business that i run from my home to this day. as any other small business owner i set my own rates, i create my own working conditions, i choose which client i will serve. all of the aspects of my is ms. -- business are under my control. about a year after i opened my business i had a gentleman walked into my home without knocking during the day while i was busy making lunch. it was the biggest time of day. imagine at dinnertime, and that is with just two or three, but i had six that were crying and hungry and lunch was on the stove. he walked into my home without knocking and asked me to sign when he said was a petition asking the state for childcare providers like myself.

i was a little intimidated so i told him i was not interested. this man was a professional at what he was doing. he would not leave. to whywer i gave him as did not want to sign it, he had prepared response. he grew more and more upset with me each time i said no. it was a very intimidating experience. i just about sign to get him to leave. of my hopeot him out was that i told him i would sign his petition later if you would just leave it or me to look over what i had time. he had been there for quite a few minutes and i could hear the lunch boiling over on the stove. i needed to get away. i told him i would sign if you would leave it and he would get up later that day. he was convinced i would not be interested after i read it.

when i did have an opportunity to read it, that was the first time i saw the word union. the entire time he was in my house he never mentioned anything about being from a union or working for a union. he had no identification, telling me who he was working when he was trying to pitch this to me he dropped the name of our care child association. i thought he was affiliated with them. he said the child care supported his efforts. but never once did he mention the word union or anything to do with unionization. as i'm reading the fine print of the card i was so shocked. a signing up to be a member of the aci you, it takeuthorizing him to

dues. trying to pulle this scheme, even though we are paid privately, some families sometimes qualify for child care assistance. the program works like any other government welfare program. the family fills out the paperwork and qualify for a certain amount. they choose how to spend that. same type of scenario with childcare. the parent five qualifies for the benefit. they choose which childcare program to use that benefit at. one of my families at the time happened to qualify for childcare assistance. this union, if i had signed that card, would have taken dues out of that check. i wouldn't have known i had signed up to do that. initialat first

experience i thought this has to be legal. liee is no way this man can to me and get me to sign a card and get away with it. i discounted it. i thought that is never going to happen. then they sent another one. within a couple of months. they are really trying to do this. i started to do research. in 2006, if you googled there was no information out there other than buried six pages back in the search engine. so, i solve they were successful in another state. i knew this was something that was a threat to my business. i found some other childcare providers who were also upset. they were fighting back against the at the northern tip of

state. we formed our correlation. our purpose was to educate childcare providers on what the union organizers were doing at their homes. they promise a lot of things. free health insurance. a raise. they would ask, what would you like to change about your profession? parents are only showing up late. we can fix that. canever the issue was, we fix that. we will get that done. worth signing these cards are not fully understanding what they were. t isunions have admitted i standard practice to come during business hours and we have children in our charge. they mislead us. they flat out lie about what these cards are. they collect signatures and then take those cards with them so you don't see what you signed. they collect these cards over

six years. at the time we had a republican governor who would made aware that this was happening. -- hemised he would not would veto any legislation that came his way. -- in 2011 we had a new governor. he had promised before he was even elected if he was elected he would sign an executive order unionizing childcare providers. he wasted very little time. website to get the information out. at this point, and many other states have fallen victim to this. a bubbly a dozen states at that breedhad faced this new of unionization. we knew it was a real threat. we had a governor who promised to do it. he did file -- he signed an executive order.

in november 2011, that was subsequently thrown out in state court on a technicality. it challenged the means for which it was done. the governor can't write law. they throughout the executive order because they can't be used for that purpose. republican he had a house and senate. the next election cycle, that was gone. , our uniona year ago friendly legislature and evan are introduced legislation that reclassified childcare providers as state in ploy ease. only for the purpose of unionization. we don't get a pension. we don't get benefits. we set our own rights. the state cannot give us a raise.

overhave no control working conditions. we joke around that they want to come by and give us a break for half an hour and change diapers, then that would be a benefit. there is no tangible benefit that comes along with this. they are trying to argue they can bargain and negotiate over the childcare system rates. it is a matter of public policy. not something the legislature should do in the open with testimony and all those things from the public. they should not be set behind closed doors. after that law was passed with the help of the national right to work legal defense fund we've filed a lawsuit challenging those fees were a violation of the first amendment. we took it a step further and said just the exclusive

representation, taking private citizens and collectivize and , and allowing a group, an organization to private citizens exclusively on matters of public policy is a violation of the first amendment. after we filedy our lawsuit. the law was enjoyed for close to a year. the union hadn't been recognized yet. it took a court of appeals to dismiss our case. untilaid we had to move the case is ready to be determined. so we wait for the union to file their election. a significant victory on june 30

of this year, the same organization an attorney that brought our case also brought a case called harris versus quinn, which was argued in front of the united states print court in january 2013 -- 2014. on june 30 they issued a ruling that forcing individuals who are not full-fledged employees icon care providers to pay compulsory union fees is a violation of the first amendment. for the first time, many of for the firsts time in over a decade have the option to choose whether or not to financially subsidize these highly political and often times working on matters that not only you don't agree with but can be harmful to your profession. providers, union

support mandatory universal preschool,, those are the children we care for. those are your clients. your taking hiding -- you are taking paying clients. we are paying for them to lobby for this. to take clients out of our program. the big issue for us now is getting the word out. national employee freedom week is a great event. like the others mentioned, people don't realize they have this right. not only do the unions not tell you, but they are dishonest. i can't tell you the number of providers we have spoken to who have tried to doubt only to have the union tell them that doesn't apply to you. you still have to pay your dues. they won't let them. it is important to educate, have

an opportunity to educate individuals who are facing compulsory unionism so they understand what their rights are and they can opt out. they don't have to subsidize that activity. the home care providers in michigan, when they have the option, when the state revealed that option to choose, 80% of them left. is a huge financial blow to the unions, as it should be. as you were saying, this is about the option to choose. to have choice. it is about freedom. we should be able to choose with whom we associate and choose with whom we don't want to associate. the argument allowing people to choose whether or not they are going to pay a union is so detrimental to unions. politicald they are a

powerhouse. they survive on voluntary dues. they provide a benefit to their members. unions can do the same thing. why leaving a union is important. thank you. >> thank you. we're going to do some q&a. we have microphones. if you're late question, way into my microphone is brought to you so that viewers watching online and on c-span will be able to hear you. is it in the fight yourself and any affiliation. -- please identify yourself and any affiliation. one of the things that emerges from every story is the sense of have.poly you only

you have one union. would one result of a employee freedom be that you could end up with a situation where there are multiple unions offering better services, and competing to offer services? >> i think it could happen. a lot of times they will push for that exclusive representation. the union is the biggest barrier. they recognize the benefits of having a monopoly. was taken away, teachers and other professionals would come together and say this is a group that i want to form. you see that throughout society. different organizations forming. the exclusive representation is the barrier. aae as a grouped that officers services the union offers. how does -- how would people who

want to get involved, what services are they offering? how does that work? >> sure. as a consumer i don't want to spend too much time. i want to buy and go. if you go to the website, it explains clearly from insurance and coupons. they have more businesses that i'm going to use. they provide arbitration services and other things along those lines. there is transparency. if an individual wants to send a check or a credit card number. >> stick with checks. a question from the audience. >> it sounds like there is a lack of communication. i had never heard of the

american association of educators. i'm secure teachers -- i'm sure a lot of teachers haven't either. based on what happened in wisconsin, how does only 25% of the nevada teachers thought having free choice was a good idea when as soon as right to work was put in place in wisconsin, 80% of wisconsin educators association members quit? nevada,happened in there is the paycheck deduction. the union represents 60% of the teachers throughout the state. there were a good number of teachers who knew or who have never joined. what our campaign focused on was the teachers who had joined the wanted to leave. the union has fallen steadily over the last couple of years. they represent 60% of the cheap -- teachers now. >> hello.

can any of you comment on the department of education and its role in this? basically that agency was created by a teachers union in a way. what role does the government play in promoting unions and making it harder for people to have choices? >> what happens a lot of time, the state level, the collective-bargaining laws are made. they stop the union from taking the money out of the paycheck. that is a great protection. then taxpayers aren't funding it. i think when it comes to the issue of unions and leaving unions, i don't know if it is as much as the department of education as what happens of the state legislature or the county level.

those states where the decisions are being made. >> have you thought about assembling other teachers? >> informing them? >> asking them to join the lawsuit. >> there is not to join our lawsuit. fond of informing them about our lawsuit and educating them as the gentleman behind you mentioned. there is a terrible lack of communication out there. , theye of the monopoly actually control teacher e-mail and mailboxes. say that myto

fellow educators know that there are other choices out there, or even about my lawsuit, if i slip a flyer in their mailbox at work i would be written up for that. if i sent them an e-mail, same thing. why there was a lack of communication for teachers. no one is allowed to get that to us in an easy form. >> if i could jump in, i should mention your lawsuit will have implications for the public sector union members. if the supreme court rules in their favor that will have repercussions.

>> a question in the back. >> i would like to mention that a product of the depression. unions have outlived their time. in the teaching arena, you have civil search protection. you gain -- you layer that on top of that. it is a double date at the taxpayers. do any of you note the history? i don't seem to remember when i was in school that education unions were so militant. is there a nation of how this evolved? -- is there an ex this evolved?ow >> would you like me to take

over? in 1977 there was a u.s. supreme court case. in that case a teacher like myself was arguing that it was unconstitutional to have to pay union dues. he lost. thatupreme court decided ,n order to prevent freeloaders and keep labor peace, the unions were given a not pulling -- monopoly leadership over public-sector employees. werec sector employees given no choice in the matter. it became a condition of employment that you had to fund the union. here is where people get confused. i don't have to join the union.

but i have to find the union. ember, i am a union funded. it was clever on their part. it is hard for the public to understand. many say what is your complaint? you can opt out. they don't understand i can't political all of the collective-bargaining that is going on out there. wet case is the reason that are in this situation. our lawsuit seeks to overturn it. likes if i could speak -- >> if i could speak to that freeloader question. it is funny to call someone a freeloader when you force them onto the bus, you make them sit there. your bus fare.y in society isace

another organization able to for someone who is not interested and make them pay for something they aren't interested in. if a magazine company did what a union did there would be lawsuits throughout the country. organizations we don't like except labor unions. >> there is bullying involved as well. you dare to try to leave. >> i will give you the last question. today,ience members public service employees and are thinking about potentially leaving their union, where can they go to get more information and help them make an informed decision? >> go to our website. employee freedom week. the best source of information would be to go to your local union, asked the procedure for opting out, ask to see a copy of your signed union car. that is supposed to have when

the window periods are. if you're in a right to work state, there is often these periodsions in the time of when you can leave. find out when that is and let them know that you want out. employeefreedomweek.com has good information. there is a lot of good resources out there for you to leave your union if you run into resistance. >> can i add? i don't mean to disagree with you. i just have to say if you go to your union rep, or your union president, most likely they will give you a blank stare. they don't know how to help you opt out. i even tested this. i already knew how to opt out. i went to my union rep and asked her what do i do.

she told me to check a box. just check this box. i said wait a minute. that box is money that goes to a political action committee. that is a separate donation that we are making even though we don't know we are making it. that is going to give me back $20 a year. she said that is what you do. check the box. but i'm still full union member. argued this point with me for days. finally, asked her to please go ask the person she went to. -- andd you want to be she is a very kind person. she didn't mean to mislead me. she is been misled. she has no idea how to help me opt out.

i have never met a union , thatent, local level knows how to help you out out. it is important to go to the website. if you're from california, go on the california teachers empowerment network. they know everything. they will help you get through this national right to work. all these organizations that we have mentioned today, that is where you need to go for help. ,r you need to find a teacher or if you are a public-sector employee, a firefighter, police officer. find an employee who is already a c-payer. don't go to your union rep. you need to give them letters eventually which need to be

certified. sent, all that. >> thank you so much. please thank me in joining -- making our panel [applause] . [applause] -- please join me in thanking our panel. [applause] >> tonight, a look at veterans health care. we show highlights my recent hearing on the issue as well as obama signing legislation last week designed to improve medical care for veterans. hearing, a doctor with the department of veterans affairs said whistleblowers who work at the v.a. faced italian nation. here is a look.

>> i think the v.a. has the potential to be one of the finest institutions in the whorls -- in the world. the pharmacy cannot be matched. one of the best. very efficient. there are different things that are efficient within the system. but what we should ask it sounded like a good idea. veterans would be seen. we should be questioning is if we made a mistake and overloaded the system, how come people's names disappeared off lists? hundreds of thousands of veterans electronically no longer existed. that should be the question. retaliation exists because there is a culture. this culture of retaliation is the cancer. nurses, andans and

people working are disgusted. and say didup to me that happen here? when i heard the testimony, it was gutwrenching. i couldn't sleep. there was a lot of people that feel the same way. but, there exists a cancer within leadership, few individuals that perpetuate this idea that we should be silent. that we should not stand up and tell the right thing. and be honest. everyone makes mistakes. when you make a mistake and try to conceal it, that is really the question we should be asking. in the visuals who would hide the truth and prevent patient care? >> see more of our coverage of

veterans health care tonight on c-span. courtv on the supreme under chief justice john roberts. then i looked at the u.s. marshals service. at 8:00 eastern, american history television. this month, c-span presents debates on what makes america great, evolution, and genetically modified foods. issue spotlight in depth looks at veterans health care, student loans debt, and campus sexual assault. new perspectives on voting rights, fighting infectious disease, and food safety. and our history to or -- tour. atd our tv schedule c-span.org. let us know what you think about the programs you are watching. call us. comments@cspan.org.

former house speaker newt gingrich spoke this morning at the american enterprise institute for how smart phones can improve veterans health care. brooksnt to thank arthur for giving me this opportunity to propose a very large bold rethinking of both the health system and the bureaucracy in the context of the veterans administration crisis. a decade as the aei family. it is always great to be back discussing ideas. i want to thank the cnn investigative team who stayed on the scandals until they broke through and became a national crisis. early on the stories were

dismissed as isolated small problems. the teams continued effort grew the facts until they had to be dealt with. our thinking on the future of the veterans administration has been deeply influenced by the hard work of chairman jeff miller and there find many staffs. we are further down the road because of their help. they have worked tirelessly and against a lot of opposition to help americans veterans find a better future. i want to thank our chief researcher on the v.a. and who developed the interactive map you will see. i want to thank ross worthington for helping think through these proposals. let me say this is going to be a standardsshington

radical speech. i'm going to use terms that are not common in washington circles. let me share a few of these new ideas ahead of time. smartphone. smartphone apps. ipad. facebook. google. khan academy. duolingo. this is not your typical washington policy speech. you know that these words are now part of everyday life. in 2004.was founded 10 years later it has 1.3 billion monthly users. there is no government subsidy for joining facebook and no government training program for

how to be on facebook. google was founded in 1998. it has grown into a worldwide index of knowledge with well over a billion searches a day and a host of other capabilities. date to 1994. today, 3-4 americans owns a smartphone. you can get a smartphone for free with a service contract or for as little as $50 online. many people in the developing world revealed they will invest in a smartphone the four indoor plumbing. when i ask all of you, take out your smartphone if you have one. to get a sense of the audience. you are holding the entry point for a massive information system. i think it is important to understand that. every time you think the

proposals in this speech are unrealistic, i want you to look at your own smartphone and the apps you already have installed. more presented of our future? the current failing bureaucracy or the smartphone in your hand? we have the opportunity to create a 21st-century veterans service system, empowering veterans to use their smartphones to re-center services on their lives, at their convenience, and with the veteran rather than bureaucrat in charge. this vision of a dramatically more effective, more modern, more responsive veterans is part of aem much larger opportunity to think about the transition from late 19th century bureaucracy to

21st-century citizen centered government. the three major regions to have a national dialogue at the future of veterans health care, we owe it to our veterans to get them the best possible health outcomes with the greatest convenience at the lowest cost. it isn't enough to eliminate the worst aspects of the current bureaucratic mass. theave to be able to answer question, is this the best we can do for veterans? anything less should be unacceptable. improved bureaucracy fails that test. secondly, the lessons we learned in thinking through a 21st-century veterans health astem will teach us a lot bout the characteristics of our future health system for all. the same technologies that will improve veterans health will help improve everyone's health.

third, replacing this obsolete bureaucracy with a new 21st-century system will teach us a lot about how to replace every other bureaucracy. the v.a. could be deferral runner to a generation of profound transformation in government. the changes we have seen in information technology are so indoor mist that the next few decades will be the most creative in rethinking government since the founding fathers. virtually every field. pioneers of the future are developing new technologies am a new science: new solutions, new products, new ideas. currenteakthroughs are in the private sector, nonprofit sector, and in government. they are going to continue and accelerate. just as the founding fathers had to think through the relationship between organized

citizens, so we have to think through the relationship between organized public effort and the technologies which are revolutionizing our lives. my recent book outlines the scale of change has occurred around us and begins to imagine a new 21st-century model of government that takes advantage of this emerging world. our current federal bureaucracy is trapped in the late 19th century. bureaucracy is largely an intellectual pattern developed at the same time as the manual typewriter. they were the clerical requirements of carbon paper which led to a pentagon of enormous scale. 17 miles of hallways, 6.6 million square feet, and extraordinary symbol of american power when they were completed 71 years ago.

yet to fulfill clerical and administrative purposes dating back to the 1940's, 31,000 people still work at the pentagon. technologyrmation should enable us to turn the pentagon into a triangle. we should be able to replace at least 40% of the clerical effort with modern information technology. this potential for rethinking exists throughout the government. speed,ear the convenience, accuracy, quality and affordability we see in most private sector roddick's and services keeps growing. as results, with each passing year the gap between the obsolete typewriter bureaucracy we have and the modern decentralized citizens government we could have

continues to grow. the smartphone and ipad are symbols of this gap between failing bureaucratic systems and the speed, accuracy, and convenience we are experiencing in our private lives. atms.er the you can go virtually anywhere in the world, find an anonymous machine, insert a plastic card, punch in a code, and get local currency in 11 seconds. how many have have this experience outside of the u.s.? takes 175 days for medical records to move through the department of defense to the veterans administration. has a problem with the accuracy of their credit card statements or atm transactions. $4 billion inut

bad refunds last year. including 340 three checks to one house in shanghai. medicare and medicaid have $70 billion in fraud every year. almost every government redistribution program has substantial fraud. the fact is that a manual typewriter bureaucracy that goes home at 5:00 cannot keep up with crooks using ipads. the on efficiency and honesty, there is a more powerful reason to rethink modern bureaucracy. inevitablytypewriter is focused on the bureaucrat. it is devoted to rules that make the citizens subservient. will be century

digital, mobile, virtual, and personal. digital,nment used mobile, and virtual capability to empower citizens to leave -- leave their lives focused on their concerns and would be different from the current federal bureaucracy which increasingly uses its power as a tool for social control. californiaovernor of and former mayor of san francisco has intriguingly outlined the potential for a citizen centered smartphone enabled 21st-century model of government in his book. he writes, technologies like smartphones in the cloud enable an enterprise to organize itself in a distributed fashion without central power to collaborate in ways you couldn't before. it gives power to the people. it is the first crucial step in

moving away from top-down chokingatic government our democracy. understanding this concept is central to understanding how the government must change and what it must become. appliesroach everywhere. the veterans administration is a particularly good starting point. the scandals, corruption, dishonesty, and failures and serving our veterans are so deep at the v.a. it is especially ripe for a fundamental rethinking that shifts from the manual typewriters of smartphones and from a system centered on bureaucrats to a system centered on veterans. this process of thinking requires adopting the three principles. the problems are a systemic and non-episodic, and models are central to refocusing our thinking and analysis.

second, modern information technology and its ability to empower the citizen and to dramatically improve how we organize public activities is at the heart of how we will rethink government. systems thinking in modern information technology can only work if the bureaucratic model of the 1870's is replaced with a agileexible adaptive system of continuous improvement , measurement of metrics, learning, and continuous willingness to reward achievement and take steps to eliminate failure. requireree key steps congress to shift from traditional oversight based on reviewing failure in playing got and to focusing on breakthroughs in the world that empower and best practices throughout the world, not merely

the best bureaucracy. you can see a paper on congressional committees and the concept at gingrich reductions. productions. it goes far beyond the recent reform bill. that bill represents a fascinating balance between the reformers push for new solutions and the prison guard of the past protecting their bureaucratic turf no matter how bad. the v.a. scandal has been big enough that the reformers want a notory of allowing veterans wait 30 days for a department have the choice of any dr. who accepts medicaid. -- this wasobably probably worth the entire bill. and one of the most remarkable steps to prevent the secretary to expedite firing of senior officials.

the reformers had to agree to open 27 clinics and provide $5 billion to hiring more people for the be a your accuracy even though the current productivity is so low that modest improvements would have improved veterans health without a larger yurok received. the extra $5 billion was the price of having a socialist who believes in bureaucracy chair the veterans affairs committee. the bill that obama signed into law thursday is only a start. there is some bipartisan agreement that the reform effort needs to go further. said this will not and cannot be the end of our efforts. daniel dillinger said in a statement that the v.a. reform inkage is an important step the process to begin repairing systemic problems, but only one

step, and only a beginning. on theking republican veteran affairs committee agreed that the bill was only the beginning of what it will take to repair it or rent this -- her friend is a blemish -- horrendous blemish. it starts a conversation for the future. a bill signed into law was only the first step. now, the real work begins. "thisor john mccain said, bill is the beginning, not an end." house majority leader kevin "a modern v.a. must except the modern world and give veterans the ability to

access private care, streamline its system, and remove bad employees." real reform is possible. only if we unshackle ourselves from the old idea that more bureaucracy, more government, more money will solve today's problems. it is time to try something new and build a 21st-century v.a. the skill of reforms needed is suggested by this interactive , which you can find it in gingrichproduction .com. people kept saying it is isolated, it is isolated. there are 62 sites up there. you to goem allows and look at the data on each site. we didn't make the case this

can't possibly be random episodes. system in collapse. i am proud of the work they did. this is what is amazing about where we are. , there all the evidence are still supporters of bureaucratic big government who continue to believe in the current bureaucracy. in 2007 him as recline stated the v.a. lead in care quality isn't disputed. krugman called it a model to be immolated for the rest of our health care system. even after the recent revelations, the true believers stayed firm. "it is stille that, true it invites excellent care at low cost."

just member that one quote. everything he says is out of touch with reality. " i'm sanders maintained, chairman of the veterans commit need -- committee. it provides high-quality health care." before i outline and propose a bold 21st-century veteran services bill, i want to examine these claims. if they are right, we will need bold reform. it is important to understand how badly broken and how deeply corrupt the current bureaucracy is. the current public outcry started when we learned 40 veterans died on a secret waiting list in phoenix. that was only the beginning. in february we learned employees destroyed veterans medical

records to hide their backlog. theecame clear that appointment system was pervasive. systemic lack of integrity throughout the v.a.. the final audit confirmed corrupt scheduling practices ofoss the department at 70% the v.a. medical facilities surveyed. 57,000 veterans have been waiting three months for an appointment. with the scheduling practices are only the beginning. transfer a5 days to veterans medical records. the v.a. and defense department have spent $3 billion over four years attempting to build a joint system for electronic health records before announcing in february they were giving up. as of february there were

400,000 disability claims considered backlog. they had been in process for a hundred 25 days -- 125 days. and electronic records system developed at the v.a. to help manage this problem had cost $500 million but was crippled by poor planning design an planning, -- poor design, and implementation. there are lots of instances of narcotics that. this is the one that's most disturbing. patients were prescribed narcotics without seeing him a doctor. waiting times are twice the national average. thatoburn's office found the v.a. is spent $200 million may last 10 years in attempt to compensate victims for its mistakes. more than 1000 veterans

needlessly died under the v.a. watch. the median payment for a victim was $150,000. most agreed it was not about the money. they wanted the v.a. to be held accountable. ofween 2006-2013, the number full-time employees jumped 40%. 220,000, 314,000. the budget is up even more. 90%. with 94,000 additional government employees, and twice as much money, the left believes the problem is the v.a. is underfunded. v.a. workforce is larger than the marine corps. compared to 200,000 marine

corps. 150,000, shrinking to at which point they would be asf as many a reins -- half many marines. despite the competence and corruption, leadership has seem to reward the officials with performance bonuses. last year, 78 percent of the a senior managers receive these bonuses and got performance ratings of outstanding or exceeds successful. 470 the got successful or better. employees are performing wonderfully. in some cases, these bonuses were outrageously unwarranted. the former director of the v.a. medical center was paid bonuses even though the inspector general blamed several preventable deaths.

the report found that as of february 2017, there were more than 277 v.a. employees performing as union representatives on 100% of official time. they spent $42.6 million in cost related to maintaining official time. on average, private sector primary care physicians have an average caseload of $2300 -- 2300. hospitals,ate sector some v.a. facilities close eye 3:00 in the afternoon. getting the truth of the ms. behavior has been hard. bureaucrats have routinely lied to congress. the department misled congress about the number of deaths claiming findings were found on

a systemwide review since 1999 when the numbers were based on a handful of cases. the officials looked me in the eye and lied to me. turn theued, at every v.a. has thwarted effective oversight. of cover-up and deceit. the v.a. director in alabama ensure that employees who falsified records were fired. i have now learned that wasn't true," she said. v.a. silences whistleblowers. the new york times reports staff members at dozens of hospitals across the country have objected

to years to falsified patient employee schedules another improper practices only to be rebuffed, disciplined, or fired. the times continues, the federal office of special counsel which investigates complaints is examining 37 cases of retaliation by employees in 19 states. the article tells the story of a doctor, from dallas. aboutan complaining negligence by nurses who marks the wrong kidney. saidother instance, he medical personnel brought the wrong patient to an operating table. a supervisor told him to let some things slide because of staffing problems. he continued writing complaints. officials considered him disruptive and fired him.

watchdog routinely minimize whistleblower allegations by claiming the behavioral had no effect on care. the point is there is a failure of the current system. this litany of deaths, mistry meant, violation, dishonesty, lying to congress, failing to treat our veterans should convince any reasonable person there is something deeply and profoundly wrong to let the of the v.a. nothing in the bill will get at the underlying corruption and the network of bureaucrats to protect each other and punish those who would blow the whistle on bad behavior. tophe reform bill, only the 400 of the 314,000 people who work at the v.a. are affected by

the fire and procedures. some have expressed worries about expedited procedures for 1/10 of 1% of the v.a. workforce. there are six different unions at the v.a. four masterare -- union contracts. this includes employees at taxpayer expense. toy are an enormous barrier reform. if we were serious about helping veterans these union contract would be suspended just as contract would be suspended in the private sector. all of the sistine reform bureaucracy with virtually nothing changing. bureaucracy has deep patterns of self-defense and self-preservation.

it would adopt a new work ethic, a new commitment to transparent accountability, and enthusiasm for whistleblowers is asking for failure. the scale of change we need to ensure the best possible care is greater than the recent reforms and be on the conference zone of the traditional political system. two missingd are components. imagination and a spirit of replacement rather than reform. first, imagination. imagine the 21st century veteran services. the greatest failure in washington is a lack of money. it is a lack of power. it isn't too much partisanship.

the greatest billiard washington is a lack of imagination. washington is so absorbed in its own petty gossip, daily activities, definition of practical and realistic, it is very hard for washington insiders to relax and let their imaginations develop the possibilities that are all round. there is a simple fact that can open up everything to the imagination. everything which currently exists and government was imagined by a president, congress, and decor. our generation has as much responsibility and as great a right to develop a new generation of solutions as did any generation before. i want to focus on one technological breakthrough. to illustrate how dramatically imagination based on practical reality can open up the entire system to new thinking and possibilities. the smartphone is an empowering

breakthrough that exists all around us. it has not begun to be integrated in the public policy solutions. think of smartphones as empowerment devices. the first and the important question is what and we grew up in the bureaucratic world else around clerical processes in the manual typewriter. the bureaucratic procedures that define what happened wil. they'll define the relationship. in this world, the amount of power citizens have over the bureaucrats is remarkably small. the amount of power the bureaucrats have over the citizens is remarkably large. too often, we the people have become weak, but bureaucrats. -- we, the bureaucrats. this extends far beyond the v.a.

they were only an office for a brief. . enthusiasm ofand the new secretary of veterans affairs will presently run up against bureaucratic rules, hopelessly and intentionally complex policies, especially in information technology, and unwieldy union contracts. it has outlasted every president and every secretary. it isn't that secretaries were incompetent. he was immersed in the system that simply ignored management and asked for polite applause for enthusiastic speeches and then went back to bureaucracy as usual. the smartphone shatters this shifts thec -- it location of power to the citizen. as is the potential implied in the new book, "the responsive city."

we are organizing and empowering people with smart phones. if every veteran had a bertphone, they would empowered to gather information, to interface with health systems 24 hours a day, seven days a week. the v.a.urther that adopted this model for the 21st century. digital, mobile, virtual, personal. the smartphone with electronic records in the cloud and instantaneous decision-making could become the new center of gravity which would replace the bureaucratic model with the veteran centric model. consider a v.a. app for the smartphone which would enable veterans to skiable his or her appointments. you know how this works in your own life. think of your app for restaurant reservations. food youthem what want, what neighborhood, a list of options with reviews, you tap reserve, you get an e-mail, the

system walks off the table -- locks off the table. there is no question if you made the reservation. it has been around since 1988. zotdoc is the equivalent of opentable for doctors. you tell them what insurance you have and what type of specialist you need, it gives you 27 june youn your area. , they get anctor e-mail with all your paperwork and insurance information. you show up when they are ready for you. no inspector general to investigate why you didn't get an appointment. than 24ait time is less hours. 25% lastave up to minute capacity for patients who canceled and rescheduled.

15-18% of patients would otherwise be going to the emergency room. ocdoc was founded in 2007. it is now serving 5 million patients. about as many as the v.a. they have 400 employees. repeat those numbers. it serves 5 million patients a month in scheduling, about as many as the veterans administration schedules. they have 400 employees, total. the v.a. employs a thousand programmers. zocdoc covers more than 40 specialties, 1000 types of procedures, in 48 states by the end of this year. their market cap is $400 billion. if zocdoc went to the v.a. and

offer to help with their scheduling software, which they know how to integrate with lots of insurance companies, the v.a. 17ld tell them about the self-imposed requirements that prevent us from using zocdoc software. including the requirement that zocdoc has to make all of its software open source. so that i can be custom built from scratch by the v.a. they will be prepared tomorrow morning to provide the services. the bureaucracy won't let them. medical has app. -- an app. you can book appointments and communicate with your doctor, send pictures, send electronic prescriptions. you don't need to take an hour out of your day to go in.

imagine if a 21st-century v.a. had this capability. doctors could see dramatically more patients in a day. veterans could get dramatically faster care. imagine if the veteran smartphone had a prescription app. every doctor could see every prescription. sometimes you need to go to the doctors office and they can take your bvitals. one app takes your temperature, your blood pressure, your heart g, in your lung function in a couple of seconds. it costs $199. togine if instead of going the v.a. medical center, they could send this information to their doctor right from their smartphone. greatgottlieb had a paper, asserting that the fda will say that it subjects the

smartphone as a medical device. another example, there is a company in california that is automated the 1000th most common medical lab tests, all of which can be performed using just a few drops of blood. out invice was rolling walgreens. give a few drops of blood, have the results e-mailed to your smartphone by the time you walk out the door. chargingcommitted to 50 percent of the medicare reimbursement rate or less. imagine if instead of waiting months for such tests, veterans could go to their local pharmacy and have it on their smartphone in the afternoon, all at cheaper costs. there are enormous challenges with veterans and mental health. imagine if instead of waiting for problems to develop, support started immediately, reaching the veterans over there

smartphones. apps could help walk veterans through the process of transitioning back to civilian life. imagine if online support similar to facebook could help veterans form a community to talk to each other about their shared experiences and help identify veterans who may need a higher level of support, all at very little cost. other challenges, like homelessness, begin to compound. systems, thethese scheduling applications, the doctors visits, the prescription functions, were automatically available. the veteransoth and the higher levels of the v.a. of problems in a timely way. los angeles could not have deleted the names if the information was on the smartphone. that's profoundly different.

all of this is very different we willhe department need to continue to expand the use of digital technology to free human resources that can be applied to the care of veterans." one of the key tests of rethinking the administration is whether the primary focus should be internally, on improving and strengthening the bureaucracy, or externally, on empowering and strengthening the veterans. in his keynote address, secretary mcdonnell described the traditional philosophy perfectly. "we are going to judge the success of our -- veterans outcomes." v.a. is the customer service organization. we serve veterans. if we fail at serving veterans, we have a lot of work to do. there is a huge jump between serving veterans and empowering

veterans. the bureaucracy remains the center of activity in serving veterans. in empowering veterans, the veterans become the center of activity. mcdonald does not understand how big is imagination must become to be successful. are updated the antiquated appointment scheduling system, beginning with near-term enhancements to existing systems, leading to the acquisition of the copperheads of, state-of-the-art scheduling system. i believe the department will need to continue to expand the use of digital technology to free human resources." e muchal challenges ar larger and more complex then he can imagine. nothing in his business career prepared him for the regulatory, legal and bureaucratic barriers which make progress in washington so difficult and so slow.

believewhy i replacement, not reform, has to be the goal. take advantage of modern information technologies and empower veterans with smart homes, we have to do more than marginally reform obsolete bureaucracy. we have to think through the principles of organizing human activity in a world of mobileous, real-time, computing and information available 20 47. personalized to each individual connect the vast computing and data storage of a worldwide network. every process of the current bureaucracy works to prevent this from happening. for example, one of the most successful scheduling companies offer to provide its proven technology to the v.a. and was told that federal law and self-imposed internal regulations made it impossible. what is true of v.a. information-technology

acquisition is true across the entire federal government. president obama outline the information technology last year, and explaining the gap between the brilliance of his two campaigns and using information technology and the failure of the obamacare website. "what is true is that our i.t. systems, how we purchased technology and the federal government, is cumbersome, complicated, and outdated. where, on a situation my campaign, i could simply say, who were the best folks out there, let's get them around a table. are doing it at the federal government level, you are going through 40 pages of ands in this and that, there are all kinds of laws involved and it makes it more difficult. it is part of the reason why federal i.t. programs are over budget." sadly, the president didn't leap from this absolutely correct analysis to propose that

congress profoundly overhaul the information technology procurement laws. google founders noted the same artificial challenges and health. -- in health. "generally, health is just so heavily regulated, it is such a painful business to be in. it is not how i want to spend my time. even though we do have some health projects and will be doing that to a certain extent, but i think the regulatory burden is so high that it would dissuade a lot of entrepreneurs." secretary mcdonnell will soon departmenthe defense and administration announced in february that they were abandoning a multibillion-dollar project. entire sections of law involving have toion-technology be replaced is not merely reformed.

-- and not merely reformed. only one congress steps up to the plate will we be in a position to start using our imagination to develop the replacement system which is necessary if we are truly going to help our veterans. there are first steps we can take for the 21st-century veteran service system. ideally, president obama would recognize that the overwhelming bipartisan vote for the v.a. reform bill, the speed and that there- indicate is a rare zone of bipartisan opportunity to develop a better system. if you would reach out for the congressional republicans and pursue new thinking, he could have an enormous positive response. a series oflaunch visionary hearings, bringing in new technologies and new capabilities and exploring how to move from bureaucratic centered systems to veterans and

power systems. secretary mcdonnell has an opportunity to outlined changes -- outline changes. such a the a is patriotic and compelling cause, the secretary wolf wind pioneering leaders in every field who will work with him to develop a new 21st-century program. each of us can tweet, facebook, even talk with folks about the new potential, the new opportunity, the new obligation we have to bring the best to our veterans by empowering them with all the tools the 21st century. thank you for giving me this opportunity. [laughter] [applause] we will take questions. if anyone has a comment, question. i am peter, a law student.

how would you address a privacy issue concerns? veterans might be a little hesitant of putting their information on the cloud. >> i think there's going to be a permanent challenge of privacy. we have very draconian laws about violating privacy, particularly as it relates to medical records. on the other hand, i would suggest -- if you look at the way records have been handled the v.a. right now, you can make it optional. if you don't want to take the risk, you can continue to be in a bureaucratically centered system. my experience with most people is that people are more and more willing to have the convenience, accuracy, speed -- then we have to have systems that are fighting against hacking. i think we should have very strong laws for people who violate privacy.

it is threatening the whole society. >> mr. speaker, i was part of the united states air force. there seems to be a clear lack of bipartisanship and a clear lack of leadership from all sides of government, a government that can even reform too manye, that was pages long so that the experts can't even tell you what's right. you get charged, lose your money. what makes you think that any change to the ba system is going to ever happen? just had a all, we bill passed by a very large, bipartisan majority. the bill contained a surprising amount of reform, much more than you would expect a year ago. the secretary was just approved the fastest approval of

any secretary in recent times. it gives us an opportunity to talk to this. it rapidly becomes hard. reason these bureaucracy survive, they are very good at fighting to protect their turf. that leaves towards the partisanship. i do think strong ideas that are supported by the country have a tendency to bring people together because the country forces them together. on the global policy fellow. -- google policy fellow. are you proposing to give smartphones to all veterans? how would you suggest digital , teaching veterans to use smartphone technology if they are not familiar? , my am biased because 82-year-old mother routinely plays "words with friends" with four different people. routinely keeps up with

facebook. five years ago, she would've thought it was impossible. people learn and adapt. this is true if you are dealing with populations the size of recognize, the smartphone system, the sheer computing power, it would enable you to put things online that are audio and video. for somebody who literally can't read all, you can give them an audio opportunity, video opportunity to be informed you would not be able to if you were in a bureaucracy. bureaucracy will produce a brochure no one reads. people don't like to read very much. you have to know everything about the brochure to understand the brochure, so you don't read it because you can understand it. if you go to something like go, whicho -- duolin teaches separate different languages for free.

duolingo has more language students and all the language classes in the u.s. combined. you can imagine a circumstance will people like duolingo have literacy for people who speak english. they will be able to go online to learn how to be literate. want toargin, if you say, here's a person with a severe mental problem and they have a severe set of wounds and they have a -- they are 86 years old, you can create specific people for whom none of this works. the current v.a. doesn't work, either. have a better chance of inventing someone that will work then the current bureaucracy does. i'm a researcher. when this crisis erupted and veterans decided to go out and

see anyone that was willing to see them since the weight was so long, the government indicated that they would pick up the tab. through some means, the v.a. would pay for it. we need to develop special rates for this kind of activity? as a way to solve the crisis? why not like something like medicare? theors would pay for care, same amount of money, something has been done that should be done? i don't know smartphones was assessed. >> i do know the details. because theeptical v.a. has to regulations for the implementation of all of this. i wonder how easy those would be. actually -- is it does it increase the income of

positions? there is a 25% cancellation rate, which means 25% are not making any money. they just increase their income by a substantial amount. how do you have an interface with the doctor is winning and the patient is winning? the best is a free society is for everybody to win. >> good afternoon. i live here in the district. you gave a massive push for changing the bureaucracy, and it is clear to me that a lot of that effort would have to come from the citizens, to push the congress to make those kinds of changes after careful debate.

as a retired veteran, one committed to assisting veterans, also believing in good government, also wanting to have conversations with people and am certainnment, i that the faces and voices that look and sound like me are heard and seen. what i would like to do in front of everyone here is to invite me andhave dinner with my friends, veterans, from a grassroots level, ordinary ideas,n citizens, your so that people don't always have .o go outside of washington

there are people here in the district, even though the veterans in the city don't have full equal voting representation in congress as they should. they would like to invite you to have dinner in my home. we could talk and get a schedule. you could, one of your regular visits to the nation's capital. it is up the street from cnn. video chat with vince afterwards, we will find a time. chat with vince afterwards, we will find the time to get together. i'm a policy analyst with the american heart association. he talked about the regulatory uncertainty regarding mobile application. the report, which i am sure you are familiar with, categorized mobile applications based on wellness applications, clinical, and health care giving.

they didn't really define them. is thisdering, how initiative going to progress with such regulatory uncertainty? >> i think there are bills in both the house and senate that are bipartisan, that pushed back pretty hard against the fda. what you had to have is some ability to measure whether or not something works. that is a retrospective, not a prospect of ability. if you make it a hurdle to actually launch into these things -- the fda has been in charge, steve jobs would not have been able to found apple. microsoft wouldn't exist. the wilds were in environments making lots of mistakes and developing products, many of which didn't work. there are now 93,000 medical apps or health apps. the idea that the fda

bureaucracy is going to slow down their admission until some bureaucrat has approved them, i think that should horrify everyone. you probably have a standard which i think exists in state law, in terms of fraud -- we someone with an ekg on his smartphone. we bought 12. one, too. it takes an ekg and says that your cardiologist. it's amazing. if somebody says, i am making an ekg, they are liable for fraud. you don't need the fda to approve it. there ought to be a fraud standard applied for the stuff, but it does not require that the

government bureaucracies become primary hindrances to the system. i think you are going to see an extraordinary revolution in the impact on smartphones, and i only use smartphone as a generic concept of mobile capability of communication on the 24/7 basis. i think it is going to explode in the next few years. thank you for offering us more of your best and brightest ideas. we are very appreciative. it is extra start if you start -- smart of you to start with the v.a., because veterans are crossing all boundaries. almost all american support veterans will stop thank you for starting with them, to help improve the bureaucracy. do, which suggestion do you have, for the people who will lose their jobs because of

this long needed rollback in cleaning up of this bureaucracy at the ba and other departments in washington? >> i think it depends on which people you're talking about. if your member that long section on what's wrong, those people should lose their jobs. i have no problem saying that -- a nurse who substituted water for morphine should be fired this afternoon. second, as you shrink, -- you put in a hiring freeze. they discovered that with a hiring freeze, a west virginia state employment dropped 10% year. that number of people retired or left or moved on. oughtd suggest that they to have a retraining program.

they will give you the right to bid on another job. you have to mean make people unemployed, that is the same challenge every business in america faces. we have been through a tough economy. bureaucrats don't have an automatic right to say you owe me a lifetime job. there is a political reality, which is how hard they will fight. you want to make it as unthreatening as possible but you do want to manage a dramatic transition. i am a strong national security hawk, but i tell people i am a cheap hawk. i think we ought to shrink the pentagon to a triangle, because there is no reason to have 31,000 people pushing paper at the center of the defenses to many more. that was the tip of the iceberg.

when you look at the distributed people who work at the pentagon. always, i'msay, as delighted to be back, we appreciate the audience -- i was grateful that you introduced me. i hope you found this a useful starting point. the actual texts available are available at gingrichproductions.com, and aei. tank you all very much. [applause] the pentagon is sending 130 more military advisers to northern iraq. they are going to the city of erbil to plan for the evacuation of refugees who have been blocked from leaving the region. the additionals advisers are not combat troops and reiteratedha