hoping to get away with the whole thing. easy for me to say, of course. if i say i would do that -- the truth is, it would be hypocritical for me to say no, i would never have touched the stuff if i had known. because i didn't know. >> the soviet union contains the seeds of its own c destruction. many of the problems at the end were there at the very beginning. thew attempts to control parts of the economy and political life and socialite. one of the problem is that when you do that and try to control everything, and you create opposition and potential dissidents everywhere. if you tell all artists that they have to pay the same way and once as they do not want to pay that way, you have just made him into a political dissident.

talk about housing and the populace agrees that it is something that we should subsidize, and put it on the balance sheet. make it clear and make it evident. make everybody aware of how much it costs. when you deliver it to the third bharti enterprises, fannie mae and freddie mac, when you deliver through a public company with private shareholders and executives who can extract a lot of that subsidy for themselves, that is not a very good way of subsidizing homeownership. >> christopher hitchens, and morgans,nd gretchen are a few of the engaging stories. several live events to tell you about today here on c-span. this includes a middle east institute on religion and diplomacy. that is at 10:00 eastern.

sonnoon, the hud institute looks at the national security threat posed by iran and isis. a discussion of the u.s. strategy in iraq at 2:00 eastern. here are some of the highlights for this weekend. friday at 8:00, and history to her looking at the civil war. saturday at 6:30, the communicators look at the technology fair on capitol hill. sunday on "q and a," pat buchanan. on c-span2 friday night at 8:00 eastern, books on hillary clinton, barack obama, and edward snowden. and the sunday morning at 10:30, we tour casper, wyoming. and the c-span3, the negro league's kansas city monarchs.

a depiction of slavery in movies. an interview 4:00, with herbert hoover. let us know what you think about programs you're watching. call us. or email us. join the c-span conversation. like a son facebook, follow us on twitter. the american veterans 70th annual convention today heard from veterans affairs secretary robert mcdonald. he spoke at the meeting in memphis. [applause] >> thank you. please, bc did. please, bc said -- e seated. andk you for your strong

independent and great support for our veterans. good afternoon. it is an honor and privilege to join you in memphis, tennessee. as i was preparing for my senate confirmation hearing to read is my first chance to speak directly to the quarter million members of your organization and discuss the concerns we all share. and what we are going to do about them. let me say right off. i appreciate your contribution reform.reform -- to va amvetsme counsel from and other organizations. you are and deep devotion to veterans is not lost on me. i value your insights. i thank you very much and encourage you to keep them coming.

national commander john mitchell, thank you for that kind introduction. to both you, linda, and commander mitchell, congratulations on your work this last year. a difficult one, to be sure. i look forward to working with amvets new leadership. thanks for extending the invitation to help kick off your 70th annual convention. it was good to talk to you last week. time, support,ur encouragement, and recommendations. . thanks as well for your important collaboration in the transformation. your transformations -- your contributions in the digits two digits initiative will keep paying dividends to veterans for

a long time to come. let me recognize as well were delegation from taiwan. taiwan.delegation from congratulations on your 23 years of partnership and sharing with amvets. i spent a decade of my life in asia with my family. we lived both in the philippines for four years in japan for six years. we traveled throughout that part of the world for the proctor and gamble company. i love the people and cultures in asia. it was one of the most formative times in my business career. i learned important lessons. one is important as we begin changing va into a more veteran centric organization. it is about relevant and

ovation. the response the customers need. which is inspired by fundamental human truths. we have to understand the need of those we serve. our customers, our veterans. no one understands those needs better than the frontline staff and the veterans receiving the care that we can provide. over these next several months, i am traveling extensively. i am directly from employees from veterans and others. from congressional members and local community leaders, volunteers, and other stakeholders. my first stop on the road is -- was at the v.a. medical center in phoenix. the next day, i visited the center in las vegas. we have good people. many veterans. they are passionate about serving veterans.

they are working hard to fix our system so we can provide superior service. we are on our team and they have our support. we are counting on those people on the ground, closest to the veterans, to share their innovative solutions that will help solve our problems in serving veterans. this afternoon, i am honored to visit our fallen veterans and those who keep watch over them at the national cemetery in memphis. tomorrow, i look forward to hearing from employees and phis vas at the mem medical center. and the memphis that's said -- vet's center. i'm sitting down with employees, nurses, physicians -- are frontline staff. and talking to the veterans we serve.

i am getting you, some unvarnished truth about how things work. some good, some bad, some mixed. i am learning what we need to keep doing and what we need to do better. when i visited the medical center in phoenix, i kept hearing an unfortunate nickname read the sender. -- nickname. epicenter. that is a bad reputation to have and it will take time to change it. soon ican tell so far -- will have been secretary exactly two weeks. from what i can tell so far, everything is not a disaster. phoenix really is not an epicenter. the problems we discovered in phoenix were systemic extending beyond the that one location and moment in time.

the phoenix door is about more than a crisis in veteran access -- story is about more than a crisis in veteran access. it is a story of failed leadership. it is also the story of dedicated people who stood up to help us serve veterans better.my thanks goes to them . coming face to face with reality, there are some -- is not disaster. i went to hear your stories. i want to know when you are not being served well. i have to know so we can make things better. all of this is a tremendous opportunity. gibsonsecretary sloan put it like this when he was testifying to congress. we can turn these challenges into the greatest opportunity for improvement in the history of the v.a. department. theformer department of

institute of medicine took that notion one step further. he said, because of this crisis, va can encompass things it could have never accomplished before -. that is what we are going to do. with the continued support of president obama, congress, and the strong support of amvet and other organizations, we are going to do what never could have been done otherwise. it is a great opportunity and a rare opportunity. his opportunity that we cannot miss nor underestimate. my confirmation hearing, i consulted and talked with a lot of leaders. i spent time with leaders of other service organizations and many members of congress. ask me,d again, people why do you want to be the secretary of veterans affairs?

here's what i told him. i believe in this very strongly. to me, there is no other higher calling. this is a chance to make a difference in the lives of the veterans whom i care so deeply about. and i come from military families. was awler -- father tailgunner during a be 24 in world war ii. tailgunner in a b-24 in world war ii. he was shot down and survived as a prisoner of war. airborne was a 101 division screaming angle -- e agle in vietnam. he was sprayed with agent orange and receives care from va. my nephew is a pilot in the air

force and serving and flying missions in the middle east. veterans are special people to meet. special people to my family. it is not just about me. it's about my family and all of us as a larger family. from the u.s. military academy in 1975. air deputy of secretary sloan gibson was one of my classmates. has been a great friend for many years. . my time at west point and has a airborne ranger instilled in me a sense of duty to our country and strong values. four decades later, the words of the cadet prayer guide me. it encourages us to live our lives, choose the harder right instead of the easier wrong.

yearsortunate for my 33 experience at procter & gamble. where i learned the importance of effective management, strong leadership, and being responsive to the needs of customers. successfullyd and to improve the lives of our customers all over the world. i hope the same lessons to help bring change to v.a. to better serve the rents. -- veterans. success ofge the individual and collective efforts against e single metric. veteran outcomes. plan makes that clear. v.a. is a customer service orientation. we serve veterans. if we fail to serve veterans, we fail. we have a lot of work to do. those values and leadership

experiences are what and for my ations and decisions as secretary of veterans affairs, just as i promised to be president they would. and as i am promising all of you this afternoon. the lessons from the army and procter & gamble translate, whether you are an entry-level employee or head of an organization. here are a few of the lessons. first, have a clear purpose. us 150nt lincoln charges years ago to care for those who have borne the battle and their family. providing veterans with effective and efficient high-quality health care and the benefits you have earned. this is unconditional. you have earned these benefits. there is nothing more you need to do to earn them. we are obligated and honored to serve you. [applause] the second lesson is people want

to succeed. it is my job to make sure employees at bea --va have that opportunity. the biggest barriers to success nn any organization are a ineffective culture, strategies and systems. va has strong institutional values. advocacy, respect, and excellence. acronym. they are an icare. what better acronym could there be? if we live and work by the cannot go wrong. i asked all employees to reaffirm the commitment to these values and our mission. under directed

secretaries to take the same step and reaffirm our mission and values with their people. that is a first up and beginning to rear and your trust and the trust of the american people. plan. a good strategic we just have to make sure we are working together to execute the plan and become bush goals -- accomplish goals -- our goals. we have an effective strategy. but there have been failures. somewhere along the way, someone lost track of the mission. end of the core values. here are the -- how those systemic failures have manifested themselves. you are familiar with these. veterans are waiting too long for care.

performance metrics became an and in and of themselves rather than a way to measure outcome. widespreade were attempts to game the system and height problems. making veterans wait longer for care. those who identify problems were sometimes punished for doing so. we do not held accountable the managers who held poor performance or retaliated against whistleblowers. r integrated scheduling system is cumbersome and outdated. we can tackle these issues without unprecedented accountability. consider this for a moment.

john talked about this. from president obama's nomination of a new secretary to confirmation and swearing-in took less than 30 days. consider this. wasoor vote in the senate 97-0. that is not a commentary on me. don't misunderstand me. it is a sign of our nation's extraordinary commitment to veterans. last thursday, president obama signed into law the veterans access choice of 2014. the law ok it's $15 billion to it's -- all law ok billion to v va. to legislation authorizes va

enter into the seven leases in tostates and puerto rico give them more space for clinicians to treat patients. newlaws grant v.a. authority to remove or transfer senior executives based on misconduct.or that is what we call accountability. the vast majority of va employees are dedicated to the mission and core values. where that is not the case, where there has been a violation of trust of the nation, there will be accountability . this is about restoring the trust of veterans. our elected representatives. all americans. that legislation is another sign of the strong support we have for veterans. i appreciate the work of chairman sanders, chairman

miller, and the other members of congress who came to pass the law. 's role ofte amvet candidly informing congress of how they saw things. we could not have done this without you. i know that is not the first time or the last time amevts will share its recommendations. clear, and i loud, hear you. i want to continue hearing from you. you are not just stakeholders, your shareholders and customers. we need your input. as acting secretary sloan gibson was doing some great work, he has been hitting us in the great -- right direction. i support the efforts we have in place. theas grabbed hold of

problems like a snapping turtle and not let go. we have suspended performance awards. 14 day access measures have been removed from performance plans. that is to eliminate motives for inappropriate scheduling practices or creator. -- behavior. we have frozen central office headquarters hiring. we are making good progress being veterans office waiting lists and fixing scheduling product -- problems. in the last two months, we have made over 830,000 referrals for veterans to receive their care in the private sector. that is up more than 166,000 over the same time last year. each of the referrals -- [applause] each of these referrals on average results in seven visits

or appointments. we are talking about more than 1.1 million appointments in the private sector over the last two months. get systems up to capacity, we are expanding our use of private care and other experienceth care to -- improve access for veterans. non-va care tong make sure veterans deserve -- received the best they deserve. we will enhance the existing system in the short term. we will get an off the shelf scheduling system. we will expand digital technology to free up people to care for veterans. facilities are adding more clinic hours. we are adding mobile medical

clinic units in providing care for mayor -- for more veterans. we are contracting with the -- in outside organization to conduct a independent audit of scheduling practices. that is across the entire system in beginning early next fiscal year, october 1. dispatched teams to provide assistance to facilities requiring the most improvement. there is a multidisciplinary team on the ground in phoenix. every medical center and is conductingtor in person inspections of clinics. that includes interacting with staff to assess scheduling practices and identifying obstacles to timely care. so far, over 2300 of these visits have been conducted. we have taken action on every one of the recommendations.

we are going to improve forecasting for resources. foran develop a strategy meeting the higher levels of demand we are experiencing. we are determining which processes need to be streamlined and where we need to reorganize. to more efficiently use our resources. i amlp with that process, establishing a board of physicians and nurses to help me with best practices. aggressively to fill physician vacancies. let me cause. -- paz. -- pause. i have heard it takes too long to bring people in and the hiring policies and procedures are time-consuming. we are going to fix that. we need about 1000 doctors, nurses, and clerks in feet --

phoenix and 500 in las vegas. we will need more beyond that. i want your help. to go recruit the best doctors, nurses, and clerks will make it the best health care system in the country. i will be out there recruiting these people. if you have names, please send them to me. we are building a more robust, can you -- robust system to provide site-specific information on patient satisfaction. we are going to learn more about what other leading health care systems are doing to track patient access during says. -- experiences. we are improving communications. othern the a -- va and organizations.

high-performance companies get their best innovations from those closest to the customer. we are going to create a more open and less hierarchical altar soin full -- culture employees can contribute ideas and help us improve. islaborating closely with -- a top irony. -- priority. it is not enough to listen to your concerns and ideas. our collaboration in changing this department -- we are going to gather your ideas and make them happen. the eight leadership is going to levels toamvets at a improve communication. 19 44, it was collaboration between federal employees and veterans that produced this great organization, amvets.

that same spirit of collaboration will bring needed change to veterans affairs. we have huge challenges ahead. the rents are in need -- veterans are in need. it will be tough work to transform va as the provider of choice. we have people rolling up their sleeves right now. we can and will get it done. we can't do it and won't to do it without you. the best technology and systems are no substitute for looking at ourselves through the eyes of every single veteran. amvets has been doing that for 70 years. let me close by saying how grateful i am to president obama and congress for entrusting me with this opportunity to leave the department of veterans affairs. for being avets

friend of the department. thank you for your work. thank you for your commitment. thank you for your enduring devotion to veterans. moments, today's headlines and your calls, live on "washington journal." i 10:00, we're live from the middle east institute for a discussion on religion and diplomacy. noon, the hudson institute looks at national security threats posed by iran and isis. we are also covering a forum on u.s. strategy in iraq from the heritage foundation at 2:00 eastern. minutes, we discuss foreign policy and the so-called obama doctrine with robert ulis.e and brian kat

at 8:45, we will have an investigative reporter for washington examiner, to focus on a recent series of articles on congressional incumbency and proposals for term limits. "washington journal" is next.