glasgow, close to where i live. then they sent me to bowling green and i had open heart surgery for blockages. host: washington journal contin. host: we are back with dan caldwell, the senior advisor for concerned veterans for america. he is here to discuss his group's priority for the new congress and the incoming by demonstration. good morning. guest: thank you for having me on this morning. host: tell us what the mission is for concerned veterans for america and how are you funded. guest: concerned veterans for america is a veterans advocacy organization to advocate for the policy that preserve the freedom and prosperity we fought and sacrificed for while in uniform.

we educate and mobilize individual americans to advocate for our policies with their elected officials, also engaging in media campaigns and direct lobbying on capitol hill. in terms of funding, we are part of the stand together committee. -- stand together community. we are funded by donors across the country and we are very fortunate to have their generous support. host: tell us about your military service and how you ended up working with concerned veterans for america. guest: i served in the united states marine corps for four years in active duty. my first two years, i was part of the presidential support program. i spent some time in marine barracks washington, downtown d.c., and almost two years at camp david, the presidential

retreat in maryland. ofeployed in support operation iraqi freedom. i deployed in northern iraq, western iraq. host: what do you think, and what does your groupthink are the biggest issues facing today's veterans? guest: the veteran community faces a lot of the same challenges that the population as a whole faces. one of our messages is, yes, there are unique challenges the veteran community faces, particularly with getting access to health care and other benefits from the department of veterans affairs, which is a big issue we have engaged on, but we are affected by policies, that effect the economy and the

country as a whole. our main focus is on three issues -- reforming the department of veterans affairs, moving the united states toward , meaningforeign policy we view the world as it is, not necessarily as we want it to be. in terms of restraint, being more restrained in the use of military force. it has been overused in the last 20 years. part of that is advocating for an end to our endless wars. we focus a lot on the national debt. we want to see that reduced. we take that is our greatest long-term national security threat. those are the three issues we focus on. they affect not just veterans, but the population as a whole. host: let's focus on the first thing you said, which is reform of the veterans administration.

what type of changes would your group like to see done? guest: we have been very supportive of some of the reforms that have been implemented under the current administration, under president trump. we were big supporters of the v8 mission act, which expanded health care choice for veterans. it gave veterans access to private urgent care clinics, more options in the private sector. they face barriers accessing care through the department of veterans affairs, brick-and-mortar medical system. we supported a v.a. accountability act, which made it easier to fire bad v.a. employees. we supported other initiatives at the v.a. that increases transparency around things like wait times, the cost of health care and the quality of health care when compared to the private sector. we have seen a lot of progress over the last four years but we think we need to go further. we think veterans need for

health care choice, meaning they can choose to go to a v.a. health care facility or a private health care facility without any middlemen at the or. and without any barriers access standards that currently exist. that is what we ultimately want to achieve. it is choice about privatization, to have a good choice, you need to have a good v.a. and good private-sector options. that is what we will be focused on, preserving the gains we have made over the last four years, improving on them encouragingly to grow choice and accountability through the department of veterans affairs. host: the executive director of concerned veterans for america said this on president-elect biden's choice to lead the department of veteran affairs. i will read a statement and i want you to react. the current state of veterans

health care is improved significantly since 2014, with a greater focus on the needs of the veteran, as opposed to bureaucracy. we encourage the biden thenistration to continue important transformations as the department of veterans affairs and not reversed the progress that has been made with the v.a. missions act and other reforms and progress under the current administration. by committing to shared goals with the v.a. to meet the needs of a rapidly changing veterans population, we can improve the lives of veterans today and generations to come. we must put the veteran ahead of the institution and we look forward to working with the next secretary to best serve and empower our nation's veterans. what are you trying to tell the incoming v.a. secretary? wast: our main message trying to get across is continue to build on the progress made

under the trump administration in regard to the v.a. mission act and v.a. accountability act. there is still a lot of work to be done to implement the v.a. mission act and want to make sure the biden administration is continuing that work and not going backwards in terms of reducing health care choice for veterans and reducing accountability for v.a. employees. if you look at where the v.a. was in 2014 under president obama, to where it is now, there has been a lot of improvement. we really want to work with the biden administration to continue that improvement and continue to grow health care choice for veterans and accountability for v.a. employees. host: i want to remind our viewers that they can take part in this conversation. we will open up special lines for this segment. we first want to hear from our veterans. if you are a veteran of our armed forces and want to take

part in this conversation, we are opening up a line just for you. we want you to call (202) 748-8000. if you are active military, if you are currently serving in our armed forces, you will have your own line. active military, we want to hear from you at (202) 748-8001. ourou have not served in armed forces and want to talk about this issue, you have a line as well, your line will be (202) 748-8002. veterans, (202) 748-8000. active military, (202) 748-8001. everyone else, (202) 748-8002. keep in mind, you can always text at (202) 748-8003. we are always reading on social media, on twitter and on facebook. further, i want

you to listen to something that was said last month on his nomination to be the v.a. secretary and they want you to react. [video clip] >> the men and women of the v.a., many of you veterans your -- your cells, your demanding jobs have been made even more difficult by the pandemic. to you and the many dedicated vets service organizations, that includes vets, survivors and your families, i look forward to being your partner, one united team in delivering care and support that is second to none. finally, taking care of our veterans is not a job for the v.a. alone. every federal department and agency has a role to play and i will fight like hell to make it happen. even though only 1% of americans

wear the uniform, under president biden, every american will be called upon to embrace our responsibility to support our veterans and military families. host: go ahead and react to the incoming secretary. first off, i think that the pick to be the v.a. secretary was unexpected and out of left field. i don't think he was on any veterans advocate's list. i want to be clear, that is not to mean he is unqualified or should not be v.a. secretary. he is an interesting choice with a lot of possibilities. even though we disagree with him a lot under the obama administration, we want him to be successful. we want to partner with the v.a. to continue to make sure the

institution serves veterans and military families. a lot of people do not know this, but in many cases, the v.a. provides services to non-veterans. it is also the nation's emergency health care that was used a few times during the pandemic. i think what he laid out there was good. i hope he will partner with groups like concerned veterans for america. there was not a lot of policy substance. what not entirely clear the biden administration will do in regard to the v.a. mission act, v.a. accountability act. we hope they embrace those policies and continue to implement them and fix some of the issues that have emerged with both over the last year. we want to be successful. if they are going to take the v.a. back to where it was pre-2014, when you had the

massive wait list scandal and widespread misconduct across departments, we will oppose that. we will say when they are doing the wrong thing in our view. repetitive,of being we want them to be successful and i really hope he does a good job as v.a. secretary. host: the concern veterans of america was supportive of president trump's veto of the defense policy bill. i want to read from nate anderson's statement on support of that veto. the fiscal year 2021 defense authorization act is flawed legislation that has become a vehicle for making political statements rather than setting defense policy and authorizing funding for our armed forces. president trump is authorized in vetoing this because it

circumvents executive power, powersve branch's war and keeps troops in afghanistan, perpetuating endless wars. why was concerned veterans for america supportive of president trump's veto? guest: i think the biggest issue for us with the provisions that attempted to restrict the ability of the president to withdraw troops from afghanistan , south korea and germany. we believe it is time to bring all of our troops home from afghanistan. we accomplished what we need to after 9/11, long ago, and afghanistan. we killed osama bin laden, the overthrew the taliban, we won the war that we did too but lost the war we did not need to fight in terms of building a democratic society within afghanistan. for far too long, that has been

our main focus in afghanistan and we have lost sight in doing what we need to do to keep america safe. insertedsion that was by representative liz cheney, congressative -- it is trying to force the president to keep sending troops to die in afghanistan for admission that is not essential to our national security. likewise, the restrictions on trying to remove troops from south korea and germany, that is sending a message to two wealthy countries that you can underinvest in your own security and the united states will continue to defend you know better what. that creates the wrong incentives. it restricts our military ability to focus on the threats of the future and more pressing foreign policy issues, but also domestic policy issues, as well.

overall, the national defense authorization act does nothing substantial to try to reduce waste in the military. it does nothing to try to reduce spending where it is no longer needed in our military. it really makes it harder for the military to focus on the threats of the future. we think the veto was more than warranted and we were disappointed to see it overwritten by the house and senate, with the senate taking its vote yesterday. host: let's let some of our viewers take part in the conversation. we will start with rick, who is calling from fort wayne, indiana. rick is a veteran. good morning. caller: good morning. host: go ahead, rick. caller: i just wanted to call and -- we have a local v.a. right here in fort wayne. ajust wanted to give them

thumbs up for the great medical care they have given me. i have been in there two or three times to have different procedures done and everything has been top shelf, way better than i expected it would be. everybody there has a great attitude and it is kind of contagious. v.a.,ebody that uses the i just wanted to express my opinion. host: go ahead and respond, dan. guest: i think that is fantastic. i have been very critical of the department of veterans affairs over the years, but i have to acknowledge that in many cases, probably most cases, the v.a. provides great health care to our veterans. the majority of veterans that we and like theira. health care.

our concern is there is a significant number of veterans who do not receive good health care from the v.a. and are stuck in ava health care facility and do not have full health care choice. that is greatly improved with the v.a. mission act. there are more choices, but there needs to be improvement. we want to ensure that veterans have a choice between a strong v.a. and strong private-sector options. host: what grade would you give the outgoing v.a. secretary? what kind of job you think he has done? guest: you have to divide up his tenure. before this year, i think he was doing a good job. this year, i think his performance has been, frankly, terrible. there is no other way to describe it. , the v.a.ship suspended access, which

restricted access to health care in the middle of a pandemic. it hurt the v.a. and it hurt many community care providers. a customer them of base at a time when many of them were struggling to keep their doors open. addition, this recent inspector general report that confirmed the secretary wilkie had smeared a veteran that had ane some accusations against individual at the washington, d.c. v.a. in terms of sexual assault. his behavior and that incident was unacceptable. we have been supporters, but we have been very disappointed in his performance over the last year. host: let's go back to our phone lines and talk to kim, who is calling from cedar park, texas.

good morning. caller: good morning, jesse. happy new year. i agree with 100% of everything or saying. i want to ask you what you think about this -- i can imagine a health care system with one health care system, one america. one virus, we all need to be in it. i am older now. i have had several surgeries. why can't we have one health care and not freak out and think it is socialism or a national health care system? with the military, many of our big budgets -- you train the youth how to be doctors, nurses and logistics. you all run that. the money we turn goes to our health. one america, one health care system, and everyone used our social security.

it is rationed, but it has to be. the prophet people can have their expensive surgeries. make it one health care, one america, where we can go in and not stress over health care and that will take care of your drug addiction. host: go ahead and respond, dan. guest: i understand what the caller is saying, i understand where she is coming from, but going to the universal single-payer health care system, like what they have in britain with the nhs or a single-payer health care system, i do not think that would be good for the united states. i would use the v.a. as an example as to why. if you look at the v.a. pre-2014, it is a very top-down system. there was not a lot of competition. therefore, the v.a. did not have incentive to improve.

they had a captive customer base, a captive audience the could not really go anywhere else. the v.a. has improved substantially over the last six years because they have introduced more choice, integrated better with the private sector and given veterans the ability to vote with their feet and go to different health care facilities if the v.a. is not serving them well or can answer them them in a timely manner. pre-2014 shows us why we should not move toward more of a single-payer or universal health care system. the best way to fix her health care system is to remove burdensome regulations, to expand competition, to get the government out of the way so we can expand supplies, choice, and ultimately get a better and cheaper health care system for all americans. host: one of our social media followers has a question for you, dan.

this person wants to know, does your organization advocate for or against privatization of the v.a.? guest: we do not support the privatization of the department of veterans affairs. what we support is choice. for choice to work, you have to have a choice in the department of veterans affairs, so you need to have a strong v.a. we want the v.a. to be a strong, good choice, but not the only choice. that is different from privatization, which means the v.a.'s dismantled and sold off to private entities. ed, who is talk to calling from florida. ed is a veteran. ed, good morning. caller: good morning. i am a member of the veterans foreign wars post in florida. we have two full-time service

officers during the trump administration, the service officers have been successful. i have a question for dan -- what is the logic of having a of headan in the form of the veterans administration? i think that, having someone as a veteran heading the v.a., in many people's minds, seems natural. i think that being a nonveteran should not disqualify someone from being head of the v.a. the v.a. is a large, complex organization. it is a health care provider, they run cemeteries, it is designed to be the emergency medical system for the whole

united states in case of a national emergency. like i said earlier, they have done that several times during the pandemic. doesnk being a veteran help you have a better connection to the veteran .ommunity being a nonveteran should not disqualify you from being v.a. secretary. staffperience as chief of equips him in certain ways to make them successful in that role what it does not guarantee he will be successful. he was helping manage the response of the v.a. waitlist scandal. personally, my hope is he has learned from that. we saw the failures of the obama administration and hopefully he will absorb those and take those

to the v.a. he needs to be watched closely by groups like concerned veterans for america and veterans for foreign wars. -- veterans of foreign wars. i want to hear more about what he hears about legislation. we want to give him a chance. ultimately, it is to the benefit of everyone who uses the v.a. that he successful in that role. the: the opening day of 117th congress is tomorrow. keyis concerned veterans' priorities for the next conference? guest: are key priorities are what they have been for the last few congresses. focusing and fixing the v.a., ensuring we have a strong foreign policy that is more restrained, and also that seeks to end our endless wars in

afghanistan, iraq and syria. we want to see no more massive spending bills that added to our national debt, which threatens our future economic prosperity and national security. in regard to the v.a., will be focused on preserving the v.a. mission act, ensuring it is properly implemented. in regard to foreign policy, our focus will be ensuring that congress and the executive the fulle allowing withdrawal of american forces from a chemist and -- from afghanistan, per the agreement between the taliban and the united states. we want to see a repeal of the 2001 and 2002 authorizations of military force. amf was passed after 9/11 and authorized force cannot stand to go after al qaeda and

osama bin laden. it has been since used and abused to allow endless wars to go on. was passed to overthrow saddam hussein, which was a disaster. that authorization has been abused, too. we want to see those repealed so congress can restore its role in matters of war and peace. in regard to the national debt, we do not want to see any massive spending bills. we want to see spending reduction at the department of defense that helps the department become more lean and focused, so it is not adding to our national debt. we would like to see better spending and more efficient spending with the department of veterans affairs so that organization, which is now spending upwards of $250 billion

per year, even though the veterans population is shrinking, so that organization is better serving veterans and the american taxpayer. that is what we will be focused on. we will have a fall legislative agenda and we hope to be meeting virtually with new members of congress and educating them what we do at concerned veterans for america and our policy agenda. host: i want to remind our viewers that you can see live coverage of opening day of the 117th congress right here on c-span, c-span2, live tomorrow at noon eastern. eastern,rrow at noon you can see the opening day of the 117th congress. dan, the military times has looked at the 117th congress and noted the number of veterans. here are some numbers the

military times has posted for the number of veterans in the 117th congress. they counted 91 veterans, 17 in the senate, 74 in the house. sinces the lowest number world war ii. what do you think that says? guest: i think that is mainly a reflection of the shrinking veteran population. oft is primarily a result the passing away of the world war ii, and now korea and vietnam era veteran population. our veteran population grew so large because our military grew significantly during world war ii. since then, we have not fought a war where we needed 16 million men and women in uniform. naturally, our veteran population would shrink. congress being generally representative of the american

public -- not perfectly in terms of professional experience and other forms of diversity -- it does reflect the population and it should not be surprising of the smaller veteran population overall that we would have fewer veterans in congress. think of itself, i veteran status is a good thing for elected representative. i think it connects them more to what our military does and the experiences that are service go through, especially overseas. it should not be a requirement for someone to be elected to office. being a veteran does not necessarily make someone a better representative. for example, look at representative duncan hunter. he was a marine veteran of iraq and afghanistan. involvinged crimes

his personal campaign account. you have that other veterans , a membercunningham of the vietnam war, he was in outright corruption regarding defense contractors. their status clearly did not make them better members. i think veteran status is a positive, but i would prefer a nonveteran who advocates for good policy and consistently takes good votes over a veteran who continually votes the wrong way on important legislation, and who makes our country less prosperous and less secure. host: let's go back to our phone lines and talk to some of the veterans calling in. we will start with matthew in illinois. good morning. caller: what is going on? first off, i would like to say i love this show, love the

intelligence that is implemented in your show. i enjoy watching it. my question as a veteran is, what advancements in the medical field do you think secretary wilkie will bring into the v.a.? with the talk of russia targeting service members and veterans, will we be safe as vets from online fraud? as former special assistant to the president for national security affairs and senior director of the national security council, what experiences will he implement to this situation? host: go ahead and respond, dan. wilkie willtary only be in his role for another 19 days. the better question is how will denis mcdonough handle these

issues? i think the v.a. has been a leader in several fields regarding veteran health care and hopefully that continues under a secretary denis mcdonough. in regarding to the russian targeting of individual service members, i think there are a lot of bad actors, whether they are associated with a particular country or private groups or individuals who target and try to take advantage of veterans. that is unacceptable. the question of what role does the v.a. play in that? i still think that is up for debate. what i don't want to see is the v.a. or government entity given more power in regard to regulating speech and social media. i think that would ultimately be detrimental in the long-term to

having a free and open debate. we need a good marketplace of ideas, and allowing veterans to use social media to connect with each other. i think that is an example of the road to hell is paved with good intentions. a lot of people fighting these issues have their hearts in the right place. i would worry too much about a heavy-handed governmental response to that issue. from let's go to a caller tampa, florida. good morning. caller: good morning. lawrence. host: go ahead. veterani have been a since 1952. operation a major this year. cancer, and they cut

a hole in my heart and put a tube in to extend my heart. my operation was in new york. i have been in tampa for the last six or seven months. they told me to get a checkup. i went to get a checkup at the v.a. in tampa and they said we cannot accept anyone who is not lived here for one year or more. i said i had never heard anything like that in my whole life. when i was overseas in germany and places like that, i did not have to worry about that. tampa for ave in year or more and you cannot accept me to look at me and give me a checkup? i was stunned. i could not believe it. this is a great example of why veterans need

health care choice. why they should have the ability to go and see a provider in the community, the private sector if they can't get health care through the v.a. or it is not convenient for them. or they think it is better for them. this is why health care freedom for veterans is critical. this is a perfect example why we support health care choice for veterans. host: let's talk to a caller from everett, washington. good morning. caller: good morning. my problem has been the same thing. they closed down my veterans affairs office. i have been nine months without care. in last time i tried to get -- host: you are on. keep going. caller: the last time i got in, i had to beg to get in.

it is like a ghost town. i have bills from last year. nobody has a grip on them. i guess they are my responsibility. that is the way it has been going. back in 2014, things started to change. it got better up to the time this pandemic hit. i'm not even sure i believe in this pandemic, as a former wastewater operator, i have not seen anything that convinces me, completely. anyway, i don't want to get into that. the system is broken bad. since been a veteran 1976. i am a cold war soldier. this crazy socialist mess you guys have dug into his crazy. that is all i have to say. host: go ahead and respond. guest: if you are having problems with bills the v.a. was supposed to pay, that it sounds

like might be our challenge, or you are having an issue with the department of veterans affairs, and they are not getting backs you and a timely manner, i encourage you to contract your member of congress's office or your senator's office. they have caseworkers that can help you resolve these issues. it sounds like you might be having challenges that they can help with. i encourage you to reach out to them. this is another example of why veterans need health care choice, why they need the ability to take their benefits into the private sector if they are not getting the care they need through the v.a. or the ultimately feel it is better for them. host: let's talk to anthony, who is calling from west palm beach, florida. anthony is also a veteran. good morning. caller: good morning to you. good morning to your host, as well. my name is anthony. i am a veteran. in the desert

storm war. i was a police officer in washington, d.c. i am very thankful for the veterans hospital in the v.a. department. the washington, d.c. hospital, i went there for years. hospital,alm beach the staff does a great job. v.a., ilike to say, the am disabled, the v.a. has always been there for me. privatizing the v.a. i have dealt with outside doctors. be the concern would compensation pension exams. integrity.rs lack

the cases you put before the v.a., and the active-duty doctors inside the v.a., i am happy. you did a show yesterday about optimism. one of my greatest optimism's is the v.a. in 2021 and the future. thank you, c-span, forgiving all of us a voice. keep up the great work. host: go ahead and respond, dan. guest: i am glad you are having a good experience with the v.a. i know the west palm beach v.a. facility has improved. in regard to the issue for the exams,ation and pension under the obama administration, there was a massive backlog of disability claims. one million when you factor in appeals and other claims. they started to outsource more of the compensation and pension exams to try to reduce the

backlog. as a result, nearly all compensation and pension exams are done in the private sector now. whether or not that will continue remains to be seen. it was a solution to some of the claims backlogs issues. i think those are the solutions you need to look at. it constantly needs to be re-examined. at a future date, it might be better for the veterans and the taxpayer that those services are brought back inside the v.a. it might not be. it is something the constantly needs to be reevaluated. host: we would like to thank dan caldwell, senior advisor for concerned veterans for america, for being with us this morning and talk about his group's priorities for the incoming biden administration. washington journal continues. host: we are back