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leaflets urging young men to resist the draft during world war i. watch on c-span or listen with the free c-span radio app. >> joining us from navy -- we appreciate you being with us. thank you. >> thank you. appreciate having you on the show. >> let's begin with the deadline, a month away, july 1. u.s. troops moving out of afghanistan. from your standpoint, what does that mean for the u.s., the military, and the veterans? >> a lot of things. it is a broad question. i think most of us would agree it is overdue. that it is overdue. 20 years of being there, we have lost a lot of men and women, spent a lot of money and it is clear that there is a limit on what we can do.

we are not the best at nation building on that is what it has become. it is overdue time for the u.s. to withdraw service members. we should still remain engaged as a country, and we certainly owe a debt to those allies that served with us. the afghan translators and interpreters, other staff. without which we truly would have been a complete failure. we owe them, we promised them visas, we promised we would take care of them and we need to make sure we follow through on that quickly. host: that came up yesterday on cnn's state of the union. mike mccall was asked about how we deal with afghan residents who have helped us and what the u.s. needs to do moving forward. [video clip] >> -- the nonprofit group, he says that these afghans and their families should be immediately evacuated to guam.

after they are safe in guam, the u.s. can deal with their visas. do you support that? >> i do think they need to be protected. general millie said we need to keep our promises. we have a moral responsibility and obligation to protect them. who are these people? 18,000 have applied for special immigrant visas because they served with our special forces, with our troops in afghanistan. these interpreters put their lives on the line. our guys could not have done the job without them. the old saying, no man left behind, no one left behind is a fine organization with special operators who have worked with these people. for us to leave them behind only to be slaughtered by the taliban which is looking more like what is going to happen, would be unconscionable. when the state department says it is going to take a year or two to process diseases -- and

remember, there are probably about 50,000 of them -- we can't leave them. as the military is talking about withdrawing in july, they are going to withdraw earlier than anticipated and that is when they are going to be in the host: that is from cnn's "state of the union." to that point, what are your biggest concerns, jeremy butler? guest: they address them pretty well. time is of the essence. this is not a new problem. from the beginning, we have promised those from the beginning that they would be granted visas and are they and their families would be granted visas -- and they and their families would not be in danger. this has been an ongoing problem. we are behind in processing these visas.

rick is now with the fact that the taliban is making advances, it is incredibly urgent now more than ever. it is important that we speed up the process. if it is not guam, evacuating them to some safe location where we can process the visas, go through necessary background checks, things like that. something to db -- something needs to be done. host: our guest is a naval officer. one of your colleagues have this op-ed. he wrote the following quote " military veterans suffer from ptsd and chronic pain at more than twice the national average. one in five iraq and afghanistan veterans will express ptsd or depression. we speak with them every day and hear their stories both in the

face of the enemy when they are serving and against the pain and trauma that haunts them. studies repeatedly show that cannabis can help. recent study from rice university found that 80% of texans who used cannabis do for for chronic pain or to treat ptsd." can you elaborate? guest: absolutely. this is something my organization has been focused on. not just cannabis but alternative therapies. cannabis is one in which many veterans have turned to an found great relief work traditional narcotics have not only failed them but many times made the situation worse. cannabis is something we hear not just from our generation of

veterans, but the american legion had a survey showing 90% of their leadership supported the use of cannabis. it is known it is effective, safe, and an incredible alternative to opioids and traditional medicines we have been trying to use on our veterans. it is something that is frustrating because it is still a federal crime and something the v.a. cannot prescribe. veterans locally in california or in the states that it is legal at the medical level, they are able to use it. we need a fair system so veterans are not getting one message from the v.a. and another from their local provider. host: jeremy butler is the ceo of the iraq and afghanistan veterans of america. he is joining us from new york. he earned his masters from the u.s. naval college.

the number to call is 202-748-8000 for veterans and 202-748-8001 for everyone else. caller: we have to keep america up-to-date with space-age technology. we have russia and china trying to defeat us with new technology. you got to take care of the events. -- take care of the vets. you're spending too much on what equipment and not enough on veterans. why cannot we balance it out?

guest: i missed the previous discussion so i don't know what was addressed the fact is that the president proposed a budget that shows increases for the department, increases for the period of utterance affairs. the money is -- i should not say being allocated because congress has the final say but i think that is happening. when you get into the details, there is a real desire to put investment into the technological side of things. you need people to operate that technology. i think we are seeing investment on the dod side. an investment is definitely being made to address the problems i a v.a. -- iava and

others are trying to address. you cannot allocate money to send warriors to fight and then not to carve them when they get home -- and then not take care of them when they get home. we have major bills in the house and senate being discussed right now. the only pushback coming from congress is that some are too expensive. we consider that to be shameful. if you sent these people to work, you need to pay for their health care when they come home. host: this is a map that gives you a sense of how much is being spent by the u.s. compared to other countries. the u.s. spending $770 billion. china is second. russia is just over six to $1 billion. japan nearly $50 billion. south korea is 35 billion dollars and the u.k. is $60 billion.

william is joining us from alabama, another veteran. what branch did you serve in, larry? caller: the army. i have been calling c-span since 1980 46 was -- since 1984 when i was discharged. that the secretary of -- did not show up on washington journal. i wish and i hope president biden would send this rick perry of v.a. -- would send the secretary of v.a. over here. since we hired the secretary of the v.a., taxpayers are paying the money. why not speak to somebody you hired? i would like to thank, mr.

butler, for coming forward to these veterans and talking with them and letting them know -- not only the disabled veterans and the p.o.w., but your organization is trying to help these veterans. steve, i am glad you are back. i think it was wrong the way they treated you, but that is my opinion. host: thank you for your service. jeremy butler, we will get a response. guest: i love the fact that he is a long time c-span and paying attention to the secretary at the v.a. because that is important. what i can say is that he has been open and transparent, not only with my organization. he called me when he was first

nominated and we have been in touch with him on a regular basis. it is correct with the caller was saying that we needed transparency from the v.a. and we needed frequent dialogue so they understand what veterans are dealing with. i think we are seeing that. the secretary, the president, the administration seems to have an open dialogue with the veteran community. there will always be some disagreement on what priorities will be but i think we are moving in the right direction to increase transparency and to see the secretary traveling around the country to speak to veterans. host: if you're joining us on c-span radio, we are talking with jeremy butler who is a veteran of the navy and we talking about veterans. especially for those who served in iraq and afghanistan. john is joining us in virginia. caller: can you hear me okay? host: yes we can. caller: thank you for working on

memorial day and appreciate your staff. 12 months ago you were talking about memorial day so i'm glad to be back on the subject. in -- i am an iraq campaign veteran. i have been in the military since 1974 and still in the military as a civilian. i spent 50 years with the department of defense. one thing i find very annoying and that is that the american legion and the veterans of foreign wars are not the doing their jobs as far as helping veterans or working on issues. i dealt with these guys. it usually falls on deaf ears. especially with vietnam. the iraq campaign medal -- do

you know that was canceled by the navy in 2019? we need to bring that back. i would like to see your organization lobby and work with our elected leaders to adjust this wrong and have the iraq campaign medal come back. they also canceled the vietnam service medal, too. that is something i noticed. i get exhausted with the american legion and the veterans of foreign wars in regards to taking care of vets. host: john, thank you. we believe that there. thank you for your call and for your service. guest: i don't want to speak for the american legion and vfw, but we work closely with them. there is a coalition of veterans groups that work together across issues to try to amplify everything you're working on. with the vfw and american

legion, memberships that are -- organizations that are membership driven, what they work on is determined by votes from their members. iava, we take a survey through membership but we have more than focus on emerging problems. i will give credit to the legion, vfw, all of these organizations because i think everyone is adapting to a changing environment where there are more veterans and more veterans serving organizations. not just getting involved in washington, d.c. but across the country. the best thing for us is if we work together collaboratively. we are seeing that across the board. i wish i could speak more specifically to your point about the campaign metals. i will look into that. i am a navy guy myself but i did not know about that. i will look into the. host: yesterday, president biden

paying tribute to our soldiers, sailors, and pilots and also today at arlington cemetery. it is always available at c-span.org. next is jasper from memphis, tennessee. caller: good morning. i met veteran of the korean war. we go to the v.a. and they do their research and they turned around and found out your military records were lost. are you working on anything like that for veterans? host: thank you, jasper. mr. butler, your response? caller: -- guest: that is one of

the biggest things refocusing on. there are two pieces of legislation that focus on what you are talking about. the illness is so many illnesses -- that so many veterans came back with, most related to toxic exposure. going back to the first gulf war, a lot of things around depleted uranium and many other exposures to toxic substances that resulted in long-term, chronic conditions that veterans are having to deal with. he pieces of legislation we are getting worse -- we are dealing with would overhaul the system and dictate to the v.a. if you served in any of these countries and you have come down with one of these medical conditions, then the v.a. is responsible for your health care. the fight is how long of a list of medical conditions will be included. that is where i alluded coming

down to costs. we have members of congress that will be pushing back because they want to see that list made as short as possible because the longer the list, the greater the cost. our point is it does not matter how long they list or how great the cost, if you were sickened because of your military service is been your -- then the v.a.'s responsibility is to take care of you. please go to iava.org, we are talking a lot about it. we just put out a big op-ed, myself and others, advocating to the others -- advocating to the v.a. to come together and make this legislation as copperheads of as possible. congress has worked in a piecemeal fashion to address agent orange for veterans, we don't want to go through that again. we want one bipartisan piece of legislation.

as for medical records, that is incredibly frustrating. the best thing to do is to reach out to the v.a.. they can do the research to find it but you can also reach out to iava's own helpline -- phone helpline. you can call or fill out a form and we can help you make sure your medical records are getting tracked down. we can help with anything, that is what we are therefore. we help veterans and their family members deal with issues. host: let me go to honoring -- "it would provide health care benefits to as many as 3.5 million veterans believed to have been exposed to toxic material. under the measure, the v.a. would presume that war veterans were exposed to armpits if they developed respiratory illnesses after deployments in iraq,

afghanistan, and other countries that house u.s. troops." john stewart in washington, d.c. with this last week. [video clip] >> we asked these groups what would fix this problem and they said we need a presumption of the various cancers and respiratory illnesses and immuno deficient doors orders that are occurring in the veterans' population and we need a way around the veterans benefits association because that is the access to care. we have to get in for a different door because we are not able to get. we set that is so clear cut -- they had an incredibly clear eyed vision of what it would take to fix this problem. in the fascinating part was great, let's work on that. they said let's hold on a second

and they started to talk about what they think they could get. it reminded us that congress's reticence and inaction has caused our veterans' community to negotiate against itself. to negotiate against the need they have and they needed their population has against the pursestrings that the v.a. and congress were holding over them. that is why i am finally encouraged. when we see the hard work they are doing and all these congresspeople are doing and the bills coming out today and will come out of the senate, they are finally recognizing that the consequence of war is not another line item in the budget you can ignore. host: that is from activist and comedian jon stewart. you can get more information on iava.org.

let's get back to your phone calls. mark in pennsylvania, good morning. you are on the air with jeremy butler. caller: good morning. i am a from iraq and veteran -- iraq and afghanistan. i am disappointed you are supporting another duct tail policy in iraq. what do you think is going to happen to these young ladies in afghanistan relieve? host: jimmy butler, your response -- jeremy butler, your response? guest: i am with you, it is scary what will happen locally. the problem is you have to look at what is our original mission going into afghanistan. i agree not is -- i agree not enough is being done to safeguard women and so many things we fought for. the flipside is you have to look

at how long we have been fighting there, the large number of troops and money we have spent their and what we have gained. what we are not in the business of is nationbuilding. we have learned that lesson the hard way. there's plenty of room for disagreement on whether or not we should be withdrawing from afghanistan. at the end of the day, if you look at how long we have fought their -- thought there, the amount we have poured in the re, you have to look at that with what we achieved by doubling down on that investment. i understand your feelings of discomfort that we are withdrawing. but in my opinion, it is an overdue decision. host: from canton, new hampshire. james, good morning.

caller: good morning. i am responding to what you did say, mr. butler, about the consequences of withdrawal. i'm a veteran of vietnam and at that time i was trained in the medical unit, where vietnam is -- where vietnamese were sent over here to -- i assume that an awful lot of them were in terrible straits once the enemy had taken over.

i hate to see that occurring again with iraq, afghanistan, or whatever subsequent and -- whatever subsequent endangerment they do have. this is what concerns me. host: thank you, james. jeremy butler? caller: -- guest: i could not quite hear everything but i think what people need to realize is that our engagement in countries like iraq and afghanistan does not begin and end with a military campaign. that is probably the wrong place to focus on. we will remain engaged in those countries, certainly militarily, we will just not be based in those countries. we have to do a lot of our work

through nonmilitary facets. through the u.n., through u.s. peacekeeping missions, through other ways of investing and diplomacy. that is where we will probably make the long-term gains. it is not at the end of the barrel of a gun. we can support the afghan military and police departments, it does not mean we have to have troops on the ground. host: i want to go back to this headline from your website that a recent dod study on the sexual assault in the military. what have you learned from your perspective and how bad is it? guest: it is bad. i am glad you brought this up because this is maybe the second of the two top issues we are dealing with right now. in terms of actually coming very close to making real substantive change. the department of defense has been fighting the sexual assault and sexual harassment problem in

the military for years. we have made little to no progress and that has been proven time and again. we worked with senator gillibrand and other allies to bring about a change in the way the department of defense deals with sexual assault cases in the military. give them to trained prosecutors that understand the intricacies of these types of cases and will remove any sense of commanders -- issues they may have with the accused, with the defendants and things like that. this has gained traction and is now supported by the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff and is widely supported. it is supported by joni ernst, a combat veteran herself. it is called the military injustice improvement act. it has 65 cosponsors in the senate which is more than enough to pass this bill.

senator gillibrand has tried to bring this up for a vote and it has been blocked by senator jack greve. it is really important, they want to give the pentagon more time to do studies on this. we have shown time and again that studies show the same thing. were not going to move the needle on stopping sexual harassment in the military. this bill will do that and it will bring much needed change. host: this is the headline from npr, the bill to combat sexual assault in the military has votes to pass. the senate is in recess but will be back next week. ed is joining us from jacksonville, florida. thank you for your service. caller: yes, i am a veteran of vietnam, afghanistan, and iraq. i'm asking your guest if you would support a bill that will

allow congressman to sit in the v.a. facility to talk to veterans. it would allow a congressman to utilize the v.a. facility to meet with veterans. host: jimmy butler? -- jeremy butler? are you familiar? guest: i am familiar. the number of issues we are contending with our vast and overwhelming. this is one of them. it makes sense that members of congress should be able to use v.a. facilities when it is not taking away space needed for health care and when there is any opportunity for members of congress to meet with their constituents, with veterans, with their family members to hear about the issues those families have in getting access to the v.a.. this stemmed from something that

happened roughly one year or longer than that now. congress was kicked out of doing just this, using some additional, unused office space within a v.a. to meet with constituents. these numbers are represented. represent these veterans -- they represent these veterans in their district. they should have an easy way to meet with these veterans to find ways to increase support to veterans. there is a lot of unused space. politics played a role in kicking out this member of congress and resulting in legislation to say this is a no-brainer and let's give members of congress the ability to use unused office space within v.a. facilities to meet with their constituents. host: we begin our conversation with the u.s. pullout of afghanistan, about 2500 troops had been there the spring. the official pullout today is this -- is july 1.

we are 25% in not pullout. one of those photographs of troops and incremental leaving that country. from smyrna, tennessee. caller: i was wondering if your organization is associated with the veterans for peace? have you heard of veterans for peace? guest: i don't think i have heard of that one but i will look into them. if we are and we missed it, i apologize. host: thank you for the call. what do you view your is priority and your number one challenge? guest: right now it is the toxic exposure and the sexual assault in the military. we are at the precipice were congress can make sweeping, huge, impactful change for so many veterans and military for the long-term.

these two pieces of legislation, if we can get the military and just missed improvement and prevention act and whatever of the two bills, one in the house and one in the senate, addressing toxic exposures -- if we can get those to a satisfactory point, we can get those passed this year. we are at a tipping point where massive change can happen and congress needs to hear from citizens across the country to say this needs to happen. please go to iava.org to tell congress we need to support this legislation. >> c-span's washington journal.

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