♪ host: good morning. it is november 11, veterans day

in america. we will spend the first and last hour of today's washington journal speaking to veterans and their families. veterans and families dial-in at (202) 748-8000. all others dial in at (202) 748-8001. you can also text us with your first name, city and state at (202) 748-8003. on your screen is the tomb of the unknown soldier at arlington national cemetery. later today the vice president and first lady will be attending the annual wreath-laying ceremony at 11:00 a.m. eastern time. we will have coverage of that. president biden has traveled to egypt for the united nations climate change conference. veterans and families, all others welcome to dial in. what is the most important issue for veterans? before we get to that, an update

on the midterm election and where the balance of power stands. this morning, look at the u.s. house. democrats have 192 seats. republicans have 211. there are a number of how seats in the west that have yet to be called. that number will change. the balance of power in the senate has come down to three races. arizona, nevada and georgia. we will continue to update you on election day throughout the program and throughout the weekend and into next week if it takes that long. looks like it might. they could come town to the state of georgia, which is in a runoff in the election taking place on december 6. there has been a race called in oregon. the associated press headline. tina kotek wins the governor's race.

the republicans thought they may have had a chance for the governor's seat but he goes to democrat tina kotek. for the conversation with veterans and their families this morning we want to start with leo shane from the military times to talk about military veterans and the midterm election results. how many veterans were running the cycle? guest: almost 200 veterans, the largest field we have seen since 2012. it shows some of these younger veterans are starting to come into politics, work their way up through state races and local races and put an impact on the national scene. guest: what issues were they running on? guest: it's funny. this is a big part of their campaigns and identity but veterans don't usually run on that many veterans issues or military issues. it's another line in the resume.

quite a few campaigns talked about v.a. care and access. the pact act, the toxic exposure legislation was a key point in a lot of materials. for the most part they are running on the economy and public safety, the same issues we are seeing other candidates run on. it's a matter of getting to tell people i also served. that's an experience line that shows unqualified to be in office. host: how many one their seats? -- won their seats? guest: we are looking at 94 veterans at the start of next year. that would be the biggest we have seen since 2017. the first time we saw a substantial increase since 2017 as well. a good sign some messages are resonating. this younger generation of veterans, the war veterans are

starting to come into their own and take a position in congress with their issues and experience. host: is that 94 total including incumbents or just new members who are veterans? guest: that is 94 total. incumbents andy veterans and -- and veterans and sitting members who did not have races this year. it is not a huge number. it is a good portion of what congress is, but it was as high as 200 in the mid-90's. about 400 in the 1970's. that's a reflection of the demographics of veterans in our society for the volunteer military in the 1970's. almost 75% of congress was a veteran. the military. as we shifted away from that, as a smaller portion of america has served and lived the military life we have seen the numbers slowly drift down.

guest: you see more women elected since those years, etc. guest: this will be the larger class of women's veterans we've had in congress. only seven, but it's been a steady uptick in recent years. we have five incumbents. three just one reelection. -- won reelection. two new female veterans are coming in. those are more viewpoints we have not seen in the past. we have been male veterans with military expense. now women are moving into some of those jobs that used to be closed. issues like sexual harassment, sexual assault. talking about what it's like to be a woman in the military and how to recruit and retain those individuals. host: how many of those running and won are democrats versus republicans? guest: pretty tilted towards the

republican side attitude one ratio. -- at a two to one ratio. there are more republican veterans than democrats. i did not get the count last night but somewhere around 25 or 26 are democrats and the rest of republicans. one of the selling points for veterans on the campaign trail and among the advocates pushing for veterans and congress is the party labels should not matter as much. they have worked on a mission. they can sort of put their heads down and get the work done. we have seen that anecdotally but we have seen some of the polarization of congress play in there too. quite a few republicans ran this year where folks who questioned the election results of 2020. 55% of the veterans he ran said

they voted against certification of the election or had public statement on the campaign trail questioning biden's legitimacy. it does not isolate you from those political whims but the hope is there is common ground on military issues, veterans issues and the unity of american issues. they can work together when they get to congress to find some sort of joint answer or common ground. guest: what are pressing issues congress needs to deal with when they come back to finish out this term and the new congress, the 118th congress? guest: the defense budget, the veterans budget in the rest of the federal budget. that will be a fun fight if there will be a changeover in power of the house and senate. will republican control want to make any decisions now before they have the control of the

agenda next year? the big veterans issue is the pact act. this is $300 billion in spending. it could impact one in five veterans in america. the implementation starts in january. we have seen smaller portions, some screening about exposure injuries, health care issues. we will see tens of thousands of new disability claims hit the v.a. starting in january. they will need to start working through that. oversight of that, their real scrutiny if the v.a. is executing the new authority right, if they're getting claims done in a timely manner, that will be the focus of lawmakers when they get back. host: leo shane follows these issues for the military times. militarytimes.com. you can follow on twitter.

thank you as always. guest: thank you. host: let's get to our conversation with all of you. veterans and families, we want to hear from you as we mark veterans day 2022. where the issues you are concerned about for all -- concerned about? for all others, what veterans issues are important? derek from seattle, a veteran. where did you serve? caller: in the first gulf war. i was driving one of those trucks that transported people with ied's. i am here now. i am disgusted with republicans and a lot of people in the military. they join up, they owe. these election deniers, they are not part of the constitution. a lot of veterans participated in the insurrection on january 6. those are traitors.

in the old days they would have been put in front of a firing squad and shot. trump, what he said about john mccain and veterans. these republicans now, look at many veterans and active-duty were involved -- caffe of people were involved in overthrowing our government. i am sick of them. they need to be shot. host: let's not condone violence. john, king george, virginia. when did you serve? caller: friday the fourth of october, 1974, omaha, nebraska. i was in the military for 35 years. i was hoping i could talk to leo shane. host: what questions do you have? caller: i hope he's watching. military times. what type of subjects do they put in their various military newspapers?

i did talk to him last year during november. my mom died last year from coronavirus. the other question i would as is -- has terminated the iraq campaign medal. i got the first serving in iraq 15 years ago. there are other medals they terminated. they ended the vietnam service medal. we have a lot of vietnam vets. that is one of the subjects i would have liked to talked with leo shane about. i think they moved to arlington, virginia from springfield. hopefully i can talk to him and see of these issues can be put in their newspaper. host: thanks. ed, jacksonville, florida. thank you for calling in. when did you serve?

caller: vietnam for two and half years. i served in afghanistan and served in iraq. i got all my t-shirts. host: how many years did you serve in the military? caller: a total of 40. once i got out of vietnam i went into the national guard full-time. most my deployments with the national guard. the first 30 years was with the active-duty component. addressing the issues, the issues with the guard. there's a difference between the active component and the tricare in the guard. the guard takes the short end of the stick. their prices are different for the cost benefits and stuff like that. that is one of the issues i would like to see addressed. host: in what way?

explain to folks what tricare is if you can. guest: it is a health care program taking care of veterans. when the military service member leaves, he's entitled to tricare. it is like medicare part d or whatever. what happens to guardsmen, if they are carrying the tricare when they leave, their premium got tripled. the active-duty component does not do that. host: ok. a veteran injectable, florida. for veterans and families, listen to the v.a. secretary. he was at a recent event in washington and discussed efforts to improve trust in the veterans affairs department. listen to what he said. [video] >> the bottom line is that we are trending positively on

trust. what is trust -- what does trust incorporate? i want to remind you. timeliness. outcomes, effectiveness. third, emotion. meaning do you feel respected when you come in? i feel quite good. you hear that little minnesota there. aggregate. my kids are laughing at me. in the aggregate above 91% for outpatient scores. that's pretty well. the particulars, we have work to do. for example, the younger you are, the less you are to trust us. the more diverse you are, the less you are to trust us.

the more female you are, the less you are to trust us. that signal tells us what we have to get better. host: veterans affairs secretary dennis mcdonough in washington. the tomb of the unknown soldier in washington, d.c. that is what you are looking at. later this morning the vice president, the second cinnamon -- settlement and the first lady will participate in the annual wreath-laying ceremony. we will have coverage at 11:00 a.m. eastern time right here on c-span, on our video app c-span now, or demand at c-span.org. we are spending today's washington journal talking with veterans and their families and all others about the issues that are important to our nation's military and veterans. mary from st. petersburg,

florida. you are a family member. go ahead. good morning. caller: good morning. i wanted to comment. i was very upset about the first caller who called in. i watch quite often just to see what people are thinking. i used to be a long time democrat. my husband was a marine. he passed away in 1992. i i wanted -- i wanted to say i'm astounded at the hypocrisy of the democrat leadership. they seem to forget they are constantly calling names and accusing republicans -- host: before we go down this hole, as a military family, why is it you relate more to republicans now the democrats?

caller: it is the only party that is making common sense. i just like to see common sense and problem-solving. when trump was running in the primaries i did not vote for him. i hated him. i could not stand to watch his program "the apprentice." he has a bad personality but he did the best job of running the country i've ever seen, and i have been watching president. i was very young but my parents -- i think they were for adlai stevenson and eisenhower won. now we like ike because he is our president. this is not trump, not the first election that divided us. host: we want to stick to veterans issues this morning. ken in the story it, oregon --

the story, oregon -- austoria, oregon. caller: i went back over to vietnam in 1968 to 1969. i served six years from 1965 to 1971. i wanted to say something about john kerry. now, i'm a proud vietnam veteran. i am glad i got to serve two years over there. i would have stayed longer but i got into a helicopter crash. on the other hand, john kerry was a swiftboat commander. he got into a little skirmish with the vc.

he pulled all of his men back. loaded them up on this swiftboat and hightailed it like the coward that he is. then when he got discharged he went to march on washington, d.c. with vietnam veterans against the war. threw his medals over the fence at the white house. i have no respect for that traitor. other than that, i wish the veterans -- my son served in the gulf war. i'm 75 years old. he served in the gulf war it is doing quite well. so did my son-in-law. they were both over there in 1991-1992 era. i want to wish the veterans a gracious veterans day.

it is not a day we like to remember, especially the war. we came home with it. most of us still have it. [laughter] that is all i have to say. god bless you. host: steve in oregon, also a veteran. caller: yeah. another vietnam vet from oregon. i was a marine rifleman over there. i wish the last guy -- you cannot buy a gun before you have live fire training. evidently the firefights with the viet cong did not count there. i don't know. don't what ptsd thinking about the far lefties have done here in oregon. not exactly a happy veterans day

with that. host: veterans day brings back memories you try to forget? caller: i got knocked out and lost some hearing over there. i did not quite get what you said. host: i was saying veterans day brings about memories you would rather forget, it sounds like. caller: well, i don't know. i am 75. this has been my life and i don't know what parts to start taking out. anyway, yeah, a salute to the far lefties of oregon. you really put a slap in the face of veterans. host: debbie in milford, new hampshire. what are your concerns about veterans issues? caller: i wanted to take the

time to thank every single veteran for their service. keeping us safe and realizing we have really any privileges. sometimes we get caught up in politics and division. we should be thankful and grateful we live in an amazing nation. host: as he heard from leo shane earlier, there is work to do for congress on veterans issues. louisiana republican senator bill cassidy recently discussed a bill he says he would improve -- a bill that would improve have veterans affairs tracks those leaving the military to make sure they are taking advantage of their full benefit. listen to the senator. [video]

>> imagine you are a 24-year-old person getting out of the military. you are excited. they give you heaps of paper. you can have all these benefits. turns out they don't really pay attention to it. i had a law -- a bill signed into law that would ask the v.a. to call a veteran three times in his first year of separation. call them up. listen, do you know you have educational benefits? do you know you have job training benefits? how is your mental health? most suicides from veterans happened in the first six months after they leave the service. they don't know where they are going. they lose the camaraderie. depression. then it goes down. with this, how is your mental health? not so good. if we can interrupt the cycle of a person excited and then

falling off, catch them, bring them up, get the mental health services, we can stop that bad cycle. host: this morning we are bringing you live shots of arlington cemetery, the tomb of the unknown. this is where the president typically honors the nation's veterans on this day. it will be the first lady and the vice president kamala harris and the second gentleman taking part in the ceremony. the president is in egypt for the united nations climate change conference. at 11:00 a.m. eastern time is when you will see the wreath-laying ceremony take place. you can watch it here on c-span on our mobile app, or on-demand at c-span.org. we are talking with veterans this morning and their families about the issues important to them.

michael in roanoke, virginia. when did you serve? caller: 1977 to 1997. host: what did you do? caller: i was an aircraft mechanic. host: where did you spend most of your service? caller: all over. desert storm, iraqi freedom campaign, japan, germany, italy. host: on this veterans day what are your concerns or most important issues you would like congress to address? caller: i only have one issue with the v.a. what happened to me was i went to the v.a. because i needed to talk about some things i saw in combat. i went. to make a long story short, i

voluntarily went to the other side of the v.a. and the caffe over the weekend. this was nine years ago. did not think anything of it. i want to buy a gun. there's a form we have to fill out about having issues. they told me i have been involuntarily admitted to an institution as far as mental health and denied my right to buy a gun after 20 years of service. i just want to talk about -- i voluntarily went. for any veterans out there who fall into this category of being to a v.a. facility and went over to the other side to talk about your issues, dealing with ptsd or whatever your issues were, and you find out later you cannot buy a gun and possess a

gun in certain states. that was a complete shock to me. i'm fighting tooth and nail to get my rights back. the l.a. thing -- the only thing i did was take my dad's gun and now i can get that back. host: is it resolved yet? caller: no, ma'am. i have to go to court. whatever states you are in, you can get thrown under this umbrella that you are somehow a threat to own a weapon. host: jasper from memphis, tennessee. when did you serve? caller: 1971 to 1993. 22-year vet. i was a logistics coordinator

with combat support operations. i come from memphis, tennessee at 17 years old. my big thing to all the veterans, when you join the military, you don't join no political group. you join to defend this country. i'm tired about these old ve ts talking about right-wing and left-wing. defend whoever is in charge of you. stop putting vets down by saying the right wing and left-wing. you are the kind of soldier that did nothing while the rest of us were getting shot and beat up. one more thing. household vietnam veterans come home from vietnam. we go to the v.a. for help. we can't get help. the v.a. has let us down. they lost our medical records and we are being denied at every turn. someone needs to help us. that is with the veterans need

to fight about. they take care of my family. i appreciate that. as far as individuals trying to get proper benefits for us old vietnam veterans, they deny us every time because they lost our records. we stood and fought for this country. now we have the bureaucracy telling us that you don't qualify for this or that. veterans, hang in there. we will have a better day. thank you. host: christina from upper sandusky, ohio. you have a family member that served? caller: yes. thank you very much. almost all my family were in the service. i want to thank them all for standing up for the u.s. like the man just said, they are veterans and they should be treated like kings because they did so much for us. we would not be here without

them, the veterans administration needs to step up and pay for all the things and give them the help that they need. god is watching over all of us. he knows what they went through and what they did for us. we are supposed to stand up for the u.s. when other people like the veterans -- they always say they don't have money for this and that. there are men that need different things from the doctors and the hospitals. they can't get it. please try to do something. someone do something for them. god bless. thank the veterans. in jesus name, amen. host: dave in florida with the text. i am a veteran and they worry about social security and medicare. it is supposed to help all americans but i do not trust the

politicians that want to cut those programs. please keep your hands off these programs. you have the number one issue for me for this veteran, terry from pennsylvania, full government support of v.a. health care. you see many veterans who have given a great deal in service to our country. they deserve respect. best wishes. russ in california. the v.a. needs to appoint a veteran to head of this department. the current leader is not a vet. we need military members who know the ins and outs of problems facing us. for russ and misted, leo shane told us in the new congress that will begin in january there will be a little over 90 veterans, incumbents and new members of congress who are veterans themselves. lucy from kensington, maryland. good morning to you, lucy.

caller: good morning. i wanted to say to all veterans thank you for serving and god bless you. god bless you all. they are entitled to whatever they need. god bless you and thank you. host: james, tell us about your service. caller: how are you doing? host: can you tell us about your service? caller: hi served in the army. -- i served in the army from 1970 to 1976. two years -- a year in korea and three years in the army reserve and a year in the national guard in kentucky. host: what issues are important to you as a veteran? caller: i guess the main ones are the burn pits. i know some marines, veteran

marines who are concerned about it. also the vietnam problem was -- i'm having trouble thinking. host: where you referring to an earlier caller? caller: yeah. host: did it come back to you? caller: it was agent orange. the agent orange problem. i am also a left-wing person. i am just as patriotic as a conservative. host: larry from columbia, tennessee. caller: hi.

host: good morning to you. caller: i served in the united states army from may of 1967 to june of 1970. i spent 1968 and 1969 in the republic of vietnam. there's a lot of veterans that got really messed up with ptsd and stuff. i am 100% disabled from post-traumatic stress disorder. but i think the v.a. is doing a good job of taking care of us. there's a lot of benefits the veterans don't know they have. you have to just keep digging in and make sure you get all of your veterans benefits.

this is for all veterans. host: how did you do it? how were you able to determine what you deserved? caller: well, i called my local v.a. i found out about transportation to and from the v.a. appointments we have. i did not know they provided the kind of service. my social worker told me she did not know anything about it. i had to go above her head. now i am getting my transportation to and from my v.a. appointments. it is wonderful, all the benefits we have. if you don't know about it, you can't get it. they will not tell you the

benefits are there. you just have to find out for yourself. host: steven from dallas, texas. good morning to you. thank you for calling in. caller: good morning. really appreciate you all taking calls from veterans. there are so many issues i could go into. i can tell you that the dallas medical center is probably one of the best ones i have ever used. i really want to call behind that old vietnam vet. i was not going to call within it hurt his call. i was moved to call. the point he made. as soldiers, sailors, airmen, whatever we did to serve, we had no choice whether it was donald trump, mickey mouse in the white house. i'm a little nervous. host: you are doing great. go ahead. caller: we had to serve. we had a mission. that mission had to be carried

out. i lost friends. it was 1983 to 1986. host: are you still there? david, are you still there in dallas, texas? we will go to joe from green valley, arizona. caller: good morning to you. i was in the service from 1964 to 1968. i was in a part of the army that was an offshoot of the old oss from world war ii. we were kind of a secret bunch of people that worked in a different world. host: where were you? caller: i spent a year in

turkey. the rest of the time i was assigned to the national security agency. host: what kind of work were you doing? caller: the easy way to say it was the beginning of the electronics spy world. we did things differently. i carly, volunteer at the twosome veterans -- tucson veterans administration hospital. i worked in the pharmacy doing things. unfortunately, i came out of the service with not much of anything. i was not eligible for anything from the v.a. but the standards. yet i have got a hearing aid. other than that i get pretty much nothing.

i have no regrets of getting nothing as i can afford the other thing. i did not lose or gain anything will in the army except a little education. host: dennis from clinton, alabama. which family member served in the military? caller: thank you so much for taking my call. host: is this dennis? hold on one second. i think i pushed the wrong button. is this dennis in alabama? let me try that. dennis in alabama, are you there ? caller: yes. happy veterans day. we all our lives to the veterans. i know quite a few. my family members. they are not getting the service

that they were promised. i am really concerned about the enlistments that have fallen so low. i'm very concerned about why that is. it is because they don't want to fight or trust under this government right now, because of how everything they do turns tell you know what. they are teaching -- training our serviceman on woke. they cannot use certain words anymore. they are more interested into going woke. they are not -- we don't have

the men and women we need. the problem is who is in charge right now with our government. if we had a strong country and we were together and love one another, loved our country, it looks like half the people don't of the country. it is not the right time. i would not encourage my children to go and join the service at this point. that is a terrible choice. i'm so sorry that is the way it is. host: dennis with his thoughts from alabama. clear talking to veterans and their families. all others about the issues for veterans in our country as we mark veterans day 2022. in other news this morning, easing inflation fuels a stock surge yesterday.

apple in particular seeing their gains. some posting the biggest gains since 2020. also inside the wall street journal there's a headline. the fed is on a path to raise rates half a point despite the easing inflation. jerome powell is not the only monetary official. others across the world are saying in unison that raising interest rates has to continue in order to get a grip on inflation. president biden is in egypt for the united nations climate change conference. the new york times has this headline. biden will face a to many reparations. poor countries are saying -- as you can see on this t-shirt -- make big polluters pay.

the big polluters being the developed nations paying developing nations for pollution. mr. biden is the only leader of a major country to attend the climate talks. xi jinping of china, president vladimir putin and india's president have all stayed away. mr. biden was hoping to connect with president xi next week in indonesia. climate talks have been largely frozen since august. there have been informal meetings at the un climate summit between john kerry, president biden's climate envoy and his chinese counterpart them is often the ground for talks between their bosses in indonesia next week, as the new york times points out. there is news this morning.

student loan cancellation plans locked by a judge. a federal judge in texas rejected president biden's executive action to cancel hundreds of billions of dollars of student debt, further clouding the situation for millions of borrowers who applied to a program already on hold because of legal obstacles. that is developing this morning. i want to share this piece written by mitt romney, republican senator from utah. it's in the wall street journal. republicans reach a fork in the road. he said we can govern in the people's interest or make a lot of pointless noise. i hope we choose wisely. he says excessive spending not only adds to the national debt, it is highly stimulative and inflationary. he knows inflation was one of the main issues on voters mind this week. the fed has its foot on the brakes while the administration and congress are flooring the

gas pedal. if congress wants to face inflation, both parties need to work together to find solutions to the entitlement crisis. it isn't rocket science. changes to revenues, benefits and eligibility is necessary with the promise that no program will be limited and current and near retirees will not be affected. that is mitt romney writing in today's wall street journal. you can find that if you go to wsj.com. president biden yesterday, along with the vice president took a trip to howard theater in washington, d.c. to talk with workers at the democratic national committee and thank them for their work in the midterm election cycle. here is what he had to say about his desire to work on bipartisan issues and his determination to oppose republicans if they

pursue certain policies. [video] >> the american people sent a message they want us to work together. i have always done that and i got criticized for it. i ran to build this economy from the middle out in the bottom up and to unite the country. regardless of what the vinyl -- final tally showed. the american people made it clear they expect republicans to work with me as well. [cheers] folks, i will always go for any good ideas to move the country forward. i have made it clear that if republicans try to repeal the power we just gave to reduce prescription drug costs, i will veto that. [cheers] if republicans try to walk away to deal with the climate crisis, i will not let that happen. if republicans try to cut social security and medicare, i will not let that happen.

if they try to cut taxes for the super wealthy like they did in the lasted administration, i will not let that happen either. look, as we look at tax cuts, we should be looking at taxes for the middle class and working people. i will keep the commitment we made that no one making less than $400,000 a year will see a penny of their taxes go up as long as we are in power. folks, i love the republicans talking about big spending democrats. we will keep working to keep the federal deficit love. we cut the deficit in two years by $1 trillion -- $1.7 trillion. more than all of american history. i don't want to hear republicans calling democrats big spenders. they are the ones that blew it up over four years. one more thing. if republicans pass -- i don't

think they can do it now -- the national ban on abortion, i will veto it. it is simple. we need to codify roe v. wade as the law of the land. host: president biden talking to workers at the democratic national committee. you heard him reference if republicans do x, he will do y, we don't know who controls the house of the senate yet for the 118th congress. republicans my house are inching towards a majority. they have 211 races called in their favor. 192 to democrats. there are a number of races out west that have yet to be called. in the senate, you can see the balance of power right now. democrats have 48 and republicans have 49. three races will determine which party gets to 50 or 51.

that is in arizona, georgia and nevada. it is veterans day. we are marking the occasion, talking to veterans and their families this morning about the issues important to you. at 11:00 a.m. eastern time at the tomb of the unknown soldier on your screen, the annual wreathlaying will take place. in the absence of the president who is in egypt, the first lady jill biden will participate along with the vice president, the harris --kamala harris and the second gentleman. back to your calls. william from clarksburg, west virginia. thank you for holding while he got a little news. when did you serve? caller: 1968 and 1969. i served my country.

but i served the flag. i did not serve the people. i served the flag of the united states of america. we saluted it no matter what. we did not serve the people. there was no trump. they told us to look for the flag. i am proud of it. thank you. host: cilla in geneva, new york. caller: good morning. host: now we hear you. when did you serve? caller: i served from 1975 to 1978, then i went regular army national guard from 1981 to 1983. host: what did you do? caller: supply. host: where you get the u.s. or overseas?

caller: i never went overseas but i'm a vietnam era vet. supplies. host: explain your duties. caller: to make sure that they were well fed and well equipped. host: for your service what sort of benefits do you have today? caller: well, right now i get disability because of ptsd and sexual trauma. not too many female veterans are calling in. the trauma happened in 1978. i was not told -- i did not hear the word ptsd until 2016.

i went for 40 years with a disability that no one told me i had. host: you were just able to get the benefits because of that just in the last six years? caller: yes. i have no qualms with the v.a. but the mental health and behavioral health needs work. i was diagnosed in 2011 but was not told until 2016 by someone outside of the v.a. so, you know, i don't have any qualms against the v.a. i get good health care. i get good medical. it is a blessing because if i had to pay out-of-pocket with

medicare and all that, it would be disruptive. but the mental health and the behavioral health needs to step up. host: kenneth from indianapolis. caller: how are you doing? host: when did you serve and which branch? caller: the marine corps. i served in 1980 to 1984. host: where were you stationed? caller: i started off in california, camp pendleton. then i went overseas to japan, korea and the philippines. stuff like that. host: how would you describe your service and experience? caller: i enjoyed my experience in the service. i enjoyed the service. i enjoyed the marine corps and everything.

the issue i have now with the veteran administration is that when i came back to serve out my last year at camp lejeune, i had prostate cancer at an early age where i should not have had it stop nobody in my family had that and i found out it was the water. it was contaminated at camp lejeune. they came up with some presumptive things that the camp lejeune water calls -- caused an prostate cancer was none on the list. most of the guys i know had prostate cancer at an early age. i think the v.a. is not owning up to that situation. host: what have you done about it? can you file a lawsuit? what actions are you taking?

caller: my first action and i nearly applied for and was turned down. eventually i had to join this lawsuit thing that they got out now for camp lejeune deals. host: how was i going? i have heard the commercials. caller: i have not heard anything for the veterans or whatever. host: have you had to pay any money towards this effort? caller: no. most of the lawyers that you hire, you don't pay anything until you win something. host: what are they promising you? caller: we are not being promised anything. it is ridiculous. i think of all the money i spent

at a young age. if i did not have a good job when i came out of the service or whatever to treat that prostate cancer or whatever, i probably would be dead. i was in stage seven when i was diagnosed. i was 38. they had to take it at that point. host: what were your bills like? how much? caller: thousands of dollars. it took me five years to pay it. host: are you cancer-free? caller: no, it is still there. it came back into remission not too long ago. it is still there. i just wanted to say happy veterans day to all the veterans out there.

hoo-ra to the marine corps veterans. host: best of luck to you. mike in chesapeake, virginia. a family member served in the military? caller: i did not serve in the military but my father did, my stepfather, my son-in-law served in the marine corps until he got injured. i guess i am from a military family. i grew up a needy brat. i want to say thanks to all the veterans out there that served. i loved growing up going to the navy base and the air station. it was so cool. host: chesapeake, virginia is kind of a military area? caller: the whole area is military. i grew up in the virginia beach area. i grew up as a navy brat.

it was cool. i had a real good family. my dad went to vietnam. when he came back my parents got a divorce. i had a good friend of the family. lieutenant commander schaefer. aunt patty and uncle dave stepped in and took care of my family because we were lost because my parents got a divorce and stuff. they were navy and wonderful people. they took care of me and my sister, helped us out. then my stepfather, he worked on helicopters in the navy. he is a great man. all these military people i have known, they are such great people. now that i am a parent, my father has passed away but i look back on what my dad -- the sacrifice. my mom told me she had the borough money to help pay the house payments.

my mom is japanese. my dad's pay was not enough. he was deployed. she could only do so much. kudos to the navy wives. think about that. the navy wives and everything. rest in peace, dad. he served in vietnam twice. i am just proud of him. all these veterans. i'm sorry i could not have joined. i have a bad eye so i could not get in. i was sad about that. i am just proud of him. every vet i have met, they think different. they have a can-do attitude. they just have that good attitude. they seem that whatever happens

they are ready, they can do it. i wish i had a 10th of that. host: thank you for calling in. we will return to this conversation in the last hour of the washington journal from 9:00 to 10:00 a.m. eastern time. coming up, switching to politics. hans von spakovsky will be here along with sean morales-doyle of brennan center for justice to discuss the midterm elections and how they were conducted and the issues voters encountered in certain states. we will get to that in just a minute.

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landslide election. exploring the american story. watch american history tv saturday on c-span2. find the full schedule or watch online anytime at c-span.org/ history. >> washington journal continues. host: we are talking about election integrity. joining us for the conversation this morning is hans von spakovsky, initiative manager with the heritage foundation. he works on election law reform. he was a gop member of the presidential advisory commission on election integrity appointed by president trump. also joining us this morning for new york, sean morales-doyle, the voting rights program director with the brennan center

for justice. thank you for being here. let me begin with this new york times headline. sean morales-doyle, let me go to you first. do you agree with the headline? guest: i think i do agree with the headline. there were some folks running on -- in some of the states this year that denied the outcome of the last presidential election. there was a lot of concern they might deny the outcome of their own elections. so far we have not seen a lot of that. some of them lost and some of them won. largely election administration this year went pretty well. there were some pickups and

things that -- hickups and things that could have been done better. on election day this year things were administered pretty smoothly. it does not seem like a lot of the lies we heard from the last election have taken hold this year. host: hans von spakovsky, would you agree with that headline? guest: what i would say is that many states improved their election procedures since the 2020 election. that was a wake-up call for a lot of states, places like florida, georgia, texas and many other states passed good improvements to their laws. we saw the effects of that in this election. that was a good thing. i think confidence was higher. we went to maintain public confidence in the election process. i think many of those reforms

helped maintain that kind of confidence in the election. host: oversaw -- what were some that you think helped? guest: they extended the voter id laws that took place for a number of years for no problems to absentee ballots. that's important. so many more people today are voting through the mail, through the absentee balloting process. that was a good improvement. in georgia, with those reforms, we have seen record turnout. some of the last date of the secretary of state release before the election shows early voting and absentee voting was approaching presidential election year levels. that is unprecedented for congressional elections. host: sean morales-doyle, do you agree these are improvements? guest: no, i don't. for instance, while i agree it went smoothly, i don't think the

reforms are responsible for it. putting additional hurdles in front of a voter, like requiring them them to put id numbers on a mail-in ballot does not make things run smoother. on the contrary, that rule in texas, in march there were tens of thousands of ballots rejected because of that rule. they were disproportionately the ballots of nonwhite voters. one out of every five asian very can voters in texas not making things smoother. that's disenfranchising. if it turns out my social security number is in my registration record, or when i

applied i didn't have either of those things in my voter registration record my application will get rejected. i don't think that does anything for election integrity. what it does is disenfranchise voters. while i agree turnout was quite high, we didn't quite hit 2018 levels but we were up there. turnout does not tell the whole story with what we know from georgia specifically is that while turnout has been going up the racial turnout gap is actually growing. i think we've scratched a little bit below the surface of that turnout.

host: your response? guest: a lot of that is not true. georgia has had an -- had a voter id law since 2008 in these claims were made that this would keep black residents of the state from voting. the state has seen record registration numbers and record turnout numbers from black voters since that id law went into place. it is clear the american people don't agree with that sentiment. the polling shows that an overwhelming majority of americans believe in id requirement is common sense. the majority of democrats and republicans and african-americans, whites, doesn't matter, this is one of the few issues in a sharply divided nation that folks actually agree on, no matter what their political

affiliation, race or ethnic background. host: i want to encourage voters in georgia because your state and the voter id laws, encourage those voters, black and white residents, call in and tell us what it was like for you. if you had to show that >> i want to go back to you. he said in your first remarks. there were some underlying issues that needed to be addressed. what were they? guest: i want to respond to that last one. the rule i was talking about was the rule in texas. i am not saying that every voter id rule has the effects i'm talking about. i understand people believe anything's about the requirement.

there are different forms of the voter id rule. there is a strict form, a lesser form. does that work well and full set don't. he wanted texas clearly doesn't. because there are thousands of people's ballots that were rejected. the underlying issue are the rules put in place that will do anything to help the integrity of the election that do burden people's's right to vote. since the last election in 2020 we had 33 new laws in 20 states with restricted access to voting in place. that law in texas that has the id with the new requirement was one of many new restrictions. we have 33 of those laws in 20 states in effect before the 2022 election and i don't agree that

those gave people more confidence in our elections. i think they actually undermined. the lawmakers passing the laws are telling voters they have something to be worried about. that there is a problem with fraud or our election integrity. that is sending voters a message. they are being passed by the people that denied the outcomes of the last election. the places resolve that challenge the outcome. -- laces that challenge the outcome. fixing something that wasn't broken in the first place. i think that is undermining the public in the election. democracy does not work if people do not believe it. we do need to have public really in our elections. i think that passing

restrictions into law that make it harder for people to vote and that generally have of disproportionate effect on voters of color does not help the confidence, it harms it. host: before we get to calls, can you talk about this election cycle. is there any evidence of fraud? guest: i don't know. it is too early to tell. if folks have claims they will have to after the election. does fraud happen in american elections? yes. just talk to the residents of compton california this past summer. they overturned a city council race because of voter registration fraud. and absentee ballot fraud that change the outcome. four years ago in north carolina, 90 congressional district they overturned a congressional election. because of ballot fraud because it does happen.

didn't happen in these elections? it is too early to tell. hopefully it will be investigated and determined whether they are credible or not. we have 50 states less the district of columbia -- plus the district of columbia. a couple days after the election day, we just don't know the answer. i think it probably was clean. in a vast majority of the country. it is too early to know. host: in those areas of isolated areas do you suspect there will be enough to impact the outcome? guest: if you look to the database we created at the heritage foundation of proven

cases of fraud draw the country, many are isolated examples. sometimes individuals cheating, not doing enough to change the outcome. but occasionally there are races where there is enough to overturn the election. i mention the congressional race in north carolina, the compton race, two races last year, city council races into different states that were overturned because of fraud. does it lead to the overturning? no. sometimes, occasionally dust. host: deborah in ohio. republican. caller: thank you for taking my call. good morning to everyone. i am a constitutionalist. i am on the republican line that

is really my affiliation. the constitution, article one, section four, gives the authority of writing election to the state legislative body which is closely related to the will of the people. when you look at nevada where he don't have the totals -- we don't have the totals yet. the point of james madison and rep resented of government was to ensure that no authority can be a hypocrisy and override the rep that it is within that state. in the state of masada -- nevada if the governor allowed mass mailed ballots he is in violation of the constitution that goes against the representative body. the reason is if you look at

nevada, you have a lot of counties to have their voice represented in the mass mailed ballots, for example there are thousands of citizens in that county who are sometimes not substance, -- citizens, those noncitizens will be receiving a ballot. the question is, what process validation takes place to ensure that noncitizen does not vote. if that vote that's on the voter rolls how do they ensure that individual? right now i understand it is signature verification. i doubt that is the best opportunity to determine and i don't know. we don't hear that level of

detail. host: do you want to respond? guest: the first comment, the nevada state legislator passed a law to allow the mailing of ballots. the second concern i don't think it is true that mailed ballots are going out to a bunch of people that are noncitizens. you can only register to vote if you are a citizen. you swear to that fact to get registered. the consequent is for registering and voting while not a citizen are dire. they include criminal consequences and removal from the country. the instances of non-us citizens

voting in the u.s. elections voting illegally are rare that they do have an occasionally. when it does happen it is usually because someone was misunderstood because they were missed uninformed. i don't think that should be a top concern for voters. think we have lost a place to protect against that. -- laws in place to protect that. guest: he is right about the legislator passing a law nevada about the mailing of ballots to voters. one problem we do have is that most states do not if i the citizenship of registered voters. that actually is a problem. he secretary of state of

pennsylvania just a couple of years ago was forced to resign after the state had to admit that through a writ -- glitch at least 10,000 aliens had registered to vote. there has been a lawsuit going on for quite a while to find out how many actually voted in the election. a quick example, a couple years ago a nonprofit sit -- organization sent record request to registers across the state of virginia asking for the names of voters who had on their own contacted election officials and asked to be taken off the voter education role because they were not aliens. the report said there were at least 5500 aliens who did that in virginia but not before they had cast about 7500 ballots.

in a state in whichtwo state attorney general races have been decided by less than 1000 boats and in another case less than 300 vote. if violating the law, our deals were bnd. line -- jails would be empty. guest: they were falsely accused. they were sued for defamation. they were calling them noncitizens in accusing them of voter fraud but i do think there are times when mistakes are made

and not a sin since -- noncitizens and up on the role. that is unfortunate but i don't think it is a widespread problem. i don't think there are that many instances across the country and i think generally speaking when it happens it is an error. it is not someone intentionally trying to commit fraud. in nevada specifically what it began doing automatic phone education at the dmv they put regulations into place to make -- to filter people out to ensure that noncitizens would not be registration -- registered through the automatic graduation program. last registration program. host: derek and chicago, democratic caller.

guest: caller: i was watching the show and he said something that sparked -- he said the laws have been in place since 2008, historically what happened in that time. we had our first black president. that is what pushed a lot of these voting right ids and laws that came. i would also like to say real quick, the guy from the center for voting rights, he has not and rep did this gentleman from the heritage from the foundation one time. the guy from the heritage foundation is being very rude because he is interrupting this guy.

guest: the voter id law in georgia was passed in 2005. long before barack obama appeared on the horizon. a number of other organizations which was finally dismissed by a judge appointed by a democratic president. they were unable to prove that a single individual of the state and be unable to vote because of that voter id law. georgia had one of the biggest increases in turnout of any state in the country. to show you how voter id laws don't keep people from voting, if you look at the u.s. census bureau report, and the last three prior federal elections. when he 16, 2018, 2020, georgia had higher turnout than new york

which has no voter id law in place. in 2018 and 2020 the turnout of black residents in georgia was higher than the turnout of black residents in new york. i am sorry i interacted sean he said that many of the individuals reported in that report turned out to be citizens and correct. there were only two at a 5500 and they were simply reporting what the state county registrars had said to them. a little less than five-5500 or to vote in the state. that is significant. host: renee, in georgia. always had to show id here in georgia.

it has been made more difficult here. they only give us one week to vote early in our upcoming runoff. she says in a text. jerry from roadway, virginia. caller: it looks to me like 2022 was a repeat of 2020. host: how so? caller: the voting machines were tampered with in 2020 and they are tampered with again. they were shut down in the middle of the day and reprogrammed. three days after the election people are still voting in pennsylvania? host: sean morales-doyle , can you take that,? guest: i don't think that is true.

there is no evidence. i don't think anyone is voting right now. there is no evidence of an issue with massive tampering of machines. host: she sent out this tweet. vending democracy where mail-in ballots are still counted weeks after election day, receive possible voting machines and when they break new rules are made but voters pay for. that is destroying democracy. adding to what that color had to say. your response. guest: i think it has been the case that a number of states have had mail voting and sometimes it takes longer to tally those ballots. there are laws put in place to protect people's right to vote. when you have really close elections like in arizona and nevada they can take longer.

this has been going on for some time. it didn't come to a lot of people's attention before 2020. it states can change the rules for the voting process and some states have and some haven't. that doesn't undermine anyone's faith in the county process. the fact that it takes time to go through the process of checking signatures on every one of the thousands of ballots that were mailed in should make people feel more confident in the outcome. the good searcy -- the conspiracy theories about hacking machines are disinformation meant to undermine confidence in election.

it is a shame we have officials that will spread that lie. host: do you agree? guest: there has been no real evidence produced that these electronic voting machines have been hacked. i agree with sean on that. the evidence in blue isn't there. -- simply isn't there. in that county they hired one of the best computer experts in the country. he has testified before congress. he knows what he is talking about. the leads kept changing between the two presidential candidates. he did an in-depth audit and what happened and it was not the equipment being used. it wasn't the software or hardware. there were human errors made on top of human errors that cause that particular problem.

i know folks are suspicious of these machines but there hasn't been any solid evidence produced that the software is being manipulated to change election outcomes. in states that use paper ballots that run through a computer skater to count them, you have an audit trail. if someone is complaining that the computer scanners have change their software to mess up the counting, you have the opti scanned paper ballots that can be hand counted to make sure the computer software was correct and that is what states ought to have everywhere for voting is that kind of equipment with an audit trail that you can check it questions right. host: kirk, alabama,

independent. caller: thank you. good morning everyone. our election system like every other institution in this country is horribly corrupt. if we have an election day it should be a day. the vote should be able to be determined by the end of that day. what is wrong with having a holiday for electing? give people from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. to vote and then tally the results. as a black person, we are the only group of american people that do not have the right to vote.

we have a -- what is it called -- we have to have our right to vote ratified. it has never been ratified. set every citizen -- so if every citizen has to have their right renewed, why is that? host: ok. sean morales-doyle , you take it first. guest: giving people time off to vote is a great idea. but it doesn't mean that having one day worth of voting hours works for everyone. there are many reasons why people cannot get to the polls. they could be out of town where they work for an employer that doesn't give them time off even if it is a holiday.

it could be that they have a disability or they are overseas in the military. there are all kinds of good reasons that we have expanded voting, early voting. mail voting. i think it is good to give people more access to cast their ballots rather than less. the 15th a moment was ratified 150 years ago and made clear that black men had the right to vote and later with the ratification, black women had the right to vote. i agree that unfortunately our country has not lived up to that decision that was made 150 years ago. 100 years later the voting rights act of 1965 congress again recommitted that there would be -- to and effectively

disenfranchising black americans and other voters of color. still, we have struggled since then. the reference to renewing was to renew the voting rights act i believe. that doesn't mean that black folks do not have the right to vote. it means it has been way too much of a fight to ensure their right to vote is protected and that unfortunately continues today. i want to be clear for everybody watching and listening that the law does protect the right to vote for black americans and we do have ways of making sure and advocating for those rights even if it is more of a struggle. host: howard, north carolina. democrat area -- democratic

caller. caller: i know someone called and said they are still voting in ohio, why is that. we know, that is over. those republicans, they don't want to say anything about that. it is only when a democrat wins. the heritage guy made a statement, he said it was fraud by north carolina. i am in north carolina. he didn't tell you the republicans are the ones who committed the fraud, he just said it was fraud. in the other gentlemen did not corrective or rebuttal him and tell the people what caused it. i have a question.

when a president asks secretary of state can you find me 11,780 votes, do you consider that fraud or irregularity? host:hans guest: i won't rehash the election. the north caroline fraud, it was a consultant working for a republican individual working for congress who had been the consultant for the republican party in this case but for a democratic candidate before. fraud is a bipartisan issue. if you look at our database of proven cases of fraud, not folks just intending -- contending -- we only put in cases where someone has been convicted in a court of law or a judge or

official body like the state board of elections in carolina found fraud. in the database you will find cases of democrats committing fraud, republicans committing fraud, sometimes folks in the same party ceiling votes from -- stealing votes. unfortunately it is a bipartisan occurrence. host: willie, in katy, texas. republican. caller: first of all, hans von spakovsky on the website there are volumes of irregularity examples on the website. i would encourage everyone to go to that website.

second, id is a reason -- it has always been required. liberals like you keep blacks and other majorities figures of those facts. and it keeps them angry because they are constant victims in their mind. you just had a guy call and say black people don't have the right to vote. even with the voting rights act, the 15th amendments still stands tall. just do it right. you use the term absentee ballots, i want to inject a veterans day thing, the term absentee ballot to me applies to the age-old will terry absentee -- age-old military absentee

ballot. mainly in 2020 it was the mass mailing ballots that had no restrictions. even bill barr predicted, there could be a major issue in 2020. the fact that he chose not to act spoke volumes. host: did you hear the former attorney general later testify that he did not find evidence of fraud across the country that would have changed the outcome of the election? caller: i am shaking my head yes but at the same time i think we will see deep down into what happened there and that there

was no real effort. he may have said that as a tongue-in-cheek remark. i met there was no real effort at the doj to look into what happens. guest: i think the evidence of the generate six committee and all of the other evidence -- evidence of the january 6th committee and all of the other evidence, it has been true that rotary -- voter id has not always been required. there are some rules and some are or strengthen others. the one i was referring to was about the numbers he put on your application. which proved to disenfranchise thousands of people in a primary election earlier this year.

people who were eligible to vote. i am not ok with disenfranchising tens of thousands of people in order to have a protection that is not actually protecting against anything. i understand there are a lot of people that understand that there is widespread fraud happening and we need to protect against it. i asked them to consider the evidence to figure that out and there isn't widespread fraud. guest: the absentee ballot of texas is identical to georgia and they have not had any issues with it. the whole reason we have absentee ballots is because of veterans. they were first used in the 1864

election when abraham lincoln faced a tough opponent, george mcclellan, democrat. he was pushing armistead. the republicans solve they would have problems because all of their voters were in the fields in the union army so they came up with the concept of being able to vote absentee. veterans day should know their right to vote by an absentee ballot are guaranteed by federal law. the justice department has been very vigorous in enforcing the law. particularly when i was there, we made an effort to enforce that law along with the voting

rights act. the voting rights act is permanent, it does not have to be re-ratified by congress. it prohibits discrimination on the basis of race in the voting context and protects all voters from that no matter their race. host: kansas city, missouri area -- missouri. paul, independent. caller: the gentleman from the heritage foundation, i will not attempt your name. [laughter] specifically, the heritage foundation is one that seems like i listen the past few

decades, constant denial of motive of your achievements are obvious as far as the backing of the judges, candidates that you backed all the way to money in politics. i guess all of the positions you take, i will be concise. i would like to get your position on one thing and then the heritage foundation on another. the heritage foundation position on donald trump's claim on a stolen election then more importantly when we look at america and the 50-50 senate and a 50-50 house and looking at

georgia is a great example. where you have a senatorial race that is 50-50, but knowing in your 50 and i am giving you the conservative side, every white supremacist in america is on your side. everyone that is in a belief that jesus and satan are in some kind of physical battle is on your side. is america really 50-50 based on politics? host: ok. guest: i thought you were going to ask question but instead you get into personal attacks that

we are white supremacist because we leave in the constitution and rule of law. that is totally untrue. i don't think being in favor of enforcing the constitution, the bill of rights, all of the amendments to the constitution and the rule of all -- rule of law makes us white supremacist. sean and i are doing something that is upholding a great american tradition, the ability to have civil discussions about issues. he and i disagree on a lot of things, that is vastly disappearing in america. people start making insulting remarks and attacking people personally. that is what has just happened here. i will not answer that if there

is a issue you want to talk about in the election or constitutional provision, i'm happy to do that. but labeling anyone who disagrees with you as a racist and white supremacist is unfair, unjustified, and is simply a total lie. host: let me add to that. thank you to both of you for having a discussion where you disagree but having it together at the same time. that is also something that is infrequent. we appreciate it. we try to have it on the washington journal as much as we can. teresa in little rock, arkansas. republican. caller: good morning. i have been reading a lot about pennsylvania and their male and ballots -- male and --mail in

ballots. how do we know how many ballots have been counted, if it will continue in courts and one it -- would it have made a difference in the election? guest: shortly before the election there was a final decision from the state supreme court saying that the acting secretary of state should follow state law. state law says and absentee ballot has to have a signature of a voter on it and also the date the voter completed it. the registrars across the state are supposed to follow that. the lieutenant governor filed a lawsuit a day before the election claiming that

particular statute of the state should not be enforced, it is unconstitutional and, it violates civil rights law. that case will go forward. i think the registers are setting them aside so if there is a determination later, they can decide whether to add them or not either. i don't think we have any idea yet because they are in the midst of counting. host: what is your take on this, sean? guest: i don't think there are enough of those ballots to income -- impact the statewide election in pennsylvania. but is an example of the small bureaucratic details, -- it

doesn't matter if they put the wrong date or write date they just have to put a date. if they forget to put a date on the ballot then it will be rejected. i don't think that is a good faces for denying someone the right to vote but i don't think the outcome of that dispute has any effect on any of the statewide races because i think the number of ballots will be too small for that. it is possible it will have an impact on some of the more local races. i think we will have to wait and see what happens. host: do you agree with that? guest: i will not make a comment on whether that is a good provision or not. what should have happened is a lawsuit should not have been

filed right before the election on this issue. the litigation should have been filed a long time ago to get this resolved before the election so that you are not changing roles in the middle the election. i think that is something that should be out -- generally true across the country. don't wait until just before the election to get it changed. do that a lot earlier. in this case, lieutenant governor federman was lieutenant for three years. host: russell in south carolina, democratic caller: some of the things i have noticed is the

purging. you are talking about voter id. purging of the voter rolls, has created a big problem. the gerrymandering and removal of section two of the voting rights act, if you combine those three with the electoral college there is a big advantage given to republicans especially in the south. the purging of voting rules in georgia, when kemp ran for governor was vicious. and injurious and was targeted to black names and black communities. host: sean, i'll have you take this first. guest: i agree with some of what

the caller said. i want to be careful. i work for a nonpartisan organization. i don't want to weigh in on some of the partisan claims. i agree that there are in some places examples of overaggressive purging and there have been attempts at have often been stopped by the courts but i do think it is something to be worried about. i agree there's a problem with partisan gerrymandering with states drawing district maps and away that favors one party over another and both parties engage in that when they are in power. i also agree that the supreme court did harm to the voting rights act but the one correction i want to make is that they did not remove section

two. in 2013 they did strike down section four b of the voting rights act which was the coverage formula for which parts of the country would have to pre-clear any changes with the department of justice. they basically put section five with that decision. last year, the supreme court did make it more difficult to bring claims under section two of the voting rights act. it does remain in effect. there is a case up now and which they will rule on the meaning of section two which they could do further harm to the ability to advocate against the

discrimination of voting. i agree with the caller that there are number of issues that have made it difficult for specifically voters of colors in recent years. guest: this idea that states are trying to purge voters they don't like and get rid of them is eight total fabrication. what states have been trying to do is maintain the accuracy of the voter rolls. they can only do that under very strict rules. there are very specific provisions on how states go about removing people who have died and moved out of state. the voter rolls aren't such poor condition that 10 years ago the pew foundation, issued a big report pointing out americans voter rolls were in such bad

shape that i think they estimated something like over 20 million registrations had significant errors in them. including something like 1.8 million people who were dead and still on the rolls. and who were registered or in the wrong state because they move to another state. there is a federal statute called the help america vote act which specifies that if the state makes a mistake, they take someone off the roll because they believe they moved out of state but they haven't, when they show up at the polling place federal law requires them to give the voter a provisional ballot. that person cannot be turned away. if they say they live there and they register to vote, they have

to be given a provisional ballot that has been set aside, election officials are obligated to investigate that after the end of election day and if it is a fact that they made a mistake, that ballot has to be counted. host: barry, in fairborn georgia, independent. caller: thank you for taking my call. listening to both ends of the conversation i have not heard any solution yet. i would like to hear from you guys, what are the solutions that you have proposed? all we talk about is my side is this in my side is that. what are the shared solutions that we can employ. host: hans, you go first. guest: if you go to the website

where i work, you will find the integrity scorecard. it has a map of the united states. you can click on any state. it has our analysis of the election laws in that state compared to 47 different criteria that we believe are best practices in a state to do everything to make sure you have good absentee ballot handling processing rules to maintaining an accurate voting registration. it is the easiest way to figure out how good or bad your state is at doing that. host: sean? guest: the brigham center was very supportive of the act which was supporting a majority of congress this year but was but was unable to get across the finish line due to the filibuster. that law contains what i believe are the solutions to the

problems our democracy faces in terms of the types of voting available across the country and it would have restored the voting rights act to its previous strength to ensure we do not continue to face racist discrimination in voting. i hope it will have a chance in congress in the future. in the meantime there are things congress can do anything states have been doing, things like automatic voter registration, things like restoring voting rights to people with convictions in their past, same-day registration, a lot of policies folks can raise and have raised. there was a lot of legislation of activity to restrict voting, but there was or countervailing trend, there were a lot of states that passed expansive laws that expanded access to voting. host: you can find more

information at brennan center.org or more information at heritage.org. hans von spakovsky and sean morales-doyle, thank you so much for the conversation. host: we will take a break and then our next hour talking to veterans and families about issues important to our nation's veterans. we will be right back. ♪ >> c-spanshop.org is c-span's online sure. -- online store. browse through our products and accessories. there is something for every c-span span and every purchase

helps support our nonprofit operation. >> sunday on q&a, former boston globe reporter john farrell, author of "ted kennedy: a life" looks at the life and political career of the late democratic senator from massachusetts. he talks about the kennedy political dynasty and the tragedies. >> when his cousin and another aide found him the following morning he was having breakfast with fellow sailors from the regatta and they said have you reported it, and he said no, we will give the story that she was driving the car. someone said you cannot do that, you cannot do that. still they did not go to the police, they went to a phone so he could call and talk to other advisors and it was while they

were doing that they saw the ambulance/first gopher on the -- the ambulance/hearse go over the bridge to chappaquiddick and they realize they had about 15 minutes to go to the police and make some report which in its own way was candid, it said i was the driver of that car. >> john farrell and his book ted kennedy. you can listen to our podcasts on the c-span app. >> listening to programs on c-span through c-span radio just got easier. tell your smart speaker play c-span radio and listen to washington journal daily. important congressional hearings and public affairs events throughout the day. at 9:00 eastern catch washington

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host: members of our u.s. military at the tomb of the unknown soldier in arlington virginia just across the river from the nation's capital. they are preparing for today's annual wreath-laying ceremony at the national cemetery. the first lady of the united states, along with vice president kamala harris and the second gentleman will all be participating in this ceremony and we will have coverage at 11:00 eastern on c-span. before that we are hearing from our nation's veterans and their families, along with the rest of you, about the issues important to veterans. before we get to your calls, earlier this morning we spoke with leo shane, who writes for the military times, about veterans in these midterm elections and also what issues

does congress need to deal with in the coming month as well as the new 118th congress. issues for our veterans. take a listen to the interview. how many veterans were running this cycle? guest: almost 200 veterans running this cycle which is the largest field we have seen since 2012. it shows that some of these younger veterans are starting to come into politics and work their way up through state races and local races and put it impact on the national scene. host: what issues were they running on? guest: this was a big part of their campaign, a big part of their identity. veterans do not usually run on military issues. it is another line in their resume. we did see quite a few campaigns that mentioned concerns about v.a. care and access.

that was a key point in a lot of the campaign materials. for the most part they are running on the economy, on public safety, on the same issues we are seeing other candidates run on, telling people i also serve, this is another resume line for me that shows i am qualified to be in office. host: how many of those won their seats? guest: as of right now we are looking at 94 veterans in congress. that would be the biggest we have seen since 2017. the first time we have seen a substantial increase in veterans since 2017. a good side that some of these messages are resonating and this younger generation of veterans are starting to come into their own and take a position in congress with their issues and with their experience. host: is that 94 total including

incumbents or 94 new members? guest: that is 94 total, 94 incumbents and new veterans and sitting members of the senate who did not have races this year. it is not a huge number. it is a good portion of what congress is, but that number was as high 200 in the mid-90's. it was about 400 in the 1970's, and that is a reflection of the demographics of veterans in our society. before the all volunteer military in the 1970's almost 75% of congress had served in the military at some point. as we shifted away from that come as a smaller portion of america has served and live the military life we have seen those numbers drift down. host: and you've seen the diversification of congress, you've seen more women elected since those years, etc. guest: this'll be the largest

class of women veterans we have seen. it is only seven, but there has been an uptick in recent years. we have five incumbents, three who just won reelection, and three new female veterans will be coming in. more female republicans than we have ever had before. more viewpoints we have not seen in the past. it is always been male veterans, male military experience, now we are seeing the women come in and share their experience of moving into some of those combat jobs that used to be closed, talking about issues like sexual assault and what it is like to be a woman in the military and how to retain those individuals. host: how many of those running and won are democrats versus republicans? guest: it is pretty tilted towards the republican side, almost to two to one ratio at this point. there are a few races

outstanding. there are more republican that candidates than democrats. i did not get the last count last night but i think it is around 25 or 26 are democrats and the rest are republicans. one of the selling points for veterans on the campaign trail and among the veterans advocates who are pushing for more veterans in congress is the party should not matter as much. they can put their heads down and get their work done. i have also seen some of the polarization of congress playing. i know quite a few of the republicans who ran were folks who question the election results in 2020. 55% of the veterans who ran voted against certification of the election or have public statements on the campaign trail questioning bidens legitimacy.

being a veteran does not isolate you from those political whims but the hope is there is some common ground on military issues and veterans issues and the unity of america issues that these veterans be able to work together when they get to congress to find some sort of joint answer or common ground. host: what are some of the pressing issues impacting veterans that congress needs to deal with when they finish this term but also the new congress? guest: the big one this term is finishing up the defense budget and the veterans budget. that will be a fun fight, especially if there is going to be a changeover in the power of the house, the power of the senate. will republican-controlled chambers want to make any decisions before they have the control of the agenda next year? the big veterans issue we will be watching is that taxed act. this last summer, this is $300

billion in spending, it could affect as many as one in five veterans in america. the implementation of that starts in january. we have seen screening of veterans, opening of health care issues, that has happened the last few months, we see tens of thousands of new disability claims hit the v.a. starting in january and they will need to start working through that and start awarding these claims. oversight of that, real scrutiny of whether or not v.a. is executing their new authority right, whether or not they are getting veterans claims done in a timely manner, that will be the focus of lawmakers when they get back. host: that was leo shane from military times. you can find our interview with him on c-span.org or follow his reporting at military times.com. we are talking with veterans and families this morning, as well as the rest of you about veterans issues on this veterans

day 2022. there are the lines on your screen. otis has been waiting in detroit, michigan. when did you serve? caller: from 1974 to 1977 and that i was in the reserves for about seven years -- i decided 11 years was enough for me. i am a vietnam era veteran and i was joined just as the volunteer service started. i went to college -- i joined. my experience, just last week we had in san antonio a reunion of the ship i was on, the first time i went to the reunion,

about two black sailor showed up out of 80 and a lot of them -- i heard a young lady speak about the mental health and the behavioral science at the v.a. i want to echo what she said about the v.a. health facility. when i started using that after i took an early retirement from wayne state university, going into business, i started using the v.a. health and i cannot complain about the v.a. health system. the veterans administration is another issue. i got out in 1978 and it took until 2006, most young fats who apply for disability -- most young vets who apply for disability, they deny you when you are young. back in the 1970's you are able to get a job. i got one at a minimum wage that grew into a permanent job at

wayne state university. he did not think about apply because everything is working well for you. then when those bones and other illnesses start magnifying the older you get and people tell you you start applying. it took me until 2006 to get my first disability. i am at two 100 disabilities. one of the major ones i fought for 40 years just recently got was racial abuse. i kept trying to explain to people how even when i was on active duty, i was the first black sailor that was allowed to work on what is called deck control guns, electronic. you are in the loop through computers putting in signals. they would never let me up for

advancement so i volunteered to go to vietnam because vietnam was still active. i never got advanced. they opened it up to black veterans in 1972. i went in 1974. after you go to minority meetings in boot camp, that electronic school, they had me go to six months of minority meetings that if i complained about racial abuse, they would kick me out of the navy first because they had people that had been in the service over 20 years and never worked with a black person in the navy and never socialized with them off the ship. the first day i got to pearl harbor it started. i fought for years, people were telling me you need to give it up, they are not going to give you racial abuse. one day at the va hospital i am in the resource center where

veterans hang out and use the computer and i saw the pamphlet of sexual abuse was starting to be real popular for females getting posttraumatic stress based on sexual abuse like the young lady said. i said that sounds like racial abuse, you take up sexual and put it racial. i applied then and after 40 years i had to prove i did complain about it in the philippines and it was in my record. then they finally gave me posttraumatic stress 40 years later for racial abuse. that was my experience. host: once they acknowledged that, what does that mean for benefits for you? caller: that took me to my first 100, i was under 100% service-connected disability. i broke my leg and had been in a bad accident but that took me to

getting total 100%. i never applied for unemployment benefits, even at 100%. some veterans, once you get up to 60% or 80% you can apply for 100% for pay wise unemployability but you cannot never work. i always wanted to be able to be employable because my mind was good, like this captain in san antonio asked how did it affect me in my civilian life, i told me i lived in detroit that has always been majority white for years, african-americans have never been the majority. it is near downtown detroit. the african-american community is on the other end. i am in a multiethnic community. when i came out of the service, no matter how much money i was offered, i cannot work for a white person, i was start that back. i found out from world war ii

before my father died, he had been abused mentally because of the color of his skin, especially from southern sailors in world war ii. now looking at the abuse of minorities is acknowledged in issue that they are starting to recognize after 40 years. host: otis from detroit michigan. johnny in charleston, south carolina. hanging on the line. when did you serve? caller: 71 to 1980. i hope you give as much time as you did to this guy. he just went on and on. i got out of the military 1980. item problem in japan and they gave me 30%. host: 30% disability. caller: that is what i get now.

i am 76 years old. i applied twice for reevaluation and i applied again this past june. anyway, i've been complaining about my stomach for almost 40 years and they got 70 practitioners. they lower the practitioners. they do not evaluate this clearly. that bothers me. i will see how this turns out. another thing about veterans. here in south carolina, it is hard for a veteran to find an apartment. his out -- all of these

foreigners are coming in and taking everything. i cannot even find a place to stay. host: as a veteran and you get rent assistance? caller: no, no. host: on an application for rent, does it ask if you are a veteran? caller: applications for compensation? host: know, for renting an apartment? caller: you can apply if you need it but i do not think i need it. i am not homeless. host: understood. host: burrell in idaho -- earl in idaho, who in your family served? caller: my father served in the united states navy from 1934 to 1954. in june of 1944 dad

commissioned a ship that went out into the pacific, was in saipan actions and then further to the battle at samara. on the evening of november 3 of 1934, a half-hour to midnight, the ship got hit by two torpedoes. one launched, the other went in and exploded. crude oil bumped in the outside areas of the ship.

those aboard the ship were able to keep it afloat. dad found his way up onto the deck and late there covered in crude. 47 young men were killed. other ships in the area, destroyers and the oceangoing tub managed to assist and keep it afloat. they managed to tow it to an island, dry dock 2 it, and managed to repair it, and then it came back to united states. in my studies i had questions about the amount of death there was. i researched and i found that

april of 2020 there was a reference that i looked into and in reno itself there was an action that went on during the george floyd upset. people broke into the council building in reno where the flag was in a case that was on the reno at this time, in the pacific. they busted into that case and were burning flags outside of the council building.

somebody in that crowd managed to rescue that flag and return it back to the council three or four days later. i bring this up because i want all to know of those sacrifices that our citizens in the past and even the present need to respect our flag. let's not be divided in this nation. it is just breaking us down. host: i will jump in so i can get more calls. stephen atlanta, veteran. thank you for hanging on the line. when did you serve? caller: 1969 to 1971. host: where were you? i was -- caller: i was seattle

washington or tacoma washington. i had been on orders for vietnam and on foot -- and fortunately did not have to go. the way we treat veterans today. winston churchill steel was never have so many owed so much to so few. we are back to that point. we have illegal immigrants they are putting up in housing and we have veterans out on the streets. this is wrong. the people in washington, d.c., i am talking to congress, i am talking democrats and republicans, they do not care about the veterans. it is 1% of the population. i get a free doughnut today. big deal. i am sorry. we do not understand or remember and honor the veterans the way that we should.

it is the same with the police, it is the same with the army today. we have to get our heads out of our you know what's or we are in trouble in this country. thank you. host: jason in wake forest, north carolina. your turn. caller: good morning. i hope you give me enough time as you gave that racist from michigan. i would like to tell you a story about my cousin that became a statistic from last week. he enlisted in the corps. he was -- i am still though upset about it, especially hearing this krapp. he was drummed out of the core because he was white, because of joe biden and his racist party.

he was told he was white and because he was a trump supporter they did not want him anymore. he was not wanted because he was white and then you listen to that racist from michigan go on and on. my cousin just became a freaking statistic you racist. you are the racists, democrats. i'm sick and tired of you. host: we will go to george in hillsboro, ohio. george, when did you serve? caller: i served in 1968. i am not calling about that, i am calling about we have a big problem. we have chinese that have armed nuclear missiles on jets in venezuela.

we have chinese and russian bases in mexico. we have chinese troops training in canada. kennedy would not have anything like that happening. trump and biden have allow that to occur. we have nuclear armed submarines in the caribbean. chinese and russian. we are basically surrounded right now by these forces. i do not hear anyone talking about it. anyone. no media, no one. i do not know if you remember. russia threatened us and said they are going to cost. -- they are going to nuke us. the chinese recently threatened

us also. we have had threats from north korea. iran is one of their bodies -- is one of their buddies and they are arming themselves. we need to focus on some of this and make sure we are protecting ourselves and see about getting some of these forces away from our country. host: president biden will be meeting with the chinese president next week in indonesia for the group of 20 meeting. the president has already arrived in egypt for a global crime it -- a global climate meeting called cop 27. he is said to deliver remarks at 10:15 a.m. eastern time. you can watch that on our free mobile app, c-span now, on our website as well, c-span.org.

the president will be one of the only leaders of a major polluting country, that is the way the new york times puts it this morning, attending the climate talks in egypt. the president from india as well as russian president vladimir putin, they are not attending this conference and biden will face a world demanding reparations. poor countries protesting at these topics, demanding the polluting countries as they put it pay the poorer countries due to climate change. logan in north carolina, a veteran. it is your turn. caller: i served in the army from 1973 to 1977. the army reserve from 1980 to 2000.

it seems like the people calling in are a bunch of whiners. i am on the phone. when i joined i got to meet a lot of different people from all over the country, from every different background. i thoroughly enjoyed it, it was me coming out of a small town in north carolina to get out in that situation. it was uplifting to me. i got to spend time in panama and it was hard, but it was a great experience for me. i wish everyone could look at it that way. host: ed in atlanta, good morning. caller: i want to hurry, i will try to contain myself. i am beside myself with fury.

i am a veteran, i was drafted out of college in 1968 and served in vietnam. every time i see about 50 or 60-year-old asian looking man limping i wonder if that is a little boy i shot. i want to be sure to mention how furious i am about this man whose daddy got them into the texas air national guard and he decided to shock and awe all of those iraqi children and he was a draft dodger. he does not know what shock and awe is. i have too many things i'm furious about. i want to stay on track of what i want to say. i want to hurry because i'm sure you have 10 people on hold want to ask you how you are doing today and it infuriates the heck out of me to hear caller after

caller be told thanks for asking . happy veterans day. all of these iraqi people whenever over there for another lie. it is obscene. you being a woman, would you please put on the photograph of that iraqi woman without a hajib on and show support for your fellow women in the world. why is there nothing ever on c-span about iran which day after day. i do not like saying words like that on tv. that is not proper. that is not what you call civilized. i have freedom of speech but i'm not supposed to offend my fellow brothers, i'm not supposed to tamper with your right. everybody have a good day. i kill people so you can be free. go out and refused to waive to somebody because they are the

wrong color. make america great again. host: break in west virginia. a veteran. when did you serve? caller: 1978 to 1986. host: where were you serving and what were your duties? caller: first i worked in the comptroller's office in norfolk in 1978 to 1981. then from 1982 to 1986 i was a helicopter mechanic, big hydraulic helicopter parts for the first marine airway. i think it was the first. in camp pendleton, california. i wanted to call to tell that guy from north carolina who said they kicked his boy out for being white that that is crap.

if they kicked his boy out for being white it is because he was acting like a white supremacist and we do not tolerate that. everybody is green in the marines. we all bleed green and we are all brothers. that is all i have to say. host: in california, good morning. are you with us? when did you serve? caller: hello. host: good morning. it is your turn. caller: yes? host: can you tell us when you served in the military? caller: i was in drafted in the army and then i went to the navy. in the army i went to school and then when i went to the navy i

was stationed in india. 1965. we had explosions so i lost my hearing pretty bad. i also have ptsd and when i got out of the navy we were not well-received. we were afraid to wear uniforms because they would spit on you or call you names because they were calling us baby killers. that effected me quite a bit. now i work as a barber. it took me a long time for them

to find out i had gotten out of the military. it was pretty stressful. when i was on the enterprise we had nine explosions and there was quite a bit of blood and guts. we had to align because they were bringing in from the flight get. it affected me pretty bad. i am still hanging in there but it is still pretty stressful. host: thank you. we are talking to the nation veterans and families and the rest of you about issues facing those that are serving and have served in our military on this veterans day. i want to show you a recent event with louisiana senator bill cassidy, a republican discussing a bill he said would

improve how veterans affairs tracks those leaving the military to make sure they are taking advantage of their full benefits. listen in. >> imagine you are a 24-year-old person who is getting out of the military. you are excited. they come in and they give you pieces of paper, you can have all of these benefits. turns out they do not really pay attention to it. i just had a bill signed into law that would ask the v.a. to call a veteran three times in the first year of separation. call them up. do you know you have educational benefits? do you know you have job training benefits? how is your mental health? most suicides for veterans happened in that first six months after they leave the service. they do not know where they are going, they do not know what they are doing, they lose their camaraderie.

with this, how is your mental health, not so good, let's get you in. if we can interrupt that cycle of the person getting out and then falling off, catch them, bring them up, put them in the v.a., we can stop that bad cycle. host: louisiana senator talking to a local television station about a bill he recently signed into law. we are talking with veterans and family members and the rest of america about veterans issues. joe in wilmington, north carolina. when did you serve. caller: 1982. started off with every artillery. i retired in 2012 after five combat assignments. host: where did those assignments take you? caller: i was in afghanistan twice, the persian gulf another

time, africa, and then they sent you ever to work with at cachet's in pakistan. i spent some time along the pakistani border. i served a lot of staffs. i see the good and bad all around. i have served in multiple types of assignments. i think what we need to do is we need to have more jobs available for people and that is just not so clear-cut. a person that has served their nation a number of years needs a good opportunity to do something that can still contribute. sometimes that is not available

to a lot of veterans. we do have a problem with a lot of suicides. i was talking with your friends in virginia and they had to do -- i was talking with some friends in virginia and they had to deal with the suicide last week. those things are hard to track down and having served in d.c. for three years, i kill all of the congressmen and senators saying they are doing -- i hear all of these congressmen saying they are doing this and that but they do very little. it has been a great time. when i grew up i grew up with a lot of world war ii veterans from the marines and the army. from europe and the pacific. i was encouraged to serve and i have a lot of brothers and sister and i always enjoyed my time serving. i wish all veterans out there do not lose hope.

i know we may only be 1.5% of the population, but generation x, y, and z is not going to serve as volunteers, so they are still going to drawn volunteer throughout the nation. i thank you for your time. host: jonathan in california, another veteran. thank you for calling in. caller: i graduated in 1966 from yale college. in the late 1960's into 1970's vietnam was a hot issue. i want to talk about my classmates. a captain and infantry platoon leader survived being in vietnam. richard pershing, the grandson of the general of the army after whom the pershing tank was

named. it went off to candidate school coming from a military family and was commissioned and went to vietnam and was shot by a sniper february 17 of 1968. all of our class ms. tim. fred's -- all of our class missed him. fred smith, founder of fedex. john forbes kerry who was defamed by somebody in the earlier hours survived being in vietnam and became a senator and ran for president. christopher often was also in vietnam and survived that experience, it became the head of a major portion of time magazine. the point is all of these people , they were all subject to the draft.

all of them served the country in a very controversial war. two of them are no longer alive. the rest still are. god bless america and our veterans. host: silver spring, maryland. hi, lynne. caller: thank you very much for taking my call and happy veterans day especially to all of our veterans and their family members. thank you, especially vietnam veterans. all of my loved ones are honored to be buried at arlington cemetery. i am the widow of a service-connected disabled veteran who died about 17 years ago. my parents are buried there and my mother-in-law. my father was drafted twice. he served time in world war ii

and they let them out a few days early and they drafted him again for korea but they did not send him to korea. he went to nagasaki. his hands peel the rest of his life and he died of cancer but he did not have a service-connected disability. i would like to say two important things unless anyone has not read craig whitlock series of articles he did starting october 10 in the washington post on our high-level military and personnel and veterans that have been in the military that are working for foreign governments. please read that, please find it and read that. he was also in washington journal the following monday interview. on january 6 in the capital, i have to say, i am so ashamed of those veterans that participated in that.

there is no excuse for dishonoring our nation that way. you know? we are so blessed to live in this country and to have the freedoms we have because of our parents and our loved ones and we need to honor them and honor those who serve as civilians and those who serve in the military. i especially thank washington journal for all you do and especially greta, thank you very much. host: all right, lynne. today they are honoring those who have served at the national cemetery in arlington, virginia. the vice president of the united states, kamala harris, the first lady, jill biden, and the second gentleman will be participating in the wreath-laying ceremony at the tomb of the unknown soldier.

i want to read a little bit about the tomb. 100 years, since 1921, it has provided a final resting place for one of america's unidentified world war i service members and unknowns from later wars were added in 1958 and in 1984. the tomb has also served as a place for morning and a site for reflection on military service. a rainy day in washington, d.c. you can watch the ceremony later on c-span at 11:00 eastern as well as on our mobile app, c-span now, or online at c-span.org. robert in massachusetts, a veteran. good morning. caller: good morning. how are you? host: what are your thoughts on this veterans day? caller: i do not have any thoughts. this is a shout out to all of

the veterans listening. happy veterans day. please, if you have a chance watch the documentary foreign correspondent, the dome. that is all you have to do. go on youtube, foreign correspondent the dome. greta, you can watch it too. i've only called into the station 10 times to help us. other than that happy veterans day. host: charles in florida, a veteran. when did you serve? caller: good morning. i served, i'm a vietnam veteran, i served in the air force from 1971 to 1975. when i was inducted into the military they had the air guns

and they were not properly sterilizing the air guns. i come to find out i contracted hepatitis c, and i did not find that out until 1994. i went and got treatment in the v.a. wanted to deny, but i fought it. i am currently at 20%. my biggest gripe i have about the v.a. for people who serve in the military, we gave our lives and put that on the line for this country. we were treated like we were not even known. right now i am still fighting

because of this agent orange. i have two of the symptoms that came through and the v.a. denied my percentage of getting a percentage. even when i got out of the military, i was service-connected but 0%. it is a disgrace. it is a disgrace to this country and the veterans who put their lives on the line. i want to say happy veterans day to the ones who gave their life and may god bless each and every one of us. thank you.

host: happening today, and observance of veterans day. defense secretary lloyd austin joins former defense secretary chuck hagel in a ceremony marking the 40th anniversary of the vietnam veterans memorial. we'll have live coverage this afternoon at 1:00 eastern on c-span and on our free mobile app and online at c-span.org. at 4:30, the january 6 committee vice chair and outgoing representative liz cheney talks about her work in the u.s. house and the future of the republican party, hosted by the university of chicago institute of politics , our coverage begins at 4:30 eastern on c-span, c-span now, or c-span.org. host: alfred in pine bluff, arkansas. you have family member that served in the military? caller: i did.

pfc. emmanuel lee roy carol. a veteran. host: can you mute your television? caller: ok. yes. i was calling, i happened to be looking at c-span this morning, very interesting program. i thank you so very much for taking my call. i called this veterans day as i was strolling through my telephone looking at the veterans activities for the national cemetery in little rock. i thought i might just mention that kieran pine bluff, jefferson county, arkansas, we recently had a new veterans building constructed and in that veterans building there is a monument that lists the names of

deceased military persons all the way back to world war i and the korean war. my brother leroy, when he graduated high school, he visited my older sister in fort wayne, indiana. while in indiana he decided to enlist in the military. he enlisted in fort wayne, indiana, but he is bored and bred in pine bluff, arkansas. unfortunately in 1963, he succumbed to wounds from a mortar attack on his battalion where he had to endure field amputations. that is where they do emergency removal of certain limbs, damaged limbs right in the

theater of war. he suffered that and lived long enough to make it back to the states where he was in fort sam houston hospital and later he died. my point is, on this monument, because my brother enlisted in the military in indiana, we cannot get the local county judge to put his name on the monument even though his name is on the monument that is going to be part of the ceremony this afternoon in washington, his name is there. his name is in little rock, arkansas, his name is in the traveler monument that moves across the country, his name is also in fort wayne, indiana. we cannot get the loki -- the local county judge to put his

name on the monument in jefferson county. host: i have heard the story, i've just one minute left and i want to get bob in in jacksonville, texas. a veteran. your thoughts on this veterans day? caller: good morning and thank you for taking my call. i served from 1952 to 1956. i had a very bad experience with the v.a. in 2003 is when i applied to benefits and discovered that there was a means test that was signed into law by mr. bush and if you made over a certain amount of money or if you had a certain amount in the bank, and it was not very much, you had to pay co-pays with your doctor

visits at the v.a.. i fought them for seven years over that and i finally gave up. i guarantee you my wife and i, bless her heart, we have an income of less than $30,000 a year. i do not know what it takes to be a full-fledged veteran and get benefits. i finally gave up and went with medicare. when i reach 65. i am 87 now. we get along without it. i had a wonderful experience in the navy. i do not regret a day of it. i met some very wonderful people. most of them are gone now. it was good. host: bob in jacksonville, texas

on this veterans day. thanks to all of you who watched this morning and a big thanks to veterans and family members who called in. we appreciate that on this veterans day. we will leave you, 11:00, live coverage from arlington national cemetery with the first lady and the vice president marking today's veterans day. >> coming up today, live at 11:00 eastern, first lady jill biden joins kamala harris and doug emhoff at arlington national cemetery for the national veterans day observance. then live at 1:00, the vietnam veterans memorial fund holds its 2022 veterans day ceremony to mark the 40th anniversary of the dedication of the vietnam veterans memorial. live at 4:30, liz cheney speaks

about her time in congress, the future of the gop, and what is next for her as she finishes out hererm. you will also find our live coverage streaming at c-span.org or c-span now, our free video app. right now the associated press has 49 seats going for republicans, 48 seats for democrats. in arizona, 82% of the votes counted, mark kelly has a 115,000 vote lead over republican blake masters. 90% of those ballots have been counted up to this point. down in georgia the race between incumbent democrat raphael

warnock and herschel walker headed to a december 6 runoff. neither candidate was able to win 50% of the vote. you can find the numbers as they change going to our webte, c-span.org/election. >> congress returns for legislative work for the first time since theidterm elections on monday. lawmakers will continue their tops off the hse and senate floors. current funding is set to expire next month. the senate will continue to debate on 2020 three defense prrams and policy leglation and vote on more of president biden's judicial nominatns. watch live coverage of the house on c-span, the senate on c-span two, and also watch on our free video app, or online at c-span.org. >> c-span is your unfiltered view of government. we are funded by these television companies and more,