time, we asked, there are 115 members of congress with the military service including the national guard and reserves women. the answer is just one. florida congresswoman sandy adams grew up in a military family. at 17, she dropped out of high school and joined the air force. we'll be right back. you're watching "the daily rundown" only on msnbc. [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus presents: the cold truth. i have a cold. and i took nyquil but i'm still stubbed up. [ male announcer ] sorry, buddy. truth is, nyquil doesn't un-stuff your nose. what? [ male announcer ] it doesn't have a decongestant. really? [ male announcer ] you need a more complete cold formula, like alka-seltzer plus liquid gels. it's specially formulated to fight your worst cold symptoms, plus relieve your stuffy nose. [ deep breath ] thank you! [ male announcer ] you're welcome. that's the cold truth! [ male announcer ] and to fight your allergy symptoms fast, try new alka-seltzer plus allergy. it's got 10 speeds, my friend. ♪ is it fast? it's got a lightning bolt on it, doesn't it? ♪ is it fast? i don't even know if it's street-

the other area where it really is going to have a big effect is among returning vets and national guard and reserve and on duty military people because they are so concerned, particularly the people who are still on duty, that if they go someplace for assistance, there is going to be this record there that is going to ruin their career. and so the anonymity part of it is extremely important to them. so we have to look for safeguards and we also have to look for a lot of public education of the potential patients as they are going into the system and we will be talking a little bit about that when we come back. [music] there are 43 states that have an insurance law and there is a need for someone in each state to provide training on the state law, how it relates to the parity act, and then how it relates to all of the phases and phasing in of the affordable and accountable care act. the good news is drug and alcohol is included in the affordable healthcare act and the parity. one of the things that we are still struggling with, though, is how to access the benefit and we've really got to work out a

national guard bureau. like ms. thompson said, we've got a lot of our reserve and national guard members deployed in the war on terror who aren't necessarily attached to an active duty military base but are in your city, are in your communities. so in tulsa, for example we opened our doors to take active guard member, active refer members and guard veterans as well. serving those folk whose are your neighbors, that go to school with your children. and to really wrap it up, state legislation, we've helped california, colorado, illinois, oregon, texas, virginia, develop vette trins court legislation. right now we're happying maine, the great state of oklahoma where i'm from, and several other states as well to develop veterans treatment court legislation. when i came your bondard, gain support of the most prestigious and respected veterans service organizations. the marine corps league, amvets, blue star mother, veterans of foreign war, the american legion, disabled american veteran, national association of state directors of veterans affairs have all come onboard with public support for veterans treatment courts. thes

well the problem has not subsided while the army reported that amongst active duty army national guard and reserves suicides or leveling off for active duty army specifically they reached a new record in two thousand and eleven so it's. more as the army also reported a sharp increase by nearly thirty percent in violent sex crimes let's also not forget the veterans face staggering unemployment numbers that p.t.s.d. is still a problem of the military is struggling to counter and to understand that's what happens after a country wages war for ten years wars where men and women go on monday multiple tours of duty and where it's hard to even describe what exactly it is that they're fighting for ron paul is right when he says that this is an epidemic that we need to do more to counter this problem and yet not a single other candidate up on that stage last night echoed his sentiments funny considering that those of the candidates of the most hawkish say that we need the strongest and biggest military imaginable that we can't leave afghanistan and we should probably start a war with iran they want to wage

and reserve components. it means maintaining a strong national guard and reserve. it means retaining a healthy ch -- cadre of experienced ncos and mid-grade officers and pressuring the -- preserving the health and viability of the nation's defense industrial base. the strategic guidance that we're providing is the first step in this didn't's goal to build a joint force of 2020, a force sized and shaped differently than the military of the cold war, the post-cold war force of the 1990s, or the force that was built over the past decade to engage in large scale ground wars. this strategy and vision will guide the more specific budget decisions that will be finalized and announced in the coming weeks as part of the president's budget. in some cases we will be reducing capabilities that we believe no longer with a top priority. but in other cases, we will invest in new capabilities to maintain a decisive military edge against agrowing array of threats. there's no question that we have to make some tradeoffs and that we will be taking, as a result of that, m level of add

our national guard and reserves are truly an operational reserve, giving us increase to death and capacityfuture force might look at. going forward, the army has three principal and interconnected goals. prevent, shape, and win. we prevent conflict. we do this by maintaining credibility based on the army capacity, its readiness, and modernization to prevent miscalculation by potential adversaries. moreover, the army has a critical role in shaping the environment by supporting combatant commanders and sustaining strong military relations with allies, building the capacity partners to maintain internal and regional stability and operating alongside our joined forces to facilitate access around the world. and we stand ready to win our nation's wars when needed. if all else fails, the army will always be ready to reach -- rapidly apply its combined arms capabilities to dominate and the environment and win decisively as part of the joint force. as we look ahead, the secretary and i have several priorities. foremost, we will provide trained, equipped, and ready forces to win the current fight. s

and reserve components. it means maintaining a strong national guard and reserve. it means retaining a healthy cadre of experienced ncos and midgrade officers. and preserving the health and viability of the nation's defense industrial base. the strategic guidance that we are providing is the first step in this department's goal to build the joint force of 2020, a force sized and shaped differently than the military of the cold war, the postcold war force of the 1990s or the force that was built over the past decade to engage in large-scale ground wars. this strategy and vision will guide the more specific budget decisions that will be finalized and announced in the coming weeks as part of the president's budget. in some cases, we will be reducing capabilities that we believe no longer are a top priority. but in other cases, we will invest in new capabilities to maintain a decisive military edge against a growing array of threats. there's no question, there is no question, that we have to make some tradeoffs. and that we will be taking as a result of that some level

and how can we as a department and as a community come as a nation, do a better job of ensuring that our god and national guard and reserve members are not unfairly penalized by current and potential employers in what is already a very difficult economy. the obama administration is extremely serious about expanding career opportunities for veterans, and we have launched a series of initiatives to help out, but there's certainly much more to be done in this arena. i'd like to conclude mine remarks on a note of optimism. one of the reasons i so strongly believe that we will indeed see a period of sustained american leadership is that when circumstances are difficult, we as a country, as a people, to find a way to come together for the broader national interest. we've seen a very practical illustration of this in the recent strategic review. times of fiscal hardship often beget action to very intense and reservists rivalries in contention. while they were certainly honest disagreements in the review process, i think the people involved, civilian and military alike, found the process to be remarkably collegial and the strateg

we've got to have a strong national guard and reserve. we have the whole issue of technology. this is going to be a technology-advanced force. it has to be. can we develop that technology? can we put it in place? what are the costs associated with develops the technology. so as you look at this, and the other area is partnerships. we have to rely on partnerships. like nato and others. and yet those countries are facing budget constrictions of their own. so you can see the risks that are out there. we think they're acceptable but they are risk. >> if you are look in concrete turns, the stance for decades for u.s. policy has been able to fight two major wars at the same time. and we have been doing that for the last decade. is that changing now where we will no longer be able to do that? >> i think the fundamental principles of that construct of being able to fight two wars is will the united states be able to take on aggression for from more than one enemy, be able to confront them, defeat them and win. that's the fundamental question. >> brown: is that a semantic difference or

and reserve components. it means maintaining a strong national guard and reserve. it means retaining a healthy cadre of experienced ncos and mid-grade officers and preserving the health and viability of the nation's defense industrial base. the strategic guidance that we're providing is the first step in this department's goal to build a joint force of 2020, a force sized and shaped differently from the military of the cold war, the post-cold war force of the 1990s, or the force that was built over the past decade to engage in large-scale ground wars. this strategy and vision will guide the more specific budget decisions that will be finalized and announced in the coming weeks as part of the president's budget. in some cases we will be reducing capabilities that we believe no longer are a top priority but in other cases we will invest in new capabilities to maintain a decisive military edge against a growing array of threats. there's no question, there's no question that we have to make some tradeoffs and this we will be taking, as a result of that, some level of a

and reserve components. it mea maintaining a song national guard and reserve.ng a healthy cadre of experienced ncos and midgrade officers and preserving the health and viability of the nation's defense industrial base. the strategic guidance that we are providing ishe first step in this department's goal to build the joint force of 2020, a. a4 sized and shaped differently than the military of the cold war, the post-cold war force of the 1990s, or the force that was built over the past decade to engage in large-scale ground wars. this strategy and vision will guide the more specific budget decisions that will be finalized and announced in the coming weeks as part of the president's budget. in some cases we will be reducing capabilitie that we believe no longer are a top rider eddie. but in other cases, we will invest in new capabilities to maintain a decisive military adage against the growing array of threats. there is no question, there is no question that we have to make some trade-offs and that we will be taking, as a result of that, some level of additional

and the ability to quickly mobilized will be key. that means re-examining a mix of elements in the reserve components. it means maintaining a strong national guardeserve. it means retaining a healthy andre of experienced nso's made great officers, and preserving the health and viability of the nation's defense industrial base. the strategic guidance that we're providing is the first step in this department goal to build a joint force of 2020, a force sized and shaped differently than the military of the cold war, the post cold war .orce of the 99's1990's this strategy and vision will guide the more specific budget decisions that will be finalized and announced in the coming weeks as part of the president's budget. in some cases, we will be reducing capabilities that we believe no longer are a top priority. but in other cases, we will invest in new capabilities to maintain a decisive military edge against a growing array of threats. there is no question that we have to make some trade-offs and that will be taking as a result of that some level of additional but acceptable risks in the budget plan that we released next month. these are not easy ch

and reserve components. it means maintaining a strong national guard and reserves. it means retaining a healthy cadre of officers and the nation's defense industrial base. the strategic guidance we are providing is the first step in this department's goal to build a joint first for 2020, a force shaped differently from the military of the cold war, post- cold war force of the 1990's, and the force that was built over the past decade to engage in the large-scale ground wars. this strategy and vision will guide to be more specific budget decisions that will be finalized and announced in the coming weeks as part of the president's budget. in some cases, we will be reducing capabilities that we believe are no longer a top priority in other cases, we will invest in new capabilities to maintain a decisive military edge against a growing array of threats. there is no question that we will have to make some trade- offs. we will be taking some level of additional, but acceptable risk in the budget plan we released next month. these are not easy choices. we will continue aggr

we increased our aviation assets, our national guard and resevens are truly an operational reserve giving us increased depth and capacity. finally, we will leverage the lessons learned from ten years of combat as we look into developing what our future force might look at. going forward, the army has three principle and interconnected roles. prevent, shape, and win. we prevent conflict. we do this by maintaining credibility based on the army capacity, its readiness, and modernization to prevent miscalculation by potential adversaries. more over, the army has a critical role in shaping the environment by supporting combat and commanders and sustaining strong military relations with allies, building capacity of partners to maintain internal and regional stability and operating along side our joint forces to facilitate access around the world. and we stand ready to win our nation's wars when needed. if all else fails, we can apply the combined arms capabilities to dominate any environment and win decisively as part of the joint force. as we look ahead, the secretary and i have several priori

and put more than 1,000 veterans back to work right here in missouri. [applause] the missouri work strategy will expand the mission of show me heroes to include on-the-job training for national guard, reserve and active-duty veterans who left military service. we will work tirelessly to create job opportunities for every veteran in our state. the next killer is to accelerate investment in hydro energies like science and technology. with more than 1,000 life science and biotech companies missouri is already home to some of the brightest minds and innovators in the world. the missouri science and in a very it's -- innovation act we are poised for rapid progress. as part of the missouri works my budget includes $4 million in seed capital to invest in attracting the very best science talent in missouri. by speeding the flow of innovation out of the lab and into the marketplace we're growing industries today and creating the high-tech jobs of tomorrow. finally missouri works will help create jobs in rural communities. anyone who grew up in a small town like i did knows there something special. folks want their accounts to be places where kids can grow up safe, get a good education, find a job a

and reserve components. it means maintaining a strong national guard and reserve.ing a healthy cadre of experienced ncos and midgrade officers and preserving the health and viability of the nation's defense industrial base. the strategic guidance that we are providing is the first step in this department's goal to build the joint force of 2020, a. a4 sized and shaped differently than the military of the cold war, the post-cold war force of the 1990s, or the force that was built over the past decade to engage in large-scale ground wars. this strategy and vision will guide the more specific budget decisions that will be finalized and announced in the coming weeks as part of the president's budget. in some cases we will be reducing capabilities that we believe no longer are a top rider eddie. but in other cases, we will invest in new capabilities to maintain a decisive military adage against the growing array of threats. there is no question, there is no question that we have to make some trade-offs and that we will be taking, as a result of that, some level of additi

and reserve components. it means maintaining a strong national guard and reserve.g a healthy cadre of experienced ncos and midgrade officers and preserving the health and viability of the nation's defense industrial base. the strategic guidance that we are providing is the first step in this department's goal to build the joint force of 2020, a. a4 sized and shaped differently than the military of the cold war, the post-cold war force of the 1990s, or the force that was built over the past decade to engage in large-scale ground wars. this strategy and vision will guide the more specific budget decisions that will be finalized and announced in the coming weeks as part of the president's budget. in some cases we will be reducing capabilities that we believe no longer are a top rider eddie. but in other cases, we will invest in new capabilities to maintain a decisive military adage against the growing array of threats. there is no question, there is no question that we have to make some trade-offs and that we will be taking, as a result of that, some level of addition

i will give you one more thought, and the national guard reserve component in the to-war capability question i mentioned before. let me talk about nuclear forces. nuclear forces are still very important to america's security. i think we have to be careful about keeping our arsenal reliable, safe, dependable and on parity with russia. while i do not think the united states and russia will be adversaries and do not need to worry too much about the details of our single-integrated operational plan, a big war plan for fighting the russians, i do not think the details matter very much. i do think we want to avoid giving mr. putin and in the russian nationalists,ther we want to avoid giving them any hint we are succeeding to them. and i am not suggesting we get in their face and expand nato again, but i do believe on nuclear forces we have to be careful about not drawing down unilaterally, and we the arsenal to be safe and reliable. however, even if you promise those basic qualities, you can save a lot of money, i believe, by doing things differently. i did not think it matters that much each and

we met with general craig mckinley, and we have a lot of our reserve and national guard members deployed in the war on tear roar not attached to a military base, but are in your cities and communities, and in tulsa, for example, we open the doors to take active reserve and guard members and guard veterans as well. we serve those folks w0 are your neighbors that go to school with your children. to really wrap it up, legislation, we helped california, colorado, illinois, virginia to develop legislation. we're helping maine, and oklahoma, where i'm from, and other states as well to develop veteran treatment court legislation, and one of the first things i did when i came on board was to gain support of the most presee gas and most republicked service organizations. the marine corp. league, blue star mothers, veterans of foreign wars, american legion, national association of state directors of veteran affairs all came on board with public support for veterans treatment courts. like i said before,s organizations are in your communities and they vote and they are in the mayor's office. other s

will be maintaining a quick and ready operational components, leveraging 10 years of experience in war. consequently, we are maintaining a strong army reserve and national guard. there will be no reductions in the marine corps reserve. the air force will make balanced reductions in the international guard, consistent with reductions in both be active component and air force reserve. the budget recognizes that a critical part of our ability to mobilize is a healthy industrial base. maintain the vitality of the industrial base and avoiding imposing unnecessary costs and risks on our critical suppliers will guide many of the decisions we have made. now, let me turn to the quality of all or all-volunteer force. -- of our all-volunteer force. this budget recognizes that our people, far more than any weapons system, far more than any technology, are the great strength of the united states military. for that reason we focused first on every other area of the defense enterprise for savings in order to minimize any impact on the quality of the troops and their families. as a result, we were able to sustain or in hanse critical support programs, while reforming and reo

will be maintaining a quick and ready operational components, leveraging 10 years of experience in war. consequently, we are maintaining a strong army reserve and national guard. there will be no reductions in the marine corps reserve. the air force will make balanced reductions in the international -- air national guard, consistent with reductions in both be active component and air force reserve. the budget recognizes that a critical part of our ability to mobilize is a healthy industrial base. maintain the vitality of the industrial base and avoiding imposing unnecessary costs and risks on our critical suppliers will guide many of the decisions we have made. now, let me turn to the quality our all-volunteer force. the most fundamental element in our strategy and process is our people. this budget recognizes that our people, far more than any weapons system, far more than any technology, are the great strength of the united states military. for that reason we focused first on every other area of the defense enterprise for savings in order to minimize any impact on the quality of the troops and their families. as a result, we were able to sustain our in hous

will be maintaining a quick and ready operational components, leveraging 10 years of experience in war. consequently, we are maintaining a strong army reserve and national guardeductions in the marine corps reserve. the air force will make balanced reductions in the international guard, consistent with reductions in both be active component and air force reserve. the budget recognizes that a critical part of our ability to mobilize is a healthy industrial base. maintain the vitality of the industrial base and avoiding imposing unnecessary costs and risks on our critical suppliers will guide many of the decisions we have made. now, let me turn to the quality of all or all-volunteer force. -- of our all-volunteer force. this budget recognizes that our people, far more than any weapons system, far more than any technology, are the great strength of the united states military. for that reason we focused first on every other area of the defense enterprise for savings in order to minimize any impact on the quality of the troops and their families. as a result, we were able to sustain or in hanse critical support programs, while reforming and reorganizing others to

and how can we as a d., as a community, as a nation do a better job of insuring that our guard and reserve members are not unfairly penalized by current or potential employers in what is already a very difficult economy. the obama administration is extremely serious about expanding career opportunities for veterans, and we've launched a series of initiatives to help out, but there's certainly much work to be done in this arena. i'd like to conclude my remarks on a note of optimism. .. if anything, the secretary's commitment to open communication, to shared buy-in, only intensified the process, only intensified as the process went forward. this is a remarkable thing to witness and i've seen many reviews in the pentagon before. it gives me a lot of faith frankly in our civilian and military leadership to make sound decisions as these very difficult choices have to be made in the months and years ahead. no doubt those choices will involve some sacrifice. for example, as part of the total force the reserve components will experience some in-strength reductions commensurate with their active du

years in the army in the infantry and i worry when our military gets small enough that we are rotating national guards units in because it makes me wonder what are our reserve forces? the original idea was the guard was part pve our reserve we would mobilize in a real crisis. if they now become part of the regular operational army, we have no reserves and that's a real danger to the habit we've gotten into in the last eight or 10 years. second, i think the odds are very high that we are in the process of losing iraq. i think the iran yangians -- iranians are on offense and the fact is when prime minister malaki visited the white house recently he had a brigade xander of the iranian revolutionary guard in his entourage, a man who we believe was responsible for killing americans. the fact that the obama administration either didn't know it or didn't care about it gives you some sense of how bad this is. in afghanistan we have always had two core problems that we have never dealt with. the first is that the pashtun live equally in pakistan and in southern afghanistan and they ethnically don't recognize the border. so if you concede pakistan as a sanctuary, you

national guard bureau. like ms. thompson said, we have a lot of our reserves in national guard members reserved. there in your cities, in your communities. we opened our doors to take active cardmembers. -- active guard members. andto really wrapped up, in legislation we have held california, colorado, illinois, texas, virginia, develop better treatment court legislation. and several other states as well to develop better treatment legislation. one of the first things i did when i came on board justice for vets was to gain support of the most prestigious and respected organizations. the marine corps league. blue star mothers. the american legion. the disabled american veterans. the ball come on board with their public support for veterans' treatment courts. i said before, these organizations are in your community. and they do vote. other support, the national bar association. the american judges association. our committee is chaired and under his leadership we have been able to implement a lot of veterans treatment court and better policy so far. we are really just hitting the tip of the spear with this. in tulsa for example, we're getting about 150 residents alone in tulsa county. we did not even have an active

in the army in the infantry, and i worry when our military gets small enough, though we are rotating national guard units in because it makes me wonder what are our reserve forces. the original idea was the guard was part of our reserve, that we would mobilize in the real crisis. if they are part of the real national army, we have no reserves. that's the real danger we have gotten into in the last eight or 10 years. the odds are very high that we are in the process of losing iraq. i think the iranians are on offense. the obama administration is collapsing in the region. i think that it is -- the fact is that when prime minister mall i can visited the white house recently, he had a brigade commander of the iranian revolutionary guard in his entourage, a man who we believe was responsible for killing americans. now, the fact that the obama administration either didn't know it or didn't care about it gives you some sense of how bad this is. in afghanistan, we have always had two core problems that we have never dealt with. the first is that the pastan give equally in afghanistan and southern pakistan. they don't recognize the border. if you concede pakistan

years in the army in the infantry, and i worry when our military gets small enough that we are rotating national guard units in because it makes me wonder what are our reserve forces? the original idea is that the guard was part of our reserve, that it would mobilize in a crisis. if they become part of the regular operational army, we have the reserves. that is a real danger to what we have gotten into in the last eight or 10 years. second, i think the odds are very high that we are in the process of losing iraq. i think the iranians are on offense. i think the obama administration is collapsing in the region, and i think the fact is that when prime minister maliki visited the white house recently, he had a commander of the iranian revolutionary guard in his entourage, a man we believe was responsible for killing americans. the fact that the obama administration either did not know it or did not care about it gives you some sense of how bad this is. in afghanistan, we have always had two core problems that have never dealt with. shtunirst is that the pas 1 live in southern afghanistan and actively do not recognize the border. if you could see pakistan as a

old seize an opportunity at that moment and what that means is you mobilize part of the national guard's combat brigade capability. other aspects of the reserveso start increasing the size of the active army and marine corps at that moment. but if you do those things in here is where i will finish. i think we can go to a somewhat smaller active army and marine corps band obama administration is currently in pending. as you know we can go to 480,000 soldiers. 182,000 marines. i think these numbers are at one level reasonable, but they are able bit too high for right thought necessary to meet the budget targets and they are higher than what we need to be if we make proper use of the reserve component while recognizing more of our threats have shifted to the maritime domain to the areas of the persian gulf and the western pacific not quite as much to the sands of mesopotamia because for better or worse they doubled in the future, iraq and other major companies in the middle east are unlikely to drag this into the large war. as we think that by making the greater use frankly of the institutions that you represent and have served within and embodi

and women of the idaho national guard's 116th cavalry brigaden h combat team. co [applause] we also recently welcomed home about 100 idahoans who were h deployed to iraq with the armyio reserve's 391st engineeraq with company. but it is my solemn duty toolemu report that two of ou lives defm during 2011 in a country half a world away. i ask that you remember and speech debate could teach the specialist nicholas and their loved one in your prayers and thoughts as we begin our work. along with staff sergeant jason who was wounded and received the purple heart, they were among the more than 1500 idaho members of the 116 who put their lives on line for us and they were not alone. specialist robert at the first infantry division and the 82nd airborne and corporal ryan shore of the infantry division each gave a measure of devotion in the defense of liberty during 2011. they were our sons, our fathers, our brothers, our teachers, our students and friends. they will be sorely missed. now that most of our soldiers are home and once again helping make idaho the best place in the world to live and raise a family unfortunately that isn't true of hanly who remains in captivity of the talib