he wanted to work at the va. he applied for seven positions and was never even called back for an interview. this was not due to his training. the doctor graduated from the university of alabama medical school and is a fellow of the american academy of radiology. the doctor is also an attorney in hospital administration with a focus on waste, fraud and abuse. the only barrier that prevented him from working at a va was his choice insert if in certification. he chose avps. because of that choice, he's denied the opportunity to take of his fellow veterans. we're asking to cease the discrimination. behind the discrimination is that most people do not understand what board certification is. it's a choice. and an indicator that a practitioner has demonstrated their skills in their chosen facility. there's three agencies. there's the american board of physician specialties and the largest of the three is made up of 24 individual specialty bodies making everybody believe that they are all different entities. this structu

no disrespect to the va. it is not within their job description to manage these mammoth multi-million dollar in fact, billion-dollar projects, on which the future of va health care depends. and when you and i go to build a house, we don't ordinarily -- we are not our own contractors. maybe some of you are but we try to get a little professional help to do it. that may be an inexact analogy. but for all the government agencies, not just the va, there should be some professional center of management that maximizes resources, reduces costs, makes it energy efficient, decides what materials and designs should be incorporated. so i think we have a lot to discuss going forward. i welcome your participation in i thank chairman for this hearing. thank you all. >> thank you senator blumenthal and let me echo everything that was told on the 40-mile world in terms of distance driven versus growth line, that it was going to expand the number of people eligible for va choice. it would cost more money. now that we have talk

va docs in dennis. in the late 1960s and '70s nearly all va medical centers were led by directors who were physicians. the position now called the va undersecretary of health was known as the chief medical director. at that time there was a direct line from the chief of staff at the medical center to the chief medical director. issues of the quality of medical care were raised and addressed by medical professionals. today chiefs of staff report to a clinical specialist at the centers. in more recent times, there's also been a strong movement to eliminate the need even to have a physician in the role of undersecretary of held. i ask, would it be wise or even possible to run the defense department without generals and admirals in leadership positions? we are not saying that there is no role for nonphysicians in the administration of hospitals or medical care. we are saying, however, that medical judgment should be base on years of education and patient care. physicians are being loaded with with additional dutie

no disrespect to the va. it is not within their job description to manage these mammoth multi-million dollar impact billion-dollar projects on which the future of va health care depends and when you and i go to build a house we don't ordinarily we are not our own contractors. maybe some of you are but we tried to get a little professional help and that may be in an exact analogy but for all the government agencies, not just the va there should be some professional center of management that maximizes resources, reduces costs, makes it energy-efficient decide what material should be incorporated so i think we have a lot to discuss going forward. i welcome your participation in i thank chairman for this hearing. thank you all. >> thank you senator blumenthal and let me echo everything that richards and point out a couple of things. originally in our first hearing the va testified told us on the 40-mile world in terms of distance driven versus growth line that was going to expand the number of people out of bowl b

the patient's decision or the va's decision? >> i think it is up to the patient to make that decision. you ask a patient whether or not they want it go to craig or the va, they're going to want to go to the va. >> really? okay. one issue that i'm concerned about is the transition from active duty military into civilian life. and so i was on the side as nco and on the officer's side. but illicit army nco officer marine corps and the -- i had an easy time going from illicit army to civilian life because i actually went to college under the gi bill. it was much tougher as a junior officer leaving the united states marine corps and going in civilian life. i wanted to be in business management, but didn't have a business degree, and had been in army, marine corps infantry and was so frustrated at one time instead of putting on my resume that i had been an infantry officer in the marine corps specializing in amphibious warfare, i put down i was involved in international real estate specializing in the acquisition of beachfront property

the american legion believes if va were to move forward with the rule change to include the va medicalacility that can provide the needed medical care or services everyone would see increases in minimization and access to non-va health care. the american legion applauds the senate for unanimously -- reminding the department of veterans affairs they have the obligation to provide non-va care where they cannot offer the same treatment as one of its own facilities within the 40-mile driving distance from the veterans homes. we now call upon the house to take up h.r. 572 the veterans access to community care act and ensured its swift passage. let's get these bills to the president's desk and make sure we have taking care of our veterans. during a recent visit last month to examine the health care system in puerto rico the american legion learned that the va staff had mistakenly telling veterans that no one on the island was eligible for health care and to the chase card program because there is no medical facility further than 40 miles from anywhere anyone lived. the american legion is con

the va's instructions were to come to wichita. so a three-hour drive each way to get a cortisone shot. we raised this issue with secretary mcdonald at a hearing here on september the 9th. larry contacted it us and said i don't care how it comes, the choice act or any way that the va can provide this service. we raised this topic with the secretary in september of last year. then, in -- shortly thereafter, the director took this issue to heart and at least solved the problem but unfortunately, temporarily. in december, larry was granted an appointment in hayes. the place where the cboc exists, that doesn't offer cortisone shots, but he got care in the private sector of last year. the doctor who treated him, who provided the colonoscopy wanted to follow up and va denied that and sent him back to wichita. they denied that request because he was not eligible for choice. it exists within 40 miles of his home. he's back to wichita, ultimately he needed to -- instead of a cortisone shot, a colonoscopy. he is trapped in this system of no o

no disrespect to the va. it is not within their job description to manage these mammoth multi-million dollar in fact, billion-dollar projects, on which the future of va health care depends. and when you and i go to build a house, we don't ordinarily -- we are not our own contractors. maybe some of you are but we try to get a little professional help to do it. that may be an inexact analogy. but for all the government agencies, not just the va, there should be some professional center of management that maximizes resources, reduces costs, makes it energy effecthfficient efficient, decides what materials and designs should be encorp incorporated. so i think we have a lot to discuss going forward. i welcome your participation in i thank chairman for this hearing. thank you all. >> thank you senator blumenthal and let me echo everything that was told on the 40-mile world in terms of distance driven versus growth line, that it was going to expand the number of people eligible for va choice. it would cost more money

the va has never done research on agent orange. so iom were scratching around wherever they could find stuff instead of having original research review. it was a shame and the iom induced toxic research act we're talking about we also talk about -- which would basically extend the 91 act to include persian gulf and more recent veterans with the institute of medicine would start studying them now. the one thing about the iom was they were considered off to the side. it's interesting once again we see the va just recently put up barriers. so when the iom basically told the va you guys really screwed up when it came to the sea 123 crew members and pilots and crew, that they agreed those planes were toxic even despite the va basically disavowing all knowledge spent this is the point i want to bring up that is why say this to my colleagues. while it may be a granular issue it is a broad one because this is about research, best practices and cutting up problems before they become as big as they are. we know we're going to see these things

more importantly, non va care must sup lement the care. ideally, va would have the capps thety to provide timely access and direct care for all the veterans it serves. we know however, that va medical facilities continue to operate at 115% capacity and may never be able to build enough capacity to provide direct care to all the veterans that it serves. va must continue to expand capacity based on stamping models for each health care specialty and patient density thresholds. however, va cannot rely on building new facilities alone. when thresholds are exceeded, va must use the sharing adpreemtgreements with other health care systems and affiliates hospitals when hospital and purchase care when it must. mr. chairman, this concludes my testimony. i'm prepared to answer any questions you may have. >> at the beginning of your testimony, you said va must immediately address, i couldn't write fast enough to put it down, but i couldn't find it in the testimony. what was that very first in your first two or three sentences? >> yes, my first statemen

the va's instructions were to come to wichita. so a three-hour drive each way to get a cortisone shot. we raised this issue with secretary mcdonald at a hearing here on september the 9th. larry contacted it us and said i don't care how it comes the choice act or any way that the va can provide this service. we raised this topic with the secretary in september of last year. then, in -- shortly thereafter the director took this issue to heart and at least solved the problem but unfortunately temporarily. in december, larry was granted an appointment in hayes. the sea book that doesn't offer cortisone shots but he got it in september of last year. the doctor who treated him who provided the colon os skop pea wanted to follow up and va denied that and sent him back to wichita. they denied that request because he was not eligible for choice. it exists within 40 miles of his home. he's back to wichita, ultimately he needed to -- instead of a cortisone shot, a colonoscopy. he is trapped in this system of no one telling him what he can do

it is still the va making the decision. share with me your thoughts, because i'm sure that this is not a new thought. so explain your logic in terms of not allowing them to make that choice than elves. -- to make that choice themselves. >> we have spent a great deal of time talking about this. one of the things for us to keep in mind is that 81% of the veterans we provide care for have medicare, medicaid, or some form of private health insurance. oftentimes what you see today, you mention this fact earlier that the veterans have given the option for toys and somewhat -- option for choice and some would elect to stay in and that is precisely what happens today. roughly half of 40 to 50%, depending on who's the survey you are listening to. i would tell you my perspective, part of those are deciding to stay because they are getting great care and they enjoy the camaraderie with other veterans, they have continuity of care because they have been receiving care for a long time and others come there because they have an economic

the va the nondefense side. all of the funding for our counter and violent extremism grant program something you all have asked a lot of questions about, that comes out of the department of justice. that's on the domestic side. those are few of the reasons why we object to the nda bill. >> sorry. that was a lot. i just wanted to be clear. so would the white house be more inclund the support the senate version of the bill because of the guantanamo bay language in it or no. sorry. >> no. >> okay. >> stephen. >> -- et cetera. there's been talk from the podium about progress that's been made against isil. this is obviously seems like a big setback. what is the white house assessment? are we losing this war? do we need to do something differently? what is the white house doing to try and prevent this critical city from falling? >> we do continue to work steven, with our coalition partners along several lines of effort to degrade and ultimately destroyed isil. as you know more than 60 partners are contributing to this

the va instructions were come to wichita. we raised this topic with secretary mcdonald hearing on september the 9th. larry contacted us and said i don't care how it comes. we raised this topic with the secretary in september of last year. shortly thereafter the director in kansas city took this issue to heart and has solved the problem temporarily. in december he was granted an appointment. i should say it does not offer cortisone shots, but he got care and the private sector. the dr. who treated him then asked to treat him again and to follow up. the va denied that request and send them back to wichita. they denied the request because he was not eligible for choice. so he is back to wichita. ultimately he then needed a colonoscopy same series of events. the outpatient public does not provide colonoscopies command he is trapped in the system of no one telling him what he can do. he has gone to wichita but recently last week he received a letter from the va approving and for choice. he then calls try west. try west says, you ar

the american legion believes if va were to move forward with the rule change to include the va medical facility that can provide the needed medical care or services everyone would see increases in minimization and access to non-va health care. the american legion applauds the senate for unanimously -- reminding the department of veterans affairs they have the obligation to provide non-va care where they cannot offer the same treatment as one of its own facilities within the 40-mile driving distance from the veterans homes. we now call upon the house to take up h.r. 572 -- the veterans access to community care act and ensured its swift passage. let's get these bills to the president's desk and make sure we have taking care of our veterans. during a recent visit last month to examine the health care system in puerto rico the american legion learned that the va staff had mistakenly telling veterans that no one on the island was eligible for health care under the choice card program because there is no medical facility further than 40 miles from anywhere anyone lived. the american legion i

head of the va has the power tommediately. >> with the stroke of a pen today, he could say those veterans who were so served on ships are eligible for medical benefits. >> reporter: as he heads to work the bumper sticker on his car says all you need to know. he is very proud of his service in vietnam, and now he just wants his government to step up to the plate in the same way that he did over 40 years ago. >> we served our country, and we are sick from a chemical that was used during the war. and we need to be taken care of. >> reporter: john terrett, al jazeera, connecticut. >>> two of b.b. king's daughter say their father was murdered. the daughters claim who close associates poisoned him. las vegas police say there is no evidence of foul play but plan to investigate. an autopsy was done sunday results could take up to two months. >>> the nba mvp suffered a terrible fall he got caught in the air, went down hard last night, slammed his back neck and side of his head. thanks for watching i'm stephanie sy. the news

the choice program. right now they are scheduled an appointment at va. if it is beyond 30 days, they keep the appointment and they call triwest or healthnet and explore what their options are in the private sector. that means they are making an informed decision when they decide to essentially reject the va appointment. if you change that to having the veteran make the election before exploring their private sector options, it is not an informed decision. and actually leads to veterans, if they go to the private sector having to go in the back of the line and restart their va

we'll tell you where the va is refusing to help them. >>> more that 6500 american solders have died in the wars in iraq and afghanistan. today the country remembers them, and honors the service and sacrifice of all of those who died serving in the u.s. military. president obama marked memorial day by laying a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier. >> on this day we honor the sacrifice of the thousands of american service members, men and women, who gave their lives since 9/11. most americans don't fully see, don't fully understand the sacrifice made by the 1% who served in this all-volunteer armed forces. sacrifice that preserves the freedoms we too often take for granted. it's a debt we can never fully repay. but it is a debt we will never stop trying to fully repay. >> president obama said the remaining 10,000 troop still stationed in iraq on a training mission should be home by the end of 2016. >>> a group of u.s. navy veterans is still fighting for medical benefits. they say they were exposed to agent orange. but the u.s. governm

the va sent a letter saying that he died. this veteran very much alive. e faces a new fight because of what the government has done to his benefits. >> a royal fan gets major face time with prince harry. flush >> terror one click away. the fbi's brand new warning about isis here in america. we learn about what the agency knew right before the texas attack. >> extreme weather. tornadoes tearing up neighborhoods flash flooding washing away streets, millions in the path. and the worst is yet to come. >> and firing back. tom brady taking his first questions since the deflate gate report. >> it has only been 30 hours. i haven't had much time to digest it fully. >> how he says it effects the patriots super bowl win. "fox & friends first" continues right now. >> it is 30 minutes after the top of the hour. not a good weekend for many people across the country. the sen federal plains battered by bad weather. >> this comes one day after nearly 50 twisters left behind a trail of destruction. >> the worst, it is not over yet. more storms expected today and into the we

maybe the va should look into a hire. melissa: exactly. all right. don't count your government out yet. the obama administration is all over the real crime in this country the size of the billboards in times square. i wish i was kidding about this story. the feds telling new york to pull down many of the iconic knee i don't know-lit -- neon lit signs. a 2012 law limiting billboards applied to types square. only took the government three years to catch on. 1965 highway beautification act which limits signs to 1200 square feet. the feds were walking around times square said, wait a second, these are bigger than that! >> the signs in times square are as iconic as underpants cowboy and dirty elmo. i don't envision without doing them anytime. >> we talked to the federal highway administration. they're backing off. saying, we really didn't intend to yank $90 million in federal fund to you guys. we'll, we have been working for a year they say on a solution. they could write it in 10 seconds, you are hereby exempt, times square. melissa: but there has to be m

so you can see records from the va and the dod. they have taken the first step. the integrating of the data has the same core elements, so there is a technology issue, which is solvable. there is also a policy and culture issue, which honestly is generally the harder one and what we're facing in circumstances like information blocking which is one of the things getting in the way of interoperability and the broader community. >> you spoke of the open source. that seems by definition not to include information blocking. so who is blocking the info? >> so information blocking can happen sometimes from technology, but what we're seeing commonly is that the vendor systems will -- >> i accept that. we have had those hearings about how the vendors are blocking, so now let's take it back where we started. my fear is that the very vendors blocking data are the ones bidding but you mentioned it is open source but return to the fact there could be blocking. so i guess i'm not clear, will the final $11 billion project be something that i at our lady of the lake in baton rou

because the va represents about ten times the patients that dod has really go with the va standard. > i i appreciate your idea of a good plan. for. the 1st time you evaluate and try to prioritize where you want to go as you look at all of those 27 centers to come up with an overall strategic plan. >> that is absolutely right. >> and you hope to have that available by the end of this year. >> it would be helpful. i helpful. i want to encourage you to do that. i am supportive of it. the questions are better asked by you to start with. you have those 27 plans to look at. it's the internal arguments that you need to have about why this is a bigger priority. let's sit down and hear from you about how we are prioritizing this. only alzheimer's discussions in the bill last year's the objective was for you to have a plan that would be to go by 2025 broke the brand-new. >> am sorry. >> in terms of our we asked for specifically. a bypassed budget of what it would take to get their's the plan is refreshed every year we will attach that to estimate of what it would take to accomplish that because

the va and the dod need to do much better to coordinate their records. clearly electronic medical records are critical to precision medicine. now i hear that there's an $11 billion dod contract going out and i'm not quite sure that it's coordinating with the va. and we have testimony recently about how there's a lack of interoperateability. so i feel like we're in a thicket here and we can't get out. but all we know, we're about to spend $11 billion on something that the va system is not interoperable with. please tell me that i'm absolutely wrong. >> senator, that is -- the dod's acquisition of a new electronic health record you with correct. we're intimately involved in that. the department of defense has embedded staff with us at onc to see that we're communicating. the department of defense has agreed to lead the way to pointing to the standard. if i could for a second -- >> i nl have three and a half minutes. >> one of the important things is to move away from proprietary -- >> there's open source budders. epic is one of them. >> those vendors will

not the first time the va made a mistake like this. >> unfortunately it's not. eran who also received a letter that was sent to his supposed widow and i actually have a copy of the letter right here. it says we're sorry to learn about the death of james fell, extend to your our deepest sympathies. you can imagine what it was like for him to read this. we spoke with him over skype today. he said he was able to get his benefits back but is frustrated with the lack of accountability. >> i mean, there's zero, none. if you ask how this happened, how did i end up deceased in the computer? we don't know. was the answer i was given. >> he received his medical care from the va at a hospital in arkansas. now, he says that the irony is that he actually received a call from that hospital seven days after this letter was sent to him, that basically was trying to schedule followup appointments. so seems as if the the different branches are not communicating. >> how often does this happen, the dead not dead. >> there aren't any specific numbers for the va but you know how when

in fact tell what's happening within the system. because va instances is not letting anybody else know. in fact they're covering many of the issues up. >> thank you for joining us. be sure to keep us posted on the progrm. >> thank you, elizabeth. >>> across the pond this morning, a huge announcement. royal fans and media are camping outside a hospital hoping to catch a glimpse of the new royal baby. a town crier revealing the dutch and duchess of cambridge welcomed a healthy baby girl. amy kellogg is live outside st. mary's hospital in london with all the new royal baby details. >> reporter: hi elizabeth. we're state waiting for a glimpse of the little princess. we finally got a glimpse of the very proud father and the very bewildered little brother who is inside now meeting his little sister. it was a radiant prince will the duke of cambridge, who emerged a couple of hours ago, just looking so happy, saying in fact he was very happy, and he was off to collect prince george. he was back in no time. got out of his range rover. of course he went

this time nothing to do with the va scandal we've been following for months. we'll tell you about the party that officials say crossed a different kind of line. >>> cameras capture a trespasser wandering through a local neighborhood. we'll tell you where the black bear was spotted not once but twice. >>> it's 5:44 and 67 degrees outside. we are following breaking news this morning. sources tell "nbc 10 news" police could get an arrest warrant today for a man wanted in two sexual assaults in philadelphia. this after a raid sources say produced gloves and a pair of shoes that match evidence they were looking for in the case. >>> and we're following breaking news out of dallas texas. here's a live look at the tow truck trying to rescue cars stranded by rising water there. at least five cars are submerged right now and you can see -- you could see the tractor-trailer halfway under. this area got about four inches of rain overnight. we'll continue to monitor these developments and bring you new information as soon as we get it. >>> look at this a close encounter in

this does not include the va. how will you support the military health care programs and returning veterans? sen. rubio: returning veterans will go into the va system. it was designed 87 years ago and is no longer responsive to the needs of veterans today. a significant percentage of the workload in my senate office are va claims, and veteran should be given the right to go outside the system so they can access the care they need. as far as military spending is it -- concerned, military spending is not the cause of our national debt. every time we reduce military spending, it has required us to make up for it. should we improve our contracting process? absolutely. i wish our military contracting looked more like space contracting, with less change orders adding price to it. the number one obligation of the federal government is national security, and we are eroding our capability as adversaries are increasing their capability. >> where are you going to get the money for it? sen. rubio: the money is there. the quest

we couldn't have done this without the support of the va and housing authority and city and county of san francisco and state of sacramento. there are key moments in this time and i won't bor you, but i do recall that after the 10th an versery of the end of the war people discovered vietnam vets had a problem, so we tried to address the problems and mayor fine stein was dealing with the hot line hotels. we know that wasn't the answer so over the years we developed a continuum of care and approach and recently there was key game changers and among the key game changers is when hud stepped up and said we'll make housing subsidize available for vets and it was called the [inaudible] program. that was followed up by support service och vets and families for va. the va stepped up and provided social services and hud stepped up and provided rent lt and city and county worked with the landlords to align everything. you have a lot of resources to align whether you dwem a new or olds project. all that together, a group that understood the community and vets helping vets is what [inaudible] rep

>> during the stakeholder meetings we had with the va and is human services agency is h s a is going to be is providing is referrals for they're basically their clients in collaboration with the va so, i mean then for our other 50 family units we'll implement our typical marketing process we'll have outreach and do a lottery. >> we'll do that. >> we would do that. >> yeah. >> okay. >> make sure we have enough money in the budget yep. >> thank you. >> okay okay. >> next. >> is the next order of business is item 9 commissioners questions or comments and matters madam chair. >> so you have a question i'd like to bring back up. >> the workshop i want to do a workshop within the next two months where anybody interested many loren about certificates who have a certificate of preference can come and maybe we can do a partnership with like consumer credit services of san francisco to get people in the pipeline on how to rebuild their credit to get people ready to fill some of the units that are going to be coming up going book it is going to be a great thing to share with people we care and

frye says that the va has been illegally spending $6 billion a year, buying services and supplies fromroper contracts competition or oversight violating the agency's own rules and federal laws. in the memo, he describes a culture of lawlessness and chaos, gross mismanagement and a mockery that he says could lead to serious harm or death to america's veterans. doors are wide open for waste and abuse he writes, in the system that has 9 million veterans. frye places the blame squarely on top brass accusing va officials of ignoring his concerns and deceiving congress. no persons were held accountable for these violations of law he writes, but swept under the rug and my office to approve an institution al ratification for thousands of commitments worth hundreds of millions of dollars. >> you can't treat veterans like this. >> frye's memo marks the latest scandal in an agency already wracked by a series of scandal. revelations of long wait times by veterans seeking care led to congressional hearings. >> working together and really meaning it. working together for the good of our veterans, th

before i begin i want to say the vfw opposes va's change to the way veterans choose to use the veterans choice program. veterans must have the opportunity to explore their private sector options before rejecting their va appointments. this change is a bureaucratic convenience that will negatively affect veterans experiences. the vfw continues to play an integral part in identifying new issues the veterans choice program faces in recommending reasonable solutions. yesterday we published our second report evaluating this important program which made 13 recommendations on how to ensure it accomplishes its intended goal of expanding access to health care for america's veterans.

the vfw opposes va's change to the way veterans choose to use the veterans choice program. veterans must have the opportunity to explore their private sector options before rejecting their va appointments. this change is a bureaucratic convenience that will negatively affect veterans experiences. the vfw continues to play an integral part in identifying new issues the veterans choice program faces in recommending reasonable solutions. yesterday we published our second report evaluating this important program which made 13 recommendations on how to ensure it accomplishes its intended goal of expanding access to health care for america's veterans. our initial report identified a

however you did have the reporting on the va scandal, right? where there was complete mismanagement, and you did see the media latch onto that and paint the va as villains. i'm not here to defend all of the terrible journalism going on and there is a lot of it. it's certainly a lot easier right now to pontificate and spout off than it is to take a 30,000 foot view and take a look at what the government is actually doing with our dollars. neil: well brent, and i raised this with the republicans too, who find the $600 billion defense budget isn't cutting it. if you're digging a whole best to put the spending shovel down or the big government shovel down, what do you think? >> here's a direct answer to the question. if you look at a perceived problem you will never hear on the networks, leave it alone, let people show some personal responsibility. get government out of equation, you'll never hear. that you'll hear a discussion how much the government needs to do. neil: guys i wish we had more time. i wish you could have come to blows you are in two

they just want the va to work. >> has anything at the va improved since then? egseth not not even close. >> the american bomb shells performing on the plaza this memorial day. ♪ america america ♪ ♪ god shed his grace on thee ♪ ♪ and crown thy good ♪ ♪ with brotherhood ♪ ♪ from sea to shining sea ♪ ♪ america ♪ er gummy multivitamin from centrum. a complete, and tasty new way to support... your energy... immunity... and metabolism like never before. centrum multigummies. see gummies in a whole new light. at hilton, we say... play hooky from the ordinary. the uninspired. the routine. but mostly just play. with hilton's 12 brands you always get the lowest price. only when you book direct at hilton.com. he says she's an undisciplined overwaterer. she claims he's a cruel underwaterer. with miracle-gro moisture control potting mix, plants only get water when they need it. fight ended. or shifted? miracle-gro. life starts here. >>> a gentleman talked about how they were treated like the problem. why are you trying to come back and get this care. come back five months fr

va. my hope is to make sure that using the 25 million patients that the va has and the 2 million patients has we have one unified record. my hope we have this all with open code and open source to repeat the success that motorola had with the android system, where they had 70,000 apps from the industry that were written to the open code of android. can you give me a comment on that? >> i will be coming to you with a stroke net consortium we're putting together across illinois with five hospitals. i will say including barnes, jewish which is particularly good at working with nih. >> well, i'm really -- my hat is off to you for what you're doing with the dod and va to try to make this into a seamless electronic health record. all people in the service are anxious to see that happen. it's been difficult with those transitions. this all fits together with a broader effort to try to see if electronic health records that are being collected on all of us can be made more enter operable so you can walk around from one state to the next and have your health records accessible when you need them. t

14 months of combat in racking this helps me without relying on transcriptions prescriptions from the va the property mcd will support the underserved population of folks and providing more folks with a tax revenue and quite a few thank you. >> thank you. next speaker. >> good evening ladies and gentlemen, i'm here strongly against this in my neighborhood thank you. >> next speaker. >> my name is anna no more mcd thank you. >> thank you. next speaker. >> (speaking foreign language.) >> if they want to use medicinal marijuana they can about dispensed in hospital they wouldn't negatively impact our young. >> commissioners good evening. i'm wendy wong i was here 5 years ago i'm years later you see the hundreds of thousands of people speaking loutd they don't want not out of the woods in their areas i see the 1 on ocean avenue every time he see the cars were parking at hydrant and double parking next to the restaurant and i opposition e oppose to have the mcd in our area thank you. >> thank you. next speaker. >> i strongly oppose mcd shop open around school area thank you. >> i happy and sav

the va betrayal trail left us the trade. our country seems to forget there is the war in iraq and afghanistan. we see a congress divided in washington. with an election looming it will be worse. veterans could unite you and all americans. put politics aside, listen to our community, and get to work. host: coming up in our next segment, the political director of iraq and afghanistan veterans of america bill rausch will be here to talk about some of those issues that his boss brought up in that testimony. we show a live shot of the tomb of the unknowns this morning this memorial day, where president obama will participate in a ceremony and memorial day observance at the tomb of the unknowns. that is live at 10:30. you can watch it on c-span coming up after the "washington journal." we want to hear more from veterans and their families on the transition from military to civilian life. albany, new york, vietnam era. good morning. caller: i want to talk about my brother. he was in the saratoga service. he was in the vietnam war.

i'm a vietnam era veteran and the biggest part that problem i found with dealing with the va top-heavy with administration. the goal is to deny better and services. -- 29 veterans services -- to deny veterans services. when people getting in the service get into the service side of vet administration, you get better service because the people who were actually there are there because they care about veterans. the layers in between is what is destroying the system. you have all these top-heavy administrators, all these people with great ideas but no real-world experience dealing with the veterans. when you talk to them about post-traumatic stress and issues you may be dealing with, they do not have a clue so they cannot relate to it. when you get down into the weeds of trying to get into a program that is when you are having a lot of problems. the people up top are out there to denied veteran services and benefits. being in the army is a lot different than being in the marine corps or any other organization because the army was the largest portion of veterans. we do not have the individ