president, i ask unanimous consent that the committee on veterans' affairs be discharged from further consideration of s. 94 of 6 and the send a proceed to its immediate consideration. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. 946, a bill to require the secretary of veterans' affairs to hire additional veterans justice outreach specialists. the presiding officer: without objection, the committee is discharged and the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. alexander: i ask unanimous consent that the flake substitute amendment be considered and agreed to, the bill, as amended, be considered read a third time and passed, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. alexander: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the committee on veterans' affairs be discharged from further consideration of h.r. 1725, and the senate proceed to its immediate consideration. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: h.r. 1725, an act to direct the secretary of veterans' affairs to submit certai

testified before the house veterans affairs committee.

what's new in this new report about what the secretary of veterans affairs was up to?ds that the chief of staff to va secretary altered an e-mail and made false statements and that then led to the secretary's wife's travel being paid for, for this more than a week long trip to europe last summer. that comes in an ig report today. that cost taxpayers more than $4,000. other findings in that report as well that he improperly accepted tickets to wimbledon that had he purchased, the ig's report said would have costed thousands of dollars. it also says very interesting here that shulkin himself dreked a staffer at the va to access what they're calling, and i'm quoting, a personal travel concierge to him and his wife, setting up all kinds of personal activities that didn't have anything to do with the agency's work. shulkin is being ordered to repay the department for his wife's travel. also, reimburse the business associate who gave these tickets back the money for those wimbledon tickets as well as to overgo an investigation into the travel packages of the department he le

he received a lifetime service achievement award from the department of veterans affairs and nominated and selected to be inducted in the kentucky veterans hall of fame for his lifetime of service to veterans. , ese two deserving veterans ranklin sousley and troy bowling, never abandoned the rine motto of searcher idelis, always -- semper idelis, always faithful. we honor these two service members for their service and sacrifice to our country and to our veterans. i'd like to thank the members of the sixth congressional district veterans coalition for bringing this idea for this legislation to my attention. i would also like to thank my colleagues in the kentucky congressional delegation, leader mitch mcconnell, senator rand paul, congressman hahl rodgesers, -- hal rogers, kongman guthrie, congressman massie, and congressman comer for their support as well. mr. speaker, in closing, i urge my colleagues in the house to support the passage of this meaningful legislation, honoring veterans in kentucky, and i yield back the remainder of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognize

as you know, veterans affairs relies on the funding for a total requirement. the budget also seizes the opportunity to expand access to benefits and services, which are focused on the priorities i've outlined. providing veterans with greater choice, modernizing our systems, focusing on resources and what is most important to veterans, improving timeliness and services, and preventing veteran suicide. suicide is my top clinical priority. the budget includes $8.6 billion .'s mentale v.a health services, an increase, of 5.8% above the 2018 current estimate. the increase enables 106-2000 more outpatients in 2019 for mental health, and directs 299 -- $299 million more for suicide outreach. it also and labels -- also enables us to effectively implement the president's executive order that supports transitioning military members with mental health services during the first critical years veterans. we are also targeting women's health, one of our fastest-growing populations of the v.a., by increasing nearly 6% over 2018. the budget provides $1.1 billion in major constr

. >>> the house veterans affairs subcommittees on health and economic opportunity held a joint hearing on homelessness among veterans. representatives from advocacy and veterans service groups testified, as well as officials with the department of veterans affairs, labor and housing and urban development. >> the subcommittee will come to order. good morning, everyone. thank you for being here. it's my pleasure to welcome you to today's subcommittee -- joint subcommittee on health and

the secretary's most annual performance report describes fiscal report for the department of veterans affairs. we have drafted a new strategic plan for fy 2018 to '24 that reimagines our relationship with veterans and how we serve them. as a result, the metrics we track will change significantly in some instances. that statement leaves much to the imagination and has triggered a multitood of reactions and over reactions. when i asked my minnesota veterans organization leaders what i should ask the secretary, my number one response was, are you going to privatize the va? so, i hope you, sir, will use this opportunity to provide a clearer picture of what you intend the va to transition to, how it will affect the day to day interface that each veteran will have with your organization, and how it will improve the quality of services they will receive. the but first let me turn it over to co-chair governor fallon. [ applause ] >> thank you, governor day ton, and welcome to everyone. we appreciate you joining us here today for this very important discussion about our veterans in america and how we

fiscal year 18 is described as a year of transition for the department of veterans affairs. we drafted a new strategic plan that reimagines our relationship with veterans and how we serve them. the metrics we track on this -- and the targets we strive to achieve will -- that statement leaves much to the imagination. my minnesota veterans organization leaders what i should ask the secretary, my number one responses are you going to privatize the v.a. echo so i hope you will use this opportunity to provide a clear picture to what the v.a. will transition into. the day-to-day interface each veteran will have their organization and how it will improve the quality of services they will receive. >> welcome to everyone. we appreciate you joining us here for this very important discussion about veterans in america and how we can better serve and make sure they get the care and services they deserve. men and women who serve in the military put their lives on the line, they give up their holidays, birthdays, anniversaries, amidst all kinds of important events in their lives. every time

on thursday, more about the budget with veterans affairs secretary david schultz. he'll speak about the president's 2019 request in front of the house veterans affairs committee, starting live at 8:00 a.m. eastern on c-span3. >> sunday night on afterwords. former u.s. trade negotiator and senior senate staffer ira shapiro with his book "broken: can the senate save itself and the country." he's interintride former senate majority leader tom daschle. >> politics was supposed to be about finding a way to overcome some of those differences through principle -- through extended discussion and a real legislative process thrurk principled compromise. it wasn't supposed to be about one party winning on their own. the times -- as you know, the times in history when one party has been able to do this on your own are very few. maybe 1933 and 1934. f.d.r. dealing with the epression. l.b.j. in 1964-1965, but even l.b.j. reached out to republicans and f.d.r. had republican support the first two years. >> watch "afterwords" on c-span2's book tv. tpwh >> mark is back with us. . he

veterans affairs secretary is t latest trump official t use taxpayer dollars for personal tral. plus, president trump pushes his own immigrion agenda just as the senate's debate gets off the ground. the latest on chances for a bipartisan deal. then, miles o'brien explores how to track advances in north korea's nuclear weapons program. >> they were going to show us a significant part of their nuclear complex, particularly the plutonium complex. and that, thatas just-- it was eye-opener, it was really surprising. >> woodruff: and, the winter olympics heats up. u.s. snowboarder shaun white makes history while addressing questions of sexual harassment. all that and more on tonig's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> babbel. t a language at teaches real-life conversations in a new language. >> supporting social en solutions to the world's most pressing problems-- skollfoundation.org. >> the lemelson foundation. committed to improving lives through invention. in the u.s. and developing countries. on the web at lemelson.org. ported by the john d

know this better than anyone, functions,curity and homeland security, the state department, veterans affairs. anti-terrorism activities of the justice department. much security on the domestic side and that did happen. that did happen. and i'm able to say in this letter there are many good things in this legislation. for some reason, sometimes i think the speaker of the white house not the speaker of the house of representatives and we should have the opportunity -- we should have the opportunity there, touched a nerve should have the people's house work its will not be the cipient if it passes as 60 votes in the senate, maybe i'll bring it to the floor. that's not a commitment. let me say again what an honor it is for ourselves of the dreamers in our country. they are so magnificent. patriotism ofs of our country and they wanted the recognition of the speaker of the house. i'm almost finished. i could go longer. in any event -- and i thank the various speakers who were presiding the other day and i thank for the courtesies they were extending. i was one of the four principles with the white

department and will have to wait and see what that appropriators for the veterans affairs department and what the spending levels are at. correct? been: democrats have championing this and saying not only is it important to have va butoney going to b across the health care spectrum including mental health care. arecrats have said they going to try to make sure the entire budget goes up, and again we don't know what the breakdown is going to be because we have topline spending levels, but is a significant increase in the domestic program levels and you can expect pretty big increases in the department here. democrat, good morning. i am hearing about the -- since i was a kid, i am disabled, and i have had two strokes and two heart attacks, three back surgeries, and i am disabled. an ssi check which is six dollars a month, and they don't cover her medicine bill, and they say that is all she got, but there's so much money wasted, and the guy about the va is right, i am a veteran myself and i know how -- it is both sides. about, why don't we hear upper-class or middle-class but nobody men

the honorable john rachelle ski, assistant secretary management chief financial officer for veterans affairsthe cheek site -- the chief financial officer of the health administration, acting deputy undersecretary for the veterans benefits administration, the deputy forrsecretary for finance the national cemetery administration, and richard chandler, deputy assistant secretary for v.a. v.a. research management for the office of information technology. you are now recognized. >> mr. chairman, i want to thank you. i want to thank all the members of the committee. many of you had a chance to come over to my office, spent some time talking about the issues. i know all of you are committed to the work we are doing. that's why i think we have the best committee, the veterans committees in the house and senate. we work well together in a bipartisan way. mr. chairman, ranking member, thank you for keeping the focus on the work we have. this is a big deal getting the resources right for our veterans. i do regret the decisions that have been made, that have taken the focus off of that important work. o

we will have to wait and see what the appropriators come up with for the veterans affairs department and what they're spending levels are at, correct? guest: democrats have been championing this effort from the beginning. chuck schumer has been on the senate floor talking about how important it is to not only having more money go to v.a. choice and the private health care sector program but also cares the health spectrum for veterans, including mental health care. democrats have said they will make sure this entire budget for the v.a. goes up. we do not know what the breakdown is going to be because we just have the top line spending levels. it is a significant increase in the domestic program levels. you can expect big increases in every department here. host: jasper is watching and bethel springs, democrat. good morning. caller: i was calling and i'm hearing about the budget and all that. well, i got disabled back in 1980. 8. i informed for nearly all my life -- farm for nearly all my life. in the last year i've had two strokes and two heart attacks and three back surgeries. now i'

>> deeply offended. >> reporter: colorado republican mike coffman chairs the house veterans affairs committee and is calling on shulkin to step down. >> he's really part of the culture of corruption, that too often defines this organization. i just don't think that he has the moral authority to clean it up. >> reporter: shulkin is the fifth trump cabinet member to have his travel practices scrutinized. even republicans were dismayed today to hear that e.p.a. administrator, scott pruitt, flies first class. >> i think they ought to ride, like i do, in the back of the bus. >> reporter: pruitt insists the pricy tickets aren't his choice. the decision was made by security personnel. as for shulkin, he continues to say he did nothing wrong, but he did tell the military "times" today that he will be writing a check to the u.s. government to reimburse it for part of that european trip. jeff. >> glor: nancy, thank you very much. we do want to make one important clarification here tonight. earlier in the broadcast, as we were speaking to nick hayman, a witness to the florida school shooting, we showed

the secretaries of health, treasury, interior the epa, and now veterans affairs. david shulkin, the latest to feel a heat over a trip to europe that included his wife and cost taxpayers $122,000 and that's your money. here's abc's stephanie ramos. >> reporter: tonight, the department of veterans affairs secretary david shulkin under growing pressure, his chief of staff retiring. after accusations she doctored an e-mail to pay for shulkin's wife to travel on taxpayers' dollars. >> i do recognize the optics of this are not good. i accept responsibility for that. >> it's not the optics that are not good, it's the facts that are not good. >> reporter: shulkin's own department says his european trip cost more than $122,000. shulkin and his wife took the 11-day trip in july, three and half days were spent in official meetings, the rest of the time -- mostly sightseeing with stops at windsor castle and buckingham palace. the report says shulkin and his wife treated one va staffer as a personal travel concierge. wimbledon tickets. shulken's wife wrote in an e-mail. high t

veterans affairs. the state department. and anti-terrorism activities. of the justice department. republicans refuse to give those thope domestic side the resources they need to do their job, just the chaos and uncertainty of another stopgap extension. as defense secretary mattis aid, stopgap measures create instability, it makes us rigid. we know our enemies are not standing still so it's about as unwise as it can be. and here we are as one -- as unwise as can be for the fifth time. while they're conchting resolution seeks to ransack every other commitment to the health of the american people, republicans hide behind a fig leaf of a two-year extension of community health centers. we all support community health centers. it was an important part of the affordable care act. a very important part. our colleague, congressman -- assistant leader, mr. clyburn of south carolina, was -- a -- one of the great champions of all time in congress of expanding the funding for programs for care and for bricks and mortar for our community health centers. this is a very important piece for us. we

i'm going to have a chance to me with your state directors of veteran affairs. the more interaction i can hear and we have a chance to share what is happening in your state and how we can better support you, it's really important. i was like to start with why we do this, it's really our mission as you remember from history, right before the second inaugural address president lincoln gave the country this mission, that is really our responsibility to care for him or her who has borne the battle and be able to be there for them when they come home to their families. this past year we have had some important accomplishments 11 bills that passed through congress that the president has signed are all done in a bipartisan way we have the best committees in congress because they work on the issues, they don't let politics get in the way. we found some pretty important things for veterans. we have a new family caregiver advisory group. we launched the tidy 47 veterans that goes into the white house and that's important get the information directly to get the support of

. >>> veterans affairs secretary david shulkin testifies about his agency's 2019 budget proposal thursday. he apoopears before the veteran house committee here on c-span 3. >>> president trump and first laid amelania trump hosted a white house reception for african-american history month. from the white house east room this is 15 minutes. >> ladies and gentlemen, the president of the united states, mr. trump companied by the sergeant general dr. gerald adams. [ applause ] >> thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen. i really appreciate you being here, and it's an honor for the first lady and i and a true honor to have everybody, all of you, many of my friends in the white house and our great vice president is right here. sole thank you, mike, and so many of our wonderful cabinet. it's really a terrific day, and it's so much fun, so much fun to have you here to celebrate a very important element of our culture and our life, african-american history month. right? we're very glad to be joined by our outstanding surgeon general dr. jerome adams. jerome, thank you very much. i also want to re

veterans affairs secretary stave it sholkin.e travel to europe last summer with his wife on the department's dime. nancy cordes is following the story. >> done on our dollar. >> for months va secretary david shulkin defend his ten day european trip. in a 97 page report today the va inspector general outlined a number of serious derelictions saying shulkin, improperly accepted wimbledon tickets and turned an aide into a personal travel concierge to plan high tea and roman baths. the report paints a very different picture than shulkin did when he speck to cbs this morning in november. >> it was a business trip. we did the business that was always our top priority. >> reporter: investigators determined that shulkins's chief of staff altered a memo from an aide to make it appear that shulkin would receive an award in denmark so his wife's 4300 airline ticket would be paid by the government. >> as a veteran were you offended? >> deeply offended. >> mike kauffman chairs the house veterans affair committee and calling on shulkin to ste

in the department of an veterans affairs. it is unchanged. the people that have their fingerprints over this stuff. are still the same people there i want to encourage it without legislation and if it requires that we need to move it forward that you need to find these people another job ultimately somewhere outside the federal government and you need to shift that responsibility as we did in my hospital in my district to the army corps of engineers to some third-party the waste and abuse is just incredible congressman you had been very vocal on that. there is no excuse for these past projects and we cannot continue to do business as usual the army corps everyone every one of our major construction projects. i think we need to do a different way in the future the private sector helps us build. that's why we are excited about the project in omaha nebraska that we will do it groundbreaking on. a different model of constructing the facilities. 400million of the major construction will be for seismic improvements nor those for a long time. in ter

. >>> the house veterans affairs subcommittees on health and economic opportunity held a joint hearing on homelessness among veterans. representatives from advocacy and veterans service groups testified, as well as officials with the department of veterans affairs, labor and housing and urban development. >> the subcommittee will come to order. good morning, everyone. thank you for being here. it's my pleasure to welcome you to today's subcommittee -- joint subcommittee on health and subcommittee on economic opportunity oversight hearing on veteran homelessness. i want to apologize first for being a little late. i had another obligation in my responsibility on the budget committee. and my breathe brad winstrup, chair of the health subcommittee will not be able to make it and so i'm going to preside. we have the vha subcommittee chair julie brownley and her capable leadership. thanks for being here. then my friend from texas and ranking member of the subcommittee for economic opportunity, o'rourke is joining me as well. our chairman is joining us. thank you, dr. rowe, for coming, i want

. >>> veterans affairs secretary dr. david shulkin testifies thursday. secretary shulkin appears before the house veterans affairs committee live at 8:00 a.m. eastern here on c-span3. >>> richard branson, founder of the virgin group, talked about his start as a business owner and shared thoughts on the future of space travel. this was part of the goldman-sachs small business summit in washington, d.c. it's 40 minutes. >>> sir richard branson, ladies and gentlemen. we are thrilled to have you here today. you need no introduction, but i'm going to give you one anyway. you've started over 400 companies in your career of managing businesses over five decades. i'm sure that there's going to be a bunch of valuable insight that you can provide to all the business owners that are here, so screw it, let's get on and do it. and i'm really excited, personally. this is great for me. so i'm just going to start. you started all this when you were a kid. you were 16 years old. you launched a magazine, "student" and you then went on to launch virgin records. i'm pretty

governor brown appointed him to a top position in the california department of veterans affair -- affairsepresentative says that brown had no knowledge of the accusations when the appointment was made. >>> accusations against harvey weinstein continue. uma thurman tells that she was sexually assaulted at a hotel after the release of polk fictionÃpulp fiction. there was no physical assault. more than 70 women have now accused weinstein of sexual misconduct. >>> the chairman and ceo of wynn resorts says the company has hired a law firm to help investigate sexual misconduct allegations against stephen win. the firm says investigators will set up a phone and web based reporting line for current and former employees. a number of women have reported that he harassed or assaulted them. >>> the white house may withdraw the name of a woman who was nominated. some republican lawmakers questioned her expertise. she has praised fossil fuels saying they have improved living conditions. she said carbon dioxide is a necessary nutrient for plant life. her nomination never gathered approval. >>> one park

the clerk: h.r. 45 3 a bill to designate the health care system of the department of veteran affairs in lexington, kentucky as the lexington v.a. health care system and make certain other designations. the speaker pro tempore:

paula's story highlights the effective collaboration and alignment of the department of veteran affairs' supportive services for veterans families programs or ssvf. the department of housing and urban development and v.a.'s supportive housing program, hud vash and the department of labor's reintegration program. it takes the strengths, resources and collaboration of many to help veterans succeed. easterseals'decision is to help veterans find jobs. our e -- made us a natural partner with the department of labor on its hvrp program, which is employment-focused and a perfect compliment to the housing focus of hud vash and the v.a.'s supportive services for veterans families program. the homeless veterans reintegration program taps into the existing network by providing grants to local organizations. easterseals operates 11a trp grants nationwide. we provide employment services to nearly 1,200 homeless veterans last program year. and are proud to share that 61% found jobs during that year. with wages averaging from $10 to nearly $21 per hour. once unemployed and homeless, these veterans are

in both cases you look at that issue of perks of very expensive travel in the case of the veterans affairs secretary, bringing along his wife at taxpayer expense. if you believe there was a precedent set with tom price, and it took a while before the tom price thing came to a head, you have to wonder is there a similar example made of shulkin, made of pruitt? there's not an indication that's going to be the case but the thing with trump we've learned he's with you until he's not with you. so that could change at any moment. it's interesting, too, you have a member of congress, a republican members of congress, mike kaufman, who's out there saying shulkin should go. saying look this is what trump ran on, what you just played from the clip in 2016. this is what he ran on and if it means anything, he has to go. >> rick, it's nice to sit in the pointy end of the plane, the seats are wider, the service is better. it's great up there. government travel, however, as you know, having served in government, is fraught with restrictions. >> yes, it's incredibly detailed driven but i went and did old

i am a commissioner for the veteran affairs for the city and county of san francisco.st of all, carl, i want to thank you and congratulate you on your many years of dedication and service. one of my responsibilities as a commissioner is to acknowledge my vets. supervisor mentioned carl spent 60 years in the marine core and from a vet to a vet, 1958 long time, so the marine core and of course air force but i want to acknowledge carl, come on up. [applause] >> i want to acknowledge carl by giving him a coin, this is a littled edition of the air force and last year we celebrated our 70th anniversary in the united states air force. with that i want to congratulate you from fellow vet to fellow vet, thank you for all you do. i love my vets. you look fantastic, marine. >> thank you, sir. [applause] >> i want to thank the city and county -- sorry, it's overwhelming. when i first started working for the city it was kind of rough. things always didn't workout the way you hoped that they would. i got the opportunities. and by having the opportunities, i tried to go to the limit.

. >>> veterans affairs secretary dr. david shulkin testifies about his agency's 2019 budget proposal thursday. secretary shulkin appears before the house veterans affairs committee live at 8:00 a.m. eastern on c-span3. >> c-span, where history unfolds daily. in 1979 c-span was created as a public service by america's cable television companies, and today we continue to bring you unfiltered coverage of congress. the white house, the supreme court and public policy events in washington, d.c. and around the country. c-span is brought to you by your cable or satellite provider. >> president trump held a meeting with members of congress to discuss trade policies. the discussion centered around the president's goal of ensuring fair and reciprocal trade policies that benefit american workers and grow the economy. this meeting from the white house cabinet room is 50 minutes. >> they're on our side. they just can't say it. okay, thank you very much, i'm delighted to welcome both republicans and democrats, nice sound. isn't that a

. >>> veterans affairs secretary dr. david shulkin testifies about his agency's 2019 budget proposal thursday. secretary shulkin appears before the house veterans affairs committee live at 8:00 a.m. eastern on c-span3. >> c-span, where history unfolds daily. in 1979 c-span was created as a public service by america's cable television companies, and today we continue to bring you unfiltered coverage of congress. the white house, the supreme court and public policy events in washington, d.c. and around the country. c-span is brought to you by your cable or satellite provider.

. >> coming up, >>> veterans affairs secretary testifies about his budget proposal thursday. he appears before the house veterans affairs committee. >> now more from the conference on free trade. this panel looks at how trade policies impact to the internet and data flows across borders. this is one hour and 10 minutes.>> welcome to our panel on trade on the internet. my name is daniel activates. i am honored to be your panelist today. before i get started and introduce the panelists. we're not only talking about this because of the sheer commercial impact, which michael hinted to and anyone who pretends watch the stock market this days. it is also about data. it is about its importance to cross-border trade. is about ip, and it's about privacy. i will throw a quick statistic at you, then i promise i will not pretend to know much more, but between 2005 and 2014, cross-border data flows increased nearly 50 times. that means that this is a brand- new exciting and kind of terrifying problem for us. those cross-border data flows are also generating more than $3 trillion a year in

veterans affairs secretary david chilton says he will repay more than $4000 for his wife's airfare forn 11 day trip to europe that mixed business and sightseeing. testifying at a here and today, he said he accepts responsibility for making mistakes. a report by the department of veterans affairs internal kin'sdog concluded shul staff lied that he was getting an award to justify his wife accompanying him at taxpayer expense on the july trip to england and denmark. puerto rico's our company could begin shutting down as soon as tomorrow unless it was use a $1 billion loan from the territory's central government. it will allow the puerto rico electric power authority to keep running while it waits for the trump administration to release disaster recovery loans approved by congress. global news 24 hours a day powered by more than 2700 journalists and analysts in more than 120 countries. i'm mark crumpton. this is bloomberg. julia: let's get back to markets. the rally in global stocks continue. equities rebounding from the correction. she was not surprised by the pullback and is positive on

they told the house veterans affairs committee that the trip was appropriate. colorado republican responded saying it is not the objects that are not to good it is the facts that are not good. congressman kaufman spoke with reporters after he concluded. this entire event is two hours and 15 minutes. [inaudible conversations]

shulkin has been summoned to answer questions at the house committee on veterans' affairs today. in los angeles, federal investigatioions -- immigrationn agents with ice have launched a series of raids, arresting more than 100 people since sunday. the sweep comes just weeks after a similar series of raids in northern california. the lapd and many other police departments across california said they will not cooperate with ice on immigration enforcement, prompting ice spokesperson sarah rodriguez to say in a statement that the agency was targeting l.a. and other sanctuary cities because they were "uncooperative jurisdictions." a federal appeals court has barred a predominantly white alabama community from forming its own school district, ruling that racial animus led to efforts by gardendale residents to secede from the majority black jefferson county school district. this case was covered extensively by "new york times" reporter nikole hannah-jones, who spoke recently on democracy now! >> so in this particular case, there was a flyer about this effort for gardendale to secede fro

and the inspector general found that veterans a affairs chief of staff changed e-mails so his wife could join him on an official trip to europe at taxpayer expense. he was an obama holdover, he also accepted gifts of tickets to a wimbledon's tennis match. a day earlier epa administrator scott pruitt revealed authority concerns forced him to fly first class or on military jets at taxpayer events. it cost at least $90,000 during a stretch in early june, according to "the washington post." let's talk about this, with us is our national political correspondent and a former undersecretary of state for public diplomacy and affairs. he is a distinguished fellow with the digital forensic research lab. gentlemen, welcome to you both. steve, tom price lost his job over shall we call it, a transportation issue. are these people any different? >> you look at -- super officially this is the same thing. in both cases you look at that issue of perks of very expensive travel in the case of the veterans affairs secretary, bringing along his wife. if you believe there was a precedent set with tom price, y