health director for psychotherapy and psychogeriatrics, office of mental health services, department of veterans affairs headquarters, washington, dc. kathryn, more than 2 million troops deployed to afghanistan and iraq. what are some of the behavioral health issues related to the returning vets that are there, the vets that are there, and the returning vets? i think all of us are paying great attention to the behavioral health issues of anyone who has been in combat. and, first of all, when we use the term "behavioral health," we generally are talking about a broad range of mental and emotional and substance abuse disorders and/or problems. we know that anyone who has been in combat will probably suffer from trauma and anyone who has been in a combat situation will have effects of that trauma. so, the first thing we really want to pay attention to is: how have the individuals who have served in combat absorbed that trauma and become resilient to that trauma? in addition, we are seeing a variety of behavioral adjustments having to do with post-traumatic stress, having to do with depression, having to do

thank you for the opportunity to speak about the department of veterans affairs' ability to deliver state of the art care to veterans with amputations. i'm accompanied today by dr. webster, our director of the amputation system of care, dr. miller, our national program director for orthotic and prosthetic services, and mr. norbert doyle, who is vha's chief procurement logistics officer. va's prosthetics and sensory aid service is the largest and most comprehensive provider of prosthetic devices and sensory aids in the world, offering a full range of equipment and services. all enrolled veterans may receive any prosthetic item prescribed by a va clinician without regard to service connection when it is determined to promote, preserve, or restore the health of the individual and is in accord with generally accepted standards of medical practice. i will briefly summarize the major initiatives under way to improve the quality and availability of amputation care. these fall under five general headings, staffing and community partnerships, accreditation of va laboratories, improved training for

department of veterans affairs office of inspector general. mr. halladay is accompanied by mr. nick dahl, director of the bedford office of audits. evaluations and mr. kent. both of your complete written statements will be made part of the record. you are now recognized for five minutes. >> chairman johnson and distinguished members of the subcommittee thank you for your opportunity to provide a perspective and how the department of defense cares in particular prosthetic cares and collaboration between dod and department of veterans affairs. it's always important for us to look back before we look forward to take from lessons learned. the washington post reported in a few days the army will print a formal evaluation to give officers the opportunity to return to active duty. this was written in 1951. fast forward to 2003 we repeated this within the military return individuals to active duty. to date we have had over 305 individuals who remain on active duty and over 53 of these have redeployed into iraq or afghanistan. the goal of our program is to return patients to athleticism

according to the department of veterans affairs, nearly 8% of americans will suffer from the condition at one point in their lives but getting help is not as easy as you would think. steven webb was on a waiting list for more than eight months we're told when he returned home if active duty suffering from ptsd. he became depressed and we're told withdrew from his family. his wife and 10-year-old daughter stopped by our 9news studios last night to share their story. they'll also be here at the event later today. >> it changed him. made him very sad, very closed in, very depressed, suicidal and for the longest time we didn't understand what was wrong. >> he went upstairs inside of the bathroom and he didn't come out for a while. so my mom went upstairs to go check on him and he was gray, laying on the bathroom floor. she had to call 911. >> reporter: pretty startling hearing the 10-year-old girl describing seeing her own dad on the floor gray and seemed to be lifeless but he is doing much better thankfully and is in counseling getting treatment for his condition. however, his wife says m

thank you for the opportunity to speak about the department of veterans affairs ability to deliver quality care and acquire prosthetics and other devices. i'm accompanied today by lucille beck, rehabilitation services and acting chief consultant prosthetics and century aid service. mr. norbert doyle and mr. ford hurd san hurd assistant secretary. to improve the business processes governing the procurement of prosthetic devices for veterans. we are taking care to ensure these changes approve the accountability of these purchases while maintaining the high quality of care and clinical decision making critical to veterans health care. enhancing access and tailoring devices to the unique needs of veterans is and will remain our chief priority. in the few minutes i have now, i'd like to broadly outline how we are exercising better oversight of our operations and maintaining patient care. first, v.a. is transitioning the authority to purchase prosthetics from clinical support to contracting staff. the authority to select the most appropriate prosthetic device remains, however, with a clinical pr

karlin, can the department of veterans affairs weigh in on these issues that have just been mentioned? well, we can and we can do it most effectively in partnership with samhsa, with the department of defense, with the community. and one key issue that we've been talking around but haven't really centered on yet, related to these discussions, is stigma. and we know that there is a significant barrier that gets in the way of individuals getting the help that they need. we now have treatments that work and work quite well, but individuals often don't get those treatments because of stigma. because of a psychological barrier that prevents individuals in many cases from getting the care that they need, due to fear of reprisal, due to fear of emotion or not being able to seek gainful employment. sometimes there's a perception, "if i go seek help, then i might not be able to get the job i need or i might not be able to advance in my military career the way i would like to." so it is so important that it is not just within va and not just within dod or samhsa, but is as a nation, that we're

with efforts being undertaken at the department of veterans affairs and the department of defense and several agencies at the department of hhs it is incumbent upon us to examine these activities so that they can work in a coordinated and efficient manner and i proudly serve on the congressional brain injury task force that encourage bipartisan support for tbi research and rehabilitation and with that support i am confident that the committee will make even greater strides to help patients living with the aftermaths of tbi. so i want to extend a warm welcome to the families as part of brain injury awareness month and i look forward to your testimony. i yield back to the chairman. >> the chair thanks the gentleman. today we have four witnesses on our panel. dr. bonnie strickland, director of divisional services for children with special health care needs at u.s. department of human services. mr. william ditto, director of the new jersey tbi division. new jersey board of health. dr. flora winston, children's hospital, philadelphia, and dr. mark ashley president of the center for neurosk

as part of this effort, the department of defense and department of veterans affairs are working together to build a data repository that will help us better analyze suicides and suicide attempts, and do what we can to spot trends and to get ahead of that. likewise, we are improving program evaluation so that we can better focus our resources on those programs that are proven to be effective. the department is also working to fundamentally transform the nation's ability to understand and treat traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress. the signature unseen wounds, the last decade of war. earlier this month, the department and the intrepid fallen heroes fund announced a plan to construct state of the art treatment centers for brain injuries, psychological disorders, at nine of our largest installations in the country. i am delighted that we were able to break ground on the first two of these centers at fort bellevar and camp lejeune. these centers, these centers made possible by the generosity of private citizens, god bless them for their generosity and what they do. because of thei

i'm particularly pleased that this conference is run jointly by the department of defense and the department of veterans affairs. building a stronger collaboration between our two departments is absolutely essential. it's essential to meeting the needs of our service members and veterans, and i am proud of the strong working relationship that i built with secretary shinseki and i agree with what he told this audience on wednesday, that our two departments are now working more closely together than ever before. it's essential and important that we build that kind of partnership if we're going to address issues like suicide. this issue, suicide, is perhaps the most frustrating challenge that i've come across since becoming secretary of defense last year. despite the increased efforts, the increased attention, the trends continue to move in a troubling and tragic direction. all of us gathered here share a very deep concern about this issue and about the trends that we are seeing. we also share a commitment to take action, to do everything possible to prevent these horrible tragedies and to support those who have s

between department of labor, department of veterans affairs, and all these other miscellaneous -- i'm coming more and more to the feeling that maybe we consolidate these, put them all in the department of veterans, focus in that arena. give me a couple quick thoughts. my time is pretty close to being out here. but i just think we have so many department of labor tries. bless their soul. but veterans understand veterans, and it seems like we should just shift it all, streamline it, and focus on what we should be doing. and that is employing and retraining and have the veterans administration do it in concert with their veterans benefit programs and all these other things they do. thoughts from folks? >> yes, sir. there's a -- >> take your time. you don't need to hurry. >> there's ledge slaugs in the house that's currently working its way through. i think it's hr-472. >> right. >> which i.v.a. supports and is designed to take department of labor and vets program and transfer it wholesale to the v.a. we subscribe to the same thinking that you have, sir, that veterans affairs is what a ve

with efforts undertaken at the department of veterans affairs and the department of defense and several agencies at the department of hhs it is

ranking member, and members of the subcommittee, thank you for allowing paralyzed veterans of america to testify today concerning prosthetic services of the department of veterans affairs. ensuring that our nation's injured veteran population is able to receive state of the art prosthetic devices in a timely manner is an extremely important issue for pva. pva has more than 19,000 members who all utilize va prosthetic services on a regular basis. in recent months the va office at the inspector general released numerous reports on va prosthetics and sensory aids, inventory management, acquisition of prosthetic limbs and prosthetic limb care. pva believes that the audits and investigations have identified many areas in need of improvement within psas and pva generally supports the oig recommendations. these recommendations provide not only an opportunity to improve upon prosthetic services for veterans for amputations but for all veterans who utilize va prosthetic services. the oig's key evaluations and assessments are taking place at a key turning point. the organization is undergoing a structural reorganization that directly impacts the delivery of prosthetic services t

with the high number of service members whose lives were altered due to combat trauma the department of veterans affair needed to provide devices to help lead a meaningful independent lifestyle. strxt a. now contracts with many companies across the country to provide prosthetics, including companies in my home state of indiana, which is an important medical device hub. for example, zimmer and warsaw, has a contract covering hip and knee implants, and i know the company is proud of its good working relationship with both the v.a. and d.o.d. today we have the opportunity to discuss v.a.'s prosthetic acquisition and procurement policies. following the subcommittee on hearing on may 16, further discussion is needed on v.a.'s prosthetic and orthotic purchasing. over a half century korng gave v.a. authority under title 38 section 8123 to pass over federal acquisition regulations and purchase state of the art prosthetic limbs efficiently and quickly. this exemption is written into v.a. acquisition regulations. by enacting section 8123, exempting procurement of prosthetic limbs from other laws, v.a. would have

of disabled veterans struggling with devastating combat wounds results in the loss of limb began with the civil war. restoring these veterans to fullness was a core impetus behind the creation of the department of veteran affairs. and then now it continues to play a vital role in the department's mission. prosthetic technology and v.a. care have come a long way from the civil war era. wooden peg legs and simple hooks. following world war ii 1945, veterans dissatisfied with the quality of v.a. property thetic care stormed the capital in protest. congress responded by providing the v.a. with increased flexibility for prosthetic operations and launching new research into mobility and assistive devices. with these reforms v.a. led the way in prosthetic care and research. guide by dedicated professionals both inside and outside the department who worked tirelessly to provide veterans with the quality care they earned and they so much deserve. as a result, the model of v.a. care today for today's veterans includes leading edge artificial limbs and improved services to help them regain mobility and achieve maximum independence. still, the magnitude of the heartbreaking injuries sustained by service members and vetera

thank you for the opportunity to testify and the department of veterans affairs to deliver state of the art care to veterans with amputations. the naaop, the national association that promotes public policy in interest of orth dottic and prosthetic patients and providers who serve them. i served in desert shield and desert storm. my injury happened may 17th, 1994. my 18th and verse vi is tomorrow over at the pentagon where a friend of mine found photos of the actual accident. so i just have them in my bag. i'm kind of stressing out a little bit right now seeing those photos again. it's remarkable about the prosthetic care. that's what i want to talk about a little bit today. i did go back after my injury and went to the paralympic games in 2000 and won the silver medal. kourntly now live in colorado springs. i began my initial care at the amputee clinic in denver v.a. hospitals. i started this process because of two reasons. it was close to my home and they understand the high level of activity that i am accustomed to. this was done in no wage to disparage the care i received at the den

distinguished members of the subcommittee, i'm pleased to be here today to discuss the department of veterans affairs efforts and implementation of executive order 13677 entitled principles of excellence for institutional education service veterans, service members and family members which is designed to strengthen oversight and enforcement accountability within educational programs. the va supports the executive order, which directs va and other federal agencies to develop and implement these principles of excellence to ensure service members, veterans, spouses, and other family members using military and veterans education benefits have comprehensive educational and financial aid information so they can make informed choices in selecting educational programs which will best meet their educational and readjustment needs. further, the executive order will put in place enhanced oversight and enforcement mechanisms to ensure beneficiaries are protected from deceptive practices and have the means to resolve effectively their complaints. in fiscal year 2011, va provided educational benefits to nearly one

committee thank you for allowing us to testify concerning prosthetic services of the department of veterans affairs ensuring our veterans receive state-of-the-art devices in a timely member is important. in recent months the va office of the inspector general released numerous reports on sensory aids psas, inventory management, acqui significance of prosthetic limbs and prosthetic limb care. pva believes the internal audits and investigations identified many improvements and we support the recommendations. these recommendations provide not only an opportunity to improve upon the prosthetic services for veterans with amputations but for all veterans that utilize va prosthetic services. the oig's evaluations and assessments are taking place during a critical turning point for va prosthetics. the veterans health organization directly impacts the delivery of process of delivery to veterans. today i'll limit my remarks to this reorganization. under the current changes prosthetics will no longer be solely responsible for the purchases of items. they are implementing psas and the office of procurement and

department of veterans affairs. miss halladay is accommodated by nicholas dahl, director of bedford office of audits and evaluations for the ig. kent, director of atlanta office for audits and evaluations for ig. joined by john daye, assistant inspector general, accompanied by dr. yang, a physician for the office of health care inspections. thank you all for being here today and to share your expertise. we'll begin with you. >> okay. representative roe, ranking member, and members of the subcommittee. thank you for the opportunity to discuss the results of our two recent reports on vha's management and acquisition of prosthetic limbs and supply inventories. we conducted our work at the request of the house veterans affairs. today we'll discuss our efforts to evaluate va's capabilities to deliver state of the art prosthetic limb care and manage prosthetic supply inventories in its medical centers. in our first report -- and the cost paid for prosthetic limbs. we've identified opportunities for vha to improve payment c

department of veterans affairs, accompanied by nicholas dal, bedford office of audits and eveilitions, kent warful, evaluations for ig and dr. john day, assistant inspector general for health inspections for the ig, dr. day accompanied by dr. yang for the physician of health care and fpgss for the ig. miss halladay, we'll begin with you. >> representative rowe, ranking member hichaud and members of the subcommittee thank you for the opportunity to discuss the results of our two recent reports on vha's management and acquisition of prosthetic limbs in the management of supply inventories. we conducted our work at the request of the house veterans affairs. todayly discuss our efforts to evaluate va's capabilities to deliver state-of-the-art prosthetic limb care and managed prosthetic supply inventories in its medical centers. in our first report, we examined the procurement practices and the costs paid for prosthetic limbs. we identified opportunities for vha to improve payment controls to avoid overpaying for prosthetic limbs and to improve contract negotiations to obtain the best valu

subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today to discuss the department of veteran affairs prosthetic purchasing practices and impact on academy medical, v.a. various fired small business. i'm the managing partner of academy local in florida. academy is a reliable source of supply of biologics and hold as mandatory source federal supply contract ffs contract by v.a.'s acquisition center. my managing partner and i graduated from the nafrl academy in 1991, acad knee medical is so named to pay homage. with me is steven kent our director of government sales and mr. steven schirr, a subject matter expert in the field of biologics. my testimony is over taken by events. may 23, 2012, the veterans health administration notified vha procurement and prosthetics personnel engaged in the ordering of biological implants on policy on ordering implants using the program. we're very pleased with this change in vha's position which levels the playing field and respects the mandatory source nature of the program. we have worked long and hard to get vh, to adopt this. i have a copy of the pol

as part of this effort, the department of defense and the department of veterans affairs are working to build a analysis of suicides and suicide attempts to spot trends and get ahead of that. likewise, we are improving program in violation so we can better focus our resources on those programs that are proven to be affected. the department is also working to fundamentally transform a nation's ability to understand and treat traumatic brain injury and posttraumatic stress. the signature unseen wounds of the last decade of war. earlier this month, the department and the sbred fallen heroes fund announced the plan to construct state-of-the-art treatment centers for brain injuries, psychological disorders at nine of our largest installations in the country. i am delighted that we were able to break ground on the first two of the centers fort belvoir and camp lejeune. the centers were made possible by the generosity of private citizens. god bless them for their generosity and what they do. because of their generosity this will help complement national interest for it center in bethesda an

i am please that this conference is run jointly by the department of defense and the department of veterans affairsllaboration between our two departments is absolutely essential. to meeting the needs of our service members and veterans. i am prodded the working relationship that i have -- i am proud of the working relationship that i have had with the secretary. i agree with what he told his audience on wednesday. there are two departments that are working closely together than ever before. it is essential and important that we build that kind of partnership if we are going to address issues like a suicide. this issue is perhaps the most frustrating challenge that i have come across since becoming secretary of defense last year. despite the increase efforts and attention, the trends continue to move in a troubling indeed tragic direction. all of us gathered here share a deep concern about this issue and about the trends that we are seeing. we also share a commitment to take action to do everything possible to prevent these horrible tragedies. and to support those who have served our country with h

of 50 years. the reason for that is to have these records available so that it will make it easier for veterans to file a claim with the department of veterans affairsa later date. >> cenk: so some new rules there. in april he announced even more rules, saying quite sexual assault complaints must be handled by more senior officers, colonels or navy captains rather than you want commanders. but the problem unfortunately is still very very large within the military. now to talk with us we're going to bring new susan burke, a civil rights attorney representing some of the plaintiffs in this case. susan, thank you so much for joining us. >> thank you for having me. >> cenk: yes so as i've said three times i'm stunned by how much this is part of the culture culture. what happened in the military. how did we get to this culture where rape is so prevalent? >> well, what you have is a systemic lack of attention to the problem. this is not new. you'll remember "tail hook," the scandal at the air force academy. we have this issue popping up to media attention to the attention of the executive branch. the problem however is that rather than having congress eng

the e-mail says people receiving disability pay from the department of veterans affairs may be able to receive more from the irs. it prompts people to mail copies of v.a. award letters and income returns. if you receive one, calm the maryland comptrollers office or the irs. >>> linkedin confirmed today some of its users passwords have been stolen and leaked online. a russian website reports more than 6 million accounts were breached. however, the job networking site wouldn't confirm that number. linkedin issued an apology to users on its blog and company officials are investigating. users affected by the hacking will receive an e-mail explaining how to reset their passwords. about 160 million people use the social business network. >>> a huge rebound for stocks today. wall street logged its best day of 2012 today. the dow was up more than 286 points. the nasdaq and s&p also posted big gains. stocks rose amid growing hopes that central banks will take steps to support the global economy. >>> veronica is here with more about our weather forecast, and i guess some of us are getting rain o

that message today from the department of veteran affairs. today the va cut the ribbon on new mental health center in palo alto. 7 news reporter mark matthews talk with iraq veteran who was a guest of honor at today events. >> christopher stood right next to the under secretary for health as he cut the ribbon on the new 54 million dollar 80 bed mental health center. [applause] he took the turn at the podium along with congresswoman l and love green. >> most vet rant won't accept help even if they know they need it and at least here the veterans won't feel like they are imprisoned or something. >>reporter: his blunt asymptoms amid other thank you speeches seemed a little off kilter but christopher hurt knows what he's talking about. just last week he was a patient in the old va mental health center. >> i was not going outside. i was just staying at my home. i wouldn't talk to anybody. >>reporter: when he came home from 2 and half years of combat, hurt says he began to with drawchlt his family convinced him to get help. old va center it felt lik

. >> the department of veteran affairs says troops returning from iraq and afghanistan are going to getrything they need. yesterday the v.a. cut the ribbon on a new mental health center in palo alto. abc7 news reporter mark matthews talked with an iraq veteran who was a guest of honor. >> christopher stood next to the secretary of health as he cut the ribbon on the new $54 million, 80-bed mental health center. he took his turn at the podium, along with a congresswoman and anna aschu and zo lofgren. >> most veterans don't want to actually accept help even if they know they need it, and at least here the veterans won't feel like they are imprisoned or something. >> his blunt assessment among all the other thank you speeches seemed a little off kilter, but christopher knows what he's talking about. just last week he was a patient in the old v.a. mental health center. >> i was not going outside. i was just staying at my home. i wouldn't talk to anybody. >> when he came home from two and a half years of combat, he said he began to withdraw. his family convinced him to get help, but in the ol

of the week. hopefully you'll miss me a lot. mine is a great one more thing. monday, june 26, two days ago, the national veteran wheelchair game sponsored by department of veteran affairsthey have 17 events and the opening ceremonies. i think this is fantastic. there is a lot of people supporting them. including greg, i'm going to say that you will donate in your name to them this afternoon. be expecting that. >> greg: i will. dabs it's great. don't you love that? >> greg: yeah. >> dana: a lot of chutzpah. energy. love it. >> greg: good for you. >> dana: there are other people. >> greg: nobe, i just want you to ramble. eric? >> eric: greg, you may have known or not known tropical storm debbie downgraded to tropical depression. look at steve harrigan today. what a trooper. steve in waist-deep water. >> dana: how with the microphone on? >> andrea: does he have rubber pants on? >> bob: who is the guy with the long hair. >> dana: phil keating. he is a great reporter. >> andrea: rubber pants. >> dana: i don't think i would do that. i like the comfort of the studio. >> greg: what is he doing anywhere. >> andrea: maybe he is not wearing pants. >> bob: maybe he is relieving hi

according to the department of veterans affairs, it's becoming increasingly common. studies show that up to 8% of americans will suffer from ptsd at some point in their lives. for barbara webb, that happened when her father steven returned home from active duty at dover air force base where he processed war casualties. he became depressed, withdrew from his family, and then one day tried to take his own life. >> he went upstairs inside the of the bathroom and he didn't come out for a while. my mom went upstairs to check on him and he was gray, laying on the bathroom floor. she had to call 911. i said daddy, don't die. don't leave me. >> reporter: there is good news. denot leave. he's recovering finally getting the help he needed. that brave 10-year-old girl and her mom will be at the event sharing their story hoping to affect many other people who could be going through the same thing and shed light on ptsd and what families are going through, tie to get help for other folks but it takes a long time. there is a struggle to get help. we'll have more on that side of the

lisa will >> the department of veteran affairs says troops returning from iraq and afghanistan are going to get everything they need. yesterday the va cut the ribbon on a new mental health center in palo alto. abc7 news reporter mark matthews talk with an iraq veteran who was a guest of honor. >> christopher stood next to the secretary of health as he cut the ribbon on the new $54 million, 80-bed mental health center. he took his turn at the podium along with a congresswoman and zo lofgren. >> most veterans want to actually accept help even if they know they need it, and at least here the veterans won't feel like they are imprisoned or something. >> his blunt assessment among all the other thank you speeches seemed a little off kilter but christopher knows what he's talking about. just last week he was a patient in the old va mental health center. >> i was not going outside. i was just staying at my home. i won talk to anybody. >> when he came home from two and a half years of combat, he said he began to withdraw. his family convinced him to get help but in the old v.a. center it felled

i am particularly pleased that this conference is run jointly by the department of defense and the department of veterans affairs. building a strong collaboration between our two departments is absolutely essential, it is essential, to meeting the needs of our service members and veterans. i am proud of the strong working relationship that i have built with secretary shinseki, and i agree that our two departments are working closely, more than ever before. it is essential we are going to have to build a partnership if we are going to address issues like suicide. this issue, suicide, is perhaps the most frustrating challenge that i have come across since becoming secretary of defense last year. despite the increased efforts, the increased attention, the trends continue to move in a troubling and tragic direction. all of us gathered here share a very deep concern about this issue and about the trends we are seeing. we also share a commitment to take action to do everything possible to prevent these horrible tragedies and to support those who have served our country with honor and with distinction. greatest frustra

i am please that this conference is run jointly by the department of defense and the department of veterans affairsr collaboration between our two departments is absolutely essential to meeting the needs of our service members and veterans. i am proud of the working relationship that i have had with the secretary. i agree with what he told this audience on wednesday. there are two departments that are working closely together than ever before. it is essential and important that we build that kind of partnership if we are going to address issues like a suicide. address issues like a suicide.

in response to these problems we heard from the department of defense and veterans affairs together about how five years after, five years after the walter reed scandal, they are just now beginning to map out business processes to find room to improvement. that's just unaccepta believe. the public, all of this really believed this was being taken head-on and they were dealing with it and five years out. unacceptable numbers we're seeing so i wanted to ask you what you are doing at your level to deal with this, five years into this program and we're still hearing statements from army leaders about how the disability system is fundamentally flawed, adverse aryan, discountied and tell me what i'm going to do. >> let me do this. general shinseki and i have been meeting on a regular basis to do what we can to implement improvements and frankly, we're not satisfied either by the progress being made here. part of it is bureaucratic. part of it is systems and part of it is the complicated -- >> you can't imagine what it sounds like to hear that. >> pardon me? >> it's bureaucratic. if you're in th

veterans' affairs committee be discharged from further consideration of s. 3238. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. 3238, a bill to designate the department of veterans affairs community-based outpatient clinic at mansfield, ohio, as the david f. winders department of community a affairs community-based clinic and for other purposes. the presiding officer: without objection, the committee is discharged and the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that the bill be read three times, passed, the motion to reconsider be laid on the table, with no intervening action or debate, and any related statements be printed in the record as if read. the presiding officer: without objection. so ordered. mr. reid: i now ask unanimous consent that the judiciary committee be discharged from further consideration and the senate proceed to s. res. 376. the pres the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: senate resolution 376, commemorating the 225th anniversary of the signing of the constitution of the united states, and so forth and for other purposes. the presiding officer: without objection, the committee is d

the current representatives on the committee are the departments of defense, education and veterans affairs and the social security administration and within hhs, the indian health certains, cdc, nih, samhsa and hrsa. cdc's surveillance may identify tbi in child athletes in a particular state and they may develop educational materials to address the issue. hrsa's state grantee might use the material to conduct a statewide education campaign for student, parents and schools about the risks and consequences of tbi. likewise, hrsa's grantee might use liez a protocol that was informed by nih research to implement a student athlete tbi screening program. in addition to education and screening, hrsa would connect students and families with needed resources. strategies like these allow hrsa state grantees to leverage resources of other agencies to identify and serve children with risk of sustaining a tbi. opportunities for such a collaboration is the key focus of the inner agency committee. hrsa is committed to ensuring that individuals with tbi and their families have accessible and appropriate s

the clerk: a bill making appropriations for mill care construction, the department of veterans' affairs and other agencies for the fiscal year ending september 30, 2013 and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order: for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia seek recognition? >> i have a motion to recommit at the desk. the speaker pro tempore: is the gentleman opposeded to the bill? >> i am opposed in its current form. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will remedical report the motion. the clerk: mr. barrow of georgia has a motion to recommit, with the following amendments, page 11, line 17, insert after the dollar amount he follow, reduce by $56,656,000. page 52, line five, increase by $328,625,000. the speaker pro tempore: house will be in order. the gentleman from georgia is recognized for five minutes. mr. barrow: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise to offer one final amendment to the military construction and veterans afairs and related agencies appropriations bill. three days ago on memorial day, i held town hall meetings at the american leon posts

and local chambers, and keep partners like employers support the guard and reserve, the department of veteran affairs, we have led a massive public coordinated grassroots campaign to help veterans and military spouses find hundreds of jobs in communities across america. good things have happened for veterans and military spouses with thousands of them finding jobs. good things have also happened for american businesses who have hired these talented men and women. we have created a movement across america. the fact is, when the hiring fare is over and they told of the tables and put away the chairs, the leaders in the organizations we have pulled together are doing this day in and day out, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. reiterating military families that are returning to the communities and helping them find jobs. before we get to the business at hand, i would like to recognize three things that have been critical to hiring our hero success. the first is leadership. i can honestly say that none of this would have happened without the vision of our president and ceo, tom donahue, and the trust and

that does not contain funding for a raise for some workers at the department of defense and the veterans department. the veterans affairsepartment. federal union leaders and the white house are blessing the pay raise reject shunt. >>> the latest in the presidential race. mitt romney outpacing president obama in fund-raising last month. romney and republican groups raised nearly $77 million. president obama and democratic groups raised more than $60 million. the may numbers are a big jump for both candidates. president obama raising nearly $44 million in april, romney raising 40 million. first lady michelle obama made her first campaign stop in northern virginia today on behalf of the president. the first lady spoke at vfw post 1503 in dale city reminding the people the president inherited a dying economy and has started to turn it around. she also urged people to get out and vote to keep things going in the right direction. >> thank you all! are we going to allow everything we fought for, not just over the last three and a half years before the last several decades? are we going to let it all just slip away? >> no! >> n

for america's veterans and the efforts being taken to address a related challenge had which is homelessness itself. before i begin on behalf of secretary and the department of veterans affair. i want to congratulate this year's honorees for the tremendous achievements and ensuring safe housing for our nation's warriors. affordable homes with access to health care and other va services. they are the hope depot foundation, operation home front, involve fears of america -- volunteers of america, cloud break development and u.s. vets. kelly, are you here? kelly is here. good. jim knots? okay. michael kink? king. i see pete pointing them out. tim cant well and steven. >> look at the great initiatives. they boil down to an insight and passion for doing the work. we appreciate all that you do for america's vrns. we know there's a that laps in the world that we can't control. we can't prevent an extreme weather, for example, or stall an earthquake or i think in some cases even fix the europe sovereign debt crisis. when it comes to housing here at home. when it comes to homeless and hungry leaving on the streets, i believe we can exert an element of control and be change agencies.

veterans. there will be a grand opening at 1:00 this morning for the new va medical health center in palo alto. dignitaries to attend under secretary of health at the veteran affairs department. >>> the olympics in london start next month but the summer games for the special olympics of northern california that starts tonight. the events begin at 7:30 tonight at the uc davis aggie stadium with several athletes taking part. hundreds are expected to compete in track, swimming, boch and 13 other sports. special olympics is the world's largest sporting event for children and adults with special needs. >> i've been to a few of those games. those are very fun, inspiring. >> very rewarding. >>> coming up on 6:00. let's check in with sal for a look at traffic. >> hi pam and dave. good morning. we are starting off pretty well. looking at the south bay first getting up to highway 17 looks good. one of the busiest commutes but today it looks pretty good. coming up next hour we'll take a good look at the east bay for you. >>> coming up at 6:00 final preparations under way for this weekends gay pride parade we'll take a look at the safety concernst. >> it starletted with a fire call, it

in response to these problems, we heard from the departments of defense and veterans affairs about how five years after the walter reed scandal they are just now beginning to map out process is to find room for improvement. that is unacceptable. at the public aliment believe -- believed that this was being taken five--- head-on. these are unacceptable numbers we are seeing. i want to ask you what you are doing at your level to deal with this program. we are still hearing statements from army leaders about how the disability system is fundamentally flawed, adversarial, and disjointed. tell me what you are going to do. >> secretary and i have been meeting on a regular basis to try to implement improvements. we are not satisfied either by progress being made. part of it is bureaucratic, part of it is systems, part of it is the complicated -- >> bureaucratic -- if your in the system, that is the word you hear. >> i see it everyday. i am in charge of a very big bureaucracy. the fact is that sometimes the bureaucratic nature of large departments prevents it from being agile enough to respond

of the six presidents. "1960: lbj vs. jfk vs. nixon." joins live with your calls, e-mails and tweets for david pietrusza, sunday, noon eastern, book tv's "depth" on c-span2. >>> veterans affairs department estimate ps 18 veterans commit suicide every day. at a recent conference on military suicide, head of the mental health services administration and health and human services secretary kathleen sebelius spoke about suicide prevention efforts. >> veterans administration and all the parts of the military working on issues that we care a lot about at samsa. we are very interested in the issue of suicide nationwide and in preventing that issue. and i want to take just a minute to sort of set a larger context. i suspect after three days or two days at a conference like this, you may have heard much of this, but let me just tell you a little bit about ho

department of homeland security also ignores the raise. and last week, the house passed a bill that does not contain funding for a raise for some of the workers at the defense department a the veteran affairsdministration. federal union leaders are quite upset about the pay raise rejection. the white house also objects. >>> first lady michelle obama was in northern virginia today campaigning for the president there. the first lady spoke at vfw post 1503 in dale city reminding the people the president inherited a dying economy and has started to turn it around. she said voting for mitt romney would be a return to failed policies that sent the economy into recession. >> are we going to allow everything we fought for, not just over the last three and a half years before the last several decades? are we going to let it all just slip away? >> no! >> no! we know what we need to do. right? >> yes! >> we simply cannot afford to turn back now. we have to keep moving forward! >> after that rally she made a stop at mom's apple pie company and treated to a violin shoulder from a student there from fredericksburg and she bought two pies before she headed back to washington. >>> huge crowds streamed bac