veterans of the vietnam era. many become complicated because they are subject to federal court orders in the u.s. department of veterans affairsdepartment of veterans affairs. organizational model incorporates cross functional teams working on one of three segmented lanes, express cooperations. things were created based on complexity and priority of claims. the express lane develops and writes claims with a limited number of issues and subject manner, which could be developed and rated more quickly. corley and includes claims that three or more medical issues that do not involve special populations of veterans. the special operations plane applies intense focus and case management on specific categories of things that require special processing or training. it's comprised a regional office most highly skilled personnel specialist experience and training. vba is simplifying ratings by building a decision support tools to make employees more action and decision are consistent and accurate. one of them is the evaluation builder essentially an interactive reading schedule. the reader uses check docs is associated with the veterans

veterans of the vietnam era. many become complicated because they are subject to federal court orders in the u.s. department of veterans affairs department of veterans affairs. organizational model incorporates cross functional teams working on one of three segmented lanes, express cooperations. things were created based on complexity and priority of claims. the express lane develops and writes claims with a limited number of issues and subject manner, which could be developed and rated more quickly. corley and includes claims that three or more medical issues that do not involve special populations of veterans. the special operations plane applies intense focus and case management on specific categories of things that require special processing or training. it's comprised a regional office most highly skilled personnel specialist experience and training. vba is simplifying ratings by building a decision support tools to make employees more action and decision are consistent and accurate. one of them is the evaluation builder essentially an interactive reading schedule. the reader uses check docs is associated with the veteran

the veterans administration, now called the department of veterans affairs, is a completely separate department and bill and budget from the pentagon and the department of defense. veterans benefits have been pretty well protected from all these cuts. people do not want to cut veterans. although, they have had problems for years because more people were signing up than they had money to take care of. they say, if you are pretty healthy and you have health care from your employer, we cannot let you win and we have to get this guy with no legs first or this guy who has been on the street first. the military primarily takes care of its troops and its families. but you serve 20 years in the military, you get to retire after 20 years. and you get a significant pension. congress has overtime increased the health care benefits for those people. health care has gotten really expensive. this is a good health care deal. premiums have not gone up in over a decade. host: are those the tri-care benefits? guest: yes. exactly. army, air force, and navy/marine corps. it is basically the military's hm

. >> the department of veterans affairs remains a refuge for tim. he can surround himself with other veterans, men and women who survived war only to battle addiction at home. >> learn more about the consequences of taking too much pain medication and explore the investigation from the center of investigator reporting. -- investigative reporting. >>> join us tomorrow on air and online. one massachusetts county is keeping the local economy moving by printing its own money. >> it's good for our country to keep manufacturing here. >> it's about shopping local. it's about sustain ability right here where we live and work. >> that's it for this edition of "pbs news hour weekend." i'm allison stewart. thanks for watching. >>> pbs news hour weekend is made possible by judy and josh westin. joyce v. hale. the wallick family. the cheryl and philip milstein family. roslyn p. walter. corporate funding is provided by mutual of america. additional support is provided by -- and by -- the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station

suicide rate from just the previous year but at least nowadays being neglected by the department of veterans affairs and being pumped full of pharmaceuticals doesn't compare to the insane method of treatment of veterans he used to receive for p.t.s.d. severin their brain stems yup last week the wall street journal published a stunning report about a world war two era government program and valving mentally ill vets from the late one nine hundred forty s. to the early one nine hundred fifty s. v.a. doctors performed forced the bottom needs a nearly two thousand veterans who've been diagnosed as quote depressives psychotics and skits of products and occasionally on people identified as homosexuals and although this practice was known in small medical circles at the time the dark stain on america's past had been largely forgotten until now according to medical journals that documented these procedures these low bottom use were sometimes use when soldiers exhibited signs of what today would be called p.t.s.d. these brain operations would often give the veteran seizures amnesia motor function loss that r

department of veterans affairs who will be accompanied by mr. brent arronte, director of san diego benefits inspections division. additionally the hearing record will include written statements from disabled american veterans. the tragedy assistance program for survivors than ms. schaffer's wife of the veterans with instructions complete, thank you for being here today. i now yield to the ranking member for her opening statement. >> well, thank you, mr. chairman. and thank you wrote in this important hearing. i also like to thank the witnesses here today for their time and trouble to come and share information with us. first, i want to applaud the va for reducing the benefit by 34% in march of 2014. we know the va can maintain this momentum and we are optimistic. we want to end this decade-long backlog and we are moving in that direction. our numbers indeed show the va is on track to reach the secretary's goal by 2015. i would ask you to relay a message to the people who work for the va and tell them thank you for their efforts and to please keep

table when it comes to getting employment we can significantly benefit employers and the department of veterans affairs has done quite a bit to increase these services that they can make available to returning veterans we still have a long ways to go but certainly there have been i think absolutely incredible improvements under secretary shinseki that i've been greatly encouraged by including really amazing progress in specifically addressing the needs of women veterans were the fastest growing segment of the veterans population and they've been working very diligently to make sure that our particular gender specific needs can be met. i've not seen any statistics that. strongly correlate that it can show causation between combat experience and increased rates of violence that's across the board actually i think are incarcerated at slightly lower rates than our civilian counterparts and also there are exciting there's progress being made in something called veterans courts where instead of putting vets who have committed minor crimes in jail they're instead hooked up with services mental health care sub

table when it comes to getting employment we can significantly benefit employers and the department of veterans affairs has done quite a bit to increase the services that they can make available to returning veterans we saw a long ways to go but certainly there have been i think absolutely incredible improvements under secretary shinseki that i've been greatly encouraged by including really amazing progress in specifically addressing the needs of women veterans where the fastest growing segment of the veterans population and they've been working very diligently to make sure that our particular gender specific needs can be met. i've not seen any statistics that. strongly correlate that it can show causation between combat experience and increased rates of violence vets across the board actually i think are incarcerated at slightly lower rates than our civilian counterparts and also there are exciting there's progress being made in something called veterans' courts where instead of putting vets who have committed minor crimes in jail they're instead hooked up with services mental health care substance ab

sound extreme what's more disturbing is that it may even be more busy as of march the department of veterans affairsctually stopped publishing their statistics on injured veterans why or according to report by international business times the v.a. cited reasons of national security so on top of the already and adequate health care for vets now are being censored from the eye opening it up to six of the true reality of the war on terror not being able to see the truth prevents us from understanding why there's been such an exponential growth and wartime injuries and vietnam so if you want the v.a. to explain this trend to and join me and let's break the set. this is. the piece of. it was a. very hard to make that. once again. plug that never had sex with their lives let alone.

table when it comes to getting employment we can significantly benefit employers and the department of veterans affairs has done quite a bit to increase these services that they can make available to returning veterans we still have a long ways to go but certainly there have been i think absolutely incredible improvements under secretary shinseki that i've been greatly encouraged by including really amazing progress in specifically addressing the needs of women veterans were the fastest growing segment of the veterans population and they've been working very diligently to make sure that our particular gender specific needs can be met. i've not seen any statistics that. strongly correlate that it can show causation between combat experience and increased rates of violence that's across the board actually i think are incarcerated at slightly lower rates than our civilian counterparts and also there are exciting there's progress being made in something called veterans' courts where instead of putting vets who have committed minor crimes in jail they're instead hooked up with services mental health care su

sound extreme what's more disturbing is that it may even be more busy as of march the department of veterans affairs actually stopped publishing.

over two hundred thousand people who work at the department of veterans affairs were turkic talking nursing. assistants who work in long term care facilities we're talking people who lay the headstones in v.a. cemeteries people who sweep the snow away from v.a. buildings so veterans can get there. and these people make already under thirty thousand a year and this is a direct hit on their paycheck because they if the new employees are now going to have to pay one point three percent more towards their retirement. these are people barely getting by now how are they supposed to set aside money towards the thrift savings plans that they have additional savings which is what this country keeps telling people to do to supplement their retirement they won't be able to do it. i think it imports a look at this is the kind of the broader war on working people and federal government because it's very easy to pick on them overseas now the government the big bad government and people who are for the government. by virtue of being affiliated with barack obama must be on of mooches. take. benefits from t

still suffering from the physical and emotional scars left from their days overseas the department of veterans affairs estimates that twenty two veterans take their lives a day or about one every sixty five minutes a number of others are dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder or p.t.s.d. now in order to cope with the physical and mental pain doctors often times per scribe powerful pain medications to these veterans things like oxy cotton but over prescription often leads to a life threatening addictions artie's that perry and boring reports. prescription drug abuse in overdose has taken so many lives in america that the white house classifies it as an epidemic sadly our nation's veterans are some of the most at risk of becoming addicted to prescription drugs veterans like nick stefan a brick i got this shirts are we discharged from the marine corps in two thousand and six. and when i came home and when i started using pills. for everything. oxycontin is an opioid prescribe to treat severe acute or chronic pain veterans hospitals are increasingly prescribing the drug to people with chronic pain wh

sound extreme what's more disturbing is that it may even be more busy as of march the department of veterans affairs actually stopped publishing their statistics on injured veterans why or according to report by international business times the v.a. cited reasons of bashful security so on top of the already and adequate health care for vets now are being censored from the eye opening up to six of the true reality of the war on terror not being able to see the truth prevents us from understanding why there's been such an exponential growth in wartime injuries and vietnam so if you want the v.a. to explain this trend to the join me and let's break the set. the the the the. it was a. very hard to take. that or had sex with her hair. in the age of citizen journalism history is no longer written by the victors it happens in real time through photos videos and blogging but with such little financial support for alternative media it's hard to survive as a full time documentary an activist or one photographer is trying to do just that through internet crowdsourcing as activism is covered everything from occ

suffering the physical and emotional scars that were left from their days oversee its the department of veteran affairs estimates that twenty two best friends take their lives each day where about one every sixty five minutes a number of others deal with cosmetic stresses or are you or to cope with the physical and mental pain. doctors often times prescribe powerful pain medications to these entrants with things like oxycontin for instance but over prescription of often leads to life threatening addiction. rt is a curie and barring reports the good news an overdose has taken so many lies in america that the white house classifies it as an epidemic sadly our nation's veterans are some of them. i'm becoming addicted to prescription drugs. veterans like makes the fun of it. i got discharged honorably discharged from the marine corps in two thousand six all in one a key moment when i started using tools everybody talks to god oxycontin is the latest tried to treat severe acute or chronic pain. veterans hospitals are increasingly prescribing the drug to people with chronic pain the la salle had poster matic

the suit alleged the navy and department of veterans affairs overlooked red flags about the mental condition of the shooter. they name hewlett packard. aaron alexis killed 12 people at the navy yard september 16th. he was shot and killed by police. >>> a scary morning at a high school in toledo, ohio. a 14-year-old student brought a gun to school. the school went into lockdown and the student was isolated inside a classroom. no one was injured. the weapon was a pellet gun. the student will be expelled. >>> there is new technology that could help prevent crashes like the one in new york from happening in the future. when it could arrive on our local tracks. we'll have details. >>> prince harry walking for a cause. the latest on his trek to the south pole. we're coming right back. >>> breaking news regarding d.c. mayor vincent gray. scott macfarlane is at the live desk. >> tom sherwood reporting that vincent gray is planning to run for re-election. he signed up for petitions to do so. the 71-year-old mayor completing his first term and will run for a second term as mayor of d.c. if he does run

the navy, the department of veteran affairs and two defense contractors are named as defendants. all are accused of negligence. knight's sister says the system is flawed and needs to be fixed. with we are all just torn apart and we want to get through this and make a change and make a difference so her life wasn't in vain. >> the lawsuit alleges federal agencies and contractors did not act on rd flags about the mental health of navy yard gunman. and also says navy yard security was lax alexis killed 12 people before he died in a shootout with police in september. >>> dick cheney is commenting on camera about a family feud between the two daughters. the siblings spat began when liz cheney reiterated her support for traditional marriage. she's locked in a tight republican primary battle. her sister, mary cheney, on the right there, is married to her partner, heather. the couple took to facebook to criticize liz cheney's stand against same-sex marriage. he was asked about the controversy last night. >> we were surprised when there was an attack launched on facebook. and wish it hadn'

the department of veteran's affairs now estimates a little over 1 million world war ii veterans are still alive. this past veteran's day the oldest living member of world war ii was honored at arlington national cemetery. richard overton returned home where he was greeted with cheers and hugs. one of the ways a home townnd a a nation pays respect to those who changed the course of history. >> my next guest is a member of the greatest generation. 17 years old when he joined the u.s. marines and fought in the battle of okinawa. more than a quarter million troops were engaged and they lost 12,000 men in a battle over two months. he went on to become chancellor of the university of richmond and now serves as spokesman for the greatest generation foundation. doctor thank you so much for your service and thank you so much for being here. what does it mean to you, sir, to see we are at a point where there are only 1 million remaining in the greatest generation in terms of the vets who served? >> it represents to me the world has changed dramatically and as i reflect back to those 15 million you

the department of veterans affairs, the navy and two defense contractors are all named as defendants and all are accused of negligence. >> the navy didn't do what they were supposed to do. the contractor didn't follow the rules in existence. the subcontractors didn't follow the rules in existence. if they did, this rattlesnake would never have been allowed under the tent and never would have killed our beloved mary. >>> the lault allegations that they did not act on red flags about the mental health of navy gunman aaron alexis. alexis killed 12 people before he died in a shootout with police in september. >>> tonight police are looking for the gunman who fired shots near a day care center in capitol heights. one person was wounded. the driver sitting inside the day care's marked van was grazed by a bullet. it happened around 6:00 last night in an intersection of shell street and arcadia avenue. no children were hurt, and the shooting victim is expected to be okay. >>> tonight the autopsy report on actor paul walker is out. it shows he was killed by the impact of saturday's car crash,

department of veterans affairs who will be accompanied by mr. mr. brett bronze director of san diego benefits inspections division. additionally the hearing record will include written statements from disabled american veterans, the tragedy assistance program for survivors and the wife of an air force veteran derek shafer with those instructions complete i thank you for being here and i yield to the ranking member for her opening statement. >> thank you mr. chairman and thank you for holding this important hearing. i also would like to thank the witnesses you mentioned who are here today for their time and trouble to share information with us. first i want to applaud the va for reducing the log by 34% since march of 2013. we know that the va can maintain this momentum and we are optimistic. we want to end this decades long backlog and we are moving in that direction. our numbers indeed show that the va is on track to reach the secretary school by 2015 so i would ask you to relay a message to the people who work for the va and to tell them thank you f

they are a large and often overlooked part of the military community, according to the department of veterans affairsgay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender. we take a closer look at the changes and the new programs now being offered to those vets. melissa chan joins us from san francisco with that part of the story. melissa. >> well john, don't ask don't tell ended two years ago. but it's interesting to speak to the veterans. they had a wide raping of opinions and feelings. -- range of feels and opinions. >> getting together at san francisco pride celebration, just two years of banging gays and lesbians of serving openly, veterans who have had to spend their careers in closet. >> the overturn of don't ask don't tell is still very new. so i think the services are still learning. and although it's going very well so far i mean i do expect that there are yet going to be some bumps in the road. naturally it's a big change. >> john caldera serves on the san francisco veterans affairs commission. he kept his sexual orientation secret and was honorably discharged from the navy in the '80s. >> i can truly see

. >> it works on department of veterans affairs. >> we have to leave it there. >> the v.a. esn't provide it well. >> when we come back, this is the obama care horror story of the week. the mother of a 17-year-old girl with a very rare neurological disease recently got notice her family's plan terminated. she'll join us with the personal story and explain how hard obama care is about to hit her family and pastor rick warren will speak out on the death of his son and more. [ paper rustles, outdoor sounds ] ♪ [ male announcer ] laura's heart attack didn't come with a warning. today her doctor has her on a bayer aspirin regimen to help reduce the risk of another one. if you've had a heart attack, be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. >>> welcome back. as obama care continues to unravel we are hearing more stories about average americans who are feeling the pain from this disastrous law. despite the president's promise that americans could keep their plan, their doctor my next guest was recently told her health plan would be cancelled. eileen has a 1

. >> it works on department of veterans affairs. >> we have to leave it there. >> the v.a. n't provide it well. >> when we come back, this is the obama care horror story of the week. the mother of a 17-year-old girl with a very rare neurological disease recently got notice her family's plan terminated. she'll join us with the personal story and explain how hard obama care is about to hit her family and pastor rick warren will speak out on the death of his son and more. if you've got copd like me, hey breathing's hard. know the feeling? copd includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis. spiriva is a once-daily inhaled copd maintenance treatment that helps open my obstructed airways for a full 24 hours. spiriva helps me breathe easier. spiriva handihaler tiotropium bromide inhalation powder does not replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms. tell your doctor if you have kidney problems, glaucoma, trouble urinating, or an enlarged prostate. these may worsen with spiriva. discuss all medicines you take, even eye drops. stop taking spiriva and seek immediate medical help if y

. >> it works on department of veterans affairs. >> we have to leave it there. >> the v.a. esn't provide it well. >> when we come back, this is the obama care horror story of the week. the mother of a 17-year-old girl with a very rare neurological disease recently got notice her family's plan terminated. she'll join us with the personal story and explain how hard obama care is about to hit heramily and pastor rick warren will speak out on the death of his son and more. h sleigh bells♪ bass pro shops has great holiday gift ideas at big savings. like sherpa lined buffalo flannel shirts for under $20. save $5 on jumbo adventure play sets. plus check out basspro.com for amazing daily web busters and free shipping with no minimum order. hmm. mm-hmm. [ engine rev] ♪ [ male announcer ] oh what fun it is to ride. gethe mercedes-benz on your wish list at the winter event going on now -- but hurry, the offers end december 31s [ santa ] ho, ho, ho! [ male announcer ] lease the 2014 ml350 for $599 a month at your local mercedes-benz dealer. [ male announcer ] lease the 2014 ml350 is a r

the clerk: nomination, department of veterans affairs, sloan d. gibson to be deputy secretary. mr. reid: there is a cloture motion at the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: cloture motion: we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of shown d. gibson of the district of columbia to be deputy secretary of veterans affairs, signed by 17 senators as follows: mr. reid: i ask that the reading of the names be waived, mr. president. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i now move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: question is on the motion. all in favor say aye. all opposed, no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. mr. reid: i now move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar number 445. the presiding officer: question is on the motion. all in favor say aye. all opposed, no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. th

michaud: i rise in support of h.r. 3521, the department of veterans' affairs major medical facility leasezation act of 2013. mr. speaker, this bill would authorize a number of major medical facility leases that will ensure veterans don't receive care in safe, efficient, and modern clinics closer to home. last year, much to our disappointment, we were unable to pass a lease authorization bill as a result of of h.r. 3521 contains requested for fiscal year 2013 and 2014. 27 leases were included in this bill, from new jersey to hawaii, veterans can expect long-awaited expansions to cramped, community-based outpatient clinics, no clinical research space, and sorely needed replacement facilities. this bill is a bipartisan bill and in the best interests of america's veterans. i appreciate the efforts of my colleagues across the aisle, especially chairman miller, for the collaborative effort that permitted this important legislation to move forward. mr. speaker, i know you'll agree with me that it is our obligation to ensure that our veterans are provided the best care possible in a timely and sa

suffering the physical and emotional scars that were left from their days overseas the department of veteran affairs estimates that twenty two veterans take their lives each day or about one every sixty five minutes a number of others deal with post-traumatic stress disorder now in order to cope with the physical and the mental pain. doctors oftentimes prescribe powerful pain medications to these veterans with things like oxycontin for instance but overprescription often leads to a life threatening addiction perry and boring reports prescription drug abuse and overdose has taken so many lives in america that the white house classifies it as an epidemic sadly our nation's veterans are some of the most at risk of becoming addicted to prescription drugs veterans like nick stefan a brick i got this shirts are we discharged from the marine corps in two thousand and six. and when i came home and when i started using pedals. for everything. oxycontin is an opioid prescribed to treat severe acute or chronic pain veterans hospitals are increasingly prescribing the drug to people with chronic pain who also ha

a number of claims-related provisions, this bill for the first time would require the department of veterans affairs to publicly report on both claims processing goals and actual production. this would allow congress and the public to closely track and measure v.a.'s progress on this difficult issue. mr. president, this bill also addresses a number of concerns presented to the veterans' affairs committee by the gold star wives earlier this year. by improving the benefits and services provided to surviving spouses. the veterans health and benefits improvement act would provide additional dependency and indemnity compensation for surviving spouses with children in order to provide financial support in the difficult period following the loss of a loved one. this bill also expands the marine gunnery sergeant john david frye scholarship to include surviving spouses of members of the armed forces who die in the line of duty. mr. president, as you can see, the veterans health and benefits improvement act contains provisions that will improve the lives of our nation's service members, veterans, and their su

. >> according to the department of veterans affairs, a million of the military vets are gay. many are facing challenges in the civilian world. as part of our coverage al jazeera's melissa chan takes a closer look at the programs offered to help them out. >> getting together to discuss a difficult issue - whether to allow military recruiters at the san francisco's pride celebrations. some veterans had to spend their careers in the closest. the overturn of don't ask, don't tell is new. the services are still learning. it's going very well so far, i expect that there are going to be some bumps in the road. >> john serves on the san francisco veteran affairs commission. he kept his sexual orientation secret. >> i can understand why the don't ask, don't tell - that is how many of us lived our lives, closeted and sheltered. >> the military has come far. veterans' affairs hospitals like this in san francisco launched pilot programs to provide psychologists to handle post traumatic stress caused by antidiscrimination. >> getting the message out that the hospitals welcome lgtb veteran

department of commerce. that is the large agency category. the department of homeland security right last. they had a ranking of 42.6. followed by the department of veterans affairs. 49 as their ranking. you can see all of the restores old at best places to work.org. we have the president and ceo to take your comments. dna is up first from west virginia on the line for democrats. caller: good morning. he is absolutely right. there is a war on government employees driven by corporations to want everything privatized. i have two data points to comment on. one, during the bush administration, they were trying to prove that the private sector could do these government functions better than the public sector. in 80% oftion is that cases, the government agencies did the job better and cheaper than the private sector. second, there's propaganda put out by people at the heritage foundation claiming the government employees are paid much more than the equivalent people in the private sector. i have a friend from the department of energy who left. he was earning $150,000 per year. he joined the private sector and his paid doubled. his benefits and overall income more than

the legislation before the house today will simply give the department of veterans affairs the ability to reconsider internment of veterans who lost their privilege of internment in our national cemeteries by committing a capital offense. our nation's cemeteries shouldn't be tarnished because of a legislative tent tsh-technicality and the bill before us will close this loop whole. our bravest men and women should be buried next to fellow heroes and today we can make sure they always are. i'm proud to be a sponsor of the house version of this bill that garnered the support of all hoosier representatives, and i want to thank them for coming together in a bicameral and bipartisan way to get behind this meaningful and important piece of legislation. i want to encourage all of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle and thank them for coming together and to give closure to the koehl family, restore a sense of honor to our national cemeteries, and improve the protocols so an injustice like this can never happen again. thank you, mr. chairman. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentl

the veterans administration, now called the department of veterans affairs, is a completely separate artment and bill and budget from the pentagon and the department of defense. benefits have been pretty well protected from all these cuts. people do not want to cut veterans. although, they have had problems because more people were signing up than they had money to take care of. they say, if you are pretty healthy and you have health care from your employer, we cannot let you win and we have to get this guy with no legs first or this guy who has been on the street first. the military primarily takes and itsits troops families. but you serve 20 years in the military, you get to retire after 20 years. and you get a significant pension. congress has overtime increased the health care benefits for those people. health care has gotten really expensive. this is a good health care deal. inmiums have not gone up over a decade. >> are those the tri-care benefits? >> yes. exactly. army, near -- air force, and navy marine corps. it is basically the military's hmo and ppo. has kept expanding thos