johnny isaacson of georgia was one of them and he gives us the dish. ready to fire? as north korea celebrates the anniversary of kim jong un's appointment to power, the united states and asia are on high alert for a possible missile launch. >> kim jong un has not been in power all that long, so we don't have an extended track record for him, like we did with his father and grandfather. so that's why we're watching it closely to see if what he's doing is consistent with past patterns of north korean behavior. >> andrea mitchell joins us live from south korea with the latest. immigration nation, as thousands march in washington, we live the veil on who is funding the fight against immigration reform. >>> plus, pay up, eh? with a case of molson in tow, canada's foreign minister settles his beer bet with secretary of state, john kerry after the u.s. women's hockey team topples arch rival canada for the world title. >> we're very, very happy, i'm delighted that the american team won the game, but i salute our great canadian friends, and extraordinary group of athletes on

we were were encouraged by what senator isaacson said. and ha senator mccain said. that he couldn't understand why anyone would want to filibuster the bill. we heard senator graham make a similar comment today. we're starting to see republicans come out in support of at least allowing a vote on this background checks bill. and as you've all been saying, not just in your show, but throughout the day. this is something that 90% of americans support. it's the most common sense of common sense gun safety improvements that we could do. we believe that the senate should do it. >> quickly on immigration, i know there are a lot of things that can come up at dinner. "meet the press" with lindsay graham, he said he thought what the president had been proposing is proposing in his budget is a step forward on entitlements, that he is now open, depending on what they get on the entitlement side to revenues and actually raising money through revenues. there's some movement there as well. what about immigration. there's talk today of a hang-up with marco rubio on the h 1 b visas?

our first statement came from senator johnny isaacson of georgia who was the organizer of the dinner.he says that our dinner with president obama tonight was very productive. we discussed the debt, deficits and fiscal challenges facing our country, sitting down to talk about how to get our arms around debt is a good step forward to what i hope will be an on-going discussion and path forward to solving our nation's problems. senator hatch took a similar positive tone. said they had a wide ranging open discussion on a range of subjects from tax reforms to entitlements. >> kasie, any indication they got into things other than budget issues? i know the agenda was budget issues, but with gun legislation coming up in the senate, any hints that they talked about that? >> i haven't gotten wind of that from my sources on capitol hill yet. i will say at the last dinner, they were pretty careful to avoid that. at that one they touched on immigration which has a much deeper bipartisan consensus and is less divisive emotionally, if you will. i would say i would be surprised to hear they got into t

and one senator who is going to be key in helping the deal go ahead is georgia's johnny isaacson.om gun owners of america which called senator toomey who also has an a a sellout because of this deal. senator isaacson came "outfront" and told me while the bill has drawn the powerful gun lobby's ire, he is not concerned about the backlash. >> the most important record card i ever had is the one i got in elementary school and high school. anybody can give out grades if they want to try to make a point. i want to know how everybody feels. most importantly how the people i represent in georgia feel. >> so maybe some real standing up to the nra. but is today's breakthrough really all that? if you take a step back and listen to the noise out there, there are a lot of gun laws in this country. some people said as many as 20,000. is one more law really the answer? joe johns has an "outfront" investigation. >> reporter: 21-year-old matthew christoph was killed by police after he shot a summerville, massachusetts, detective at point blank range through the window of a car november of 2010. t

senator i haven't asked senator isaacson. i have permission from my friend and colleague, senator port pan. i would ask the senator indulgence. >>ly voluntary indulge the senator from kansas. [laughter] >> what do you want to be called? administrator? miami administrate -- ma'am administrator? >> i actually prefer marilyn. [laughter] i have a different name. our state motto is to the stars through difficulty. i apply that. farmers in montana, for that matter, anywhere -- [inaudible] they never put the seed in the ground unless they thought they were going have a crop regardless of the years of doubt. you have endorsed by the candace medical association, candace million society. you have the support of hospice, blanks drivers, nurses and drivers and the list goes on. all the providers. there's a reason for that. that's because of everything that has been said about you. i think -- i'm going to dub you for dodge city area as new sheriff in town. you'll wear a white hat. there's a lot of anemia cms that -- people in cms that wea

professor at the american university school of international science also in washington we have jason isaacson he is the american jewish committee director of government and international affairs and in philadelphia we cross the susan she is a writer political commentator and author of the book mornings in janine ok crosstalk rules in effect that means you can jump in anytime you want susan visit by the u.s. secretary of state to the middle east anything new did you hear anything new anything promising. unfortunately no peter and frankly i think we need to stop talking about this fantasy peace process. you know twenty some years ago palestinians made an unprecedented compromise to relinquish aren't legal and historic right to over seventy eight percent of our historic homeland with the understanding that an independent palestinian state would be established in the remaining twenty two percent in this time where the while this process was going on you know of course it was turned out not to be a peace process at all but instead it's become. a process of ethnic cleansing it's been a process wher

you have senators like senator mccain senator isaacson.erates who finally realize this is an issue that deserves debate, in the highest chamber in our country in the united states senate. there is a fringe minority who is afraid to having a discussion at all on this issue. they know when it comes to the merits of the debate they'll lose every time, and they don't want it to happen publicly. it's all politics. >> michael: you referred to the leader of the senator harry reid who said he believes he'll have the votes to bring it to the floor. are you hearing that we could see this passed by thursday? >> we'll certainly be getting a vote. that much is clear. you know, what happens after we break the filibuster is unclear. >> michael: if that filibuster is broken, i'm sure you thought about it how is that going to make you, stephen, feel, after what happened to you after seeing what happened to so many others, what is the feeling? what do you imagine it will feel like to see the senate vote on this? >> i mean, to me this is just the beginning,

. >> that's georgia republican senator johnny isaacson on cbs this morning. he said they deserve a right to be able to sit down and talk with me. he's agreeing to meet with the newtown families and he is pointedly not joining the republican filibuster effort they were trying to use to block there from even being a vote. the republicans filibuster plan was defeated today. as soon as their supposed leader mitch mcconnell said he would join that effort, it went down in flames. he's their supposed leader, but when he said i'm all in, they jumped. there should be a vote. in filibuster and the plan is now for a vote on thursday in the senate on harry reid's package of reforms. we are in to buckle your seat belt territory as of now. terms of whether or not there is going to be a national response other than just bad feelings to the sandy hook almostry school massacre on december 14th in newtown, connecticut. the effort to make a response to newtown not just sadness, but real change, has at its core, these families who have been willing to take their private grief pu

johnny isaacson and kelly ayotte said they're not going to filibuster. >> we have not seen the final draft of the legislation that was produced. i understand last night, but i think it deserves a vote. >> this is what they do on everything. he said look, if you vote against the filibuster, you're voting for the bill. i remember -- there's a question. they, what's remarkable, i think this gets back to what you were saying. >> what you love about it, what it has done is set the precedent for this to unnormalize the filibuster. when we said the filibuster -- i'll allow you to have a vote and tell you what i think about it. absolutely normal. for most people. >> that hadn't been said before we get too enthusiastic, although i hope that it is, it's not every day you get an issue where 90% all asking for the same thing, so i hope this is a marking of the beginning of a good trend, but we'll see how it goes. >> and in washington, the great ryan grim of "huffington post." thank you. we'll be right back. >>> junior sao took his life last year. family members say it's because of the sustained,

senator johnny isaacson organized the guest list. of tennessee and senator marco rubio from florida, and senator susan collins along with seven others. senator isaacson commended the president for reaching out. >>> a tornado leads a debris path 30 miles long. the twister hit one town, passed over another before slamming into a third. in all, three people hurt, 33 homes damaged. a church was demolished. that's what you are looking at. this church was demolished just 90 minutes before the start of weekly services. those severe storms are now heading east. tennessee, alabama, and georgia could see strong winds and damaging hail later today. >> tiger woods teas off in just a few minutes, and he is the favorite to win his fifth green jacket. >>> maybe it's the republican twist on that 1980s hit "back to the future." the party seeking to rebrand holding its spring meeting to craft the new strategy. among the headliners? dick cheney. yes, that dick cheney. the former vice president who once told a senator to, well, can't say that on tv, but

johnny isaacson, ron johnson mike lee, mitch mcconnell jerry moran, rand paul, pat roberts, marco rubio jeff sessions david vitter, roger wicker. these are guys who had a chance to stop killing now the democrats who decided their senate seats and pensions of nra ratings are not getting primaried are more important than you max baucus, heidi high camp and sorry of the massacring of names. harry reid also voted no only because that means he can bring the vote up again but he gets honorary mention for

but so far we have georgia's senator johnny isaacson who made the guest list at the request of the president. the master list maker, it's greats to have you here, can you reveal the attendees, the confirmations that you already have. >> told senators that i would let them release their own plans. >> have you got any regrets? >> i don't think you have any turn downs to have dinner at the white house. >> the fact that he's looking for a compromise when it comes to a budget deal, what they're coming to the table with is basically a 3$3.7 trillion deficit cuts. >> budgets are eye of the beholder documents, if you want to find something to hate, you can find it, if you want to find something to like you can find it. the one part of his proposal is that he put changed cpi of social security and medicare. we have got to find where we can find common ground and that's one place where i think we can. >> one thing common ground revenue has certainly been a hot button topic and in this proposal, there would be $500 billion in additional revenue on the coat tails on the last up tick in taxes that we las

senator isaacson is the one bringing everybody together.an go and where do you see the soft spots? >> well the president said, he's looking for a caucus of common sense, people on both sides realized that if we're going to strengthen the economy, strengthen jobs, no one's going to get 100% of what they want. there will be some entitlement reform that's going to be politically difficult that's done for the desire of strengthening important programs like medicare. also that you have to be willing to make tough choices everywhere. i don't think most americans believe, i think there's a lot of republicans who don't believe, either. that you can't get another penny. not one single penny of revenue. from the most flawed special interest tax cut or loophole or tax expenditure that benefits the most well-off americans. the kind of balance plan we want, is one that i think has great support. and i think that there are republicans in the senate who see that the president is serious. that see that he's putting forward things that are politically diffi

johnny isaacson, mike inzy, susan collins.at have leaked out so far. >> this is the second big dinner he's done. kind of an intriguing group. does it matter? >> it might. we won't get any type of budget deal done in april. the question is, do these relationships pave for getting something done in the summer, in september? that's what they are trying to do. >> two reminders, johnny issacson, fresh off the dinner with president obama, will be on this show tomorrow. joe biden, you might have heard of him, the vice president of the united states, he will be on tomorrow morning. >>> that does it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." tomorrow, andrea will be live in south korea where there will be talks about the north korea crisis. my colleague, tamron hall has a look at what is next on "news nation." hi, tamron. >> we are following stories out of washington, d.c. the conservative group threatening to hold republican accountable if any of them support the bipartisan compromise on background checks held today. we will talk

this time it's isaacson making the invites. the bottom line, if republicans are stuck on revenues, nothing will happen. if a deal happens, it will likely begin in the senate. can the president find a working group in these dinners to come up with a deal that does include revenues? >>> well, if it's friday, it's time for our daily rundown 2016 round up. so for the week, we've decided this will be known as the hillary week. the first of many, probably. the thing we learned, though, is that it doesn't take much to start a conversation about hillary clinton's presidential ambitions. that shouldn't be a surprise, a reminder how easily she can dominate a political news cycle. in fact, moments from now, giving her second high-profile speech in a week. this time at the women in the world summit in new york. every time clinton steps on stage, the obsessive speculation about hir political future follows. clinton world is highly aware of that and carefully orchestrated its response. downplaying the frenzy while mentioning what a formidabl

>> i think it went over well based on what johnnyi isaacson, the president called him and said can youozen or so republican senators, the second kind of dinner the president's had. the first one he had at the jefferson hotel, a swanky place, a nice restaurant here in washington. but this one was in the private family dining room over at the white house. and, look, they spent about two and a half, almost three hours talking about mostly budget and economic issues but a little bit on guns, little bit on immigration. my own sense is, look, the more you talk with each other, maybe something positive could emerge. doesn't hurt to talk. and i think that this so-called charm offensive that the president is engaged in is helping ease this dialogue, ease this little nonwashington con fron -- this typical washington confrontation. the more you talk with each other, you have a meal, i think it might not necessarily help but certainly can't hurt. >> all right. good. wolf, good to see you as always. appreciate it. >> thank you. >>> this place looks like a war zone. that is what one person said afte

among -- there's even a divide among the culture in the united states senate where you have a johnny isaacson, a bob corker. >> they say let's vote. >> we're legislators. we're going to be conservative legislators but we're legislators. then you have a new strain of the republican party, this new crowd that's gotten in there that says, no, you know what, government gets too big when it does anything. whatever. legislating is bad, period. >> don't even debate. >> yes. >> it looks to me like the 29, following up on your thought, a lot of these people like mitch mcconnell aren't born right wingers. howard was sit in that chair yesterday, howard fineman. he said all this thing going on with kentucky, whatever's going on, the taping of that meeting and everything was mitch mcconnell coming out screaming bring in the fbi because he wanted to show he was a real right winger and mad at the left. >> he was tough. it has united conservatives around him. conservatives, the enemy of my enemy is my ally. this is survival. the fact of the matter is, chris, he saw what happened. his own guy got -- didn't lo

out in favor of this, of possible compromise, on background checks and other issues, like senator isaacson, senator toomy, they understand that their purpose is to vote on this. >> for the newtown families coming to make it real, this is what we need, to always remind us why we're doing this the senators take a vote on this, they're voting to protect the lives of their constituents directly. that needs to be at the forefront of this conversation moving forward. >> maggie, we were talking about the segment when we were planning it this morning. which is worse for the these republicans, filibustering it or taking a no vote? >> that's a very tough which is the worst of the poison pills, right? i think that taking a no vote is probably better, realistically. because we're talking about their own districts. we're not talking about what happens nationally. i think the filibuster move, you know, it's going to start to be a problem, right, if we see it repeatedly. you saw rand paul's filibuster, that created the whole i stand with rand hashtag we've seen a lot of, and i think at a certain point it

. >> woodruff: on the other hand, five senate republicans-- including georgia's johnny isaacson-- say they want a vote. >> instant background check law in georgia i was a part of in 1995 when it passed. the issue on instant background checks -- on background checks now is how far they go and whether or not they violate rights to privacy in terms of mental health. >> woodruff: meanwhile, west virginia democrat joe manchin and pennsylvania republican pat toomey are still trying to work out a compromise bill. democratic majority leader harry reid went to the senate floor with the photo of a picket fence with 26 slats is-- one for each victim in newtown and he insisted there's no going back. >> we have a responsibility to safeguard these little kids and once we do something more than the law today, we've failed. >> reporter: later reid announce head will try to force an initial vote thursday. it remains unclear if he can get 60, the number needed to proceed we look more closely at the questions surrounding the way background checks work now and what effect changing the law may have. james

this morning, johnny isaacson, part of the gop dozen recapped what was served. >> most of the discussion was about fiscal policy. about the tax policy, about revenues, about entitlements, that was the gist of the meeting. we have our differences and some of them are inseparable, we have a lot of places where we can find common ground. >> as with any balanced meal or any bipartisan deal, there is traditionally a mix of stuff people like and stuff people don't like. broccoli for example, and chocolate cake and in any meal, and in any deal, people traditionally have to eat the stuff they don't like to get to the stuff they do like. unless you're a republican, in which case you throw the broccoli on the floor and ask for more cake. >> he does deserve some credit. for some incremental entitlement reforms, that he has outlined in his budget. but i would hope that he would not hold hostage these modest reforms, for his demand for bigger tax cuts. >> this is not a serious plan. for the most part, just another left-wing wishlist. >> there are some things in the budget beyond the tax increases tha

. >> and there were -- a bunch of senators there, johnsy isaacson of georgia, susan collins of main, john barrasso of arkansas -- or sorry, john bozeman, senator bozeman of arkansas and just a chance to talk, again, this is designed to get around senate gop leadership, which hasn't been in the mood to talk to the president, and frankly has its hands tied because mitch mcconnell and john cornyn face re-election next year and really aren't in the mood to be seen as actually negotiating with the president. but a lot of the senate republicans come to capitol hill and say, look, it was great. we had a great opportunity to talk about actual issues. and this dinner, there was a bit of a gag order put on it appears because they decided they didn't really want to go back and talk about the details of it. they wanted to sort of preserve the privacy of the white house meeting that they had with the president, which i know, you know, almost to a person, the senators really appreciate having the opportunity to do that. >> yeah. so, amie, final word to you, where -- is there going to be a big, gra

i don't want johnny isaacson, dear friend, to be mad at me if i say something nice about the president but i am really struck, mr. chairman, by the specificity and directness of the budget increases which the president would be entire rest of the world claiming every nickel that it does not have in his government will what he has done to make your mission more amenable. not in all fields and not with all problems come but he has given a vote of confidence and more important in that community spoke strongly to the veterans. i don't usually say things like that and hearings, but i just wanted to in this case. just over 10 percent, its huge. we throw those numbers around and san forget them. this will not be forgotten. nevertheless, have also become very concerned about the persistent problems that have been addressed by the two speakers prior to me. the needs of rapidly growing veterans community for the backlog of veterans claims. i am not sure whether it's 600,000. a one. i heard 800,000. in one sense it doesn't make any difference. so many. yes, you are attacking that. you are bringin

has said it and he's taken a first step and i think the dinner coming up wednesday night, johnnie isaacsonor from georgia is putting together is an -- >> let me explain it. a bunch of senate republican back benchers, not the leaders, will have dinner with the president. >> right. and i think it is an opportunity there for the president to begin using the senate as a key, if you will, to unlock the house. because, he can say, i'm being reasonable, here's a balanced approach. it is 2-1, in terms of cuts, to new taxes. and, i'm willing to buy into this and, if the -- if he can get republicans in the senate in sufficient numbers to buy into the deal he can say i've got something on the plate. why won't you house republicans come along and the difficulty -- and i think you heard this morning from dan pfeiffer -- is that, well, so the democratic senate plan seems to be out the door and republicans may see what the president has proposed, as brit said, as a starting point rather than a package. >> chris: british i want to talk about, though from the republicans' point of view, because we have had

i was spending time yesterday with johnny isaacson.e said while he disagrees on some things he would not be one of those to say filibuster. he said the issue of guns are well known in this country and no reason to hold up a vote and begin the debate and get it going. that is important because some of the more conservatives who want this filibuster when you've got the johnny isaacsons of the party saying it's not a good idea that changes the dynamic. >> we have been hearing the same thing from lindsey graham and others don't filibuster this deal. sam stein, a lot of liberals will not be pleased that these individual transfers aren't in there but, at the same time, a lot of gun control advocates will say if we close the gun show loophole, if we close the international sales loophole and a lot of gun shop owners say the same thing, then that's a good thing. >> i think you're right there is griping over the exemptions carved out but at the end day i think they will vote yet. when you look at the context of this if you had said a year ago y

isaacson. mr. thune. bond. mr. lugar. mr.hey were five votes shy. >> today, the senate voted against the dream act. it would have offered a path to citizenship to some illegal immigrants. >> that's right. we just watched this key vote for the dream act. it just failed. >> illegal immigrant college students hoping to become legal students. >> it's legislation that would have allowed millions of illegal immigrants getting away with staying here in the united states legally. we the people, i believe the phrase was, no way, jose. >> experts calculate that giving citizenship to people like jose will add $329 billion to our economy in additional taxes and spending. >> i don't have as much enthusiasm as i did before. you can dream all you want, but you're still here. >> it was taught to us at an early age, play by the rules, do everything right, and you'll be okay. >> decisions, decisions. >> it would be great if it worked like this. where even if you have a bad spin, you can laugh with your family. but if you don't have a social se

check out 55 year old david isaacson. tallest thing on skates. making appearances between periods at all levels of the game. when he was learning how to do it he used to use a ladder for support. >> now he sometimes brings along his 7-year-old friend who is happy to skate through his legs. i tell you what -- wouldn't want to take a fall on the hard ice way up there. big hockey stick too. >> ha, kid wiped out. >> he apparently learned how to do this in three weeks. >> no kidding. >> i can't imagine learning to walk on stilts. >> want to see him drop his gloves and start the fisticuffs. >> only had to make one trip to the hospital. >> he did. only one. there you go. >> wow, three weeks. pretty good. don't you think? >> talent. only one trip to the hospital. >> only one. a talented man. >>> all right, coming up, "world news now" takes you everywhere including to a place that could provide hints of hell. >> later on. taking your own picture sharing it with everyone on the internet. seems to be everyone's form of self promotion these days. what's behi

by the end of the day they visited nearly a dozen senators including johnny isaacson, a georgia republicanelieves they should be heard. you plan to vote against some of the measures that they're supporting, but you still decided to meet with them. why? >> these are parents who lost their children to tragedy. if you can't meet with them you shouldn't meet with any one. >> reporter: the emotional appeal from the wheelers and other families is hitting the political realities here in congress. more than a dozen republicans, including mitch mcconnell are threatening a filibuster. democrats are calling their bluff. and senate majority leader harry reid is scheduling the first vote for thursday. abc news, capitol hill. >>> rescuers in china managed to save a girl who fell into a narrow hole 55 feet deep. playing at a construction site when she fell into the dry well. the opening was too narrow for adult or tools to fit through. crews sent down a rope with a loop at the end pulled her to safety. doctors treated her for shock. amazingly she suffered no other injuries. >>> the wind driven fire that

senator rockefeller, senator thune, senator mark udall, senator risch, senator roberts, senator isaacson, senator mccaskill, senator hagan, the presiding officer, senator toomey, senator murkowski, senator warner, senator begich, senator nelson and senator heller. as the ranking member of the transportation appropriations committee, i've been very concerned about the serious delaying that have been caused by the f.a.a. furloughs of the air traffic controllers. in fact, secretary of transportation lahood and f.a.a. administrator heurta met with me this morning to discuss this problem and a proposed solution. madam president, the collins-rockefeller-thune-udall bill would restore the funding for these essential air traffic controller positions that should prevent the onerous delays that have been occurring and were only going to get worse as the traveling season reached its peak this summer. that would have had a ripple effect throughout the hospitality industry in particular and cause job losses that we can ill afford. i have a lengthier statement that explains exactly the provisions of t

and i think if you read the isaacson book, you have a better chance.f people had their hands in the pot. i think at the end of the day maybe some of that is going to be flushed out more. >> he had retail experience at carter before apple. >> absolutely. he had enough going on to get this job. >> may ultimately be too much change taofpt, too much seat of the pants. not enough testing it. >> that's what ackman said on friday. you can't just roll out a strategy with no testing. >> and i'm sure he said it like it was completely obvious. >> when it was happening, oh, yeah -- do you remember. >> yeah. >> the 10% had strong -- >> no arguments. >> he won't come on either if you're mean. >> if carl had a position in jc penney, how good would that be? >>> he's done things for less. hearing you might now might be accepting sleeping. >> he wakes up late. >> scott, thank you very much. courtney, thank you. our tkpweflt hosts are staying with us the the rest of the program. >> up next, time to talk tkaoefplts thl partners on the change at the top. jc penney, his fir

an amendment proposed by senator isaacson. it was passed.eginning to explore as many states do a two-year budgeting process, where you would do a years i t over two think many states find this is something that helps them a little bit with planning. it can help a little bit for incoming members of congress to come in. it has some appeal to the legislatures and i can see why it passed when it was proposed in the senate. i just would like your general thoughts about budget process and whether the notion of a two-year budget is something you thought about and if so, what is your take on it? >> the issue is one that i had the opportunity to speak to when i was at the office of budget and management before. i think there are some positive aspects to the issues that you can do most of what you articulated in your explanation. so what i think is -- i think the question is what is it that will most help us get back to a regular order and a process that works? if i am confirmed as the director of o.m.b., something like that is very much a ledge slave

senator johnny isaacson, next hour.s than a night at the motel 6? though tickets on sale -- those tickets on sale now but at your own risk. [ male announcer ] every day, thousands of people are choosing advil® for their headaches. my name is sunshine and i have three beautiful girls. i like taking advil® for a headache. it nips it in the bud. and i can be that mommy that i want to be. ♪ [ male announcer ] take action. take advil®. i don'without goingcisions to angie's list first. you'll find reviews on home repair to healthcare written by people just like you. with angie's list, i know who to call, and i know the results will be fantastic. angie's list -- reviews you can trust. that work the way you wish they would. like a front-end loader you can detach from your seat? or a mower deck you just drive over and cut through knee-deep grass no problem? yep. we thought the same thing you did. that's why we build them this way. that's how we run. nothing runs like a deere. visit your dealer or johndeere.com/howwerun to see th

i don't want johnny isaacson who is my dear friend to be mad at me if i say something nice about the president. ut i am really struck, mr. the specificity and directness of the budget increases which the president with the entire rest of the world claiming every nick kell that he doesn't have in his government, what he has done to make your mission more amenable to your leadership. and not in all fields and not with all problems. but he has given a vote of confidence and more importantly than that he's spoken strongly to the veterans. i usually don't say things like that at hearings but i just wanted to in this case. a 10.2% increase is huge. we throw those numbers around around soon forget them. but this will not be forgotten. nevertheless i'm concerned about the persistent problems that were addressed by the two speakers prior to me. the needs growing and the backlog, i'm not sure whether it's 600,000 or at one point i heard 800,000. it doesn't make any difference, it's so many. and yes, you are attacking that mental health, 1600, have you 1200 people over the country and people at

i don't want johnny isaacson who is my dear friend to be mad at me if i say something nice about the president. but i am really struck, mr. chairman, by the specificity and directness of the budget increases which the president with the entire rest of the world claiming every nickel that he doesn't have in his government, what he has done to make your mission more amenable to your leadership. and not in all fields and not with all problems. but he has given a vote of confidence and more importantly than that he's spoken strongly to the veterans. i usually don't say things like that at hearings but i just wanted to in this case. a 10.2% increase is huge. we throw those numbers around and soon forget them. but this will not be forgotten. nevertheless i'm concerned about the persistent problems that were addressed by the two speakers prior to me. the needs growing and the backlog, i'm not sure whether it's 600,000 or at one point i heard 800,000. it doesn't make any difference, it's so many. and yes, you are attacking that and bringing in mental health, 1600, have you 1200 people over t

proposedent that was u by senator isaacson and passed by a sizable vote. the notion of beginning to explore a two-year budgeting process, where you do a full budget over two years and use the midyear to trim up. revenues were not what you expected, expenses were not either. many states find this helps them with planning and can help them a little bit for incoming members of congress to comment --, in. it has some appeal the legislators and i can see why it passed when it was proposed to the senate. i just would like your general thoughts about budget process and whether the notion of a two- year budget is something you thought about and if so, what is your take on it? >> the issue is one that i had the opportunity to speak to when i was at the office of budget and management before. i think there are some positive aspects to the issues that you can do most of what you articulated in your explanation. so what i think is -- i think the question is what is it that will most help us get back to a regular order and a process that works? if i am confirmed as the