michaud: thank you, mr. speaker. i claim time in opposition although i am not owe potioned to the motion. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized. mr. michaud: thank you, mr. speaker. i support the motion to concur with the senate amendments with a further -- and a further amendment, and i support the motion to go to conference. the crisis within the v.a. is of national interest and must be a congressional priority. america's veterans deserve timely access to the care and benefits they've earned, they fought for us. now is the time we fight for them. but our fight should not be just about the failures in phoenix and across the -- and other facilities. the house has worked hard to develop important and much-needed legislation that addresses other failures within the v.a. enhance programs to ensure the v.a. is working on behalf of the veterans. i'm disappointed that we have not included in this amendment all relevant bills that have passed the house to ensure that these important matters

and so, it's those scratches that we really look for. >> after extensive comparisons, michaud callednvestigators with some bad news. >> the sizes were slightly off. things just didn't line up correctly. and then we were absolutely positive that those weren't the shoes that made the impressions left at the crime scene. >> what we had hoped would be good evidence turns out to be absolutely useless and unrelated. it wasn't that break that we were looking for. >> now we had to basically start from zero again and move forward. >> investigators went back to canvassing the neighborhood but feared audrey's murder would go unsolved. then, almost four months after audrey's murder, the local district attorney received a letter from a man in prison. >> do you remember the retired state police lady that was killed in lansing? i can give up the killer for a deal with the prosecutor. he said he found her in a bathroom. she was calling for help, so he knocked the phone from her hand and stomped on it. when she looked up, she was looking at his face, so he shot her in the head with a .32 caliber. see

michaud: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. michaud: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise in support of h.r. 4810, the veterans access to care of 2014. i want to thank the chairman for bringing this bill forward and also want to thank the chairman and the staff on both the majority and minority side for all the work they've been doing to get to the bottom of this crisis within the department. access to timely, quality health care for veterans is a top priority for the veterans' affairs committee. we often hear that the care that the veterans receive at the v.a. facilities is second to none. that is if you can get in. as we have recently learned, tens of thousands of veterans are not getting in, having to wait weeks and even months to access a v.a. medical center throughout the country. the gravity of the day in care the veterans from all eras are experiencing cannot be overstated and is totally unacceptable. this legislation would hel

this time, democrats seem to be going around michaud. a spoler and it leads to lepage's re-election, is that something you're comfortable carrying? >> i'm not a spoiler. i'm a choice. in maine over the last 40 years we've had 10 gubernatorial elections, independents have won three out of four of those. it's one of our strengths of electing independents. governor lepage will be shown the door. there's no question about that. the real question for maine voter sincere whether they want to replace him with someone who can exercise the kind of bold leadership that will turn that around. >> let me reverse the question i asked then why do you think michaud will have a hard time governing? >> he has no experience that qualifies him to be governor. he has demonstrated inconsistent principles over the course of his career. he has an extreme reliance, exceptional reliance on special interest pac money. throughout his 12 years in congress he has taken over $1,000 a day, every single day, saturdays, sundays, holidays, from special interest pacs. main

. >> one pair caught michaud's attention, a pair of size 6 1/2 tennis shoes. michaud dusted the shoes with powder and applied a sticky sheet of acetate to lift the print. all shoe impressions are distinctive. >> when a shoe is made, and it comes out of the factory, it's exactly like every other shoe made in that particular mold. and as soon as you start walking on that shoe, you get microscopic scratches and cuts and nicks in the bottom of the shoe that makes that shoe different from all others in the world. >> the shoe impression found on the glass at the crime scene had various nicks and scrape marks. interestingly, sharon zachary's left tennis shoe was the same size, make and model as the impression found at the crime scene. and it also had the same nicks and scrape marks. >> the surface was so clean, it made just a beautiful, very detailed impression. >> there was enough excellent markings on the glass that she was able to compare to the shoes and find a positive match to one shoe and only one shoe that made that print. >> fingerprint analysts had a more d

michaud's question. this is for mr. matkovsky. as mr. michaud said, it was stated there was no detail systemwide vha policies and how to handle page it no-shows -- patient no-shows and cancellations. are you await -- aware of a department wide cancellation policy? in our directive, we have policies for managing no-shows and cancellations and we also have policy that is supposed to guide our staff on how to manage veteran appointments and communicate with veterans and their families to minimize the chance -- >> describe that also briefly. >> for instance, if we have a veteran who has repeatedly not shown up for an appointment, we have a no-show list that allows us to contact veterans and that is part of our policy. sites are supposed to implement it. we have to do a better job of following up and ensuring that practices perform. >> i agree with that. i hear about the long wait times. i had a meeting last week where i met with veterans. one of the complaints was the wait times. everyone knows about that. missed appointments, for example th

with congressman michaud. >> thank you very much, senator sanders and representative miller. as you heard earlier, it's well over a decade since lawmakers gathered in conference from the respective committees. this is a historic opportunity and we have i believe a responsibility to deliver profound changes in a way veterans services are delivered in a timely, safe and high quality health care way. we are all well aware of the incredible failures within the veterans administration. just yesterday, though systemic problems were compounded when the office of special counsel released findings to take va to task for not doing nearly enough to act on information provided by the whistle-blowers. we know that this inaction can directly harm our veterans. i urge all of us to see beyond the immediate crisis and take this opportunity to have real conversations on how we can fix the va. i hope as a group we can put forward meaningful reforms that positions the department of veterans administration to provide high quality, timely and flexible care in the future. we have a responsibility t

michaud. my short answer to that would be that most of the metrics that are reported today in vha, and there are hundreds of them, are process oriented. and simply checking a box or doing something versus actually measuring what that accomplishes, or the outcome, and so my point in making that was that we should be rewarding and measuring outcomes for veterans, good health outcomes rather than simply checking the box and doing a process. >> i would add that it's just the shear size of the numbers of metrics. if you went the hr route and pulled a middle manager's will valuation within the va today, you would see metrics scored by the dozens. if you think about that many metrics, how can a leader give any proper attention, and proper priority when you have a weighted evaluation around those that are outcomes versus process. you have the ability to create focus, and priority, and that's what i would say is not just the metrics, but the shear number of metrics that we're looking at. >> thank you.

and michaud's bid opened up the second district state in that state. it's the largest geographic district east of the mississippi, actually. two democrats from the state senate, emily kaine, backed by emi emily's list, and troy jackson, are competing for that one, to take on whichever republican wins the nomination. and again, there's an open seat. should be fairly competitive, particularly in an off year. as i said, we'll be talking to two virginia candidates in just a moment. but first, i want to go to my colleague, nbc's perry bacon. he is leiv for me in spartanburg, south carolina. and perry, it is remarkable, i think, when we look back, if lindsey graham gets 50% plus one today, in this very crowded primary, it's actually one of the more remarkable feats, considering his voting record, how unapologetic he's been about it, in a state that has arguably the most conservative electorate in the country. >> exactly, chuck. it's not just that he voted for obama, he also voted for immigration reform, is that he goes around bragging about these things. lik

>> m-michaud. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i ask n. consent that miss kirkpatrick's statement being entered into the record as well as the association letter we received on april 19th -- june 19th. >> without objection. >> thank you. >> thank you, everybody, for being here today. thank you miss pharisees for being here. this meeting is adjourned.: are [inaudible conversations] >> the st. louis post dispatch announced it was dropping syndicated columnist george will from it pages after a controversial column he wrote about sexual assault on college campuses, calling its the supposed campus epidemic of rape and saying efforts to combat rape in hi words, make victimhood a cover vetted status that leads to -- >> george will, college has become the victims of progressivism, and i think the day we're recording the st. louis post dispatch announced they canceled your column. >> yes. this is my job. when dubious statistics become the basis of dubious and dangerous abandonment of due process, to step in and say, take a deep breath, everybody. w

showed up and started questioning him they accused him of being trained by al qaeda which mr michaud tonight so the f.b.i. started threatening him they told him they were going to hand him over to the kenyans forever they told him they were going to transfer him to israel where he be made to disappear they threatened his family they repeatedly threatened him with execution and torture and all kinds of bad stuff to get him to confess when a canyon human rights group filed a petition on his behalf the f.b.i. has be quickly flew mr michel back to somalia and then over to ethiopia in total he was detained for over four months by the f.b.i. interrogated over thirty times and he lost eighty pounds he was finally returned home where no charges were filed against him he would just let go. no with no explanation or apology so the a.c.l.u. brought the case to court to try to get some protections in place for americans against their own government when they travel abroad because apparently there's a need for that in the past other americans have similar stories about being tortured by the f.b.i

hi i'm roger michaud at franklin templeton investments we believe that citizens need to be informed about the resources that can help make higher education more affordable that's why we're proud to support programming produced by the caucus educational corporation and their partners in public television new ways for treating epilepsy. next on caucus new jersey funding for this edition of caucus new jersey has been provided by celgene corporation committed to improving the lives of patients worldwide the healthcare foundation of new jersey founded by the jewish community md advantage insurance company of new jersey investors bank berkeley college health republic insurance of new jersey and by new jersey natural gas proud to support education in our communities promotional support provided by commerce magazine and by the record north jersey's trusted source and north jersey.com [music playing] [music playing] welcome to caucus new jersey i'm steve adubato you know over three million people suffer from epilepsy in the united states today a new procedure it's called laser ablasion is giving p

michaud? >> thank you. when you consider the costs as far as putting out services to the va, do you also consider the savings, i.e. we heard from chris doughty in charge of the arts program. actually we're able to save the va about $600,000 during that pilot program for mileage. so do you consider the cost savings, as well or just the cost comparatively? >> i think when we look at how we manage excess -- excess demand, we need to determine whether we can provide that service more economically within the va or whether it's better for us to buy that in the community. i think that's an important decision. we do know the community costs. we can calculate. we do have the information to determine what it would cost us to hire those physicians and to provide care in the va. i think if we can do it more economically, and at less cost in the community, then that would be an appropriate thing to do. >> yeah, but considering all the factors, it might cost "x" within the va for a certain specialty care. might seem cost

with congressman michaud. >> thank you very much, senator sanders and representative miller. as you heard earlier, it's well over a decade since lawmakers gathered in conference from the respective committees. this is a historic opportunity and we have i believe a responsibility to deliver profound changes in a way veterans services are delivered in a timely, safe and high quality health care way. we are all well aware of the incredible failures within the veterans administration. just yesterday, though systemic problems were compounded when the office of special counsel released findings to take va to task for not doing nearly enough to act on information provided by the whistle-blowers. we know that this inaction can directly harm our veterans. i urge all of us to see beyond the immediate crisis and take this opportunity to have real conversations on how we can fix the va. i hope as a group we can put forward meaningful reforms that positions the department of veterans administration to provide high quality, timely and flexible care in the future. we have a responsibility t

michaud said is absolutely correct. the v.a. could do one thing today. i said this monday night at the hearing. the years i spent in clinical practice in medicine, i knew who i worked for, and that was the patient. that was the center of why i was there. if i didn't have patients to see, i had no reason to be in an office. and if you ask anybody on a v.a. campus who they work for, they'll say the v.a. the answer should be we work for veterans. that should be the answer. and that's a simple change in philosophy. i don't have any reason to be at this v.a. if they're not veterans there for me to care for. i think you could do that one thing. i think the top down approach, i think you're spot on. several things were brought up. just interestingly, mr. mcclain you mentioned in a cboc you ran at the v.a. had four to five personnel to help, ancillary people to help. in our office, and i practiced for 31 years, it's about three people. and you can even get more efficient the bigger you get. you don't need another scheduler if you add another doctor. need another

i want thank you and ranking member michaud for continuing to have these hearings. i feel like we're not getting to the bottom of this. and dr. lynch, we've had a number of hearings. you've been hear a number of times. and we've heard that -- i just want to focus on the scheduling delays. that's the problem that we're trying to get to the bottom of. this committee has heard there's five reasons for this scheduling delays, that there was an unexpected surge of new patients. there was not enough funding. obsolete facilities. obsolete technology. a lack of patient extenders and personnel. a lack of consistent policy across the system. but that just further describes a problem, and my question is, why? why did the va not anticipate a surge in new patients? we know we have an ageing population. why did the va not have enough funding when we've given them all the funding that they've requested. so, you know, we're starting to think as a committee that this is a systemic problem, but we're still just not getting to the bottom of the why. can you answer that for me? >> i th

. >> good evening, chairman miller, ranking member michaud and the committee.thank you for the opportunity to discuss these issues. at the outset, let me address the significant issue that has been the focus of the committee, the v.a. and the american public. that is the issue of weight times. no veteran should ever have to wait an unreasonable amount of time to receive the care that they have earned for their service and sacrifice. america's veterans should know they will receive the highest quality health care from v.a.. while we realize the timeliness of the services is in question, v.a. acknowledges and is committed to correcting the unacceptable practices in patient scheduling. as my colleague stated on june 9, this is a breach of trust. it is irresponsible, indefensible and unacceptable. i also apologize as he did to our veterans, their families and loved ones, members of congress, veteran service organization, our employees and the american people. these practices are not consistent with our values as a department, and we are working to fix the problem.

michaud. the distinguished ranking member correctly pointed out in testimony presented to the rules committee that while this bill is important, it is shortsighted and should include many of the bipartisan measures that have been worked on at the veterans' affairs committee. like mr. michaud, i would prefer that this process be more open and it's just another example of how this closed process denies many good, bipartisan ideas from being considered and adopted. and although i have serious concerns with the final defense appropriations product, i do want to thank chairman frelinghuysen and ranking member visclosky for working together in a bipartisan way on this bill. mr. speaker, we take up this bill at a very serious moment in time. every day we turn on our tv's and see conflict, war and turmoil around the world. it's often hard to remember that most of the world is not at war. i am very concerned that this bill continues funding the longest war in united states history, the war in afghanist

. >> all right, mike michaud, i will leave it there, the democratic candidate for maine. it will be quite a three-way race there. >> coming up, we'll get the virginia view and the capitol hill internal politics view. that's next. but first, our tdr 50 soup of date comes from arlington virginia's liberty tavern, one of my favorite places to eat in arlington. they're serving up today tuscan kale & white bean soup. how about that. we'll be right back. unlimited cash back. let that phrase sit with you for a second. unlimited. as in, no limits on your hard-earned cash back. as in no more dealing with those rotating categories. the quicksilver card from capital one. unlimited 1.5% cash back on everything you purchase, every day. don't settle for anything less. i'll keep asking. what's in your wallet? that's keeping you from the healthcare you deserve. at humana, we believe if healthcare changes, if it becomes simpler... if frustration and paperwork decrease... if grandparents get to live at home instead of in a home... the gap begins to close. so let's simplify things. let's cl

michaud, you're recognized. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. once again, thank you dr. lirj and dr. clancy for coming here this evening. we understand the accelerated access to care initiative is designed to assure access to care by enhancing resources within va facilities and also sending veterans promptly to community based care and nonva care. what is its role? >> pc3 as it develops will be another model that we can use to provide care in the community. pc3 is just in the process of being stood up. some sites have greater availability of pc3 services than others. it is, however, an option that we can use to identify community providers who are willing to provide care and to meet certain conditions of the contract which specific that care will be provide within 30 days, that we will receive reports in a timely fashion. so pc3 is an enhanced method of providing care in the community that gives benefit to the va because it assures timeliness and assures we get records back in a timely fashion. >> i would also just add that they assure some minimal level of quality. i me

michaud. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. once again, thank you for your testimony. some of my colleagues use the words like bonus, award and performance pay interchangeably. but i understand they are different. can you please explain -- describe to us the different categories of additional pay available to v.a. senior executives? >> yes, i can. there are several different kind of incentives. there are relocation, recruitment and retention incentives that can be given in proper situations to employees. there are standards that we must meet in order to provide any of those incentives. for our health care, doctors and dentists, they receive what is called market pay and performance pay, which are in addition to a base pay. they all have different, complex ways of calculation. but a normal title 5 employee is not authorized for those pays. that is only for our physicians and our dentists. >> title 38 employees. >> title 38, yes, sir. >> yep. what's -- can you discuss a performance award bonus initiatives and the tiered pay? >> the tiered pay for our awards is based on t

price that must be cleared for single song counter production is a free and fair market system -- michaud we make this work and how do you deal with thousands of rights for a particular song? >> i think those issues were addressed by mr. hoyt and mr. griffin. we have to balance the interest between an efficient marketplace which might include the collectivization of rights licensing with fair royalty rates. we have to kind of balance those issues to make sure we are controlling those monopolized entries. >> mr. griffin my last question obviously. you said it's unnecessarily difficult to pay a license. we must work to create a conference of registry system. my question is first of all teaming going forward are going backward? how long would it take to set up who would pay for it and why? the user should pay for it. it doesn't cost anything because it's profitable. if you look at the internet domain name. >> wouldn't cost anything to set up the master set? >> my point is that you make it a market pay system you invite the go daddy's of the world and to help you fill it and populate the data

bill covers, and i am very confident that working with chairman jeff miller and ranking member mike michaud, we can bridge the differences and send the president a bill that he can sign in the very near future. i think that is what the american people want, that is what members of congress want. we don't want this to drag on and on and on. we want to get this bill done quickly. finally, madam president, i did want to say a word to the 300,000 employees who work at the v.a. this is a -- this last several months has been a tough time for many of them, and the truth of the matter is that the overwhelming majority of the people who work at the v.a. are hard-working, honest and serious people. in fact, many of them are veterans themselves, and i know that many others who work at the v.a. look at what they do as not a job, a 9:00 to 5:00 job, but they look at it as a mission. they feel very seriously that our veterans have got to get the best health care possible, and they are doing their best to make that happen, and i want to thank them very much for that. over and over again, madam president,

m-michaud. >> thank you, mr. chairman. ask unanimous consent that miss kirkpatrick's name be entered into the record as well as the association letter we received on april 19th -- june 19th. >> without objection. >> thank you. >> thank you, everybody, for being here today. thank you miss farrisee for being here. this meeting is adjourned. >> an f on transparency and freedom of information, and i think my colleagues in journalism would give a similar grade whether they're liberal or conservative. the freedom of information process has become a joke. it was already well on its way. prior to the obama administration, but this administration has perfected the stall, the delay, the redactions, the discussions, and really it's shocking because i feel very strongly that the information that they withhold and protect many times belongs to the public. woken it. but there's no sense of that when you ask for it. they covet it as if they're a private corporation, defending their trade secrets, rather than understanding are what they h

committee chairman, jeff miller, ranking member michaud, and the entire colorado delegation.i ask my colleagues to join me in honoring this great hero by supporting this bill. thank you, mr. speaker, and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from south carolina is recognized. mr. clyburn: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. clyburn: thank you. i rise today to offer my support of h.r. 3375, a bill to name the department of veterans affairs community-based outpatient clinic that will be constructed at 3141 centennial boulevard, colorado springs, colorado, as the p.f.c. floyd k. lindstrom department of veterans affairs clinic. floyd lindstrom was born on june 21, 1912. he was a truck driver for the local store and frequently drove back and forth to california. he joined the army from colorado springs in june, 1942. by november 11, 1943, he was serving as a private first class in the third infantry division. on

let me begin by thanking chairman miller and ranking members michaud and burr and all of the members of this committee for their hard work on veterans issues. despite a very partisan environment here in congress, i am confident that we as democrats, republicans and independents will come together to pass a significant piece of legislation which addresses some of the very serious problems currently facing the va. both pieces of legislation, the house bill and the senate bill, are focused on two main issues. first, the need to provide access to health care for veterans in a timely manner. and the need, also, for holding dishonest or incomp hent senior officials at the va accountable. nobody around this table, i believe, will accept va officials lying about wait times or falsifying data. nobody around this table will accept the fact that honest whistle-blowers, people who want to improve the system, are having their legitimate concerns ignored. i am pleased that in reality there are more similarities than differences between the two bills and i'm confident that we can reach an agreement

michaud said is absolutely correct. the v.a. could do one thing today. i said this monday night at the hearing. the years i spent in clinical practice in medicine, i knew who i worked for, and that was the patient. that was the center of why i was there. if i didn't have patients to see, i had no reason to be in an office. and if you ask anybody on a v.a. campus who they work for, they'll say the v.a. the answer should be we work for veterans. that should be the answer. and that's a simple change in philosophy. i don't have any reason to be at this v.a. if they're not veterans there for me to care for. i think you could do that one thing. i think the top down approach, i think you're spot on. several things were brought up. just interestingly, mr. mcclain you mentioned in a cboc you ran at the v.a. had four to five personnel to help, ancillary people to help. in our office, and i practiced for 31 years, it's about three people. and you can even get more efficient the bigger you get. you don't need another scheduler if you add another doctor. need another

bill covers, and i am absolutely confident that working with chairman miller and rankin rankg member michaud, we can send the president a bill that he can

with congressman michaud. >> thank you very much, senator sanders and representative miller. as you heard earlier, it's well over a decade since lawmakers gathered in conference from the respective committees. this is a historic opportunity and we have i believe a responsibility to deliver profound changes in a way veterans services are delivered in a timely, safe and high quality health care way. we are all well aware of the incredible failures within the veterans administration. just yesterday, though systemic problems were compounded when the office of special counsel released findings to take va to task for not doing nearly enough to act on information provided by the whistle-blowers. we know that this inaction can directly harm our veterans. i urge all of us to see beyond the immediate crisis and take this opportunity to have real conversations on how we can fix the va. i hope as a group we can put forward meaningful reforms that positions the department of veterans administration to provide high quality, timely and flexible care in the future. we have a responsibility t

i'd also like to commend chairman miller, ranking member michaud, ranking member of the subcommittee on health, julia brownly, and all the members of the subcommittee on health for their hard work and leadership on behalf of our nation's veterans. mr. speaker, two weeks ago today our nation commemorated memorial day. in remembrance of the brave men and women throughout history who paid the ultimate price in defense of our freedoms. one of the best ways we can honor these heroes is to ensure that their fellow service members, those they fought side by side with, receive the best possible health care when they return home. unfortunately it has become painfully clear that the v.a. is not only failing to reach this standard, but not even coming close. the sad legacy that i have seen firsthand as a v.a. surgeon for 20 years. from my first day on this committee we have been working to identify the problems at v.a. and find solutions for our veterans. it has been more than a year since we on the house veterans affairs committee first began investigating delays in care and seeking answers an

bill covers, and i am absolutely confident that working with chairman miller and rankin rankg member michaud, we can send the president a bill that he can sign in the very near future. finally and lastly, i want to say to the 300,000 employees who work at the v.a., the overwhelming majority of those people are hardworking, honest, serious people, and for many of them taking care of veterans is in the a job; it is a mission. and many of them are in fact veterans themselves. and these people understand the sacrifices the veterans have made to protect our country, and they are doing the best that they can to support our veterans. so, mr. president, i hope we pass this bill. i hope we pass a waiver of the bucket point of order. i hope we get a conference committee meeting immediately and i hope we get a bill to the president as soon as possible. and, furthermore, as senator mccain has just mentioned, i don't think this is the end of the discussion regarding the needs of veterans. and i hope very much that in our committee and on the floor we can begin to address some of the other very, very seri