mr. isaacson.ears old. before i ask a question, i would like to say i'm in favor of the da vinci book of wealth. it seems that a lot of people my age don't get into biographies that much. i would like to ask you because the steve jobs book was my favorite book of all time. i'd like to ask how your writing sets you apart from others because you are seems to be the only one i can connect to in that genre. >> guest: first of all you want to give steve jobs credit. if you like about this because steve jobs is a truly interesting person and was able to be you know revealing and dealing with the biographer. so i doubt i deserve the credit for the fact the steve jobs biography is very interesting to you. there is a larger issue which i think historians especially historic biographers come you sometimes write about the great forces of history. the very beginning of my "kissinger" book, but the epigram is something that he wrote on one of the shuttle missions back and forth to the middle east. he said somet

isaacson and chairman miller said. i will hold my remarks and reserve the balance of my time. senator miller: mr. blumenthal for five minutes. senator blumenthal: thank you to you, chairman miller and chairman isaacson for your leadership on this committee. most especially for your support of the suicide prevention bill. i want to thank everyone of the panel who are here today for your support and your leadership on this critical measure that was led by senator mccain and myself with the help of representative walsh and others on the house side. just as an example of the fact that we can get things done breed we can help veterans. we can make a difference. i knew you are making a difference as leaders of your organization. as we focus on health care, we should never lose sight of the other challenges before us. veterans homelessness, veterans underemployment, and veterans needs for skills training and education, and jobs. some of the scams that prey on veterans both around military bases and elsewhere. they explode -- exploit g.i. bills. all of these challenges we will face on this committee and b

isaacson and chairman miller said. i will hold my remarks and reserve the balance of my time. senator miller: mr. blumenthal for five minutes. senator blumenthal: thank you to you, chairman miller and chairman isaacson for your leadership on this committee. most especially for your support of the suicide prevention bill. i want to thank everyone of the panel who are here today for your support and your leadership on this critical measure that was led by senator mccain and myself with the help of representative walsh and others on the house side. just as an example of the fact that we can get things done breed we can help veterans. we can make a difference. i knew you are making a difference as leaders of your organization. as we focus on health care, we should never lose sight of the other challenges before us. veterans homelessness, veterans underemployment, and veterans needs for skills training and education, and jobs. some of the scams that prey on veterans both around military bases and elsewhere. they explode -- exploit g.i. bills. all of these challenges we will face on this committee and b

mr. fuentes. is that close enough? >> yes, sir. >> chairman isaacson ranking member blumenthal, i would like to thank you for the opportunity to present our views on the veterans choice program. the vfw opposes va's change to the way veterans choose to use the veterans choice program. veterans must have the opportunity to explore their private sector options before rejecting their va appointments. this change is a bureaucratic convenience that will negatively affect veterans experiences. the vfw continues to play an integral part in identifying new issues the veterans choice program faces in recommending reasonable solutions. yesterday we published our second report evaluating this important program which made 13 recommendations on how to ensure it accomplishes its intended goal of expanding access to health care for america's veterans. our initial report identified a

mr. chairman. chairman isaacson, and blumenthal, members of the committee. we're committed to making the choice program work and to providing veterans timely and geographically accessible quality care using care in the community whenever necessary. i'll talk shortly about what we're doing and the help that we need from congress to make all that happen. first, i want to talk very briefly about access to care. most mornings at 9:00 a.m. for the last year, senior leaders from across the department gathered to focus on improving veterans' access to care. we've concentrated on key drivers of access, including increasing medical center staffing by 11,000. adding space boosting care during extended hours and weekends by 10% and increasing staff productivity. the result 2.5 million more completed appointments inside v.a. this year than last. relative value units measure of care delivered across the used to measure care deliver across the industry are also up 9%. another focus area for us in improving access has been increasing the use of care in the community. in 20

mr. president, i thank my colleague, senator isaacson, of georgia, and simply want to express my shared concern that if we are going to proceed to a long-term renewal of the african growth in opportunity act which provides duty-free access to the u.s. markets to all of sub-saharan africa -- which i support and i've worked hard with the senator from georgia and many others to make possible -- that we also insure there isfective trade enforcement. this is a basic principle that underlies all of the proceedings here today that those of us who support free trade and an open global trade market also support fair trade and effective enforcement. and as the good senator from georgia recently commented, we are acting in reliance upon representation by the united states trade representative that there will be enforcement action taken, if appropriate on access to the markets in south africa. with that, i thank the president and yield the floor. >> is there an objection for the request of the majority leader? >> [inaudible] >> without objection so ordered. >> mr. president? >> senator from oregon. >> mr.

isaacson. best-selling author of several books including biographies of albert einstein benjamin franklin, steve jobs and henry kissinger took viewers questions for three hours. mr. isakson is former chairman and ceo of cnn. chairman of the broadcasting board of governors. . . >> host: walter isaacson, what is the link between ben franklin, steve jobs, henry kissinger and ada. >> guest: they're all creative minds and that interested me throughout my career. a lot of people write about sports heroes or literary figures, but to me it's people who can combine