mr. chairman. thank you for being here secretary shulkin. first and foremost i'm enormously proud with what we've accomplished in partnership with this administration. president trump, this committee over the last 14 months we've done a lot of great work for veterans we should be proud of. i appreciate the seriousness that you've taken the ig report and look forward to consider you do that. to dive a little bit deeper into the question, i know that you agree that veterans agree a scheduling system that gives them immediate access to care, shortened wait times, the ability to track and manage information and progress throughout the care continuum. i want to make sure, though, as we appropriate money and pass budgets that the money that we provide to the va is effectively utilized, which is the reason that you're here today. and we've seen this past year that with the electronic health record rollout, that that's run into trouble. we've seen the delay of implementation even further. so my question is, with the readily available cuts, solution,

mr. shulkin didn't think about. >> woodruff: he's made his way into the headlines today orth certainl story has. lisa rein with "the washington post," kathleen clark with the university of washington. thank you very much. thank you. dv >> woodruff: howced is north korea's nuclear weapons program? it is a question with heightened urgency given the escalating rhetoric between the u.s. and the secretive regime. one y to get an answer: visi the nuclear facilities themselves. miles o'brien cently sat down with one american who did just that, part oour weekly look at the leading edge of science and technology. >> reporter: capricious and erratic as the nion and its leaders may seem, north korea's march toward nuclear w has been steady, and successful. just ask the few western experts who have seen glimpses of the program, and its evolution. >> i was very much surprised byi capabilities and their competence. >> reporter: nuclear scientist and metallurgist sig hecker was surprised that he was invited to north korea in the first place. after all, he spent most of hisa er at the birthplace of the ato

mr. shulkin didn't think about. >> woodruff: he's made his way into the headlinesoday or certainly this story has. lisa rein with "the washington post," kathleen clarth the university of washington. thank you very much. >> thank you. dr >> wf: stay with us, coming up on the newshour: republican senator david perdue of georgia on the immigration aubate on capitol hill. and snowboarder white brings home the gold but faces renewed scrutiny over sexual harassment allegations. but first, capitol hill >> woodruff: one of ung people whose fate -- apologies. our apologies. it's a night full of news. we're going to get straight now. the story we turn to now, how advanced is north korea's nuclear weapons program? i >> woodruff: how advanced is north korea's nuclear weapons program? w it is a questih heightened urgency given the escalating rhetoric between the u.s. and the secretive ree me. y to get an answer: visit the nuclear facilities themselves. miles o'brien recently sat down with one american who did just that, part of our weook at the leading edge of science and technology. >> reporter: capricio

mr. secretary you are now , recognized. dr. shulkin: thank you. mr. chairman, i want to thank you. thanknking member walz, you. i want to thank all the members of the committee. many of you had a chance to come over to my office, spent some time talking about the issues. i know all of you are committed to the work we are doing. that is why i think we have the best committee, the veterans committees in the house and senate. because we work well together in a bipartisan way. and mr. chairman, ranking member, thank you for keeping the focus of today on the important work we have. this is a big deal, getting the resources right for our veterans. i do regret the decisions that have been made, that have taken the focus off of that important work. that is why i am here. i know that's why all of you are here. we care deeply about this subject. it's the reason why, to keep the attention focused on the important things that i've made , this decision to reimburse the treasury, to follow ig recommendations, and i am committed to doing what we have to do to focus on veterans and make this bette

shulkin: -- rep. higgins: my time has expired. welcome, mr. secretary. i appreciate your comments at the top. think it is important to restore confidence in our executive officials. i hope in the coming days you will be forthcoming with the american people. i want to turn to the issue of coordination of care and collaboration. will be introducing a bipartisan bill today that is a pilot project for integrating veteran character in our federally qualified health .enters ural, northern parts of , peoplee, in the fqac can get access to care without traveling long distances. can you comment on that venture or other -- or other collaborations the veterans administration is getting into? sec. shulkin: i am not sure people realize how important the qualified health care centers are. they do amazing work for a vulnerable population. as a large provider of federal health care services, i believe these organizations should look for the chance to collaborate more and to integrate in ways that we really haven't in the past. i think the pilot program in that aria -- area would be productive. rep. kuster: w

mr. kushner a full background check? >> what does the president think about secretary shulkin's handling of his travel, the wimbledon ticketsf that? >> does the president believe there should be an age limit for those who buy an ar-15. >> the longer you go between taking questions, the more questions you're likely to get, that's how that works. let's talk about a reactive trump white house. with us to do that is phillip bump, national correspondent for "the washington post" and john harris is back with us as well, a veteran journalist who spent more than two decades covering politics and the white house for "the washington post." he happens to be editor-in-chief and co-founder of politico. john, remember a more innocent time in say the last presidency and before that in the modern era where you deliver a state of the union and that would begin a sales campaign, often up front about it and often featuring a road trip to drive home that message. >> brian, most presidents regarded the state of the union speech as not just a night, but really a month, a week leading up to the speech, two or three weeks after on the road in whic

mr. secretary, you didn't think any of them would go to -- sec. shulkin: the 605 are going to be focused on addressing the appeals, not on claims. rep. bost: ok. i want to go to another quick question. you know the problems i have had in my district. the budget is requesting millions for the office of inspector general to strengthen accountability. i have two questions. one, was this level of funding sufficient to properly inspect and keep up with problems in the v.a.? second, you need new authority to establish -- do you need new authority to establish qualifications for positions like h.r.? sec. shulkin: on the inspector general, my understanding, and john i will ask you to confirm this, they increase the levels -- increased the levels last year. this allows them to continue what they raised last year. is that correct? >> they had some carryover funding, so they hired people above their baseline funding level last year. sec. shulkin: the funding for that was less than what they had hired above, so they requested an increase, didn't receive an increase.