so thank you, secretary shinseki for your efforts in doing that. i also want to applaud va's ongoing commitment to end homelessness this is an area where you are making real strides. and i'm encouraged to see the administration has again requested an increase in funding for homeless programs. i'm hopeful we'll continue to see a significant effort to reduce the number of homeless veterans and prevent those who are at risk from becoming homeless. but i also believe the va has some real work to do in the area of serving female homeless veterans. but while va has done a good job putting together a budget that works to tackle the challenges that our veterans face, there is also clearly room for improvement. for the third year in a row, va has proposed cuts in spending for major construction and nonrecurring maintenance. these continued cuts are deeply troubling given last year was the first time va's budget even outlined the department's vision for a ten-year construction plan with the price tag that approached $65 billion. yet despite that plan, for th

then eric shinseki talks about the 10.5% increase in spending next year. it will help veterans find jobs and reduce homele leslessnessho. we will speak with tom tarantino. then a hearing on the availability of health services for returning soldiers suffering from mental trauma. >>> president obama recently unveiled some proposals to help veterans return to work. he called on congress to increase funding for communities to hire veterans as police and firefighters. the president delivered these remarks at a fire station in arlington, virginia earlier this month. [ applause ] >> thank you. thank you. thank you, guys. thank you so much. good morning, everybody. >> good morning. >> jacob thank you for that introduction. thank you for your service to the country. i want to announce the secretary of veterans affairs, rick shensheki. he is one of our finest veterans and an extraordinary leader when he was in our army. i also want to acknowledge interior secretary ken salazar who is in the house. [ applause ] >> and we're joined by another president. the internatio

with that i want to welcome again secretary shinseki. thank you for coming here today to give your perspective on the department's fiscal year 2013 budget and the fiscal year 2014 advanced appropriation request. secretary shinseki's accompanied today by steve marrow, undersecretary for memorial hi undersecretary for benefits, dr. robert petzel, undersecretary for health. we also haveecutive in charge f office of management and chief financial officer, and roger baker, assistant secretary for information and technology. thank you all for joining us today, secretary shinseki. your remarks will of course appear in the record. but we welcome your opening statement. >> thank you, madam chairman. ranking member burr, distinguished members of the senate committee on veterans affairs, thank you again. and i look forward to these. this is an opportunity to extend the dialogue we have in other fora. but thanks for this opportunity to present, as chairwoman -- the chairman said, the president's 2013 budget and 2014 advanced appropriations requests

with that, i want to welcome again secretary shinseki. thank you for coming here today to give your perspective on the department's fiscal year 2013 budget and the fiscal year 2014 advanced appropriation request. secretary shinseki is accompanied by steve marrow, allison hickey, undersecretary for benefits, dr. robert pets el, and ea also have thod -- we also have todd graham and roger baker, assistant secretary for information and technology. thank you all for joining us today. secretary shinseki, your remarks will, of course, appear in the record, but we welcome your opening statements. >> thank you, madam chairman. ranking member burr, distinguished members of the subcommittee on veterans affairs, thank you again. i look forward to these. this is an opportunity to extend the dialogue we have in other fora, but thanks for this opportunity to present as the care woman, chairman said the president's 2013 budget and 2014 vabsed appropriations request for va. this committee has a long history of strong support to our nation's veterans, and

i appreciate seeing secretary shinseki and all the folks on the panel today. a special thank you to you, general, for coming to montana last summer where the initiatives are appreciative of that. and you too, bob. thank you very much for being there and listening and hearing. thank you very, very much. i want to talk about what senator kaka talked about. very quickly. and that is the type of strategies they're using. and this isn't an gp area, but an area that's much more difficult. and gp is not easy. that is the need for mental health professionals. we have as you know secretary -- mr. petzel, you were there when we opened up the facility in helena, and we need -- it's a great facility. we don't have staffing at this point in time as far as from the psychiatric standpoint. do you have the adequate amount of flexibility to be able to go out and recruit and it can go to the secretary or to mr. petzel, to be able to go out and recruit and get folks in? because i'm not sure we're there yet. >> thank you, mr. secretary, and thank you, senator. i am aware of the i

and i want to cielo ha to psychiatry shinseki -- secretary shinseki and his staff at the va i want to thank all of you for your service to the veterans and of course to the country. i don't mean to tell you that what you've been hearing secretary shinseki and the leadership staff has been improving the services because claims have dropped, and that's an indication. the care and treatment which is our duty to provide to the veterans is something we must continually strive to improve and you have been doing that. i have encouraged to see the federal budget request for me was $13 billion above last year. i know we have budgetary constraints when we owe it to our veterans who are sacrificed for the country and you have planned in moving along and have been progress of about meeting those needs. i'm glad to see increases in the budget request mental health prevention in iraq and afghanistan veterans programs. i am also encouraged by major increases in funding for the women's programs. one of the budget increased provide opportunities, we all know that these resources must be utilized with

thank you, secretary shinseki, for your efforts.want to applaud va's ongoing commitment to end homelessness. this is an area where you are making real strides, and i'm encouraged to see that the administration has again requested an increase in funding for homeless programs. i'm hopeful that we will continue to see a significant effort to reduce the number of homeless veterans and prevent those who are at risk from becoming homeless, but i also believe va has some real work to do in the area of serving female homeless veterans. but while va has done a good job putting together a budget that works to tackle the challenges our veterans face, there is also clearly room for improvement. for the third year in a row, va has proposed cuts in spending for major construction and non-recurring maintenance. these continued cuts are deeply troubling given last year was the first time va's budget even outlined the department's vision for a ten-year construction plan, with a price tag that approached $65 billion. yet, despite this plan, for the p

secretary shinseki, staffing shortages continue to be a problem, although there's been progress. some clinics are seeing staffing levels below 50%, causing excessive waiting times for veterans that need care. and i understand this is an issue you've been working on. as you know, the number of veterans needing services is growing yearly and it shows that you have been making progress. can you provide an update on that? >> mr. secretary, thank you. thank you for the question. the -- we have addressed -- we have talked about mental health earlier and the efforts that we're making to try to assess whether there's adequate staffing there. i think you're probably talking about primary care. which is our largest outpatient clinic operation. we treat 4.2 million veterans in our primary care system and it accounts for the lion's share of our budget expenditures. we assessed staffing three years ago when we began to implement what we call the patient align care treat or pac program and we're finding that we are now age to -- able to bring up the support staffing and the physician staffing

i appreciate seeing secretary shinseki and all the folks on the panel today. a special thank you to the general for coming to montana last summer. the veterans are very appreciative of that. and you, too, bob, thank you very much for being there. listening and hearing. so thank you very, very much. i want to talk more about what was talked about already very quickly. that is the kind of strategies that the va is using to recruit folks. this is in an area that is much more difficult. that is the need for mental health professionals. we have, as you know, you were there when we opened up the facility in helena. we need -- a it is a great facility. we do not have staffing at this point in time, as far as from a psychiatric standpoint. the you have the adequate amount of flexibility to be able to go out and recruit? it can go to the secretary or to dr. petzel, to recruit and be able to get folks in? i am not sure we're there yet. >> thank you, mr. secretary. thank you, senator tester. i am aware of the issues in -- at fort harrison. we have four psychiatric psychi

secretary shinseki as you know the budget are the reflection of our values and things to your work thisemonstrates a strong commitment to our veterans. while we are in the position to make sure the of the increased funding it needs, we shall also be mindful the demand for services is the and to continue to increase no matter the number of troops deployed to do i look forward to working with my colleagues on this committee and on the budget appropriations committee which i also sit and of course with secretary shinseki and his entire team and the leaders from the veterans committee to make sure that we keep this long term commitment. i think all of you for being here today and my committee members and with that i will turn to my ranking member for the fifth opening statement. >> thank you, madam chairman. secretary, welcome, welcome to your leadership team. to the organizations here this morning we are here today to review the president's budget request for the department of veterans affairs for fiscal year 13. which includes a four and a half percent increase in discretionary spending.

on february 15th during a va committee hearing, va secretary shinseki couldn't answer questions about this particular proposal, va jobs corps proposal and how it would be managed and paid for. we asked for further details. we haven't received those details thus far. even senator patty murray is skeptical of this particular proposal in her committee's views and estimates letter she states questions remain regarding the president's $1 billion jetter rans job corps initiative. the source of funding has yet to be identified. i believe this is really an idea that is not wise to move forward with. the chairman's mark makes keeping faith with those who served its highest priority. with the veterans affairs function. over this budget window the chairman's mark provides $270 million more in mandatory spending for core responsibilities of the va providing disability competition and education benefits

. >>> up next on c-span 3, a veterans affairs budget hearing with va secretary eric shinseki. then from the national health foundation we'll hear from eric schmidt of google and chris wallace of fox news. >> the genetic scientist who finally nailed down a rough date for when the hiv epidemic starts describes tinderboxs and wet moss. he says most of the world is wet moss. in most parts of the world there is not that much hiv. yet in some place there's is a ton, and it's incredibly destructive. so understanding that these two sort of categories exist and allows you to think okay, what are those factors to keep this virus moving, and what can we do as a world to end it.

. >> eric shinseki testifying on capitol hill with questions from democratic senator patty murray. also here in washington, the defense secretary telling lawmakers that the pentagon would begin planning for the potential of automatic spending cuts which you just heard a minute ago from senator murray. those would come if congress does not act before them. again, as a way of background, if congress fails to raise a certain amount of money, part of this budget control act that was put in place last year, the automatic cuts would take place beginning in january of 2013. that would include $500 billion in cuts from the department of defense. you heard from senator patty murray the impact it would have on the department of veterans' affairs and those veterans returning from iraq, afghanistan and elsewhere outside of the united states. >> you're listening to c-span's radio washington today. we're heard on 91.1 fm and around the country at xm satellite radio 119. >> the president will be honoring more than 100 million troops by offering a small cross sex to a formal dinner at the white ho

after that, va secretary general eric shinseki testifies at the veterans affairs committee. later from the national press foundation we'll hear from eric schmidt of google and chris wallace of fox news. >>> this weekend on the presidency on american history tv -- >> think of the fdr memorial. it wasn't just three redesigns. it was three-plus designs before they got to a final plan. and so i think that we shouldn't be afraid of looking at this issue because we are building something for the centuries. and we want to get it right. >> with the eisenhower memorial designed by frank gehry opposed by the family, a house subcommittee discussed the planned memorial to our 34th president. watch sunday at 7:30 p.m. eastern and pacific. part of american history tv this weekend on c-span3. >>> epa administrator lisa jackson testifies next on her agency's 2013 budget request. the epa is asking for $8.3 billion. that's a 1.2% decrease from current levels. senator barbara boxer of california chairs this 90-minute environment committee hearing. >> good morning. i'd like to begin by welcomin

economy forward, we've got to invest in our veterans and the obama administration and secretary shinsekie seen that and we're doing job fairs and reaching out. and speaking as a vietnam veteran and coming home and there wasn't much going on, i think what you see now is this wave of support around the country that's just building. and you all have been showing that all this week. >> secretary garcia, thank you for coming in. pleasure to meet you. good luck with this effort. >> you bet. >> come on, folks, i don't know why you wouldn't hire a veteran, it seems like a pretty easy call. >>> amidst all the wrangling on health care, why washington just can't stop talking about gas prices this week. that's next. >>> but first, today's trivia question, justices william powell jr. and william rehnquist joined the supreme court on the same day. which man had seniority and why? the answer coming up on the "daily rundown." [ male announcer ] this one goes out to all the allergy muddlers. you know who you are. you can part a crowd, without saying a word. you have yet to master the quiet sneeze. you st

the obama administration and particularly the department of veterans affairs it under secretary shinseki very, very aggressively. one thing that helps is just to bring attention to the situation of tens of thousands of combat veterans coming back from iraq and afghanistan enormously capable people who may not fit easily into an employer's preconception of what he's looking for. so just closing the gap i think has helped a lot. and so i think it's -- i do credit them, and there's an awful lot of work yet to do. >> tell us a little bit, anecdotally you've interviewed a lot of these veterans returning home wounded and otherwise. one of your stories mentioned the longer a wounded vet goes without employment, the chances drop dramatically he'll ever find employment again. >> this was a heartbreaking thing i learned as i got to know some of the severely wounded who usually spend up to two years or even more at military hospitals like walter read. of course, they're not employed during that time. when they start looking for a job, they're so far removed psychologically from the job market that

i am steve shinseki with this update. a new battle brewing as killed the two your budget.e power in the equally divided chamber. budget could be approved the general assembly on march 10. not, they will be called to special century. governor martin o'malley will maryland the a state to legalize same-sex marriage today. same-sex weddings will not be allowed to begin until january, 2013. opponents are gathering referendumto force a on the issue this fall. our sister station will have coming up in a few minutes. up, let us check on the .ommute with lisa >> it has been very busy. have had our shares of accidents. pavement and a lot fog. creating a lot of morning.for us this a tractor-trailer turnover in county between warrenton -- lorton and route 1. i will take you to a picture of i 70. virginia, 95, 66 loaded up. look at 366. better news now with adam .skey off.e fog is burning l be on to a lot of sunshine. fairweather clouds developing later on. 54 in the district. three degrees above our average afternoon high. it will be mild. northwest. 38 in martinsburg. closer to 70 so

the last question, if i can, madam chair, if i can just add to my concern under secretary shinseki -- our last call was friday from someone who couldn't get on the 800-number. it's not old. it's new. i know when i was chair of the student loan corporation, one of the things we did -- 'cause we had a call center, as you can imagine, a lot of people upset when their loan rates changed or they didn't get their payment in or whatever it might be, so we had to go through a whole revamping of the system but the metrics we measured by were on a regular basis reported so we could see where the possibilities are. you had mentioned you're going to have -- or you have a system that you can see the metrics of success, wait time, call time, hold time, response, all those. i would want to echo what my colleague on the other side, i would really anxiously want to see that. this is our number 1 caseload work is around va issues. second to that within the va is the 8ing00 number, lack of response or inadequate response i should say. and that's current, not six months ago or a year ago. this is very cu

if i can add my concern undersecretary shinseki. we had someone last friday couldn't get through on the 800 number. that is not old. it is new. we had a call center. a lot of people upset when their loan rates changed or didn't get their payment in whatever it might be. we had to go through a whole revamping of the system. the metrics we measured by were reported regularly. you mentioned you had a system where see the metrics of success, wait time, call time, hold time, response, all those. i would want to echo what the my colleague on the other side said. i would really anxiously want to see that because we're, this is our number one caseload work is around va issues. second to that within the va is the 800 number. lack of response or inadequate response i should say. and that's current, not six months ago or year ago. this is very current and customer service is the name of the game. how to make sure these veterans have the services they need. is that something you could provide sooner than later so i get a better understanding? >