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 affairs, allison hickey, undersecretary for benefits, dr. robert petzel, undersecretary for health. we also have todd grahams, executive in charge for the 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 budg

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

thank you, secretary shinseki and all of you who dedicate a big part of your lives.t's nice to see you again. thank you for coming to ohio, those of you that have, and the services you provide for veterans in my state and for all of us. it's a good budget. it shows a strong commitment to veterans i think. when you look at what the advanced appropriations mark is, 140 billion, with the 13 -- the request with the advanced appropriations with the $13 billion increase, it's saying the right thing and doing the right thing for people who clearly have earned it. it reflects the understanding we have of service to country. i applaud the d.a. for its investments in eliminating the disability claims backlog. we're all of course still very concerned about that. as senator johanns said. we still hear horror stories of 12 and 18 and 24-month delays. we should of course never tolerate them. and i know your views about that, secretary shinseki. and know that we need to continue to push. and with better trained staff and improvements in electronic and other processing efficiencies.

and that's why secretary shinseki today announced and we're so delighted that we're going to be adding 1,600 new clinicians so we can provide the care we need. >> pelley: well "may be gaps." sounds like critics see gaps. the judge i mentioned in this case, that was a very strong report, he said "the v.a.'s unchecked incompetence has gone on long enough, no more veterans should be compelled to agonize or perish while the government fails to perform its obligation." tough language. what is the problem? >> in the v.a. we're proud of advancements we've made in our clinical care. in the past seven years we've added 7,000 new mental health professionals. we've provided training and instituted the veterans' crisis line. we feel we've made great progress and there's more to do, we acknowledge there's more we need to do in order to meet our own aspirational standards. >> brown: has the "more to do" been a shortage of personnel or using the right personnel or the personnel you have not able to do what is necessary given the needs? >> the primary issue we've identified is having enough personnel,

this afternoon, veterans department secretary eric shinseki, both president obama and house republicans want an increase for that department. and at 8:00 eastern, american history primetime and a look at who "time" magazine might pick for person of the year in 1862. james mcpherson is among the r÷ for the most influential person on the national stage 150 years ago. c-span's 2012 local content vehicle cities tour takes our book tv and american history tv

this afternoon as 5:25 eastern, veterans administration secretary eric shinseki house republicans want an increase for that department. and at 8:00 eastern, american history tv prime time. and a look at who time magazine might pick for person of the year in 1862. james mcferson is among the historians who nominate candidates for the most influential person on the national stage 150 years ago. >>> this weekend marks the anniversary of the bloodiest battle to be fought during the civil war. up to that point. the battle of shiloh, with almost 24,000 casualties. we'll tour saturday at 6:00 p.m. eastern and sunday night at 7:00, the angel of the battlefield and founder of the red cross, clara barton, operated the missing soldiers operation until 1868. join us as we rediscover the third floor office as it's prepared for renovations. this is c-span 3. with politics and public affair ls programming. get our schedules and see past programs at our websites. you can join in on social media sites. the house republican passed last week would change job straining programs america's promise alliance

second point we'd like to make as announced by secretary shinseki last week. we are increasing staff to enhance both the access to and quality of mental health care by hiring 1,900 additional staff. more than 1,600 of those are mental health clinicians. as i mentioned, this will augment the current complement of 20,500 mental health employees in our system. and is designed to provide additional staff in our facilities. it's also designed to increase our staffing of our crisis line, which is so integral to the identification and treatment of people who are in crisis as ranking member brown spoke of so eloquently. and it's also an important aspect of increase in that we will be adding additional examiners for compensation and pension examinations. that's an important transition from active duty to veteran status for those who are currently on active duty and for those who present with new conditions. we have a solemn responsibility to ensure that we increase our staff to ensure that we can handle this volume in a timely fashion, and that we can do this in a way

>> well, sir, we have at va under secretary shinseki's leadership have done an extensive review of performance bonuses. and have reduced those in both the number of outstanding ratings and the dollar amount that has actually been implemented. >> so the number was actually higher at one point? >> it was, sir. >> than $200 million? >> yeah, we have taken this very much to heart. and let me just offer that the integrity of our performance measures and the integrity of our scheduling system and the fidelity with which we implement these and adhere to them that are veteran centric is extremely important to the department so we take very seriously the comments that have been made by the ig and we will be rigorously following you. . we have been emphasizing the integrity of the system and it's obvious that some of what we put in in my opinion in performance measures particularly as it relates to the desired date may get us into a discussion where it leads to this kind of confusion because what sometimes happens is that a scheduler will say, i want to schedule you for when you want to next come in, an

presidents day, he put out a press release and wrote a letter to the general asking him to general shinsekiking him to consider awarding some of these benefits to veterans and his family's. he cited a $3 billion overage in the fy 2012 budget. i saw this stuff. i immediately got on the phone and called an ally of mine on the senate side you deals with the veterans committee and i said "what is this about a $3 billion of overrun when you have been looking for a pay- for?" he said "that $3 billion over age has been allocated to care givers and va facilities." he said, "it is gone." he is trying to put the blame off because the film was coming out and would be aired on national television. he was trying to take the monkey off his back because he has not done a thing. >> how close that you paid -- have you paid attention? >> quite a bit. at every screening, the first question is practically what can we do? it is primarily about the legislation. we have a built in a take action portion of our website so that people have a little bit of help in finding a way to get the support for the legislation.

secretary of veterans affairs, eric shinseki was invited by the committee to speak today, to offer testimony, to explain what's going on in his department and how he intends to fix it. he did not show up. iraq and afghanistan veterans of america, which is the largest organization of veterans from these wars, they have been asking for a meeting with the secretary for a while now. they again requested to meet with him this week to talk about this devastating report on a really important issue. so far, bupkis. this is not partisan at all and this is a big freaking deal. >>> once upon a time, newt gingrich was the republican front-runner for president. and he was running a positive campaign. he was the front-runner who didn't need to go negative. he didn't need to run attack ads, because the other candidates were so beneath him in the polls, there was no chance that newt gingrich wouldn't win the nomination. >> how do you respond to republicans who say, if you don't draw the distinctions with mitt romney and others who are attacking you, if you don't point out what their perceived vulnerabilitie

>> sir, undersecretary shinseki 's leadership at va we have done an extensive review of performance bonuses and have reduced those in both the number of outstanding ratings and the dollar amount that has been implemented. question no. was actually higher at one time? >> it was. we have taken this very much to heart. let me offer that the integrity of our performance measures and the integrity of our scheduling system, the fidelity with which we implement these and adhere to them that are veteran centric is extremely important to the department. so we take very seriously the comments that have been made by the attorney general and we will rigorously follow up. we have been exercising the integrity of the system can and it is obvious that some of what we put at in in performance measures, particularly as a datas it relates to could get us into this discussion. what sometimes happens is the scheduler will say i want to schedule you for when you want to next come in. the veteran might say when are you next available, i would be happy to take whatever is there. that is a trick bag we need to get

secretary of veterans affairs, eric shinseki was invited by the committee to speak today, to offer testimonyn his department and how he intends to fix it. he did not show up. iraq and afghanistan veterans of america, which is the largest organization of veterans from these wars, they have been asking for a meeting with the secretary for a while now. they again requested to meet with him this week to talk about this devastating report on a really important issue. so far, bupkis. this is not partisan at all and this is a big freaking deal. >>> once upon a time, newt gingrich was the republican front-runner for president. and he was running a positive so k harder to help neutralize odors in multiple cat homes. purina tidy cats. keep your home smelling like home. but one thing's for sure -- you don't like it. but you've never tried it? see the problem here... ♪ [ male announcer ] aggressive styling. a more fuel-efficient turbocharged engine. and a completely redesigned interior. ♪ the 2012 c-class with over 2,000 refinements. it's amazing...inside and out. see your authorized mercedes-benz deale

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we have reached the halfway point with secretary shinseki's plan to end homelessness. have more work to do and we acknowledge that in this committee will be the oversight necessary in a conversation back and forth from providers and also people who are experiencing it and to understand what more we can do. again the committee looks forward to working on this issue now and into the future. the record will be kept open for questions for the next week so i anticipate -- and again we thank you all very much for participating in today's hearing. the hearing is now adjourned. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] the brady campaign against gun violence holds a news conference today with victims of gun violence from across the united states. >> this is really a book not just about lyndon johnson but about robert kennedy and jack kennedy and the interplay of their personalities, particularly, and it's a very complicated story that i don't think people know of two very complicated people, and robert kennedy and lyndon johnson. i had to really go into that and try

in 2009, secretary shinseki laid out the goal of ending homelessness among veterans in five years.s in five years. today's hearing will examine the progress made as well as the opportunities moving forward, particularly the woman's veteran space. they recently announced a number, as veterans drop by 12% to a little me than 67,000. they deserve to be commended for the progress they have made. challenges remain. there remain focused on in new and growing segment of the homeless veteran population. like their male counter parts, they face many of the same challenges that contribute to their risk of becoming homeless. they're serving on the front lines. they're facing some of the harshest realities of war. they are experiencing ailitary sexual trauma, suffering from anxiety, and having trouble finding a job that provides stability to ease their transition back,. they have needs that are unique from those of male veterans. they found in a report released some monday, some of the needs are not being addressed. they found there were serious concerns for homeless women verans, especially t

secretary shinseki's office followed through on my request for defailed monthly updates of the progress the v.a. is making with regard to these clinics in both lafayette and lake charles. the errors in the contracting process were solely the v.a.'s fault and they have admitted it. i will remain vigilant in overseeing the expedited process to deliver south louisiana veterans the local care they need and deserve. i'm pleased to announce that there are new and much needed services for veterans coming to lafayette in early may. these services include home-based primary care, imaging and x-ray service, prosthetics, and dental care. for the veterans in lake charles, a mobile clinic providing primary care services is expected to begin june 4 and selection of a location is under way. this would be a first for our vet rabs in lake charles who had to travel afar to get basic care. according to the v.a. officials, the veterans' affairs primary care services will be available in lake charles three days per week also beginning june 4. women services will be provided one day per week in lake charles

second point we'd like to make is announced by secretary shinseki last week. we are increasing staff to enhance both the access to and quality of mental health care by hiring 1900 additional staff, more than 1600 of those are mental health clinicians. as i mentioned, in this will augment the current complement of 20,500 mental health employees in our system and is designed to provide additional staff in our facilities, it's also designed to increase our staffing of our crisis line which is so integral to the identification and treatment of people who are in crisis as ranking member brown spoke of so eloquently. and it's also an important aspect of increase in that we will be adding additional examiners for compensation in pension examinations. that's an important transition from active duty to, um, veteran status for those who are currently on active duty and for those who present with new conditions. we have a solemn responsibility to insure that we increase our staff to insure that we can handle this volume in a timely fashion and that we can do this in a wa

. >> sir, we at va under secretary shinseki's leadership have done an extensive review of review of bonuses, and have reduced those in both the number of outstanding ratings and the dollar amount that has actually been implemented. >> so the number was actually higher at one point? >> it was. we have taken this very much to heart. and let me just offer that the integrity of our performance measures and the integrity of our scheduling system, the fidelity with which we implement these and adhere to them better veterans centric, is extremely important to the department. so we take very seriously the comments that have been made by the ig, and we will be rigorously following a. we have been emphasizing the integrity of the system, and it's obvious that some of what we put and come in my opinion, in performance measures, particularly as it relates to the desired date, may get us into a discussion where it leads to this kind of confusion. because what sometimes happens is that a scheduler will say i want to schedule you for when you want to next come in, and the veteran might say, but when are y