somers. the parents of daniel summers. susan and richard selke. the parents of clay hunt. and peggy portwine the mother of brian portwine. we are also joined on the panel by josh wrenchler. a veteran of the united states army who will share his personal story of attempting to seek mental health. thank you for your service and being here. ms. somers continue. >> we are grateful for this opportunity to testify today and we are pleased to see arizona's representative and our own california's representative as well who has been very good to us. >> as many of you know the journey sarted on june 10, 2013 when daniel took his own life following a second return from deemployment in iraq. he suffered from post traumatic stres disorder, traumatic brain injury and gulf war syndrome. daniel spent six years trying to access the va health and benefit system before collapsing under the weight of his own dispare. we have attached the daniel solmers story and hope you will read it if you have not done so. it

somers. >> thank you. i want to start by thanking the chairman and the committee for allowing me to be a guest. we are not members of the committee, but there is not any place we would rather be this morning. it takes a lot of courage to do what you are doing, and i want to say thank you for that. also to let you know, beyond the power of your stories, it is the education you provide that only you can provide. these are insights that only you have. it has been very valuable to us. while we are new here, we can tell you that from time to time you see testimony that will make a difference. that is what has happened today. you can feel confident those brothers and sisters will be heavily affected and helped by the time you put in and the effort you put in today. i also want to thank howard and jean somers for your leadership, for the time you put in on behalf of daniel, and the education you have given me. i look forward to continuing to

somers. >> yes. thank you. and thank you, representative kirkpatrick, for being such a support and a help for us. there is multiple issues that have to do with the medications. just the fact that the formularies are not the same is a huge issue. and it doesn't just affect veterans at the va system. there are veterans who are retired from the military who see both -- who see physicians both at the va and the dod. so they are seeing people at both different medical centers and they cannot be on similar medications from one to the other because the formularies are not the same. the problem is that not only does the va use 99% generics, but they use the cheapest generics. so daniel, who had not only ptsd and tbi, but full blown gulf war syndrome, which included irritable bowel, had only certain medications he could tolerate. maybe the chemical in the medication is the same, but the bonding agent is different. maybe he's on a medication he only has to take once or twice a day, but the va gets a be

somers. >> yes. thank you. and thank you, representative kirkpatrick, for being such a support and a help for us. there is multiple issues that have to do with the medications. just the fact that the formularies are not the same is a huge issue. and it doesn't just affect veterans at the va system. there are veterans who are retired from the military who see both -- who see physicians both at the va and the dod. so they are seeing people at both different medical centers and they cannot be on similar medications from one to the other because the formularies are not the same. the problem is that not only does the va use 99% generics, but they use the cheapest generics. so daniel, who had not only ptsd and tbi, but full blown gulf war syndrome, which included irritable bowel, had only certain medications he could tolerate. maybe the chemical in the medication is the same, but the bonding agent is different. maybe he's on a medication he only has to take once or twice a day, but the va gets a be

peters who represents the somers. >> thank you. i want to thank the chairman and the committee for allowing me to be a guest. we are not members of this committee. i don't think there is any place we would rather be this morning. it takes a lot of courage to do what you are doing. thank you for that. also to let you know beyond the power of your stories, it's the education you provide that only you can provide. these are insights that only you have. it's been very valuable to us. while we are new here, i can tell you that from time to time you see testimony that's going to make a difference. that is certainly what's happened today. you can feel very confident that those brothers you talked about and sisters will be heavily affected and helped by the time you put in and effort you put in today. i also just want to thank in particular howard and jean somers for your leadership, the time you put in on behalf of daniel and the education you've given me. i look forward to continue working with you to make these issues, to resolve these

somers, you are also a medical doctor, dr. somers?> i'm a urologist. >> can you tell me -- you're from the phoenix area? >> actually, i practice in phoenix. we currently live in san diego. >> oh, in san diego. i'm from riverside, which is . rth of san diego as you know i went to visit my own v.a. in loma linda. they're able to get veterans to see a family practitioner in 24 hours if need be. i'm not so sure about mental health care or psychiatrists. they indicated to me there is a shortage of psychiatrists and i recently visited a new kaiser facility and the director of that kaiser facility told me -- i asked him if there was -- what shortages he was experiencing. he identified behavioral health and psychiatry. can you tell me if there are general shortages in your area of these kind of practitioners? >> there is a shortage of mental health professionals nationwide and there are many issues that go into it. one. nly reimbursement is we know one of the people that daniel had been seeing because -- and this is another issue of continuit

somers. >> yes. thank you. and thank you, representative kirkpatrick, for being such a support and a help for us. there is multiple issues that have to do with the medications. just the fact that the formularies are not the same is a huge issue. and it doesn't just affect veterans at the va system. there are veterans who are retired from the military who see both -- who see physicians both at the va and the dod. so they are seeing people at both different medical centers and they cannot be on similar medications from one to the other because the formularies are not the same. the problem is that not only does the va use 99% generics, but they use the cheapest generics. so daniel, who had not only ptsd and tbi, but full blown gulf war syndrome, which included irritable bowel, had only certain medications he could tolerate. maybe the chemical in the medication is the same, but the bonding agent is different. maybe he's on a medication he only has to take once or twice a day, but the va gets a be

so howard and gene somers join me from washington, d.c. wonderful having you both back. >> thank you, brooke. >> thank you very much. >> let's just get to some of what you all said to these members of congress today on the hill. and jean, i'm just going to begin with you. because before we get to the specifics and everything you're trying to raise awareness and the change, this is when you're talking about how daniel went for help and found that there were no beds for him. take a look. >> probably the most -- if i don't make it through this, howard will finish. probably the most egregious event was when daniel presented to their e.r. -- >> he went into the corner. he was -- he laid down on the floor. he was crying. there was no effort made to see if he could be admitted to another facility. he was told that you can stay here and when you feel better you can drive yourself home. >> so this is part of daniel's story. and i mean, can i just say, it's amazing how you two are able to step in for one another and help finish each other's sentence

peters who represents the somers. >> thank you. i want to thank the chairman and the committee for allowing me to be a guest. we are not members of this committee. i don't think there is any place we would rather be this morning. it takes a lot of courage to do what you are doing. thank you for that. also to let you know beyond the power of your stories, it's the education you provide that only you can provide. these are insights that only you have. it's been very valuable to us. while we are new here, i can tell you that from time to time you see testimony that's going to make a difference. that is certainly what's happened today. you can feel very confident that those brothers you talked about and sisters will be heavily affected and helped by the time you put in and effort you put in today. i also just want to thank in particular howard and jean somers for your leadership, the time you put in on behalf of daniel and the education you've given me. i look forward to continue working with you to make these issues, to resolve these

somers, i appreciate your comments about evidence-based. i'm not a doctor, but i have seen evidence that non-drug therapies work. that should be good enough for the veteran, it should be good enough for the v.a. i want to talk a little bit about the v.a. acknowledgment of non-drug therapies and your experience with that, understanding every case is going to be different. i hosted a v.a. intake day recently. we had about 300 people come through the congressional office in the district. one man brought a backpack he brought to my desk and dumped out surplus medications. dozens and dozens of bottles of them. sergeant you referred fractuyou cocktail going from 11 to 14. you have expressed concerns about ambien and the use of generics and otherwise. just on its face, do you lack confidence in the way the v.a. administers pharmaceuticals, not on the merits of pharmaceuticals, but in the experience of pharmaceutical use administers and directed by the v.a.? >> i'll speak to that. i spoke earlier about the difficulty of clay getting a prescription

and yacht club and neptune and avon road pine beach and wynnewood beach in brick and new jersey 1/2 somers point rounded out top uncle craig, what's the deal? oh...you can't record that many shows at once. why? you can't save every single cartoon. why? you know you can't pause the tv here and play it in another room. why? it's time for fios quantum tv. store up to 200 hours in hd. record up to 12 shows at once. pause and play live tv, room to room. plus, watch live tv on the go with the fios mobile app. redefining what tv can be. >> it's a 7 game road trip jim:00 a.m. some players may not make a road trip to philadelphia when it all said and zone. aj burnett does not have it tonight in new york. we mean the ability to get it out. after a leadoff walk daniel murphy doubles and curtis anderson scores 1-0 new york. juan lagaris brings in two more. we go to the fifth. travis dext arnel phillies former farm hand. gives up 7 runs in five innings and afterwards calls performance brutal effort. phillies lose 7-1. >> eagles training camp. >> over 10,000 fans showed up for a free viewing. live instu

and yacht club and neptune and avon road pine beach and wynnewood beach in brick and new jersey 1/2 somers point rounded o curing a yeast infection can take days. relieving the itch.... can happen instantly. vagisil max strength anti-itch wipes relieve itch and odor instantly as they cleanse. so why wait to feel comfortable? trust vagisil. the number one wipe for itch. >> it's a 7 game road trip jim:00 a.m. some players may not make a road trip to philadelphia when it all said and zone. aj burnett does not have it tonight in new york. we mean the ability to get it out. after a leadoff walk daniel murphy doubles and curtis anderson scores 1-0 new york. juan lagaris brings in two more. we go to the fifth. travis dext arnel phillies former farm hand. gives up 7 runs in five innings and afterwards calls performance brutal effort. phillies lose 7-1. >> eagles training camp. >> over 10,000 fans showed up for a free viewing. live instudio audience created different type of energy for practice birds say they enjoy it. >> it's fun. last time we were here it was obviously saints games. and hopefully

club in neptune township, avon road and pine beach, wynnewood beach and new jersey avenue breach in somers rounding out the top quality in in new jersey. >> a record setting price tag on a madeover celeb celebrity mansion. >> a high speed pursuit through berks county. and you want to get an mba. but going back to school is hard. because you work. now capella university offers a revolutionary new way to get your degree. it's called flexpath, and it's the most direct path, leveraging what you've learned on the job and focusing on what you need to know. so you can get a degree at your pace and graduate at the speed of you. flexpath from capella university. learn about all of our programs at capella.edu. >> ♪ >> "action news." delaware valley's leading news program. with matt o'donnell, tamala edwards, karen rogers and meteorologist, david murphy. >> ♪ >> good morning. >> ♪ july 29th and we have news you did not see last night. >> philadelphia police take two people into custody after a plan is stabbed mulder pell times overnight. >> police credit a philadelphia community for leading them to t

. >> raining in somers point. >> showers popped up around atlantic city. >> great egg toll plaza. >>can never rule out a pop up. >> it is a pop up. >> speaking of down the shore, some beach-goers have come up with a solution, for all that sand that gets caught in your beach bag, you know, and other items you bring in with you. sand all over your house. that's a tote. this is a tote from the shake line, shake. com, where you get it. when you pull the tab, the bag canvas row veals america fabric. >> look at that. >> that filters out the sand protecting all of your belongings, and all of the bags include variety of pockets, that keep your items safe. you like it? >> i love it! >> i need it. >> i want it now. >> that ice cream cone looked good, too. >> sprinkles, or jimmies. >> yes. >> one key sign of adulthood is no longer relying on mom and dad for things. please contact my daughter. but what else proves you're a real adult. buzz feed. com that proves that you're grown up no matter what age. the average adult has $3,100 in their checking account. that's in your checking account. >> rig

somere going to go home at point.s is a very serious security concern for the united states if someone who has gone to this theater has fought jihad, radicalized theologically, gained fighting skills and they come back to europe, as you know, in europe among 26 countries in the region where there is no border control, they can move around all 26 european countries and 20 out of 28 have visa waiver programs to the effect of the united states. this is a very big intelligence problem. >> what do we do? >> we need to put pressure on them where they are now which means getting the iraqi government together to put iraq to on isis in support the moderates and moderate oppositionist groups in syria but to work very closely with the europeans, frankly, on monitoring these people coming in and out of this theater. iraq and talk about al-maliki. you said he was intolerant of sunni and therefore they became tolerant of isis. i get a sense from traveling in the middle east that it is changing. in fact, clearly saudi arabia is to t

travel south down towards the clayton and franklinville avenue, and a wreck in camden county along somer dale road and one along mount holly, and it's overturned vehicle crash in burlington county along 130 at the turnpike connecter, and they have reopened the southbound lanes of 1, and the police activity has cleared. >> all right matt thank you. >>> even the firefighters task of responding to this house fire, they conkeep a straight face. the seattle homeowner accidently sets his house ablaze while trying to kill a spider. the guy uses a blow torch, and fortunately he if he were a lobbyist... if they were political contributors... maybe tom corbett would listen to them, instead of cutting... funding for their schools. but corbett's huge tax giveaway to the oil and gas... industry has cost us billions. forced deep cuts in education. and his mismanagement caused a massive budget deficit. now corbett wants to give the oil and gas industry even... more handouts. because that's who tom corbett listens to. and this is who pays the price. >>> now to the accuweather forecast, we are still laug

four years ago, his son, joseph, daughter-in-law somer, and their two little boys, 4-year-old geeiani, and 3-year-old joseph jr., vanished. >> i don't think they knew what was coming. i really don't. >> how did you find out that they had gone missing? >> friday i tried calling him, couldn't feget him. sunday i called and couldn't reach him. now i'm getting worried. >> worried since patrick says he rarely went a day without talking to his son. >> every time i talked to him, the last words out of my mouth before we hang up the phone, i love you, son. >> if he was in trouble and had the ability to reach out to you, do you think he would have called you? >> absolutely. >> this case is unique. i've never seen anything like it. >> investigative journalist stef watts has followed the case closely from the beginning. >> they literally disappeared and nobody noticed for days. >> thursday, february 4, 2010 began as an ordinary day in the mcstay home. >> that morning i spoke to joey. >> he didn't let on anything was wrong? >> no, everything was fine. >> he was planning on having a lunch meeting

and down the shore you are warmer in the 60's, 67 in stone harbor and 61 in somers point. fox future cast for today a lot like yesterday. we will see sunshine and a few clouds in the afternoon. otherwise it is just as good as what we saw on thursday, perfect for july, 84 was the high on thursday, 87 is the average and for today maybe we should be just a degree more. eighty-five, mostly sunny nice and warm with low humidity. sixty-eight tonight. we will have the latest on the weekend, in the meantime, good morning to you, kacie. >> we had an accident overnight, egypt road complete thely shut down bridge street to whittaker street. still shut down down pole from that accident around phoenixville and great alternate. looking at majors for much more caitlin said a beautiful morning everything is moving just fine we've got 50's on all of them, guys. >> 4:03. lets turn to the latest development in the down malaysia jet. rescue crews are combing through wreckage in the ukraine runcy side where it crashed and the question remains brought this plane down. ukraine officials are call

in doylestown, down in south jersey, it is cool, too, 59 in sicklerville, as well as vin land, 64 somersoint, 58 in stone harbor, nice day at the shore. foxcast, cooler, 59 the morning temperature for the drive n sun hine will warm us up, 79 by noon, and i think we stay mainly sunny with just some fair weather clouds later on today. very comfortable, high temperature of 84. that's a ten, i think we'll do it again tomorrow, and we'll see how the week send shaping up. does look to trends drier, which means i don't at this we'll have any rain in the forecast, kacie. looking pretty good headed toward saturday, sunday. >> thanks very much, caitlin. look at the majors, see 95, you have some construction going on, there both directions, northbound, and southbound, we will get to that coming up in a little bit. this is more important, eastbound pennsylvania turnpike construction, not showing up, but big slow down, ft. washington all the way to willow grove, center and right lanes blocked, and it is out of your way. if you are headed out upper pittsgrove, pretty bad accident shutting down route 4

frank, somer set, massachusetts, tony dungy says he would not draft a gay football player because ofhank god branch ricky didn't think like that when signing to the brooklyn dodgers. good point. o'reilly, i do not understand why you are afraid to call barack obama what he is, a muslim. please forward your conclusive evidence to me, martin na. and of course we will lead with the story on "the factor." looking forward to getting that evidence. like to see it. clint, melbourne, australia, you told us isis is al qaeda and speculated 23 americans were on board the malaysian flight. you knew both were factually incorrect. you will never read this e-mail. i often read dopey e-mails, clint. al qaeda recruits who spun off. we cited initial reporting on the plane but made it clear the state department would not confirm anything about americans. don't be a pinhead, mate. anthony flores, rapid city, south dakota, i love my bill o'reilly.com premium membership, great source for news, fun quizzes and interactive. we'll be at the arena and saturday we'll be at the civic auditorium in fargo. billo'r

howard somers somers -- jean has only added to my urgency in addressing reform at the v.a. their son daniel served our country in operation iraqi freedom. as they testified in the house veterans affairs committee -- house veterans' affairs committee, their son made several attempts to seek help and counseling for posttraumatic stress. but was unsuccessful ultimately and eventually he took his own life. the v.a. system failed daniel somers, failed his parents and it's unacceptable. both the senate and the house have taken action to make real, substantive changes at the v.a. and i voted for many of these measures in the house, but the senate's plan is comprehensive, bipartisan and is the best opportunity for the quick action that our veterans deserve. it will benefit thousands of veterans by increasing their access to care, by allowing the v.a. to lease more facilities, hire doctors and nurses to fill their most pressing staff shortages, and by allowing veterans to see non-v.a. provide fathers they've been forced to wait for an appointment or live for from the closest facilit

the key question down the road, of course, is the issue is whether, in fact, we are looking , or somer of numbers that are going to run into problems. remember, the real critical question you have to answer during this particular that with labor markets gradually and increasingly tightening, and indeed other areas tightening up, all of them are indicating that at this stage we will run into upside pressures in the money markets and inflation sooner than most of us had expected. that is still an open question. >> it is an open question, and one that the fed is wrestling with. do you believe that the longer they stayed easy here on interest rates the further they will fall behind the curve? >> i have not commented on actual activities of monetary policy. i do comment, and i am willing to comment on the structure of what is going on in the money markets. but i have tried to stay away from second-guessing the fed. paul volcker 418.5 years never second-guessed what we were 18.5 -- paul volcker for years never second-guessed for we were doing, and i really appreciated that. >> i understand,

at the end of the day, it's what every somer player dreams of. >> everybody was talking about tim howardsetting a new record. he had great things to say about you in your performance. that must feel good coming from him? >> yeah, he's a guy i grew up watching and idolizing. that was amazing to hear that from him and all the veterans that told me i did a good job. i'm excited for what the future holds. >> team brazil, do you think they stand a chance? >> i always had germany as a favorite. you know, i still think they will be a great team but i think germany is going to beat brazil. >> i have to go in for the money question here. you are wearing the seattle sounders jersey, right? >> i am. >> after this performance people from all around the world may come after you. any chance you might stray or leave? >> right now, i'm focused on seattle. i have only been back two days. i'm not sure what's going on with everybody. folks in seattle, hopefully. if those opportunities come, i will look at them and my agent and the club and see what is best for me. >> all the pressure, are you watching? >>

and do you agree with the views being discussed by many that larry somers and others about lower than normal interest rates and the dangers of tightening too soon? >> so, i do agree with the view that there are substantial head winds facing the economy. one example would be that we see in surveys of households that their expectations about their future finances and growth in their real incomes are exceptionally depressed. i think that's a factor that is depressing spending. we see in the housing market where we had some progress but it now looks like it's stalled. a lack of credit availability for anyone who has anything other than a pristine credit rating, i think, remains a factor. and that's in many complicated ways, a legacy of what we have lived through. i think there are -- and fiscal policy has been a factor, in my view, holding back the recovery. and that's what monetary policy has had to counteract. that's in part why we have needed such an accommodative monetary policy for so long. the economy is making progress. i do believe it's making progress, and eventually if we contin

. >> steve, we are looking at a commute where traffic is still really busy in somers why but light in others. the light category, the bay bridge, that's much better than it normally is driving in to the bay bridge. this is about a 10-minute drive across a span. if you have to get to the city, you may want to go before something changes. all it takes is one stalled vehicle to change everything on that span. so you might want to go now or go soon. this is a look now at the san mateo bridge where it's stopped now. but it goes off and fon. it stops. it goes. it's about a 20-minute drive across the span. so it's pretty business. dumbarton bridge is also slow. the south bay commute northbound 101 an earlier accident near 237. also slow traffic on 280 and 85. 101 is the busiest from 280. stop and go into the valley. >>> sunnyvale. let's go back to the desk. >>> two people were wounded in vallejo last night and young children were caught in the middle of it. ktvu's alex savidge live at the vallejo police station. alex, you have been out there all morning. you are learning more about a teenage

thank you, suzanne somers.ho came out and supported us during our summer concert series yesterday. do you like this? >> rain or shine. >> we love the fox of july, instead of the fourth of july. we have the best fans. >> nice handwriting, too. and wow, stitched together. >> even put an american flag on there. >> that's like real, that's like real fabric. pretty nice! >> good job. >> we have pretty great viewers. >> all right, folks, you know what? you can't rain on our parade. hurricane arthur fails to dampen fourth of july celebrations across the country, starting in the nation's capital. ♪ trumpets, cannons and a full orchestra helped celebrate the nation's birthday on the national mall. >> and in dallas, friends and family gathering at the cotton bowl. let's take a look at dallas for fair park tours. >> and in san francisco, fireworks lighting up the sky over fisherman's wharf in giear deli square. >> and a gopro camera strapped to a drone giving us this incredible view inside the fireworks show. amazingly, i

and do you agree with the views being discussed by many that larry somers and others about lower than normal interest rates and the dangers of tightening too soon? >> so, i do agree with the view that there are substantial head winds facing the economy. one example would be that we see in surveys of households that their expectations about their future finances and growth in their real incomes are exceptionally depressed. i think that's a factor that is depressing spending. we see in the housing market where we had some progress but it now looks like it's stalled. a lack of credit availability for anyone who has anything other than a pristine credit rating, i think, remains a factor. and that's in many complicated ways, a legacy of what we have lived through. i think there are -- and fiscal policy has been a factor, in my view, holding back the recovery. and that's what monetary policy has had to counteract. that's in part why we have needed such an accommodative monetary policy for so long. the economy is making progress. i do believe it's making progress, and eventually if we contin

and do you agree with the views being discussed by many that larry somers and others about lower than normal interest rates and the dangers of tightening too soon? >> so, i do agree with the view that there are substantial head winds facing the economy. one example would be that we see in surveys of households that their expectations about their future finances and growth in their real incomes are exceptionally depressed. i think that's a factor that is depressing spending. we see in the housing market where we had some progress but it now looks like it's stalled. a lack of credit availability for anyone who has anything other than a pristine credit rating, i think, remains a factor. and that's in many complicated ways, a legacy of what we have lived through. i think there are -- and fiscal policy has been a factor, in my view, holding back the recovery. and that's what monetary policy has had to counteract. that's in part why we have needed such an accommodative monetary policy for so long. the economy is making progress. i do believe it's making progress, and eventually if we contin

somers, i appreciate your comments about evidence-based. i'm not a doctor, but i have seen evidence that non-drug therapies work. that should be good enough for the veteran, it should be good enough for the v.a. i want to talk a little bit about the v.a. acknowledgment of non-drug therapies and your experience with that, understanding every case is going to be different. i hosted a v.a. intake day recently. we had about 300 people come through the congressional office in the district. one man brought a backpack he brought to my desk and dumped out surplus medications. dozens and dozens of bottles of them. sergeant you referred fractuyou cocktail going from 11 to 14. you have expressed concerns about ambien and the use of generics and otherwise. just on its face, do you lack confidence in the way the v.a. administers pharmaceuticals, not on the merits of pharmaceuticals, but in the experience of pharmaceutical use administers and directed by the v.a.? >> i'll speak to that. i spoke earlier about the difficulty of clay getting a prescription