one is the milcon-v.a. bill which would focus on the v.a. we wouldn't be sitting here having this discussion today. also we passed h.j.res. 72 last week which would fund the v.a. so that we wouldn't have this conversation. both those bills passed on a bipartisan basis. i would urge those folks that are listening to this hearing to be sure to influence the senate to take up on those two bills. thank you, mr. chairman, i yield back. >> thank you very much. r. brown -- mrs. broub, you're recognized for two minutes -- ms. brown, you're recognized for two minutes. >> thank you. i keep hearing the senate, the senate. i put the responsibility straight here with the house. we could pass a clean c.r. and you would not be sitting there. and i have done, my entire career, all i could do that veterans would not be caught up with the house and the senate and i don't blame the senate, i thank god for the senate. the bad politics of this house. and at some point, you know, let's don't confuse nobody with facts. now, we're talking about november 1. i want t

v.a.national cemeteries. and many of v.a.'s employees themselves want to know if they will be serving veterans on the job or going to be furloughed. i understand that answers to some of these questions are entirely dependent on how long this shutdown lasts. and although i want to be sure that most of us agree that we want the shutdown over quickly, it's our responsibility to ensure that the public, especially veterans, understand what the current state of play is. first of all, mr. secretary, i want to say in the last couple of weeks, getting good information about your contingency plans and the effect of lapse in appropriations and its effect on veterans has been very difficult for us to get the information out of your office. for example, the original field guide that v.a. put out regarding the shutdown impact at first spoke of no effect, no effect, on payments to veterans or processing of their benefits. but in a later version, v.a. stated that a prolonged shutdown would impact both, bu

v.a. benefits are going to be cut and medical coverage going to be cut off. all those yahoos in d.c. are not losing their medical and don't care if the government goes bankrupt. they will get their benefits and i think it's time we run them all of town and run them out of town. >> one of the things we heard at a hearing, they look at it and if the government shutdown continues through november, secretary shin secretaryy said veterans wouldn't get their benefits. >> last time a shutdown occurred in 1996, our nation was enjoying relative peace. that is not true. we are in the 13th year of a war. and the war in iraq as well. members of this latest generation of veterans are enrolling in v.a. at a higher rate than ever before. they along with veterans of every preceding generation will be harmed if the shutdown continues. in the last six months through 30 september, the veterans benefits administration reduced the backlog of compensation claims, something we have all been working on and proddi

he believes the v.a.was complicit in his son's death. >> the last thing you would think is that you have a child in the hospital trying to get care, that somebody would call at your door and tell you that he passed away. >> reporter: since waggoner's death five years ago, the roseburg hospitals narcotic prescription rate has continued to rise. we tried to interview the hospital director but our request was denied. last year, doctors in roseburg wrote more opiate prescriptions per patient than any v.a. hospital in the country, according to data obtained by the center for investigative reporting. the center analyzed 12 years of prescription data from the v.a. and found that prescriptions per patient for four highly addictive painkillers have surged by 270% since the war in afghanistan began, far outstripping the increase in patients. >> reporter: dr. stephen xenakis is a psychiatrist and retired army brigadier general. he says the data shows the agency is over-medicating patients as it struggles to keep up

patients and with more than half of the newest v.a.patients-- those from iraq and afghanistan-- seeking treatment for pain, scott, the system is only going to grow more overloaded. >> pelley: jim axelrod in our washington newsroom tonight. jim, thank you. doctors at san francisco general hospital said today that a body discovered in a stairwell there was that of a missing patient, lynn spaulding, who was 57. she was admitted nearly three weeks ago for treatment of an infection but she disappeared two days later. her body was found yesterday. it is not clear how she died or how she got to the stairwell. for years the child buried here was known only as hope. tonight, police know who she really was. that story next. good job! still running in the morning? yeah. getting your vegetables every day? when i can. [ bop ] [ male announcer ] could've had a v8. two full servings of vegetables for only 50 delicious calories. that's why there's new duracell quantum. only duracell quantum has a hi-density core. and that means more fuel, more power,

a doctor reported to a v.a. hot line she was resigning because of excessive narcotics distribution at a v.a- hospital in alabama. a v.a. undersecretary for health, dr. jesse, turned and promised these two men, and all veterans to do a better job of looking past medications and get to the root cause of veterans' pain. >> to mr. wrenchler and minyard, thank got you're still with us and whatever we can do to restore your trust in the v.a., please give us a chance. >> reporter: the hearings chairman hold dr. jealousy he expects to hear from him in a month with more specifics and what exactly the v.a. plans to do to restore that trust. >> pelley: jim, thanks very much. the u.s. military, of course, helped with the downfall of the libyan dictator muammar gaddafi. since then libya has become a country without laws and today the prime minister was kidnapped at gunpoint. though he was later released unharmed. mark phillips looks at who may have done this and why. >> reporter: there was a lot of fuss made when libyan prim

v.a.r the cost of their care. this benefit goes to care takers who help our veterans with the daily tasks of living, bathing eat, maintaining pross at the exs, when this list goes on. however when the same veterans go to apply for housing assistance this aid counts as income. making it harder for them to qualify for housing assistance. this policy just doesn't make sense and it's hurting our veterans. h.r. 1742, the vulnerable veterans housing reform act, fixes this problem. so that our severely disabled veterans aren't victims of homelessness as well. it excludes this aid meant to address the health and daily living needs of severely tess abled veterans from the calculation of income in the housing assistance program. mr. speaker, often when members come in through the doors of the house chambers to vote, we're greeted by members of our military. who have been wounded in service of our nation. most have lost limbs. and all their lives are irrep rahably cheaged. despite all they've already

now that the v.a. is required to furlough thousands of employees, how will that affect the claims backlog and constituents specifically in my district, meaning how will furlough's impact the l.a. regional office and the san diego regional office which review claims for veterans in my district? >> congressman, as i indicated , our availability of carryover funding for 2013, roughly $40 million, we exhausted that. we there and then had to furlough about 7800 people. we have about 13,000 benefits employees who are doing what they always do and that is process claims as quickly and as accurately as they can. of mandatory overtime, we are doing that at 1400 claims each day less than 30were doing before september. there is a cumulative effect here. these employees will continue to work until such time as something because the mandatory account that currently has some residual funds and it, they will continue to process claims until that point. whatever we can pay for retroactive claims or for student claims,

what is happening at the v.a. is a snapshot how this government shutdown is hurting the nation not just for people who work for the government but people who rely on it for assistance, as well. it only gets worse the time it goes on. u.s. veterans are due $6 billion worth of benefits in november. checks that won't go out if the government is still shutdown. secretary of veterans affairs says a third of his employees are veterans themselves facing a double whammy. >> if they are furloughed and they are also recipients of disability checks, their resources go to zero. and then i have the responsibility of trying to figure out how to keep them from becoming homeless. >> coming first of november i'm screwed with a lot of other veterans out here. >> jerry lives outside san diego and is an army veteran who served during the gulf war. he is no longer able to work and says he relies on the v.a. for everything from food to medical care. >> when your day-to-day life depends on what the v.a. does and what our government does

it says we should continue to fund the v.a. because whatever happens, our veterans should not be held hostage. and harry reid's standard the is he thinks veterans don't deserve the same treatment men and women of the active military do. it's not right. we need ed to honor the commitments. we need to put the partisan politics of barack obama and harry reid behind us. you know, just two days ago president obama gave a list of the negative things that would happen in a shutdown. that he wouldn't pay the border patrol, shut down nasa, shut down the national parks. and he would shut down much of the v.a. the house is saying, mr. president, we have heard your priorities. we are acting in a bipartisan manner to fund the priorities you laid out, mr. president, in a national speech. harry reid is saying he'll kill them because he wants everything shut down. >> first it was the fund. then they said, let's delay it. then let's get rid of special exemptions. we'll treat everyone equally including big business and individuals. then let's ta

fund the v.a., yes or not. can't we say, listen, even if we disagree, we can come together and say our vets should be above politics. >> when you have held virtually the entire federal government hostage, when you say let's do a vote just to let the v.a. out -- >> there are 14 of thousands. >> to continue to hold all the other agencies that weren't in those bills hostage. it's still a hostage situation. >> this is the 18th time that the congress and the president have been at an impasse and we shut the government down. this is not like this is a brand-new suddenly discovered thing. we've done this 18 times. >> and it's been rotten every time. >> but often it's the only way the congress can get the president's attention. >> you have the president's attention. my gosh, he is extraordinarily concerned about the harm that the shutdown is causing to people across this country right now. he's extraordinarily concerned about the threat to our currency and credit. >> not enough to negotiate. >> negotiate or negotiate w

in fact, the v.a. also announced that at the end of the month, it will run out of funding for compensation, pension, educational and vocational rehabilitation and employment benefits. what does that mean to america? what are the consequences of the v.a. saying, this shutdown means we are shutting our doors to processing and paying claims of men and women who have served this country, who have been disabled as a consequence of that service, who have earned educational benefits so that they can come back and continue to contribute to this country? what that means to america is that we are, in effect, defaulting and failing on a core obligation this country has to men and women who serve and sacrifice. america is failing to keep faith with its veterans and america is failing on one of its most essential obligation. we awr ought to be ashamed and embarrassed that 7,000 men and women who want nothing more than to help their fellow veterans -- in fact, half of those 7,000 men and women at the v.a. are themse

a v.a. official telling the i-team if that happens v.a.enefits for pension and education benefits will all be, quote, suspended. scott mcfarland, news 4 i-team. >> maclasses returning to norma. the faculty and staff are back on the job today. the pentagon decided over the weekend that civilian military workers are exempt from furloughs and could go back to work. >>> $500 in your bank account in 24 hours with the click of a mouse. that money can be yours in the form of a loan. >> and with the government shutdown now in its seventh day, some may be looking for funds like these to fill the gap. but, are these fast cash online loans a smart deal? let's turn to liz crenshaw. >> these internet quick loan offers are essentially payday loans just on line. and while storefront payday lending is effectively illegal in some areas including maryland and d.c. some lenders are taking advantage of consumers through what can be calledable online loophole. >> it's been a tight spot. i wasn't going to make it. pay some bills that i needed to pay. >> when on

now with so many of his workers furloughed, the v.a. secretary, norah and charlie, says that backlog is growing by a couple thousand a week. >> nancy, thanks. >>> among those furloughed park service employees who maintain the national mall in washington. south carolina native chris cox decided to step in. he used a lawn mower and chain saw to spruce things up. he says he wants the mall to be in shape for this weekend's million debt march. >> veterans are coming here this weekend. i didn't want to see spit cup, diapers, banana peels, apples, you name it, out there. >> he calls himself memorial militia. he plans to work through this shutdown. >>> on wednesday president obama nominated janet yell on the replace ben bernanke. his ten year ends in january. right now she's the vice chair of the fed. she would be the first woman to lead the bank if confirmed by the senate and yellen says more needs to be done to strengthen the economy. >> while we have made progress, we have farther to go. the federal reserve can help if it does its job effect

on the v.a. it's a binary choice. fund the v.a. or no. >> it's not that simple. >> even if we disagree on some issues we can all come together and say our vets should be above politics. >> when you have held virtually the entire federal government hostage, when you say let's do a vote just to let the v.a. out, that's also a vote to continue to hold all of the other agencies that weren't in those bills hostage. it's still a hostage situation. and people get that. >> one minor point. this is the 18th time since 1976 that the congress and the president have been at an impasse and we've shut the government down. this is not like this is a brand-new suddenly discovered thing. we've done this 18 times. >> it's been rotten every time. >> it's often the only way the congress can get the president's attention. these don't happen by accident. >> you have the president's attention. my gosh. he is extraordinarily concerned about the harm that the shutdown is causing to people across this country right now. and he's extraordinarily concerned ab

as i said, i would readily support legislation fully funding the v.a., because the v.a. is a vital government .ystem it is a promise we have made. and it is unrelated to obamacare. my principal complaint this past year has been that the democratic majority in this body is holding programs unrelated to obamacare hostage in order to force a obamacare on everyone. we agreed for active-duty military. >> just so i am clear, if i might, just to clarify, so that i understand, because the senator from texas has in fact made the ending of a private sector competitive health care system for up to 30 million americans part of what he wants to stop -- i just wanted to be clear that the fully government- , with, government-run government doctors system, through the veterans administration, is something you are advocating that we continue to fund through the federal government? my friend from michigan for that question. yet again, the answer is yes. i believe we should fully fund the v.a. the questions i would promulgate -- >> is there objection to the modified request? objectrving th

and the v.a.verything they could to slowly, slowly, slowly start getting that horrible problem under control, to try to start making problem against it. the backlog this year finally started shrinking. finally, finally, finally the v.a. was table to get that backlog on track to start disappearing. but now, with the shutdown, the v.a. says the size of the backlog is once again growing. after it took them all those years to start shrinking it, the backlog once again has started to grow. if you are a veteran who has turned down for your benefits and you want to appeal it, well, that's an even simpler story. the appeals board for your veterans board is shut down altogether. tas gone. last night on the fox news channel, republican members of congress explained how they feel so far about what they have done this week. >> this is about the happiest i've seen members in a long time. >> republican members of congress, the happiest they have been in a long time. at fox news channel, particularly on their we

someone contacted the v.a. the general's office in april 2012 for information on these lavish conferences. that triggered an investigation leading to all of these details coming out. the deputy inspector general today said no one seemed to be in charge and no one seemed to say no to more spending. >> there was no spend plan. no cost tracking. there were credit card purchases made above the authorized contract level of the purchaser. one individual made 10 purchases that had a value of over $10,000. when his contract didn't allow hum to make purchases above $3,000. >> meanwhile, more than 700,000 war veterans have been waiting more than 125 days for their backlog disability claims to be processed and approved. >> what's the v.a. saying about all this? >> well, here's what the v.a. is now former assistant secretary for human resources said at the hearing today when he was asked about the two conferences in 2011. >> with all due respect, mr. chairman, on the advice of my counsel, i respectfully decline to answer b

the v.a. is usually funded just the v.a., not connected to anything else. why would the senate want to hold veterans hostage? because of disagreements over obamacare? i don't think we should. i think we should fund the v.a. right now. why would the senate want to hold our parks and memorials hostage? why would the senate want to hold the national institutes of health hostage? why would the senate want to hold federal workers hostage? on saturday, the house of representatives unanimously passed a bill to provide back pay for federal workers who have been furloughed. let me note, every house democrat who voted voted in favor of that, and yet the majority leader has not allowed this body to vote. i'm going to say right now i agree with those house democrats, and let me urge the senate democrats stand with your house democrats who voted unanimously in favor of back pay for federal workers. we can work together with bipartisan compromise, but we can only do so if both sides come to the table. right now, the house of representatives is working constructively to f

we should fun the v.a., mr.nt, the majority of the senate refuse to allow the senate even to vote to fund the v.a. i want to you imagine, mr. president, all 46 senate republicans, if we had stood together and simply supported the house republicans. in saying the house of representatives has voted to reopen our national parks, to reopen our war memorials, and the majority leader of the snalt refuses to allow the senate even to vote. mr. president, i want to you imagine simply the senate republicans had stood together and said, we support the house republicans in standing with the

be treated not as well as our active duty military, and in particular that the full funding of the v.a. should be held hostage to every other priority that the democrats in this chamber must have. i understand the democrats in this chamber are committed to obamacare with all of their heart, might and soul, but the veterans of this nation should not be held hostage to that commitment. it is likely, given the majority's refusal to negotiate, refusal to compromise, refusal even to talk to find a middle ground, it is likely that this shutdown inity gated by the democratic majority will continue for some time, and during that time, we ought to be able to find common ground that at the very minimum our veterans shouldn't pay the price. if, moments from now, my friend from washington simply does not

v.a. officials say the shutdown is also affecting the backlog of disability claims. one veteran hopes washington lawmakers can come to an agreement soon. >> if they compromise, it would be better off for all of us. >> more than 7800 v.a. workers have been furloughed and are now facing a lack of benefit checks next month. jennifer franciotti reporting live. >> a baltimore man now faces involuntary manslaughter charges for the death of his granddaughter. he intended to take his granddaughter to daycare back in july but instead he drove to his home in the city and fell asleep. he realized she was in his truck the whole time on an 89 degree day. the girl died shortly thereafter. he now faces charges in baltimore city because that is where the child died. >> two postal workers now face charges. hiredanch managers contractors who then provided false invoices with inflated costs to the postal service's. they then split the difference. >> this is reflected in some of the conversations. the managers encourage the contractors to raise the price. the work in many instances was

funded v.a. research projects will be put on hold in every v.a. academic health center affecting the future health of millions of veterans and disrupting the work of thousand -- thousands of clinicians working funded v.a. h projects on research to try to restore veterans wounded in iraq and afghanistan. our message to the president and congress, defaulting on paying veterans options is not an -- it is not an option. this is a time to fulfill promises to the men and women who served. , he week, joseph johnson sent a letter to the senate and the u.s. house of representative's, expressing outrage over partisan politics are venting the federal government from honoring our sacred obligations to our nation's heroes. andommanded the president congress reach an agreement to fully fund all federal programs, services, and benefits, that support or indirectly america's heroes, especially those injured due to service. our elected officials must understand playing politics with veterans is not acceptable. it is also calling for congress to pass legislation to

just last week v.a.ry eric shinzeki warned as many as 8.3 million vets could go without disability checks if the shutdown goes much longer. at this moment 56 regional v.a. offices are closed. some 7,800 v.a. workers have been furloughed. those workers directly impact some 5.1 million veterans, military families and survivors who, again, rely on a range of v.a. services. one of the things i think that's important to note is unlike the most recent shutdown in '95 and '96 this one is happening during an act of wartime. some 60,000 americans are serving in afghanistan right now alongside nato forces. let's not forget that since the 2001 u.s.-led invasion, more than 2,200 american service members have been killed in afghanistan. the most just recent today near the pakistan border. that means the men and women who are fighting on the front lines are there worrying about whether the benefits they were promised will be there when they get home. joining me now, john saltz, chairman of votevets.org. the group behi

bill and v.a. home loans. how anyone could stand in opposition to those who have stood in the line of fire to keep this country free. the answer, president obama who's promised to veto such a bill. this is unconscionable. these funding bills represent a series of commonsense steps to get more of the government back on line and to meet our commitments to the american people. after all, i wasn't sent here by my constituents to shut down the government. i was sent here to reform it, make it smaller, make it more accountable. i urge my colleagues to support the underlying rule and bills. with that i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from georgia reserves. the gentlewoman from new york is recognized. ms. slaughter: mr. speaker, let me yield myself 30 seconds to say that it would be the best of common sense for us to end this charade today. i understand now, because i have heard it twice, that the intent is to really whittle down the governmen

president, as every member of this body knows, the v.a. is totally disconnected. the v.a.bill that passed the house doesn't implicate obamacare, it does nothing on obamacare. look, we've got days district agreement on obamacare. part of this body thinks it's a terrific bill, part of this body thinks it's a train wreck that's hurting millions of americans. that's an important debate. but whether or not our veterans get their disability payments shouldn't be held hostage to resolving that debate. it is exactly like the bill that my friends on the democratic side of the aisle already voted for to fund the men and women in the military, exactly the same. they've done it once and yet for whatever reason they have made a decision that certainly appears to the public to be cynical and partisan. there should be no confusion. the house of representatives has overwhelmingly voted to protect our veterans and fund the v.a. 35 democrats joined republicans in you the house to do -- in the house to do that. it was bipartisan legislation. it came easter here -- over here, every senate rep

every senate republican voted to fund the v.a. and as president obama asked us to but it is because harry reid is shutting down the government and objecting to allowing us to fund the v.a., he's saying he wants to hold vet ans hostage in order to force obama care on the american people. listen, i think that gamesmanship is cynical, partisan. i think the the american people understand the games he's playing. >> looking forward to what this issue may collide with which is the issue of the debt ceiling. what do you anticipate? your person, your vote on the debt ceiling. raise it or not? if raise the debt court of appeal ing i take it you have conditions. what are your conditions? >> when we get to the debt ceiling i think we cannot raise the debt ceiling without significant structural reforms addressing the out of control spend ing problems. in my view we ought to tackle one thing at a time. right now the federal government is partly shut down because harry reid and barack obama have forced a shutdown. >> let me tell you. i really th

that word came from the head of the v.a. on wednesday. at age 91, he has plenty to laugh about, but these days he is not laughing at what he sees on the news. >> arguments to and fro, nobody is getting anywhere. >> the world war ii veteran is among the veterans who could feel the effects of a government shutdown. an action by washington could delay his november benefit check. >> if they compromise, it would be better off for all of us. >> he says the delay won't hurt him greatly but other vets won't be so lucky. veteran is an army living in virginia. he spoke to 11 news by skype. recently discharged for medical purposes, he says his part-time job is not enough to live on. >> i am angry. it makes me feel my service was really -- it didn't matter. >> these other real-life consequences for millions of veterans and the focus of testimony wednesday by the head of veterans affairs. secretary eric shinseki warns that payments could be in jeopardy if the shutdown lingers. >> i didn't know there was going to be a shutdown. i had no idea that this

v.a.es to give preference to veterans. >> that's absolutely right, andrea. shows widespread devastating impact the shutdown is having on veterans and military community. also about 25% of all federal workers are veterans. they work at the department of defense. they work at the department of education. they work at the dea. often when they come home they go back to work at the government. the scope is unprecedented. v.a. hospitals are closing, v.a. facilities closing the doors. medical services opening. suicide crisis line is open. that's important. we're getting unprosecutes departmented levels of calls to case workers. our community is ju under tremendous stress. this is shameful. our community doesn't understand why washington can't get this together. >> i heard today the national guard members get basically ious compared to regular army, they are not paid during the shutdown. is that correct? >> we've been hearing from members across the country who have had national guard and reserve

v.a. will not be able to assure delivery of 1 november checks to more than 5.18 million beneficiaries. >> disability compensation, pension, education, vocational rehabilitation, and employment benefits will be suspended due to lack of funding. >> including veterans who are 100% disabled. surviving spouses, eligible children ordered by the death of their military or veteran parent. >> compensation payments 3.8 million veterans will not be made. the president -- >> my answer is the same. there are so many consequences of shutdown. congress has a responsibility to resolve all of them with one vote in the house of representatives that would receive a majority to open the government. >> temporary retirement from the u.s. marine corps. he is also an ambassador for the armed forces foundation. he joins us. nice to see you, sir. >> pleasure to see you, ma'am. >> what's going on with the vets? we've had the one problem where for nine days we didn't fund the death benefits for the families, and we a

we learned today the v.a. won't continue to pay veterans benefits.00 widows will be getting che checks. >> they passed a bill to fund the nia. dana, they have discretion on these things. but the president seems to want to inflict the maximum amount of pain in the 17% shutdown to make a political point. what's your reaction? >> that's absolutely right. he wants to make this look and feel to a certain amount of people as absolutely painful as possible. >> he doesn't want to shut it uh down at all. >> mark, i was a lady and i was quiet while you spoke. you be a gentleman and show me the same curtesy. as i was saying before i was interrupted, sean, there is a hurt and rescue strategy here. they are hurting vinls with the shutdown. the people who least deserve it, out of all the people we're targeting it's veterans and sick kids receiving clinical cancer treatments with the ni hrgh. it's es to make people think they can't live without big government. they can. talk about theater. that's theater. >> when the senate majority leader says why would i want to