walz: they were given $10 billion. if you recall the reason they , were given a number is after phoenix we had a conference committee. there were about 10 of us in the room. senator mccain and senator sanders for the two leaders on the senate side. we were having this debate. it was originally said veterans, if they wait two weeks, should be allowed to go where they want. we did a cbo score. that came back in the hundreds of billions. ok maybe they should go 50 , miles. that came back. we finally settled on the 40 miles that they had to go, they had to wait 30 days. that is where we came up with that. total arbitrary number we came up with that had nothing to do with quality of care, for that number fit the $10 billion we wanted to spend on that. they are coming to the end of that money now. we just reauthorized them to use what little was left. it sounds like to me and again i can't confirm this but i can give you a candid assessment as i know it. it sounds like somewhere in august we will be done with the money. the

walz madengressman that point. it depends on the utilization that they see the first couple of years of the program. it took several billion dollars out of that fund to fund other parts of the v.a. mostly hospital services that were running short because of demand for the brick-and-mortar v.a. he also made the point that when they were negotiating the choice bill originally, i remember seeing the cbs score and it said $50 billion a year if you let any veteran anywhere go to the private sector. it is a very popular thing on the republican side to on the stump say any veterans should be allowed to see any doctor. there are some big fiscal realities to that if the government is going to pick up the tab for that. greta: the president once an increase for the veterans affair agency. with a cover extending the choice program? kellie: that is the question. the house military construction v.a. subcommittee just marked the fiscal 2018 spending bill for the v.a. and they did not include that money for choice. pennsylvania re

walz: mr. speaker, can i inquire how much time i have remaining? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from minnesota has 15 1/2 minutes. the gentleman from tennessee has 13 minutes. mr. walz: mr. speaker, i am going to reserve the balance of our time because i have no further speakers. i am certainly willing to give some of our time if we have enough speakers who would like to speak on this, if time runs short. if i could save myself three minutes for my closing, he would certainly be willing to -- i'm not certain what the parliamentary move is to do so. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from minnesota reserves. the gentleman from tennessee is recognized. mr. roe: thank you, mr. speaker. at this time i'd like to yield dr. dunn from florida. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from florida is recognized for one minute. mr. duncan: thank you very much, mr. speaker. i -- mr. dunn: thank you very much, mr. speaker. i rise today in support of the department of veterans affairs accountabili

but first, our guest on "newsmakers" is democratic congressman tim walz of minnesota. we talked with him about a number of veterans' urebs. he's the ranking democrat on the house veterans affairs committee, including the veterans' choice program, which allows veterans to get healthcare through private doctors, might offer help closer to where the veterans live. >> it's going to run short of money before we budget again, and that will be an interesting debate, if you will, of do we give them more money? do we allow the freedom to move things? is he argument going to be made that this is the back door to privatization? all of those things are on the horizon for this summer so. they are coming to the end that have money now. we just reauthorized them to use what was little left. it sounds like to me, and again, i can't confirm this, but i can give you a candid assessment as i know it. it sounds like we'll be done somewhere in august with that money. so the question is, if we expand care into the community, we've got to have an idea how much that's going to cost. we don't

host: that's c-span's "newsmakers" with congressman tim walz. you can check that sunday at 10:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. you can see it on c-span.org and on c-span radio through our free radio app. and you can check that out this weekend. a call from maryland on our democratic mind. what's on your mind today? caller: yes, hi, good morning. i want to make two broad comments. the first one i know everyone is talking about the possibility of them carry guns in the capitol. i don't think they should have special treatment. if they are allowed to carry guns, then everybody in the capitol should be allowed to carry guns in. that's number one. the issue with guns and the fact it's taking over the news, this is what people with in day. lives every people lost multiple members of their family. that's not news. i will add my own two cents to c-span. i know we've been talking so much what's been going on with the rhetoric. i think it's very important for c-span to truly consider having two opposition views at a time. a lot of times people see information and no

timrrow on "newsmakers," walz will look at overhaul of the veterans affairs department and the accountabilityt which the house passed earlier this week. he serves as regular member on the veterans affairs committee. a reporterg him is from politico. 10:00 and 6:00at on c-span. barack is completely presented to his story and that is different from history. >> part one of our interview with biographer david garrow and talk to buy his book "rising star: barack obama." >> i think that barack's political aspirations and since of destiny lead him to push sheila jager aside. during that time, there was a well-known political figure in chicago. hugely respected man. senator did newhouse who everybody in black chicago elite could never go higher because he was married to a white woman. it is in itself political tradition of black chicago in the late 1980's, the early 1990's that for a black man to aspire to represent black chicago, it is necessary to have a black spouse. announcer: on queuing day. &a."q >> c-span, where history unfolds il

walz. mr. walz: i thank the gentleman. thank you, mr. speaker. i ask unanimous consent to enter into the record a letter from the paralyzed veterans of america urging rejection of the latest version of the american health care act. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. scott: mr. speaker, i yield one minute to the gentleman from minnesota. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. walz: thank you, thank you, mr. speaker. there's many reasons that people may come to this, come to the conclusion this is not the piece of legislation for them. i would argue most egregious amongst this is the manner in which it was done. there was clearly an error made on the seven million veterans you heard about. i do not question a single member's commitment in here to caring for veterans. you did not do it on purpose. you did it because you had to, to meet the arcane rules of the senate. so you stripped it out, and you will by all intents and purposes fix it in the senate. for you i would say, good luck with that. but for the members who

greta: this week, congressman tim walz, the top democrat on the house vetera

walz looks atim congressional oversight of the veterans affairs department and the veterans accountability act which the house passed earlier this week. he serves as ranking member of the veterans affairs committee. see newsmakers sunday on c-span. >> in your code of ethics statement you write i am not an objective news reporter. i'm in opinion columnist. walt: right. i am like a movie reviewer. they are not objective. you don't look at the movie objectiveo read an business story about the studio. you go to read someone's opinion about whether this is a good movie. whether this actor did a good job of or a bad job. aaron sorkin did a good job writing it or david finch did a good job directing it. read apeople who avidly reviewer and then do exactly the opposite because they know they are going to disagree. i know other people who swear by this book reviewer, this television reviewer and follow their advice. that is what i have done most of my career. i also a commentator. and i choose not to review a product, i often instead comment on an issue. the future of the internet, the behavior of

. >> tomorrow or newsmakers, tim walz look at congressional oversight of the veteran affairs and accountability act which the house passed earlier this week. he currently serves as regular member of the veterans affairs committee, interviewing the congressman is congress dish, o'brien. -- is connor o'brien. it is at 10:00 and 6:00 on c-span. afterwords, utah proposing senator matley talks about forgotten historic and -- historical figures. senator lee is interviewed by former acting solicitor general. >> when you are on the lookout and they come to you gradually, ask the other people i knew who they thought should get more credit than they get them in the case of -- iroquois indian chief from the tried and he understood the principle of federalism because they lived in for centuries before we were our own country. i was intrigued. it is not a name that most americans know anything about stop yet, he had a profound impact on our system of government. enabled ofuy benjamin franklin to learn about federalism and he was the conduit from which this information flow. and and the articles of confedera

c-span, newsmakers is next with democratic congressman tim walz of minnesota. then former house speaker newt gingrich on his new book "understanding trump," an in-depth look at the president's life experiences. then later, part one of our interview with david garrow,'s latest biography focuses on the early life and article career of former president barack obama. greta: this week, congressman tim walz, the top democrat on the house veterans affairs committee talking about the legislative agenda for veterans issues. congressman walz is the highest-ranking enlisted soldier ever to serve in congress joining us this morning. in studio with us is conor o'brien of politico, and kellie mejdrich of cq roll call. welcome and good morning to all of you. kellie: thank you so much for being here with us.

host: congressman tim walz, democrat of minnesota, the ranking democrat on veterans affairs. tune in for c-span's "news makers" program, and also check it out at c-span.org. want to welcome back former house speaker, newt gingrich. the book is called "understanding trump." i know you've been working on this for a while. gerry: i really started in late november. because it was obvious you had a president who nobody understood and who's totally outside the normal political process. and so trying to figure out how to explain him is not called predicting trump, because i don't think anybody can predict him. but trying to figure out how to set up an understanding of what his patterns are, what drives him, what his experiences have been, i thought would be helpful. host: let's go inside the book. "it is astonishing to me how the elite media and much of the political establishment refused to try to understand donald trump. they have so rabidly opposed him, so ideologically committed to left-wing values, and so terrified of the future that they haven't stopped and considered how extr

[applause] >> on newsmakers, minnesota representative tim walz, the top democrat on the house veterans affairs committee. he talked about congressional oversight of the v.a. department and veterans of accountability act passed by the house this week. shares his thoughts on what the trump administration is doing to address veterans needs. watch the interview sunday at 10:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. >> recently on c-span, new orleans mayor mitch landrieu on the removal of a robert e. lee statue. >> to actually lay out the reasons why these statues were erected in the first place why we were taking them down, and what we can do to recover from the age old battles that had divided us for so long. because of new orleans role in that dark time in our history, we were after all, one of the market.s largest slave i felt that i and other people in the city had a special responsibility to help the nation continue to move through racial discourse. at atress maresca hargitay task force aimed at ending sexual violence. >> to hear the stories, words like you said, d humanizing. these li

later this afternoon, we will have a conversation with congressman tim walz and a senator to get a congressional perspective. if you want to join the , the #ision on twitter #stand2.shtag is thank you to starbucks. let's get the conversation going. .elcome to dr. david shulkin maybe we will start out talking about an issue a lot of people in the audience care about, and that is veterans employment. for obvious reasons, the v.a. focuses on providing health services, but could you tell us about your view, objectives in using the v.a. and its power, budget to do a better job of conducting -- connecting veterans to society, meaningful jobs. should the v.a. be doing more in terms of programs, or should it he more of an integrator of what is already out there in the nonprofit world? sec. shulkin: you mentioned a lot of the v.a. has been on you mentioned a lot of the focus of the v.a. has been on health care. we focus on well-being. when you think about the well-being of our veterans, you have to think about employment, because one of the things we have learned is, the most predictor of outcome and suc

colleague kimberly hell sing we will have -- helsing, we will have a conversation with senator tim walz and senator boozman to get a congressional perspective. just a programming note, if you want to join the conversation on twitter because we can't do anything these days without twitter, of course, the hashtag is standtwo. please join the conversation. and then just one last note, special thanks to starbucks, for the event here this morning which probably got us here this morning. at least some of us. so without delay let's get the conversation going. welcome, dr. david shulkin, secretary of veterans affairs. maybe we'll talk about an issue that a lot of people care about and that's veterans employment. for obvious reasons the v.a. focuses on providing health services to veterans. but could you tell us a little bit about your view, your objectives in using the v.a. and its convening power, its budget to try and do a better job of connecting veterans to society, connecting them to meaningful jobs as the president said? should the v.a. be doing more in terms of programs or should the v.a

walz said the president will transcend this case and this travel ban. we could not agree more. if you will leave in tax the president's powers, to include every decision every president has made in our lifetime, then you are preserving the status quo that has remained for decades. differrule for him, you to him in a way that history teaches us is so dangerous. you open the door to so much. was first amendment designed to avoid these ends by avoiding these beginnings." is very courthouse which tried, convicted, and later exonerated -- 44 years ago stands as a physical reminder of what is at stake. our constitution and laws are better than this. our founders wanted america to be a beacon on our coast and that beacon at the end of the day is not the quality of our sports teams. that beacon ultimately is the majestic article three and the grand contours of the first amendment. we asked the district court's un-american ban be affirmed. >> thank you. haveitor general wall, you reserved a couple of minutes. we went over time on the appellee's arguments, so we will give you extra time

the top shot democrat was tim walz. the best shooter for skeet was collin peterson. the top sporting clays was a freshman member from north carolina, ted budd. and i'm saving the best for last. the top trap was none other than don young from alaska. a great afternoon where we can honor the outdoor economy, the largest industry of the united states, serves the outdoors in a lot of ways. and the heritage of sports and outdoor activity is critical to the american story. i'd like to take this opportunity to yield some time to the democrat co-chair, mr. gene green from texas. mr. green: thank you, mr. speaker. we've had this competitive shoot for a number of years and i have to admit this year i had a job fair at home. i'm going to turn it over to the my vice chair, marc veasey, who was out there -- is your shoulder still sore? anyway, congressman veasey, it's a great competition for the republicans and democrats but we work together on a lot of other issues. thank you. i'll turn it over to my colleague, marc veasey. mr. veasey: thank you very much. i want to thank my col

walz. they discussed the bipartisan nature in which they worked on this issue. along with the bipartisan work done in the senate. to craft legislation that they hope can achieve strong bipartisan support in this body. it is because of this display of bipartisanship and cooperation and a semblance of regular order that i'm dismaid that i must now address the process and substance by which we are considering the second bill encompassed in this rule, h.r. 2581, the verify first act. let me connect the dots for you on how we got to this point and bear with me. the republican majority's path to take health care from 23 million americans has been as convoluted as it has been chaotic. mr. speaker, as i'm sure you and my colleagues here remember , first the republican mantra was, repeal. then it was, repeal and replace. then it was, repeal and delay. followed by access to coverage and then patient centered. finally my colleagues on the other side of the aisle settled on a three-bucket strategy. the first bucket of this strategy was the republicans' american health care

walz. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the resolution is agreed to and the motion to reconsider is laid pon the table. pursuant to clause 8, rule 20, the chair will postponeproceedings on which a recorded vote or the yeas and nays are ordered or votes objected to under clause 6 rule 20. the question will vote on proceedings at a later time. the speaker pro tempore: the house will come to order. please take all conversations off the floor, out of the aisles and the back row. if you are having conversations, please remove them at this time. for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i move to suspend the rules and pass h.r. 497 as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 497, a bill to direct the secretary of the interior to

senator tester, the minority leader, and also i want to thank the minority leader on our side, sergeant walz, who worked hand in hand. it was a bipartisan bill. we passed it in the house. we sent it to the senate. they sent it here. we passed repeals reform. we now 470,000 backlog claims of veterans waiting for their appeals. hopefully we're going to address this problem. the secretary, we just extended our choice program for veterans who want to choose care outside the v.a., and also new electronic health system so we have a lot of work to do. it's a true privilege to do what i get to do is to help the 21 million men and women who've served this country, who allow us to be free. mr. chairman, thank you for the privilege to be down here tonight to share this with the american people. mr. walker: thank you, chairman roe. appreciate your continued service. it is a privilege to certainly work with you in the house. one of our one of our newest members, a gentleman by the name of jim banks, in fact, he's the only new member to serve on the republican steering committee, some would describe him a

that is followed by newsmakers with tim walz of minnesota. and later, attorney general jeff sessions testifies before the senate intelligence committee about context he had during the 2016 presidential campaign and other issues related to the investigation into russian interference during last year's elections. coming up on today's washington journal, former house speaker newt gingrich discusses his new book "understanding trump," which takes an in-depth look at the president's life experience and style of governing. that, wayne caselli shares how american businesses and consumers are becoming more aware of how animals are treated. and later, the financial times columnist talks about his book which describes how she in our political culture are affecting liberalism and western values as a whole. host: good morning. president trump spending the weekend with his family at camp david in maryland. the house and senate returning again this week, a number of congressional with members of the president's cabinet testifying on the 2018 budget. and th

adjourned. [ indiscernible conversation ] >>> on news makers this weekend, minnesota representative tim walz, top democrat on the house veterans affairs committee, talks about congressional oversight of the veterans affairs department and the veterans accountability act, which was passed by the house this week. he shares his thoughts on what the trump administration is doing to address veterans' needs. watch the interview sunday at 10:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. >>> c-span. where history unfolds daily. in 1979, c-span was created as a public service by america's cable television companies. and is brought to you today by your cable or satellite provider. >>> next, treasury secretary steven mnuchin outlines the president's 2018 budget request before the house ways and means committee. he also testifies on other priorities for his department, including the debt ceiling and the president's tax policy agenda. this hearing is just under two hours.

walz looks atim congressional oversight of the veterans affairs department and the veterans accountability act which the house passed earlier this week. he serves as ranking member of the veterans affairs committee. see newsmakers sunday on c-span. >> in your code of ethics statement you write i am not an objective news reporter. i'm in opinion columnist. walt: right. i am like a movie reviewer.