the office will investigate complaints of whistle-blower retaliation and ensure that whistle-blowers' rights are protected. while all va employees should work to serve veterans, the sad reality is that the va has a corrosive culture and a history of retaliating those who speak to break the code of silence. until the va is able to instill transparency throughout its ranks and develop a culture focused on caring for veterans, i believe additional protections for va whistle-blowers are necessary. my question is for all of our witnesses, if you could name one thing that the va could do immediately to change its culture of silencing whistle-blowers, what would it be, and start with you, dr. mathews? >> if i had one wish, that would be that data integrity is there. we have demonstrated over and over again that they will make up numbers, they will come up with blatant lies, like dr. mitchell said, i'll paraphrase the great person from missouri, mark twain, lies and statistics. so that would be my one wish, to have meaningful metrics that are transparent and accurate and are vouched for by an

the va should have zero tolerance for policies that would harm whistle blowers and intimidate whistle blowers or retaliate against them. as i see it, effective leadership and real accountability is the only way to begin the process of institutional changes. i hope tonight is the beginning of that change. with that, i yield back to balance my time. >> thank you very much to the ranking member. i would ask that all members would waive their opening statements as is the custom of this committee. thanks to the witness that's are here at the witness table tonight. our first panel that we're going to hear from is dr. joesa matthe matthews. dr. christian head, associate director, chief of staff, legal and quality assurance at the greater los angeles va health care system, dr. catherine mitchell, medical director for the iraq and afghanistan post deployment center at the phoenix va health care system. this time i'd like to introduce our colleague dr. price to briefly introduce his constituent who within the fourth witness on the panel this evening. >> thank you mr. chairman. i want to thank y

intolerant of whistle blowers. so far in this fiscal year, nearly half of the matters transferred to agency heads, seven out of 15 involved the va. according to the osc, it currently has 67 active investigations into retaliation complaints from va employees and has received 25 new whistle blower retaliation cases from va employees since june 1st of 2014. a recent new york times article stated that within the va there was a culture of silence and intimidati intimidation. acting secretary gibson recently stated that he was deeply disappointed not only in the substantiation of allegations raised by the whistle blowers but also in the failures within the department to take whistle blowers complaints seriously. within vha, the problem of intimidation, retaliation may be magnified by what some consider a protective culture of the medical profession. it is often thought to be against the code to point out colleague's mistakes or where a nurse or a tendant is told it is appropriate to question a physician or surgeon. the n

congress protected whistle blowers 25 years ago. mr. soto, is it true you were retaliated against after the memo came out? >> i believe so, yes. >> could you explain that, please. >> i was, again, and i am still trying to piece it together. i believe i was laid off june 30th. i believe that e-mail and other memos. >> the memo i quoted from was june 13th. what was the reason given for you being laid off? >> my services were no longer required. >> had you been acting as a whistle blower prior to that time? >> yes, sir. >> can you explain what you did? >> i put out notices of wrongdoing concerning violations of due process and veteran's claims and how they are processed. i put out to accuracy reports concerning the quality review process at st. pete. one was in december '13 involving the raters and how there is a conflict in how we define various laws and definitions of evidence that results in due process of the veterans. june 26 it was distributed and addressed the sars and the problems they were having in terms of receiving inconsistent

but is the whistle blower protection enough? do we need a sense of due process which some members would like to see eliminated so it is easy to fire people. i, too, would like people to be fired and not have complete tenure but i don't know how we solve this. >> one way i can suggest is put ourselves in the veteran position. would i want to obtain care or want my son to obtain care at a system where poorly performing nurses and physical physicians can't be fired. i would not want to go to that hospital. so that would help solve are we proteching the employees or the veterans. >> thank you very much. the legislation passed in the house also doesn't reach down to this level of a title 38 employee. only senior level, the top 450. >> thanks for holding this hearing. i want to thank the testimony and the people testimonying -- testifying tonight. thank you for your courage. you mentioned this vha could be the best health care system in the world. how do we get there? >> i believe with leadership. there are certain parliameeople leade

can you whistle for us? >> oh, you want the whistle? the loud of soft version?is man can hail a cab in new york anytime. >> that's not a problem. >> they stop. >> as the windows break. appreciate that. >> impressive. >> fun to be here. >> man of many talents. we want to thank you for watching abc news. there's a big game, world cup soccer today. >> messi. >> messi. >> live from the abc seven broadcast center, this is an abc seven news update. >> good morning. we are waiting to learn more about the violence in the district overnight. three people were shot. it happened just after 1:00 this morning. victimsg to police, the were inside a car. we will update you as soon as we learn more. in prince george's county, a man is dead after a motorcycle accident. it happened late last night. the man lost control of his motorcycle, struck a curb, and ran into a tree. he was taken to the hospital where he was later pronounced head. his identity has not yet in released. now, a closer look at your forecast. >> good morning. if you are sick of the heat and humidity, i have reli

can you whistle for us? >> oh, you want the whistle? the loud of soft version?an can hail a cab in new york anytime. >> that's not a problem. >> they stop. >> as the windows break. appreciate that. >> impressive. >> fun to be here. >> man of many talents. we want to thank you for watching abc news. there's a big game, world cup soccer today. >> messi. >> messi. . >> good morning, i'm in in nyda han. a septa bus driver is recovering after being attacked by the job. >> a rock is thrown from a pennsylvania overpass and sends a woman to the hospital. david. >> reporter: warm this morning and hot this afternoon, spotty storms possible and strong storms looking like they are going to hit us tomorrow and on tuesday. i'll >> good morning, it is 9:00 a.m. on this sunday, july 13. in the news, breaking news from north jersey. a police officer is dead after responding to a burglary at a drugstore, we'll have a live report. >> septa bus driver is attacked, now police are looking for the suspect who assaulted that driver while he feels on the job. >> the changes coming to th

can you whistle for us? >> oh, you want the whistle? the loud of soft version?cab in new york anytime. >> that's not a problem. >> they stop. >> as the windows break. great to have you here this weekend. >> thank you very much. good to be here. >> man of many talents. we want to thank you for watching abc news. there's a big game, world cup soccer today. >> messi. >> messi. >> announcer: starting right now on abc's "this week" -- breaking overnight. israeli commandos storm gaza. gunfire exchanged in the midnight raid. the death toll continues to rise. is this the start of a full-scale ground war? martha raddatz leads the team coverage from an explosive middle east. >>> homeland threat. >> it's more frightening than anything i have seen as attorney general. >> announcer: pierre thomas one on one with the attorney general. >>> plus, a special report. from beyond the border. >> are you afraid? >> announcer: we're in central america, following the children heading north. >>> and homecoming. >> l.b.j. >> announcer: what a week for cleveland and king james. from abc n

he was like -- [ whistles ] then i started whistling too and i was, like -- [ whistle ] can you whistler ] course i can whistle. watch this. [ whistles ] [ cheers ] what do you think of that? >> jimmy: you know what would be really fun? >> if we -- if weeeeeee -- let me think. oh, yeah! i know exactly what i want to do. [ laughter ] i want to sing a duet with you. >> jimmy: let's sing my favorite song. i knew you were waiting for me by george michael and aretha franklin. >> ah! >> jimmy: hit it, roots. >> yeah. ♪ ♪ the river was deep i didn't falter when the mountain was high i still believed ♪ [ cheers ] ♪ when the valley was low it didn't stop me no no i knew you were waiting ♪ ♪ i knew you were waiting for me ♪ [ cheers and applause ] >> jimmy: whoopi goldberg! "the view" airs weekdays on abc and "teenage mutant ninja turtles" opens in theaters on august 8th. you are the most fun. we'll be right back with stephen moyer. [ cheers and applause ] ♪ when laquinta.com sends him a ready for you alert the second his room is ready, ya know what salesman alan ames becomes? i think the numbers

all of this started with whistle blowers and to have va tell potential whistle-blowers no communication with anybody, let's keep this in official channels looks like they were trying to cover up so they had to reverse. >> don't they understand that people get access to e-mails? this just makes this whole situation look even more ridiculous than it did originally. >> you know, what we're learning, whistle blowing is fundamental. what we're going to hear tonight from this congressional hearing is that people who had blown whistles who had raised concerns within the chain of command, not only were concerns not addressed, but they often times were punished. they were transferred to administrative duties. my paper last week had a story about a woman who raised issues about a veteran who was shackled because she had some mental issues and she was shackled for longer than she needed to be. when a nse raised this issue, she was first of all ignored and transferred to a desk job and all of her fellow nurse colleagues seeing this were, like, wow, we won't raise these issues again. whistle-blowers

congress protected whistle blowers 25 years ago. mr.soto, is it true you were retaliated against after the memo came out? >> i believe so, yes. >> could you explain that, please. >> i was, again, and i am still trying to piece it together. i believe i was laid off june 30th. i believe that e-mail and other memos. >> the memo i quoted from was june 13th. what was the reason given for you being laid off? >> my services were no longer required. >> had you been acting as a whistle blower prior to that time? >> yes, sir. >> can you explain what you did? >> i put out notices of wrongdoing concerning violations of due process and veteran's claims and how they are processed. i put out to accuracy reports concerning the quality review process at st. pete. one was in december '13 involving the raters and how there is a conflict in how we define various laws and definitions of evidence that results in due process of the veterans. june 26 it was distributed and addressed the sars and the problems they were having in terms of receiving inconsistent

whistle-blowers say the government is covering up serious health threats as well.e going to talk to a congressman who just came back from one of those camps in san antonio. >>> plus, ceiling fans can get dusty. what does it take to deep clean that giant whale hanging from the ceiling in a new york city museum. right back. ugh. heartburn. did someone say burn? try alka seltzer reliefchews. they work just as fast and are proven to taste better than tums smoothies assorted fruit. mmm. amazing. yeah, i get that a lot. alka seltzer heartburn reliefchews. enjoy the relief. peoi go to angie's listt for all kinds of reasons. to gauge whether or not the projects will be done in a timely fashion and within budget. angie's list members can tell you which provider is the best in town. you'll find reviews on everything from home repair to healthcare. now that we're expecting, i like the fact i can go onto angie's list and look for pediatricians. the service providers that i've found on angie's list actually have blown me away. find out why more than two million members count on

congress protected whistle blowers 25 years ago. mr. soto, is it true you were retaliated against after the memo came out? >> i believe so, yes. >> could you explain that, please. >> i was, again, and i am still trying to piece it together. i believe i was laid off june 30th. i believe that e-mail and other memos. >> the memo i quoted from was june 13th. what was the reason given for you being laid off? >> my services were no longer required. >> had you been acting as a whistle blower prior to that time? >> yes, sir. >> can you explain what you did? >> i put out notices of wrongdoing concerning violations of due process and veteran's claims and how they are processed. i put out to accuracy reports concerning the quality review process at st. pete. one was in december '13 involving the raters and how there is a conflict in how we define various laws and definitions of evidence that results in due process of the veterans. june 26 it was distributed and addressed the sars and the problems they were having in terms of receiving inconsistent

i want to welcome everybody to tonight's hearing entitled va whistle blowers. exposing inadequate service provided to veterans in insuring appropriate accountability. i would also like to ask unanimous consent that representative tom price from the great state of georgia bea l allowed to join us. without objection, so ordered. tonight we will hear from a representative sample of the hundreds ever whistle blowers who have contacted our committee seeking to change the va to improve patient safety and better serve veterans who have served our great nation. we will also hear from the office of special counsel regarding its work protecting whistle blowers and the vital information they provide. representatives of va will also be hear to answer for the department's reprisals against whistle blowers and its continuing failure to protect employee rights to report waste, fraud, abuse and mismanagement to the inspector general, to the counsel, to congress, and to this committee. it's important to emphasize that the national scandal regarding data manipulation of appointm

congress protected whistle blowers 25 years ago. mr. soto, is it true that you were retaliated against after this memo came out? >> i believe so, yes. >> could you explain that, please? >> i was, again, i'm still trying to piece this together. i believe i was laid off june 30th, i believe that memo and other e-mails had come out. >> this was june 13th, the memo i just quoted from. >> yes. >> why were you -- what was the reason given for you being laid off? >> my services were no longer required. >> and had you been acting as a whistle blower prior to that time? >> yes, sir. >> can you explain what you did in that capacity? >> i put out various notices of wrongdoing in the workplace concerning possible violations of due process, concerning veterans claims and how they're processed. i put out two accuracy reports concerning the quality review process at st. petersburg. one was in december 2013 involving the raters and the rating process. there seems to be conflict in how we define various laws and various definitions of evidence that basi

eric: potential whistle-blowers will be testifying. is there a sense the emails were basic bureaucratic guidelines to protect the va for good intentions or something more nefarious? >> perhaps they will, i think so far, no one really trusts the va on either side of the aisle to give them benefit of the doubt, trying to be cautious and make sure they didn't mess up ongoing audit. tendency for the lawmakers to say this agency has not been confirmed by the acting secretary they have a history of retaliating bense whistle-blowers. we know that from multiple people. white house chief of staff said there is history of this going back seven years. nobody is looking at the va actions to give them the initial benefit of the doubt, saying make they were trying to be cautious. eric: this is not what americans want. this is not what our country represents these type of actions. in the "new york times" last month, there was article, va punish critic on staff, doctors assert. there are accounts chronicled by internal documents about a culture of sil

leadership hasgs fa respond to whistle blowers at the ÷eeva.rts of truly committed employees who have risked their careers to stand up =2'b or g the retaliatory attacks have come in the form of transfers, skipped paychecks, or even harassment.,0.a >> at that party this slide was 1mjiu(j labelled a rat. i was labeled the person who ratted out this person.0r9Ìc ç >> reporter: well, the claims are being investigated as retaliation against whistle blowers cannot con7f@nvjym5&c >> the bullying of patients and va employees that report wrong doing must stop now. va. at least 25 have come forward p alone. >> thank you, kelly.s[o california find how and why the tree that hit the roller coaster 3o before they were safely taken down one by one.%plÑ mìáhp &hc%s show there have bee÷ accidents at six flags magic mountain. involved the ninja roller coaster. >>> well, you heard it here first. cleveland, ohio, is selected to host the 2016 republican national convention. nc's national committee chairman made that announcement about cleveland getting the gop i

will not tolerate retaliation against whistle blowers. i named dr. carry for the secretary of health and she will spear head the immediate access for veteran care and restore the trust. a former health secretary is on leave of absence from chief medical officer and president of clinical services for hospital corporation of america has begun his two month stint as senior secretary advisor. he will help bridge the gap until there is a confirmed secretary for health. dr. jerry cox is serving as interim of medical am specter. a navy office for 30 years and the former assistant inspector of the navvy for medical matters. he will ensure a strong internal audit function. as we complete reviews and fact finding, we are beginning to initiate personal allegations to those who were doing wrong. ms. bradley is a formal general council at va and a senior member of the general coun council team at the department of defense and had direct responsibility for the ethics portfolio. let me address the need of additional resources. i believe the greatest ris

whistle blowers, they are ostracized, management tries to begin spreading the idea that whistle blowerszy and the v.a. takes its time. in fact, i talked with a whistleblower yesterday who told me she fears right now once the media takes its eye off the issue, v.a. management will revert to its old ways and destroy her career and others who have spoken out. >> a lot -- drew, a lot of this could be fixed with leadership from washington, as you have reported, so thoroughly. right now the v.a. only has an interim secretary, bob mcdonald, former ceo of procter & gamble, the person he wants as the next veterans' affairs secretary. any word on when mcdonald's nomination will actually be taken up by the senate? >> here's what we know. bob mcdonald met with senator bernie sanders yesterday. senator sanders heads the senate veterans' affairs committee. that will eventually hold hearings on the nomination. sanders' staff told us they hope to hold those hearings soon. but as of yet, wolf new york dates to announce. and as you know, the senate is really running out of time before its summer break. s

the committee also heard testimony from a whistle-blower. she talked to wyatt andrews before she spoke to congress. >> i thought that we were supposed to come help veterans. >> reporter: kristen rule is a whistle-blower who handles compensation claims at the regional office in philadelphia. in testimony to congress, rule said v.a. employees had been falsely instructed to change the date of when they applied for benefits. the idea was to make the wait times look shorter. she said thousands of vets who may have waited years for a decision are reported in the system to have waited weeks. >> it didn't matter in the office how old the claim was. they didn't want any claims older than a certain date. >> reporter: do we have any idea how many veterans this applies to. >> i can say for sure there's thousands that were done in my office. >> reporter: ruell says changing the date hurts the veterans who have waited the longest because the oldest claims are supposed to be handled first. >> some of the veterans have died waiting for their claims to be pr

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revelations come from whistle blowers working inside that certainty n a cbs-3 tv exclusive stephanie stahl spoke with one of those whistle blowers and you have more. >> reporter: that is right, there are claims that staff were cook up books to cover up paperwork backlog and that mail from veterans piled up and was left unattended or even shredded. is there evidence that taxpayers lost money, because of payments that were duplicated. today i spoke with that whistle blower who said there is miss management, for thousands of veterans. this is a veterans affairs regional office in wissohickon that overseas benefits to 825 veterans. it is also a va pension mag. center and an investigation from the office of inspector general, oig, that is being presented to a congressional committee tonight has found a high rate of errors in processing claims. >> my supervisor at one point told me ryan, nobody wanted you, because you are a snitch. >> reporter: ryan was a whistle blower who work at the regional center for almost five years. he says he complained to supervisors two years ago about disarray

federal investigators found all kinds of problems, and these revelations come from whistle blowers. stephanie stahl spoke with the tv exclusive, stephanie what did they have to say. >> reporter: it appears this center is in disarray with allegation that is staff covered up a backlog of paperwork, and ignored, or destroyed claims from veterans. there is even evidence that taxpayers lost money because some veterans receive duplicate payments. today i spoke with the whistle blower who said lack of communication and miss management is hurting veterans. >> this is the whistle blower who works inside massive veterans affair regional office in wissohickon, thinks where hundreds of thousands of benefits are processed and va pension management center. >> when you see something wrong, and everybody knows it is wrong, but nobody is stepping up because they want to protect their jobs, it is wrong. it is messed up. >> reporter: we have confirmed, he is a veteran himself who is working with investigators from the office of the inspector general, oig. their report being presented to the congressio

who are still being targeted for whistle whistle-blowing. >> this guy who used to run procter & gamblehave any idea what a [horn honking] -- horn its next. >> the missing documents other,s may be missing applications but we could go on and on and on. those could be accidental. those could be not at all related, but they do show a pattern of at least sloppiness and, worse, illegal. >> correct. they also have this common thread. there is no prosecutor investigating this. the congressional committees -- >> investigation of the irs going on but -- >> they can investigate -- >> no one has been verdict. >> they can investigate until the cows come home. none of the investigations have the power to indict. until a prosecutor, an independent prosecutor, with the power to indict, investigates the irs and investigates the va, we will never get to the bottom of this, never know what the truth is. could you imagine a lois lerner before a jury of her peers? it would be impossible for them to construe anything other than guilt. >> in the meantime, no one is really minding the shop or policing whether

. >> so what's at stake if we do silence and punish whistle-blow whistle-blowers? >> well, what's at stake is whistle-blowers won't come forward. they know they're going to be prosecuted. they know they're being monitored. a lot of sources have dried up. there have been some panels in the last year, too, in the journalistic realm. and folks have talked about how it's harder to find people to talk now because they fear retribution. they know that the surveillance has gotten incredibly intense. and the stakes are incredibly high. and they get that. and so a lot of folks who might be inclined to leak and leakers are wonderful. because they tell reporters what they don't already have and they can't find in any document. they're very essential. >> if edward snowden had offered you the nsa documents, would you have published them? >> i would've liked to. he didn't call. >> but if he had? >> i would. i would have. you know, when i ran the center for public integrity, we posted the patriot two act. we were told by the top aide to the attorney general, "don't do it. you wil

whistle-blowers said this happened in a rush to cut cut a huge backlog of claims. when they faced concerns about this and earth issues they refaced retaliation. >> i faced retaliation of improper sledding of military mail, veterans receiving duplicate payments after improper payment has been made and not returned, data manipulation and various other gross misinterpretations of law. instead of solving problems i was an continue to be retaliated by va. these morally bankrupt managers in time and grade mod up into powerful decisions and where they have the power around continue to ruin people's lives. jon: joining us with more, ellison barber, she's a staff writer at the "washington free beacon." morally bankrupt managers who have risen into positions of power. pretty scary stuff, ellison. >> i sat through the testimony who listened to three different whistle-blowers, from three different regional offices. one from philadelphia, one from st. petersburg and one from columbia, south carolina. they said pretty openly, have you or experienced retaliation? they all said ye

[train whistle blowing] global warming. [whistle blows] some say irreversible consequences are 30 years away. 30 years? that won't affect me. [brakes screech] >> 7 and a half million renovation is part of the clean and safe neighbor's park fund which was on the ballot four years ago and look at how that public investment has transformed our neighborhood. >> the playground is unique in that it serves a number of age groups, unlike many of the other properties, it serves small children with the children's play grounds and clubhouses that has basketball courts, it has an outdoor soccer field and so there were a lot of people that came to the table that had their wish list and we did our best to make sure that we kind of divided up spaces and made sure that we kept the old features of the playground but we were able to enhance all of those features. >> the playground and the soccer field and the tennis fields and it is such a key part of this neighborhood. >> we want kids to be here. we want families to be here and we want peop

and they are reluctant, in fact, decline to present that information to a whistle-blower, as a whistle-blower, in a formal way. because of fear of retribution and concern about their future and their employment. so mr. secretary, we will be providing you an outline of things that we still consider significant challenges and problems in my home state of kansas. i indicated several months ago that i have been a member of the veterans committee since i came to congress, 14 years in the house, four years in the senate. and there have always been challenges at the va. there is always challenges in health care. what seems to me to be different today, mr. secretary, and it's occurred over time, is the recognition that the va in a sense was just shrugging its shoulders. no real attention to problems. and what that resulted in then were veterans telling me that they no longer had faith in the department of veterans affairs to provide the services that they are entitled to as military men and women of our country. and so i thought a change in leadership at department of veterans affairs was required. i

to cover up backlogs. >> our system is so messed up. >> reporter: whistle blowers say staff was bull mid to neglecting vets to meet processing quotas. investigators found a high rate have of errors but how many clear how many vets like dennis were affect. >> i think it is horrendous. it is awful what they have done to these poor men and women who have for the for our country for freedom. >> reporter: bucks county congressman mike fitzpatrick has been trying to help dennis and thousands of other vets. he said congress has taken action to allow big changes that are needed inside the va. >> failing the veterans, the va has done, the va has failed some of the employees, and this system needs to be fix. >> reporter: congressman fitzpatrick is calling for a criminal investigation. he says there is at least evidence of mail tam purring which is a federal crime. spokesperson for u.s. attorney general's office say they cannot confirm or deny existence of an investigation. i'm stephanie stahl, cbs-3 "eyewitness news". >>> on the cbs-3 healthwatch, stress can indeed, make you fat, especially if

this needs strong leadership and strong whistle-blower policies. v.a. acknowledges it cake up to a year to fill vacancvacancies. thankfully, not everything the vfw hears about v.a. care has been bad. nearly 40% of the veterans who contacted us, praised v.a. others offered perspective on how the system has improved over the years. we believe the system can work but cannot work without congress taking action. this week, at our convention, a resolution was passed calling for change. our members insist that congress absolutely cannot go into the august recess without passing this bill. when the current scandal broke, every legislation legislature in washington agreed this was a national em pairtive. we have a opportunity to show our veterans that our nation's promise will care for those who defend it. we have to get this right and restore confidence in the v.a. system. mr. chairman, ranking member, members of the committee, this concludes my testimony and i'm happy to answer my questions that you may have. >> thank you, mr. gallaccui, i now recognize mr. bi

then putin has met with world leaders representing around half of the globe's population on this whistle stop tour of latin america it all started in cuba last friday before an unannounced stop off in nicaragua then on to argentina and finally here in brazil but what has been achieved during this breathless whistle stop tour when russia has agreed to write off ninety percent of cuba's soviet era debt the other ten percent will be reinvested in joint infrastructure projects there was also a symbolic meeting with former leader fidel castro in argentina the two countries signed a peaceful nuclear power deal that will see russia help in areas such as design construction operation and decommissioning of power plants in rio putin attended the world cup final and received responsibility for the next competition the next tournament is in russia in two thousand and eighteen while at the bric summit here in force a laser the nation signed off on that long awaited one hundred billion dollars development bank which is being seen as a rival to the international monetary fund the world bank and the do

there are two whistle-blower retaliation referral suggest come from the office of special counsel and tuesday morning investigators will be of the crowd. >> no other ongoing investigations are currently on the way? >> the number is 70. >> the other 68 are ongoing? >> it is at the office of special counsel i am waiting for the office to provide me the results of their investigation. >> what you doing about it? >> let me describe what we heard from whistle-blowers we get an e-mail once a year then we are faced with retaliation. this is still going on today. >> i can articulate over and over the expectation we will not tolerate that behavior but and toe i have a set of facts to act on i cannot take the action, not the personnel action. nobody is more anxious than i am to have that opportunity. that is why this morning i checked again anything from the office of special counsel? the answer was yes. tuesday morning investigators will be on the ground. >> following the last meeting i asked for contacts between whistle-blower's that had contacted the chief of staff to the president and i don

in fact, decline to present that information to a whistle blower, as a whistle blower to -- in a formal way because of fear of retribution and concern about their future and their employment. so mr. secretary, we will be providing you an outline of things that we still consider significant challenges and problems in my home state of kansas. i indicated several months ago that i had been a member of the veterans committee since i came to congress, and there have always been challenges at the v.a. there's always challenges in healthcare. what seems to me to be different today, mr. secretary, and it's occurred over time is the recognition that the v.a. in a sense was just shrugging its shorlse -- its shoulders, no real attention to problems, and that resulted in veterans telling me they no longer had faith to provide the services that they are entitled to as military men and women of our country. i thought a change in leadership at the department of veterans affairs was required. it's now taking place. i look forward to meeting mr. mcdonald this afternoon in my office, but what i know is t

the aware was based on whistle blowing. someone actually told the truth. they were telling the american people that the troop strength was declining. in some cases officials do not one the troops to get out. they want to control public opinion. the espionage act is a law, geared towards spies, not whistle blowing. >> espionage charges - did edward snowden put our nation at risk? >> absolutely. in america we value our privacy, so much that we enshrined it in the constitution and are protected against the government intrusions into our homes, perps, papers and effect. it has something that has american talking. when you take our security playbook, if you will, and and defect to china and wind up in russia and hand it over. it puts america at risk. that is a crime. >> why not go through a normal chain of command in. >> exactly. you can go through a normal chain of command. there's any number of congressman or senators that would have loved to sat and talked to him. people who have security clearances. i had a security clearance, i was not free to take anythin

edward snowden's whistle blowing initiated some action. lawmakers stepped in. the white house passing a bill aimed at ending data collection. earlier this month president obama signed a bill into law preventing retaliation against whistleblowers who come forward through proper channels. national security contractors like edward snowden are not protected. tech companies are responding to demands for privacy and transparency. google released an email encryption tool. apple, microsoft are changing policies to notify users. glenn greenwald believes the damage is done. >> people around the world refuse to buy american technological problems because they are not sure that they are security preched. there's diplomatic harm from u.s.'s relationship with other countries. >> reporter: take germany. it was revealed in angela merkel's phone was tapped. and brazil yap president rousseff cancelled a dipper after news of spying spoke. she blasted the u.s. embassy when some of her communications were intercepted. if the n.s.a. misbehaves again, it may be harder to find out. th

what we heard from whistle blowers -- let me describe what we heard from whistle blowers. they said we get an email once a year that says we have a right to whistle blow and then we are faced retaliation. i'm hearing this still going on today. >> i have no doubt that it is. i can articulate over and over again the expectation that we're not going to tolerate that behavior but until i've got a set of facts that i can act on, i can't take the action. i can't take the personnel action. and so nobody is more anxious than i am to have that opportunity. that's why in fact this morning i checked again, have we gotten anything from the office of special counsel, the answer was yes, we just got two. tuesday morning, we'll have investigators on the ground. >> i requested in the last meeting, following the last meeting, information of contacts between the whistle-blower here that have contacted the chief of staff of the presidents. i don't believe we received that information. your department can look into that. you have access to the information. you just need to call mr. nabors, th

what we heard from whistle blowers -- let me describe what we heard from whistle blowers. they said we get an email once a year that says we have a right to whistle blow and then we are faced retaliation. i'm hearing this still going on today. >> i have no doubt that it is. i can articulate over and over again the expectation that we're not going to tolerate that behavior but until i've got a set of facts that i can act on, i can't take the action. i can't take the personnel action. and so nobody is more anxious than i am to have that opportunity. that's why in fact this morning i checked again, have we gotten anything from the office of special counsel, the answer was yes, we just got two. tuesday morning, we'll have investigators on the ground. >> i requested in the last meeting, following the last meeting, information of contacts between the whistle-blower here that have contacted the chief of staff of the presidents. i don't believe we received that information. your department can look into that. you have access to the information. you just need to call mr. nabors, th