Did you have a sense at all of whether the cabinet secretaries were speaking to the whole house in their briefing, or maybe just to the concerns of a crosssection of democrats who would be the ones to protect the white house . It was a classified discussion of a very important treaty. I dont see any other motives except to exploited in the way that would encourage us to vote for. Was there any part of the briefing that was contentious or disrespectful . One of your colleagues says john kerry was in respectful. I did not see that at all. All i can tell you is that if we pass this treaty, you can count on the fact that the United States will not be supporting the democratic elements in iran, who are the real solution to the threat to world peace. This goes on boy back to the time when the president first was president and he had all these demonstrators in the street in iran, asking, what side are you one . And our president didnt speak up. If we pass this treaty, that will be held over our head. You are going to undermine the treaty if you help the Young Students there are more kurds in iran then there are in iraq. Plus, the treaty does not cover iran it would not prevent iran from getting a Nuclear Weapon on their own somewhere else. It is not a good agreement. It will not work in the long term, or for the benefit of peace. It will kick the can down the road. [indiscernible] i dont know how much i can speak to that. Even when they Say Something we didnt know beforehand people can disagree. I respect secretary kerry and i think that he came here and opened himself up to questions in front of everybody in the congress. He did not make his case to me because i am just not looking about the agreement, i am trying to figure out what in pact we are going to see in the years ahead in terms of Regional Peace and stability as well on who has their hands on this particular Nuclear Weapon. Thank you all very much. I just wanted to briefly comment. My name is dan kildee from michigan. I rep percent one of the americans being held in prison in iran. I made the point inside that while i think it is completely acceptable that we evaluate the agreement on its merit and the text itself in the context meeting the path that would ensue if this agreement is not enacted for many of us, one additional factor that may not be entirely determine it is the factor we have to consider is a rons behavior, specifically whether iran demonstrates in some seriousness and legitimacy by releasing the americans that they hold, providing any information they have, specifically by releasing the innocent americans that they currently hold in prison. Amir will have been imprisoned for four years next month, his only crime being that he is up iranian descent serving and the american military. I wanted to make sure that folks listening that for many for a good number of congress, what they do about the status of these americans will be a factor in how they do the agreement so. Thank you. How are the questions . I did not think it was combative. It was generally quite collegial. Some members have formulated opinions on the agreement. Some apparently had formulated opinions before they had a chance to review it. I think secretary kerry has done a good job of walking through the specific elements in the most important point that i think continues to be the overarching point is that we have to consider not only the agreement but consider what the logical path forward might be without an agreement. I am still evaluating i have a general view of diplomatic efforts as opposed to others. I am still looking at the texan obviously i will also consider irans treatment of the americans is one of the determinants. Thank you all very much. Have you made a pure mind on the deal, and can you tell us about where you are whether the briefing helped . I am still in the process of understanding a complicated agreement. What happened today was i think kerry and other secretaries keep a strong defensive deal. They are very deliberately and smartly asking that we look not at the deal in and of itself. But look at where we were when iran was a Nuclear Threshold state before this began and consider where the deal puts it into contrast with where we were in consider the question that it is frankly difficult to answer which is, imagine not doing it. On those two fronts, they are making a lot of headway. Are you convinced that . If you are a representative it is incumbent on you to hear from everybody. There is still a process to be undertaken. From my standpoint, the burden given what i have heard so far is on opponents to explain why this is a bad deal relative to where we were and where we will be. One of your colleagues can that an express concerns over what was said versus ideals and the iaea. Is that a concern for you . It is a concern but that is the way the iaea has always operated, to have the confidence of the Member States not to disclose everything publicly and to negotiate on a bilateral basis. What we like to know everything they are doing . Maybe so. That is not and has never been the way the iaea operates. We will have more this morning at a hearing of the Senate Foreign relations committee. Live coverage begins at 10 00 a. M. s eastern time on cspan 3. Next on cspan, Veterans Affairs secretary Robert Mcdonald testifies. President candidate walker campaigns in iowa, followed by washington journal with your phone calls. On todays washington journal, we will talk to congressman Carlos Cabello about the recent thaw in u. S. Cuban relations. Also, congressman brad sherman a member of the Financial Services committee on the fifth anniversary of the dodd frank financial regulations. And, dr. Deborah howard with a recent cdc report on heroin use that found increases in heroinrelated deaths. Live with your phone calls at 7 00 a. M. Eastern time on cspan. Considered underrated by many first lady historians, Caroline Harrison was an accomplished artist who took up china painting and carried that interest to the white house establishing its china collection. She was interested in womens issues and helped raise funds for Johns Hopkins university on the condition that it admit women and was the first general of the daughters of the American Revolution until she died in the white house from tuberculosis. Caroline harrison, this sunday night on cspans original series first ladies. From Martha Washington to michelle obama, sundays at 8 00 p. M. Eastern on American History tv on cspan 3. At a house hearing today Robert Mcdonald pose questions about his departments 2. 5 billion budget shortfall, which he said was caused by greater demand for the a health care. This is two hours and 45 minutes. Good morning, everybody. I appreciate your attendance. We are again gathered to discuss the v. A. Budget execution for this fiscal year. Less than three weeks ago, we heard sloan gibson testify regarding a budget shortfall at the department of Veterans Affairs. Everybody may be asking why we are here again on the same topic. I intend to explain in just a minute but as we all know, the stakes have been raised considerably since the deputy secretaries testimony on june 25. At that hearing, secretary gibson was asked the following question. I quote, if congress doesnt act on the fiscal year 2015 budget shortfall, what is it going to look like in the v. A. In july and august and on october 1 . The deputy secretary responded that we get into dire circumstances the longer we go but, quote, before we get to the end of august, we are in a situation where we are going to have to start denying care to veterans because we dont have the resources to be able to pay for it,. , end quote. Imagine my surprise when on july 13 i received a letter from the deputy secretary that in the absence of providing the flexibility, the v. A. Is seeking to plug the shortfall with choice money, that v. A. Hospital operations would shut down in august. Nonthe a care authorize asians wouldv. A. Care authorizations would stop at the end of july. This is unprecedented. Never can i recall or other individuals i can talk to recall or any agency for that matter completely exhausting its operational funds prior to the end of the fiscal year with the consequences for the a being cessation of hospitalization. Never can i recall in issue of such enormous magnitude evading the direct attention of the president. Until recently, you and i speaking about it, mr. Secretary. This is not flying under the radar. I feel that it is exactly how the v. A. And the president have treated it in an effort to avoid responsibility of what is going on. So that everybody understands where i am coming from, let me start by reviewing how we have arrived at this point. The first issue came as a result of a briefing for the v. A. On june 4, on a separate topic. At the conclusion of the briefing, Committee Staff noted that there appeared to be a 23 billion dollar difference between the projected template 1 billion obligation rate for care in the community compared with the funding that v. A. Budget. The v. A. Official agreed with the discrepancy did but stated that just because they were on pace to spend 10. 1 billion, it did not mean that the money to address the discrepancy was found or available. That assertion was repeated upon further questioning, leaving it to staff to read between the lines what was meant. At the same time, during a june 8 visit to the cincinnati the a Medical Center, i began to hear rumors of an impending financial issue, consistent with the cryptic warning that have been provided by officials in the staff briefing. As a result, on june 10, i called the deputy secretary to testify on the state of the v. A. Budget. As a consequence of my calling this hearing staff received a briefing at our request on june 18. It was at this briefing that, for the first time publicly revealed, v. A. Revealed a 2. 5 billion shortfall in funding. Notwithstanding this briefing, there was no mention of the hospital shut down. On june 23, we received a letter from the secretary citing the shortfall of 2. 5 billion and requesting a transfer of funding from the medical facility to the medical services account. There was still no mention of a Hospital System wide shut down. Finally, at the hearing on june 25 there was no mention of a Hospital System shutdown coming in august. I am disappointed about the slow painstaking revelation of this crisis by the department. I understand their excuses as to why we are in this position. However, somebody took their eye off the ball. Just as congress established a cap on spending for the denver project, Congress Also provided a budget for ba four 2015 which the president signed into law and it too the v. A. Has Left Congress with very little time to react to a crisis created by the v. A. s management decisions. The days when v. A. Can come to congress and say, cut us a check , are gone. Asking for flexibility without supporting information is not enough. Similar to the way a Large Corporation board of directors sets the budget and the Corporate Management implements that budget, the president , 535 members of your board of directors set a budget expecting you and your staff to carry out the mission, that is, to manage the taxpayers resources in a fiscally responsible manner. Just as emerging circumstances and the private sector might cause a ceo to go to the board armed with information supporting a request for resources, we have the same expectation. Despite unsupported hints of a problem by the department as supporting information was not provided until extraordinarily late, we have already passed legislation to take the a out of managing Major Construction programs. Perhaps we need to bring in an outside entity to manage finances. I hope not. I recognize brown for opening statement. Thank you for calling this hearing to discuss the v. A. Budget shortfall and the possibility that v. A. May have to close hospitals. Mr. Chairman, i know everybody in this room agrees that this committee is committed to providing the resources that the v. A. Needs to take care of our veterans. We all need straight answers to our questions. How much is needed and why . We are supportive to make sure our veterans get the care they need. But yet again, we are faced with an 11th hour budget crisis. We must all Work Together, v. A. And congress, in order to properly anticipate the resources needed. The v. A. Must do a better job it is important that the v. A. Starts planning and anticipating what our veterans will need and where they will need it. We have been hearing that this shortfall is due to the increase of veterans coming to get medical care, resulting in more veterans being treated outside the the a. I also think it takes care of the veterans with hepatitis c many of whom are Vietnam Veterans who we recently honored in a celebration in the capital. I wonder if this shortfall is due to a lack of planning. Today, lets figure out what we need to do to ensure our veterans get the health care they have earned and begin to see what steps we need to take to prevent any more 11th hour budget crises. In february, the secretary asked this committee for more flexibility to move money between accounts that would enable him to run his administration more like a business. Let me repeat that. And february, and again in march, the secretary came right here and asked us to give him the flexibility to run the v. A. Like a business so he could care for veterans. We have over 60 additional accounts that the v. A. Has to decide whether or not to allow flexibility. As we track support, allowing the secretary access to funding i want to present, for the record, the v. A. Productivity is up 8. 5 and it gives the account of every category that we are Service Veterans for fiscal 2015 and the increased i want to submit that to the record. In addition to that, i want to submit for the record a letter from each of the Service Organizations indicating that they support the secretary having the flexibility to move this money around. When we did the choice act, the purpose of the choice act was to provide services to the veterans. We did not say what Services Just services to the veterans. And the secretary needs the flexibility and able to provide those services. With that, i yield back the balance of my time. Without objection i will accept those letters. And i do appreciate you submitting those letters of support and remind my colleagues that all of the veterans Service Organizations support my accountability bill. As we meet later this week, i hope we will keep that in mind. I will remind the members that this committee and the senate rejected a bipartisan basis, an attempt to go into the choice fund to fix the budget shortfall at the old aurora hospital. I think we need to focus rightly so forecasting and getting a better grasp on what is going on with the dollars that are appropriated to the department of Veterans Affairs. That is why we have asked the secretary to be here. I appreciate you changing your schedule. Without question, the secretary said i will be there along with dr. Tuchschmidt. You are recognized for your opening statement. I know you have charts with you. Secretay mcdonald if i may, i would like to start and i know you would agree with this i honoring our five Service Members who are senselessly killed in chattanooga. On behalf of all veterans, i extend my deepest condolences to their families, fellow servicemembers, and the friends who grieve their loss. We will never forget their service to our and the freedom that we so cherish. Thanks to the chairman and the Ranking Member for joining your Senate Counterparts at our recent meeting at Va Central Office pete i appreciate office. I appreciate continuing the dialogue so all americans could understand these issues. Representing veterans are Senior Leaders of some of the most orton partners in military organizations. I want to thank them for being here as well. A year ago today at my Senate Confirmation hearing, i was charged to ensure their va the focus on providing veterans with the highest Quality Service that may have earned. I welcome that opportunity. Last year i was working with a great and growing team of excellent people to fulfill that sacred duty. Since my swearing in, nine of the seven teen top leaders in va are all new. We have to get the right people on the us. We have to get them the right seats on the bus. Because of their hardware, va has increased veteran access to care. 2. 5 million within va and 4. 5 million in the community. 7 million total more than last year. 4. 5 million in the community. 2. 5 million inside va pit we have increased va care inside va. We have increased va care. 900,000 more authorizations than the previous year. Choice has been a small proportion of that 4. 5 million years it is on the rise. Utilization has doubled in the last month. Today because of growth and access, the department of struggling to meet veterans needs through the end of the fiscal year. We need your help. You have appropriated funds to meet these needs. You havent given the flexibility or the authority to use them. Without books ability, we will have no option at the end of july, but to defer not choice nonchoice until october. Provide staff with notices and notify vendors as we shut down hospitals and clinics across the country. These are unfortunate conclusions