Welcome back to the washington journal this morning. An hour next hour, we are talking about the Biden Administrations military and veterans policy. We are joined this morning by tyler and mary. Mary, i will begin with you. What is your group, what are your goals, and i will have you that answer the same question, tyler. We are a progressive Veterans Organization founded in 2006 by veterans of the iraq war. We now have over 1. 5 million veterans and military supporters. We work to advocate for progressive policies that benefit u. S. National security. Host give me some examples. We are strongly supportive of President Bidens authorization to end the war in afghanistan and it repeal the use of force in iraq, which has been used to authorize wars in far too many countries. We are strongly supportive of strong u. S. Support for ukraine and our nato allies. Host tyler, same question to you and how do you differ from this Progressive Group . Should think it thanks for having me on. Concern veterans for america is a National Grassroots act. Our mission is to advance policies that will promote the freedom and prosperity that our members sacrificed and fought to defend while in uniform. We focus on three main issues. The first is reforming the Veterans Affairs department and expanding veterans choice and health care. Also confronting our growing national debt. We share some overlap when it comes to Foreign Policy issues, particularly around more restrained realistrooted policy. Host the question to both of you, the president has been commander in chief for two years. What grade would you give him . I would frankly give the president somewhere around a c minus. I think it has been a mixed record. But we also shared support of his decision to exit the war in afghanistan. I think that that strategic decision was the right one. However, its rollout was a disaster that we will remember for decades. People involved in the specific planning need to be held accountable for the future. We are also glad to see that he avoided actions that could escalate the war in ukraine and lead to direct u. S. Russia issues. However, there are mixed messages about the overall u. S. Strategy and the endgame we would like to see in that conflict, the openended nature of that. I think more recently, we are looking at talks to potentially have security packs in saudi arabia for normalizing interactions with pakistan. It is unclear to me what he the United States in return. Host mary, same question to you. Guest President Biden gets an a plus as commanderinchief for two reasons. One, he has shown deep commitment above party politics. Joe biden is never going to politicize or bring partisan issues interNational Security. He puts that first. Two, he understands the sacrifice that Service Members, their families, and veterans have made, the commitment to their country. Because his son was an army veteran who later died of cancer after serving in iraq, joe biden understands that. He stands with veterans and military families, and Service Members. His record shows that. Host the president has pointed to his sons death possibly caused five burn pits and his sons access to them while he was serving. That brings up the pack act. Mary, burn pits, what are they and where does the pack act stand right now . They were places to dispose of toxic materials, waste, and other substances. They were widely used in iraq and afghanistan. Enormous pits the size of football fields. If you served in iraq and afghanistan, you were fairly likely exposed you are very likely exposed to them. The pact act is nearly oneyearold. It is the largest expansion of services for veterans after exposure during their time of service. They can now sign up through the v. A. To get covered for diseases they may have because they were exposed to those substances. Host the registration deadline for signing up for those benefits is when, tyler . What are we seeing . Are people registering in large numbers . That is coming up on august 9, to be able to have a claim that is backdated from when the pact act was passed. There has certainly been uptake, as far as people being interested in that coverage. We have certainly agreed that people have been exposed to these toxic burn pits should be able to get coverage. The deeper issue is how the v. A. Has rolled this out. Unfortunately, they did this with good intentions, but did an expedited rollout plan, instead of a phase one, which i think will contribute significant lead to the growing claims backlog, which is already at about 272,000 people. I think that is the biggest since about 2014, may 2013. The v. A. Itself estimates that could go up to 400,000. We are thinking about adding all of this new coverage. Its great that people would be getting the help that they need. But i think the v. A. Needs to take advantage of programs like the Community Care program, which can allow veterans to use their benefits outside the v. A. As an additional option to make sure that this is not increasing wait times and backlogs as a result. Host what additional coverage are veterans getting under the pact act . They will get access to more benefits and treatment related to these exposures. And the ability to have those better taken care of as a result. Host mary, in your opinion, do you disagree with tyler . Should these be in the pact act or can they be used in legislation laws that already exist . The pact act benefits were absolutely essential. Instead of veterans needing to prove that there diseases were linked to their time of service, we should just be expanding them. The burden should not be on veterans to prove where there diseases came from. They serve, they sacrificed, they deserve access to that Health Care Coverage the best we can provide. That is what the pact act is doing. Host the president is expected to talk about the pact act anniversary around 1 15 today. Look for our coverage if you go to cspan. Org. Tyler, you talked earlier in your opening remarks about the reforms to the veterans administration. What sort of reforms would your group like to see . I think with the main issue with the Veterans Affairs department has been is that veterans are increasingly trapped in a broken system with lengthening wait times. The v. A. Is often improperly calculating these wait times, so veterans dont know properly how long it is going to take to receive care. And the v. A. Has been very hostile to alternatives, like the veterans Community Care program that would that would enable utterance to get timely and quality care if their wait time is too long at the v. A. Or if they have to drive excessively far for an appointment. Particularly with the passage of the pact act, i think the v. A. Should view Community Care as a tool that can be a partner for directing v. A. Run facilities, to ensure that we can keep those promises to victims of toxic exposure. Unfortunately, the v. A. Has been very reluctant to educate veterans about their Community Care options or to refer them to those providers in the first place when they request that. Host mary, your response to that . There is an issue with backlog at the v. A. There are issues to access and other things. The v. A. Is underfunded, plain and simple. Any issues at the v. A. Could be solved if they had adequate funding. The challenge to that has been extreme republicans who are blocking and even trying to cut the v. A. s budget. We saw that earlier this year when House Republicans tried to veterans care, tried to cut the budget by 22 . Host the president requested 325 billion for Veterans Affairs. In your opinion, tyler, do you agree or disagree with mary . I think theyre a couple of issues. I dont think it is realistic to save the v. A. Is underfunded. Its budget has increased nearly fivefold, over fivefold, in the past 20 years even though we have a declining veteran population throughout that time. There has been steadily more and more resources per veteran. And we see an explosion of administrative staff in the v. A. As well. I think it was unfortunate when we were talking about the v. A. Budget request that the v. A. Use its own office of Public Affairs to claim a proposal to limit the growth of Discretionary Spending would result in cuts to the v. A. As we know, the v. A. Was fully funded this year in the most recent appropriation. Host we are talking this morning with two veterans groups, both thats, along with concerned veterans for america. Tyler is the policy director for them. We want you to join this conversation about the Biden Administrations military and veterans policies. Heres how we have divided the lines. Republicans, 202 7488001. Democrats, 202 7488000. And independents, 202 7488002. Active and former military, we have a line for you this morning that is separate. 202 7488003. You can, all of you, any of you, text on that last line. Include your first name, city, and state to 202 7488003. Mary, what are you asking . What would your group like to see the administration do in the coming months and years of this remaining term for the president . Veterans need more informatio. To their credit, the administration has been largely responsive to some of those concerns. The deadline has been extended, the deadline to apply for retroactive benefits, because of the overwhelming response, desire and need from the veterans community. The administration is listening, taking the concerns on board and they are acting. So more outreach. On Veterans Affairs specifically, passing the act that would allow disabled veterans who retire prior to 20 years or had to leave the service due to a disability to allow them to become eligible for retirement benefits. It is a bill currently in congress, unclear if it will gain bipartisan support. It has strong support from democrats. It seems Senate Republicans may want to block the bill because they are reluctant to give a win to joe biden. Host for the remaining part of this president s term, what do you want to see him focus on . Guest when it comes to veterans, the Biden Administration should do a better job of giving them choices. They chose to serve our country and they should choose where to see a doctor, whether at the v. A. Or a private care provider that meets their needs. I would like to see the v. A. Secretary be less hostile to the Community Care program and do a better job of following the mission act that established that in 2019. On Foreign Policy, we would like to see him articulate a clear and safe when it comes to what we want to achieve in ukraine and how our aid is tied to the longterm strategy and conflict resolution in that war. I think the president needs to work with congress to make sure spending stays within the limits set by the Discretionary Spending caps most recently so we can work to control the ever mounting national debt, which is about 32 trillion right now. Host william in georgia, democratic caller. Caller good morning. I wanted to make a comment about what tyler mentioned under biden and the withdrawal from afghanistan. I hear conservatives or rightwing individuals constantly make reference to how it was a disaster, but they never put the context of the withdrawal in plain detail. We were there for 20 years, we spent trillions of dollars and lost thousands of lives. Donald trump comes along and tries to invite the taliban into the white house. He had an Unconditional Surrender to the taliban, told them we would leave with no conditions. That is called surrender. If the United States renders to the taliban, of course the Afghan Government is going to collapse. If the u. S. Is going to leave, how can they stand up . Given all of that, how could we possibly have an organized and orderly withdrawal from a war zone in which we surrender to the enemy with no conditions . Guest that is a great question. I would go back to the fact this was the withdrawal President Trump originally set the groundwork and motion four. I think the fact President Trump set out the agreement that enabled us to not have ongoing fighting while we were trying to plan the withdrawal and President Bidens willingness to carry that out when he was in office is a good example of bipartisan cooperation, pursuing the right overall strategy for the United States. You are right to point out we were there for 20 years. After the death of Osama Bin Laden in 2011, it should have been clear all of our main strategic objectives were accomplished and we should not have been focused on a devolving mission that was unwinnable for the troops. We have to focus on the underlying Strategic Decisions of the conflict and we can do that while also criticizing the specific planning failures that went into the withdrawal itself. That is why reese supported efforts to greet the Afghanistan War commission in recent years to ensure we have accountability and Lessons Learned going forward. Host in North Carolina, hello. Caller i want to clarify some things for tyler. Im on v. A. Health care for four years, two years in a call center in greenville North Carolina and two years managing a providers panel in jacksonville. V. A. Health care works. The problem is with a veteran, we would call them a month, two weeks, three days before the appointment and they would not show up. Do you know any veteran assigned to a clinic or facility, if he is sick today, he can walk in and be seen . You and others in congress think the veteran awaits months to be seen. Let me clarify this thing so people understand. Donald trump did not sign veterans choice. That was done by barack obama during the appointment storm. Right now, a veteran can get great care, but he has got to work within the system. I like the idea of that veteran being seen outside on referral, because that veteran more than likely is not in a big facility town, for example, like raleigh, North Carolina. They have a huge v. A. Health care system, so does fayetteville. This misnomer that veterans are not taking care of i fully agree with the lady. They need to be funded so the v. A. Has enough medical support systems, doctors, nurses to provide the best care for that veteran. You needs to be clarified. Host tyler, you go first. Guest we will thank the caller for helper veterans at the v. A. , but respectfully disagree. I work with staff who use the v. A. As their primary provider who tell me stories about how schedulers will sometimes argue with them about whether they are eligible for Community Care and point to the access standard for access to these nonv. A. Providers. What has been said about same day care is just not wornout, if you google it, look up local wait times in your area. I was at an event the other day where the nearest appointment for Mental Health care was more than 72 days. We are talking next month is Suicide Prevention month. When you have wait times like this for care, that is not an acceptable state of affairs. There is nothing wrong with giving veterans the choice to either go to the v. A. If they like that, which is great, and go somewhere else fit is not meeting their needs. Host Mary Kaszynski . Guest thank you for your call and support and advocacy for the veterans community. I cannot agree more. It is 2023, there are some new tools the v. A. Could be utilizing to provide Greater Services to veterans. Telehealth appointments, more facilities. It is difficult for veterans enroll communities to reach their local v. A. Rural broadband, greater communication with veterans wherever they live, more facilities, modernizing facilities. But all requires funding and Congress Needs to come together over the objection of extreme republicans to get that funding to the v. A. And v. A. Clinicians. Host dean in kentucky, republican. Caller i thought for my country in vietnam and Todays Health Care is very bad. Itll be a and a half months before i have a colonoscopy. I have cataracts, i have one removed that took six months. 12 weeks then called back, 12 more weeks. That is how they take care of veterans. There are some out here on obamacare, they got private health care from the government. Id be dead right now because i could never get nothing done. They said he would die if you waited for your appointment with the v. A. Guest i think there are a lot of problems here that are even deeper than the lack of funding at the v. A. s, because they should be able to provide Excellent Service to each and every veteran. Republicans earlier this year threatened to shut down the government. That would have impacted social security, disability benefits for veterans, survivors benefits for gold star. Congressional republicans, extreme republicans in the house and some in the senate, are threatening to tank the economy, causing a global recession. That is what those kinds of actions cause. That will have an acrosstheboard impact. Those are issues we need to address on top of the specific issue of providing adequate resources to the v. A. So they can sup