After the mehta that sis, not going at the root cause. I would like to hear a definition of defeat, definitive one, and then i would like to hear what your root cause is of why there is an isis, why there was an al qaeda, and ive got one other question after that, ambassador, if you would go first. It is a good point and it is the major flaw of this draft. The draft doesnt tell you give this back to the president and it doesnt authorize the president to do anything more than using armed forces against isil. It doesnt say defeat, though thats one of the things he says is his goal, working to defeat in the there is no goal. One reason we have all been debating about how long this thing should be or what kind of troops or what enduring means is there is no goal. My goal is to defeat isis, to destroy its hold on terrain in iraq and syria. Thats what should be in this thing. That is a military mission. We can do it if possible with our allies. Potentially we will have to use our own forces. If thats a vital mission, thats what the president should be tasked to do by you. I think you are absolutely right. And if we dont define what isil is as a radical islamic jihadist group, you cant defeat it. It is like lets build a house and i give you a bunch of 2 by 4s and the material and youre like, whats the plan . I dont know. Just build a house. Thats what i see here. Thats a simple analogy or bad analogy. But i see us wanting to commit but not really wanting to commit. It is like youre not playing to win. Youre playing not to lose. And it is just if were not going to go in there with a very specific strategy, this is a bad idea. Dr. Brennan, what is your opinion . I agree with that. I think what you need to do, to defeat iraq and syria, or isis is to understand were putting at some level an artificial distinction with at the border between iraq and syria. We have to look at the entire organization. I agree iraq first, but we need to be thinking about how do we attack this entire organization and make certain that no longer controls territory. And the ambassadors exactly right. Thats a military objective. But it means we have to be able to move into syria also. Which is attacking a sovereign state, may be a failed state but were attacking that. That opens up a whole other can of worms. I would disagree with my colleagues in a sense that i think disagree . I disagree in a sense that i think there is a strategy, again, preliminary evidence that it is working. This is what the military advisers to the president are recommending as a way to defeat the enemy. So this combination of limited u. S. Force with air strikes paired with the Coalition Partners on the ground has killed 7,000 isis fighters out of an organization that is how many have grown out of that though. Every time you kill one, you get 10 or 20 more to join the cause. So are we winning . And it has helped the iraqi forces, the partners and kurds Iraqi Security forces retake key strategic areas. In five months, i think there is limbed and preliminary but significant evidence that this combination of limited u. S. Force and partners is working. I appreciate your time. I appreciate your time. Im out of time. Thank you, mr. Chairman. I thank the member from florida. Well, we appreciate the time of all of our witnesses here today. This was a start of a very important we thank you again. We will be adding some additional questions to our panel. We stand adjourned. That has been some congressional resistance to the president s call for military. In a statement i have supported u. S. Airstrikes and against isis on the hill, a mental found that two thirds of americans want the u. S. To put some boots on the ground to fight the islam escape. The majority was the congress to support president obamas call for military action. 30 2 are opposed to it. While Congress Considers that off rosacea come another issue is funding or the Homeland Security department. The house passed a ill they blocked president obamas executive order on immigration. John boehner was asked about that in an interview today on fox news sunday. Senator mcconnell has done a great job as the new majority leader. He has allowed over 20 mm to the Keystone Pipeline bill. The Senate Democrats are blocking the ability to even did take the bill. Senator mcconnell has offered them an opportunity to offer amendments. Its there term. That is the way the system works. That is the way the constitution spells it out. If the senate doesnt like it, they will have to produce something i understand there are two sides to the argument. But here is the bottom line. The deadline is then two weeks from now. The fact is that you and congress will be out our recess for the next week. Can you promised the American Eagle with the Terror Threat only growing that you are not going to allow an a for the department of Homeland Security to run out. The house as acted. We had done our job. Senate democrats are the ones putting us in this curious position. It is up to senate cast to get their act together. All i can ask chris, one more time. The house has done is job under the constitution its time for the senate to do its job very Senate Democrats are the ones standing in the way. They are the ones jeopardizing funding and offer their ideas and lets see what the senate can do. What if the Homeland SecurityDepartment Funding runs out . Then Senate Democrats are the ones to blame. And you are willing to let that happen . Absolutely. Lawmakers return february 23 with funding expected on the agenda. A funding for the department is set to run out that same week, february 27. The Political Landscape has changed. Not only are there for a theory new republican and working new democrats in the house and 12 new republicans in the house there are eight women in congress, including the first africanamerican republican the house and a woman veteran. The congressional chronicle plates has a lot of information, and when a result of these session of congress. President obama 2016 by jerry west cause for spending, nearly 8 from 25th teen. The House Veterans AffairsCommittee Held a hearing on the proposal. This is 2. 5 hours. The hearing will come to order. We are here to discuss the president s fiscal year 2016 budget requests. Mr. Secretary, welcome to the committee. I would say that it is a welcome change. So too are the openness you have had with me with the members of this committee and with hours and uroplasty change culture at the a. As your testimony illustrates, you have been active in visiting the eight facilities. Talking with employees, veterans groups and your sector colleagues with one aim in mind, being everyones focus squarely on the needs of veterans. Thank you for your willingness to take the job of secretary and putting everything that you have to that job. Turning to the illness of examining the ba budget request i see boston of things but there are some areas where we will have considerable question marks. The committees task assailant to learn as much as possible to inform our use and in and estimates letter that is due next friday. On the positive side, you have boldly tackled a very sensitive issue of v. A. s scheduling posture addressing the closure of runs safe vacant, or underutilized this these begins an important conversation about the future alignment of das infrastructure. I have long argued that we needed a strategic reassessment of the v. A. Instruction program. That is in part what the independent assessment and the Veterans Health care assessment this covert and last summers choice act just choice act. I have several areas of concern that i hope you and our second panel and address. First and i am going to be frank because i have in the past with you on this particular issue the proposal to reallocate any portion of the 10 billion appropriated for the Veterans Choice Program is a nonstarter. I understand there is a great degree of uncertainty in the programs utilization. In a probe reading the money the congress had to work with the best estimates we had at the time to stretch those dollars including limiting eligibility and criteria for veterans. So is there is going to be any reality, it will be to further improve and in the program is elf and not address other unspecified needs. Second, the written press is an additional 1. 3 billion for v. A. Medical care on top of the appropriation for fiscal year 2016, bringing the total proposed increase to 7. 4 send. At a threshold level, you do not understand how it interacts with the 15 billion that congress provided last summer or nonv. A. Care. It would appear that there are considerable unknown variables in this area, such as with the Choice Program the 2d standards that the v. A. Should expect. And the ability to hire professionals. I hope to expand on this during questioning. Principally to hire additionals. Mr. Secretary, there are several of us on this committee. We know the disability claim staffing has doubled in the last two years. We have invested over half 1 billion in the bms in this and more other systems. We have clues to enable a quicker decision. All of these investments were made with the promise that productivity would improve and shift away from the usual trend of an memorable workforce and overtime to deal with the workload. Again, this is another harry a i hope to addressing questioning. Veterans are better served with constant and aggressive oversight. Mr. Brown and i have asked for a larger Committee Budget towards that end. One thing you and i have talked about is the office of Inspector General and ive only larger than the 13 percent increase in the budget. Its not even enough to cover inflationary costs and let alone the increased oversight we all rely on so heavily. Again, mr. Secretary, i look forward to what youre doing. I look forward to hearing from the veterans organizations on the second panel. The v. A. System is for them and what they represent. So their input on budgetary mass on budgetary matters is critical. Welcome, mr. Secretary. Want to say that you are very that i am very happy that you are here this morning. The president has proposed a large increase for v. A. By 2016, the president has for word s has opposed in nearly 8 increase in health care, or chanel, construction, research and claims assessing. Given this large request, i am looking forward to a discussion today and how it will assist our work as committee to make sure this proposed budget give you the dollars that you need but also assure us how, in congress, every dollar you receive will be spent wisely. And certainly wish that the department of Veterans Affairs department of reform act was the law of the land. It is important to assist us in matching resources suit the needs of our veterans and ensure we are planning the dont let our veterans down. Mr. Secretary, the first question i will ask is that your proposed budget is you all of the dollars you need to fix the problems you face. Meet the goals and initiatives the department have laid out. Keeping in mind that funding provided by short had her that are not face delays in getting access getting access to health care. I always hear from veterans how they care when it is available i hope you are going to Work Together to make sure that health care is available to them when they need it. This is the first year that the a benefits program will be fully funded on advanced appropriations. They will have to worry about what we are doing in congress and it wont affect how we are rate. Finally, i want to hear about your form and reorganization efforts and how this is a west will support these f. I also want to hear about how youre making progress in nine effort to reform and reach and energize and reinvigorate the v. A. Too often, always hear about is the problems the v. A. Is having. I would like to consider what we can do to ask those problems and support what v. A. Is getting right. I am pleased with this budget requests. I hope these dollars can fix what is wrong and strengthen what is right with the v. A. I yield back the balance of our time. Works i welcome our response to our table this morning. Thank you for being here. Please proceed with your statement. Thank you. Thanks for the opportunity to discuss the a discusss budget. Last week for a round a groundbreaking town hall meeting. We appreciate the president s and hours of support for veterans, their families and survivors as well as the advocacy for veteran organizations. Air nation is emerging from the longest war in a serious reap good the a is emerging from one of the most high seas he did armand has ever experienced. We now have before us the greatest opportunity we have to improve care for veterans and build a more efficient and more effective system. With your support, the v. A. Intends to take full advantage of this remarkable timely rigidity. Timely opportunity. We share a goal is to make the v. A. A model agency with regards to customer experience. With efficient and effective operations, we looked a bit part role to death to become part to be comparable. The cause of fulfilling those obligations our veterans grows and we expect it will continue to grow within the foreseeable future. We know that services and benefits are veterans do not peek until roughly four decades after he and. This chart demonstrates the number of veterans receiving serviceconnect did disability benefits from world war i and peak in 1988. For world war ii it takes a 1985 for korea it peaked in 1993. And for vietnam veterans, it was just last year, in 2014 my when it is worth remembering that today, almost 100 years after the civil war ground to a halt, the a is still providing benefits to the child of a civil war veteran. We still have troops in both iraq and afghanistan. In the last decade, we have already seen dramatic increases in the demand for benefits and care. This chart shows how, for 40 years, 19 xt 2000, the percentage of veterans receiving company station from the a was stable at about 8. 5 but in the last 14 years, since 2001, the percentage has dramatically increased to nine to 19 , more than double. Simultaneously, the number of lanes and the number, the number of claims and number of medical issues and related claims that v. A. Has completed his sword. As this chart shows, they completed almost 980,000 claimed. Claims. We project that we will complete over 1. 4 million claims in the next fiscal year. But there has been even more dramatic growth in the number of medical issues and claims. 2. 7 million in 2009. A 115 increase over eight years. These increases were accompanied by the traumatic rise in disability compensation granted to veterans. Veterans from 1950 to 1995 the average degree of disability held steady at 30 3 . Since the year 2000 average degree of disability has risen to 47. 7 , as this chart shows. While it is true that the total number of veterans is declining the number of those seeking care and benefits from v. A. Is increasing. Fueled by a decade of war injury claims, a claims appeal process, increased medical claim issues, far greater survival rate among those wounded, more sophisticated methods for identifying and treating veterans issues, demographic shifts, demands for services and benefits have exceeded the capacity of the a to meet it. It is important that congress and the American People understand why this is happening. The most important consideration is that American Veterans are aging. As with any population, health care requirements and the demand for benefits both increase as age and exit the workforce. This chart reveals an astounding shift. In 1975, the year that i graduated from west point, just 40 years ago only 2. 2 million American Veterans were 65 or older. 7. 5 of our veteran population. Here on the far left we expect 9. 8 million will be 65 or older. That is 75 to 46 . An astounding increase. Today we serve a population that is older, with more chronic conditions and less able to afford private sector care. We predict that Veterans Benefits for recent conflicts will peak around 2055 if we assume that afghanistan and the rack are winding down this year. It is fair to imagine that members of congress, the president , and the secretary of Veterans Affairs in 2175 will be debating resources that will impart health care for the family members in iraq and afghanistan. Currently 11 million of the veterans in this country are registered enrolled, or use at least one v. A. Benefit or service. Veterans are demanding more services than at before. The number of veterans seeking medical care is steadily growing. The requirement for female veterans, Mental Health, they have increased radically. Over 630 635 million email veterans are enrolled. 400,000 actively use it, double the number from the year 2000. We see annual increases of about 9 , with the trend continuing and probably even going higher. The female veteran call center connects with over 100,000 female veterans per year. 1. 4 million veterans with a Mental Health diagnosis are enrolled. An increase of 64 from the year 2015. There were approximately 19. 6 million outpatient encounters in 2014. Since its inception in 2007 through 2014 the Veterans Crisis line has answered over 1. 6 million calls and assisted in over 45,000 rescues. Over one million veterans received services through the primary care Mental HealthIntegration Program begun in 2007 through november of 2014. The annual number of encounters has grown from about 182 thousand in fiscal year 2008 to over one million in 2014. As veterans witness the results of the positive changes that the v. A. Is making and regain trust in the v. A. , as the military simultaneously downsizes, the number of veterans choosing v. A. Services will continue to arise. It should, and the veterans have earned it. We are listening listening hard to what employees, bsos and others are telling us. What we hear drives us when historic, unprecedented departmentwide transforma