Facilities. The secretary will meet with the appropriations committee. The house passed a bill looking at the ba secretary, giving him more flexibility at ba facilities. V. A. Facilities. We want to get your reaction in the first 45 minutes. To the actions that took place yesterday and what should be done overall about it. Heres your chance to call and give your thoughts. 202 5853880 four democrats. 202 5853881 for republicans. Ndependents, 202 5853882 a special line for veterans to give their thoughts. 202 5853883 you can post on our facebook page. 50 posts so far. Can email us, too. Joining us on the phone to give us the latest concerning the announcements yesterday and what happens Going Forward is leo shane with the military times. Hes a congressional reporter for that publication. Thanks for joining us. Caller thanks for having me back. Host what has been the reaction on capitol hill to the actions late yesterday . D movement heid not folks on capitol hill. They have been critical of the Obama Administrations response. They saw this as more of the. Ame persuasive words, but not a lot of results from the white house. Saidrters of the president this was a good message from the president. Is to reassure the public he addressing the issues and that folks will be held accountable if problems are found. Week, theier this chicago suntimes reported that dick durbin was scheduled to meet with the secretary today. He sitting on the appropriations committee. Have you heard about that . V. A. I have asked the i know the secretary will be on the hill speaking to senator durbin. He has been chatting with some folks in congress this week. Onand chuck hagel were up the hill just a couple of days ago. There was talk about other v. A. And dod issues. Some concerns about these things came up. Theyre keeping tabs on and trying to get as much information as they can. Host this is the house taking a look at Management Issues with a affairsled the veterans management accountability act of 2014. Could you give our viewers a brief breakdown of this bill . Caller the house passed it last night overwhelmingly. Ofwould give the secretary the Veterans Affairs more authority to make it easier for him to fire Senior Executives. It only affects 400 employees within the v. A. We are talking about a 30,000 employee department. The bill says, look, this is important. There has not been enough accountability at the management level. That is why were seeing some of the problems that have surfaced over the last few weeks. Easierll would make it for the secretary to step in, fire these folks for any perceived failings or mismanagement. Look, we have fair employment rules. Theres already a lot of methods to punish or discipline employees. We dont need this. So far, the white house and the department of Veterans Affairs have backed off a bit and say they do have some legal concerns but they appreciate the goals of the house. They will work with and to make sure the language is appropriate and give the secretary the authority he needs. We dont know how it will be in the senate. Mixed support over there right now. We will see whether or not it will build momentum. Host when you say mixed reports on the senate side, can you expand on that . Anyer we have not seen public support for this from democrats in the senate. We have not seen recent opposition that has surfaced. It is tough to read right now. Plenty of issues bouncing around. This is on their docket now and wase is a lot of there the overwhelming vote in the house. There is pressure for them to take action as well. Host are these Senior Management types protected by some type of union . The Senior Executives association has said, look, there are already provisions that these folks, if they do something wrong, they can be fired. This is unnecessary. We hear it over and over again. Not just from outside critics and lawmakers, but from some folks inside, too. It is tough to get fired from federal employment. Especially these folks were Senior Executives, fairly established, have a long career. Its a long path to get somebody out if they find egregious mistakes and widespread problems. See. Ll even some supporters in the houses they were saying that they doubt this has much of an impact. Clearly, it is a power move by the house to say, look, we are concerned that managers are not being held accountable. Host as far as the next couple of weeks concerning the story, what should our viewers be watching out for . Caller there is a handful of reports that should be coming out. One next week from the secretary of Veterans Affairs. To the white house about his review into the care delay scandal. The white house has appointed one of its staffers to look into the problem and issue some reports back. In august, we will see the full investigative report on exactly what happened in phoenix. That report has been expanded to 25 other us oldies. Ofwill see a steady stream news on this over the next few months. Ofwith each new bit information, there is no revelations, new concerns for veterans and new policies new politics on the hill in terms of who should be fired and held accountable. Host has anybody told you that they are thinking that the secretary will eventually be fired . Caller i have been trying to keep a tally of my own. We have seen at least 26 lawmakers call for him to be fired. Yesterday was the first time we saw any democrats, two democrats in the house. Whether or not that translates into more momentum and pressure remains to be seen. There is sentiment that he has lost confidence within some. The American Legion is the one calling for his resignation. Warseterans of foreign have offered stronger support. As soon as they find whether or not hes getting the fax from all sides, he i has confidence from the president. Ane, thank you. The president says he wont stand for it. You can give your comments as well. 202 5853880 for democrats. Republicans. 1 for 202 5853882 for independents. 3 from veterans. We will hear from a veteran first. Ella. Caller good morning. I am a veteran and a gulf war veteran. I live in grand central, colorado. I do believe we have one of the best v. A. Hospitals here. I have seen that the president says, i wont stand for it. I hope this does not get muddied up and turn out to be about the administrators. The problem is, veterans need help. They have gone a long time without help. The new kids from afghanistan, pakistan, they are dying or being wounded. They deserve full benefits. Host do you mean politically or this becoming a political issue . Caller it seems like the president is talking about the veterans. They want Better Service and are doing better things. Leo shane and you have been talking more about what is going to happen to the administration. Are they going to get fired. The v. A. Has been the same for 40 years. I dont see where the president has any blame here. Lets go tonight from tennessee. Independent line. Caller let me preface this. The Democratic Party is a party of slime. The Republican Party is the party of stupid. How may times has the president said this about the v. A. . How many scandals that he calls phony scandals . Just typical of the Democratic Party as it is now. I may be a nonthat. Vet. Am a vietnam realize people i d. C. Is the district of corruption. I dont care what your Party Affiliation is. It is at war with the states. Said when men have power, they are unwilling to really push it. The bureau of alcohol and firearms rating raidinglaces guitar places. Host cedarville, texas. Good morning. Caller the same incident happened to me in texas. Reported it to the patient advocate. I explained to them what was going on in my situation. Individualsthe looked at each other as though they knew what was going on or something. I was not aware of this issue. It had happened to me before this came up, shortly before this came up. Host would you think about the president s actions on it now . Aller its a bit too late i dont have much faith in him anyway. I feel like the prior caller. Late. Oing too much, too responsible, nor is the person over the Veterans Affairs. Host who should be held responsible . I dont mean responsible in the blame fashion. They are not doing their jobs. Host leo shane talked about members of Congress Reacting to yesterdays announcement from the president. John mccain is sending out a tweet saying that he is glad he finally spoke after weeks of silence. The house floor, david scott from georgia joined the debate yesterday. One who called for the secretary to be fired. We need tot person fire is the secretary of Veterans Affairs. Respect him and we respect his sacrifice for this country and everything else. But the bulk stops at the top. 5006000 veterans 5006000 veterans are committing suicide every day. 506,000 veterans. The Inspector General of the v. A. Placed the blame at the foot of the v. A. Administration. When chairman miller and i went down and visited them, we ask, is there any more . No, there has been no more. They told a dam lie. The very next day, it was othered there was an soldier that committed suicide and they covered it up. Its a pattern that is been going on ever since he has been the chairman there. Host hes all comments before the senate. You saw the comments before the senate. Four democrats. 202 5853881 for republicans. 202 5853882 for independents. 3. Terans, 202 585388 you can send an email. We talked a little bit about that v. A. Bill that passed the house yesterday. Firingring administrators who are not performing. On the senate side, there is debate going on whether or not that will take us. A senator weighing in hoyer saying that i opposed hr 41 because it opens the door to of undoingopes careful civilservice protections. Anita on our independent line. New york. The morning. Theer i watched one of programs you had and i saw the questionsman asking end i thought the congressm were very disrespectful. Is there something wrong at the v. A. . Im sure. This man has given the country 30 years of his life serving you and i cant understand how you could treat a man like that. Our military deserve respect and that is from the top down. Includes shinseki. Is there something wrong in our government . Fix it. If there is something wrong at the v. A. , im sure it was the boys. Theyre incompetent, they should be fired like anybody else. There is a lot of competent people out there looking for jobs. Host that firing would extend to the secretary himself . Caller if he is incompetent, yes. But i doubt anybody who could serve for 30 years is incompetent. Ast Washington Times with followup story looking at the issues at Veterans Affairs, talking about spending. The report shows 85 million spent without approval. The Veterans AffairsInspector Generals office reported that during fiscal years 2012 and 2013, the v. A. Made about 15,000 special on authorized transactions because of or information, insufficient verification of cardholder war limitations and insufficient training. The accounts for five percent of total 120 billion. 1. 8 billion. I am a 100 disabled veteran. I came back and applied for civilservice before i left active duty and was denied and hold i had to come back. They would place me in another position. My medical facility refused to treat me properly. They messed up my medication. I cant work, therefore we are firing you. How do we fix that . Every veteran deserves a single case manager for all v. A. Services and benefits for their lifetime. Have tried talking on the phone to the v. A. Mye taken 150,000 out of civilservice funds. I know another 50,000 to the oh another 50,000. Every time you call, they say, that is what the v. A. Rule says. Host what you think about the president s handling of the situation . Caller he is our commanderinchief. I respect him. Allow the secretary to stay because, two years from now, we will have another commanderinchief. Host detroit, michigan. Independent line. Caller good morning fellow patriots and happy memorial day to our veterans. Is that most of the trouble is in red states. We say we claim to be supporting our troops. Problem in the a red states about supporting our troops. This did not happen overnight. This was an ongoing i used to hear about stories in the and 1980s about how these hospitals were not taking care of the veterans coming back from vietnam. The only way to solve this problem is to put competent people in to help our veterans. That is all the problem is. Do we need to crack down on people atmpetent veterans hospitals. Let gohould the people should that include the secretary himself . Caller there should be disciplinary actions. If you have too many complaints and the person is still working there, that is a problem. Im sure some of these people have complaints on them and they are still working. That is a problem. If they cant do their job, get rid of them. That is the only problem we have is incompetence in the workplace. Host from twitter, the v. A. Problem is like the Public School problem. Vouchers to buy medical care from dr. Or hospital of their choice. Is a story from susan davis in usa today saying that Elijah Cummings of maryland will act as the Ranking Member. The committee spearheaded a spearheaded contentious benghazi inquiries. Nancy pelosi spoke yesterday concerning the selection of the five and why they were chosen. Past two weeks, we have engaged in discussion with Speaker Boehner on the shape and standards of the select committee. We hope for a level of fairness and transparency and balance. Especially considering the subject matter. We were not able to reach any agreement. Republican, the approach does not prevent the repeated abuses committed by chairman issa in any meaningful way. That is all the more reason for democrats to participate in the committee. To be there to fight for fair hearing and process. To try to bring some openness and transparency to what is going on. What is the purpose of this investigation . What is the timetable or the milestones . What are they hoping to achieve . I could have argued this either way. I do think it is important for the American People to have the doneit of these questions in a fair and open and balanced way. That would not be possible leaving it to the republicans. Host if you go to the front page of the Washington Times, a audit of the v. A. Crisis. According to the documents, the v. A. Inspector general told obama up three audits dating back to 2005 that revealed significant problems with wait times in scheduling. One audit showed an instance in which the department reported 29 conny from georgia. Democrats line. Thanks for waiting. Caller good morning. V. A. Withlt with the my elderly father who passed away in 2004. Like a mouseu were in a maze. Doctor and if you were admitted, you saw another doctor. Part of the problem at that particular time was of that, we had doctors that you literally cannot understand. Did not speak english very well. When you were dealing with an elderly patient, it is very. Ifficult third i even went to a psycho valuation of my father and the doctor talked to me. I dont know how you can get any sense of what is going on talking to a child of a parent who is going through these things. A psych evaluation. You have to understand that this thisresident obamas has not just happen. My father passed away in 2004. Before that, well into the 1970s, this has been going on. This is not a democratic president problem. This is a congressional problem. It is a republican and democratic problem. Nobody should be pointing a finger solely as this man who is president today. We get what we pay for. Therefore we cant get the care that veterans need. Highlighting the things they see good about the v. A. We made clear in recent testimony, studies have shown that the v. A. System which serves almost 6. 5 million veterans annually as a whole performs the rest of the health care system. Give the v. A. Customer a higher satisfaction rating. The problems have to be kept in context. Thomas from ohio. On our veterans line. The morning. He is a democrat. Good morning. Caller the morning. Thank you for cspan. The veterans here and in columbus, the problem is, we dont have enough doctors. Have Prostate Cancer missions ining 1958. I had Prostate Cancer and they cured me. , had to wait for some things but there is a protocol when you call up. You have an 800 number and you call emergency. Host when you hear about the stories at the facilities about delays and concerns over that, what goes through your mind and what should be done about it . Caller its not about president they dont have enough doctors. They need to have more funding and everything to cover it. You cant cover anything if you if you dont have revenue coming in. Have revenueed to volunteer revenue. Invest in america. Host laura from twitter says this. Bureaucracy is big and confiscated. It can be wellmanaged or efficient. The Supreme Court has stepped in and halted a planned execution of a man. This is out of kansas city. Saying that the decision to stay the death sentence of a man who argued that he would suffer great pain if he were killed by a lethal injection because of rare vascular disease could indicate a growing cautiousness among the justices in the wake of recent executions that when arrived. The court did not give a reason for granting the stay. It will be up to the appellate whether tocide the hold a hearing. Paul from pittsburgh come paul from pittsburgh, pennsylvania. Hello. Caller good morning. Thank you for cspan. Navyved 30 years in the and i get my health care through the v. A. System here in pittsburgh. Hines facility. My experience has been nothing but positive. Appointments are timely, their care is excellent and i have no problem with that. That does not excuse what is going on. I remember three years ago when we had a problem at walter reed. Deplorable conditions. The secretary of defense went in there and absolutely clean house all the way