Transcripts For CSPAN2 National Park Service Director Jonath

Point cadet prayer i grew up with called, do the harder right, rather than easier wrong, we got everybody in the room under the leadership of deputy secretary sloan gibson, veteran service organizations, members of congress, their staffs and so forth. We said, you know, were going to lock the door. Well slip the food under the door. Youre not coming out of the room until you come up with a new law. We now have a new law, but it has got to be passed by congress. So if it we can get these laws passed, the ones i talked about, veteran outcomes are we said if we get this lay passed, as we work down the backlog, eventually we will be able to deal with an appeal in one year, in one year. Not five years plus. So it is just a matter of taking the problem, solving the problem, but then you got to get congress to pass the law. Comes back to our audience, yes, sir . [inaudible]. General, just hold on one second. Were going to get you a microphone so the cspan audience can first i would like to say, mr. Secretary, by any real measure, this vietnam veteran thinks you have turned corner. Thank you, sir. I think we are definitely making solid progress. Thank you for your help. It is unfortunate 3 amounts to like 630,000. They will be the most vocal. Were working on it. Were going to improve it. The question i would like do ask, can you get us status update on choice, that Choice Program which is designed help those further away from the va facilities . Yes, sir. In the fall of 2014, in response to the access crisis if i can say it that way, Congress Passed the choice act. The idea was to have greater capability of sending people into the community for care. We were already sending people in the community for care but the choice act was an attempt to make even more broad. There were certain limitations put on the act. Things like 30day time limit, 40 originally geo distance and driving distance. I was given some authority if there was geographic barrier. What were seeing is dramatic growth, dramatic growth, in the choice act. And in the authorizations. That weve given for care in the community. The dramatic growth issue we have we have seven different ways providing care in the community. Each one came from somewhat deliver the law. Each one has deliver the selection criteria. Each one with different reimbursement rates. It is complex. As a result it confuses veterans and it confusing va employees. So last october we put together again another proposal for a change in the law that would take all of those different seven ways of care in the community and make them one, one criteria, one reimbursement rate. And make that the new choice act moving forward. We have had hearings on that. It is part of, there are pieces of it part of the Veterans First act in the senate which were thrilled with. The house is dealing with pieces of it. But to me, that is the ultimate response, how do we make this simpler. The other thing we did in this process is we looked at everything we thought was wrong with the original act because when you make an act you dont know, and as you work over time you learn how to make that better and we have now put that in the new Veterans First act. So were hopeful if the senate can pass the senate first act and house can pass parts of this as well well be doing a better job caring for veterans in the community. Thank you, sir. Okay. Were coming down to the last minute. I will ask one from, youve been too good on twitter. Literally hundreds of tweets have flooded in. So i apologize to those of you, but the secretary and his team will get them and will address the issues and questions therein. Shifting again to another one of the nonhealth care needs because i promised some of the veterans organizations that i would ask about those, Financial Literacy issues, there have been, reports about the struggles of some veterans with Financial Issues about being subject to predatory lenders and other financial scams. What are you doing to help address Financial Literacy among veterans . Yeah. That is a very important point. Im glad were going to talk about more than Just Health Care because va is one of the largest Mortgage Companies in the country. We insure mortgages. The g. I. Bill of course is the way my father, my fatherinlaw both went to college. The way i went to graduate school. So these are very, very important programs. I think the ultimate answer to Financial Literacy is what were trying to do with the transition. There are going to be roughly 250,000 servicemembers leaving the service now each year. Its unacceptable for them to have a gap in their service from active duty to becoming a veteran with the full benefits that a veteran should get. Were trying to take the transition process to push it upstream working with the department of defense, secretary ash carter is a great partner in this. What we do, we get the servicemembers, maybe 120, maybe 150 days before they leave the service, and ive participated in these programs. Theyre called Transition Assistance Program or tap. We go on base and the commanding general or admiral stands there with me and says, you know, were going to help your transition. We train noncommissioned officers how to help with that transition. We then do a number about things. Number one we try to get them the medical exam they need to qualify for benefits. We sign them up for health care. We sign them up for the g. I. Bill and so forth. Then at the end of the program we actually have a job fair and on these job fairs weve had tremendous success in terms of placing veterans right there on the spot so that theres no transition time, no gap in transition time, from the time they leave the service. And i have to say, it is one of the reasons that veteran unemployment is at a, virtually alltime low of about 4 . Mr. Secretary, its 3 00. Im sorry that we have to end. We could go on for hours. It is a fascinating analysis of what you have done at the va including in the my va program of its implications for the rest of government in a time were approaching a transition, the need for congressional approvals and other limitations on the model that require a system to work together. Many additional tweets including one tweet from a whistleblower i will personally make sure the secretarys attention is drawn to. And i want to thank everybody in our audience here. Everyone in our virtual audience on cspan, on twitter and on social media. It has been a great privilege welcoming the secretary. Thank you, norm. Great to be with you. Thank you very much, everybody. [applause] today, cable and Satellite Television executives testify about their industrys Customer Service and billing practices. Were live with the Senate Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on investigations at 10 00 a. M. Eastern on cspan3. Today voters in the United Kingdom will decide if their count very to should stay or leave the european union. British Prime Minister David Cameron and labour party larry corbin want to remain. Some members of the Prime Ministers party and u. K. Party are part of the brexit push. Watch the live simulcast today beginning 5 00 p. M. Eastern on cspan2 and cspan. Org. On American History tv on cspan3, this saturday at 8 00 p. M. Eastern on lectures in history by the end of the 1880s you have a dramatic upsurge, a tremendous surge in veterans organizations, in the membership in these organization and in the statues that they create. University of georgia professor scott necessary beth discusses ongoing debate over confederate monuments and memorials and many were from campaigns of southern women during reconstruction era and late into the 19 century. Sunday morning at 10 00, on road to the white house rewind back in 1976, mr. Carter said trust me and a lot of people did. And now many of those people are out of work. The republican alternative is the biggest tax giveaway in history. They call it reagankemproth. I call it a free lunch that americans can not afford. 1980 republican and democratic conventions with former california governor Ronald Reagan becoming the gop nominee and president jimmy carter accepting the democratic nomination. On july 1st, the Smithsonians National air and space museum will commemorate its 40th anniversary and sunday at 6 00 p. M. Eastern on american artifacts in 1976 be we were wrapping up golden age of human exploration with the Apollo Missions to the moon and we were launching into the first golden age of planetary exploration with the missions of the 1970s to mars and to the outer planets. Were now in another golden age of planetary exploration, particularly on mars. We tour the museum with valerie neil, head of the museums Space History Department and learn about the story of human Space Exploration from the moon to the mars. At 8 00 on the presidency, james rosebush, former Deputy Assistant to president reagan, and author of the book, true reagan, what made Ronald Reagan great and why it matters. I have come to see that in this relates again to president nixon, that a great leader of character is a person who has the ability to discern the future and lead a people to it and through it. For the complete American History tv weekend schedule, go to cspan. Org. Senate Armed Services Committee Chair john mccain offered an amendment concerning fbi access to certain electronic records when doing terror investigations. Next senators leahy and wyden challenged the amendment based on concerns with due process. They are followed by senator richard burr and senator mccain who rebutted their arguments. This is 30 minutes. The present concern as a member of the appropriationsprop committee, an amendment that is pending here now, the mccain amendment, 4787. Vot we had a vote earlier this week, votes on sensible gun safety measures. We note by all the polling thate the overwhelming majority of americans supported them but theyport were blocked by senator republicans. And now it appears Republican Leadership wants to change the o subject. Scarere resorting to tactics to divert the attention of the American People from their failure to act in responsi to mass shootings. Lets be clear what we need toe stay safe. We need universal back groundaf. Checks for firearms purchases. We need to give the fbi the p authority to deny guns to terrorists. Suspects. Senateoris republicans rejected those common sense measures earlier this year. We stillns have the chance to ge Law Enforcement real and effective tools, strengthen ourt laws, make it easier to prosecute firearms traffickers and straw purchasers. Im a gun owner but i know that if i go in to buy a gun in vermont, even though the Gun Store Owners i have to go through a background check. But you could have somebody thats got retraining orders against them, warrantsarra outstanding against them, could have been convicted of heinous crimes, they could walk into a gun show with no background check and buy anything they want. We know also they can go and buy all kinds of weapons to sell at a great profit to gangs,an criminalgs gangs, that couldnt buy them otherwise. C and ofou course to those who are going to commit terrorism and hate crimes. So we need to fund the fbi. We need to fund the Justice Department so their resources to combat acts of terrorism and hate. Those are the elements of thehe amendments that senators mikulski, baldwin and nelson and in in contrast republicans proposing to reduce independent oversight of i fbi investigatios and to make permanent a law that last year never even been used. T mccain amendment would eliminate the requirement for a court order when the fbi wants to obtain detailed information about americans internet activities in National Security investigations. Could almost hear j. Edgar hoover, who loved being didnt like, say, why didnt i have that when i was the head of the fbi . The republican law could cover e websites americans have visitede extensive information on who americans communicate with through email, chat and text messages. And where and when americans log on to the internet or into social media accounts. Over time, this information would provide highly revealing details about americans personal lives, americans who are totally innocent of any kind of criminat activity. You get all this without prior Court Approval. s w that is why the amendment is opposed by Major Technology companies. Roups that go across the political spectrum from Freedom Works to google to the aclu. Senator cornyn and others have argued that we cannot prevent people on the terrorist watch list from obtaining firearms without due process and judicial review. Yet at the same time theyre proposing to remove judicial approval and dupe due process when the f. B. I. Wants to find out what web sites americans are visiting. The f. B. I. Already has the authority to obtain this information, even obtains a court order under section 215 of the u. S. A. Patriot act. None of us would feel that the f. B. I. Or none of us would feel the fbi or any Law Enforcement could walk into our home, go through the notes on the desk who we have called, who we have talked to. But we because we do it electronically, and we have the ability to just ignore the right to privacy going to it. The opposition to requiring someone who said criminal indictments to stop them from a gun show to buy guns, republicans should support actions to protect us. And nelson and myself. Very well organized special interest lobbying group. Why not lobby the American People, and measures that keep our country safe, to distinguish the senior senator from oregon, i yield to him. I thank my colleague and he and i have worked together on this and he is outlining hypocrisy behind what has been going on for the last few days. Due process ought to apply as it relates to guns but due process wouldnt as it relates to the Internet Activity of millions of americans. My view as president is if the country wants policies that promote safety and liberty and increasingly we are getting policies that do not do much of either. And in support of the mccain amendment suggest americans need to choose between protecting security and protecting constitutional right to privacy. And gives an Fbi Field Office, to scoop up administratively americans digital records, and text message and web browsing history, and certain Location Information without ever going to a judge and the reason this is unnecessary, something i believe very strongly worked hard for it in the freedom act, there is a specific question in the freedom act which i worked for and authored in a separate effort in 2013 that allows the fbi to demand all of these records, all the records i described in an emergency and then go get Court Approval after the fact. And unless you are opposed after the fact, there is no reason to support this amendment, and this does not mean having this authority would stop the San Bernardino attacker or massacre and lb gt nightclub, and there is no reason to think that is the case. And the Founding Fathers wrote the constitution for good reason, we can protect security and liberty. We can have both, and the sponsors of the mccain amendment have said you can only have one or the other. The other argument that was made yesterday, mister president and colleagues, some have said we got to have this amendment, and the record makes it clear that this provision carefully circumscribed, narrowly drawn, the notion that this is some sort of typo simply doesnt hold water. The fact is the bush administration, hardly an administration that was soft on terror, they said that this was not needed, this is not something they would support, the National Security statutes are to be interpreted narrowly just the way the authors in 1993 envisioned. So mister president , i know we are going to hear my friends, chair of the existing wished Intelligence Committee that this is absolutely pivotal to protect the security of the American People. The fbi suggested this would have prevented orlando. In the face of an emergency under legislation that i offered, the government in an orlando or San Bernardino issue can get the records immediately and after the fact settle us. This is not a typo but what the authors suggested and the bush administration, hardly soft on terror, didnt believe what this amendment was all about was necessary. An amendment that would undermine fundamental american rights without making our country safer and undermining the role of judicial oversight particularly when it doesnt make the country safer and we have specific statutory provision for emergencies protect the American People, this amendment defies common sense. I hope my always will oppose it, urge colleagues to do so, and it is hard to explain to the American People how an approach like the one behind this amendment that would allo