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Make it easier for our nation's veterans to appeal decisions on disability claims. let's bring in the secretary of veterans affairs david shulkin. thank you for joining us this morning. all right. my understanding is that right now it is a five year wait for any veteran who wants to appeal the disability rating they've been given and there are 407,000 cases awaiting some determination. how in the world will this new bill cut back on some of those numbers? >> it's not acceptable and we worked hard to get this bill. the bill hasn't been updated in terms of the law since the 1930s. now we finally...

>> actually when we came in, it was 270 days. we got it shaved to about 160 days. >> which is still too long. >> it's still too long. the standard is 125 days but there's a real large number of veterans that are queueing up for disability -- >> mr. secretary -- >> i'll say that in my own defense and defense of the current administration. there are more and more veterans showing up there. what the current problem is not for a disability rating, it's for medical care. >> secretary, you're being very diplomatic. i remember when you resigned in 2007 then-senator barack obama put out a very harsh s...

Just want to add to that, you know, we tend to talk about this in a political crisis, when out in the country, where the vets are, this is a medical crisis. all this talk about shinseki resigning or who's to blame really doesn't matter to them. they want to know who's going to get my appointment and when can i see a doctor? right now while this political crisis gets hashed out and the blame game gets hashed out, they're still waiting, wolf. >> there was an article recently, i don't know if you saw it, mr. secretary, the national secretary wrote an article entitled, who broke veterans affairs? ...

Think your chances are? >> well, i was -- it's my understanding that it never should have had to have been appealed anyway. it should have been given a disability rating. it deserved one. it rated a disability rating. >> and do they tell you why think delayed it or didn't give it to you? >> there was nothing that i could understand as an explanation, no. >> what does that mean you couldn't understand it? >> i read the paperwork and there was nothing that made sense to explain exactly why i was not given -- i was given a disability rating at 0%. >> we're looking at your picture on the screen he...

Decision to appeal, what do you think your chances are? >> well, i was -- it's my understanding that it never should have had to have been appealed anyway. it should have been given a disability rating. it deserved one. it rated a disability rating. >> and do they tell you why think delayed it or didn't give it to you? >> there was nothing that i could understand as an explanation, no. >> what does that mean you couldn't understand it? >> i read the paperwork and there was nothing that made sense to explain exactly why i was not given -- i was given a disability rating at 0%. >> we're looking ...