Bush institute. This is an hour. [applause] mr. Bush thank you, all. Thank you. It is nice to be back in washington. [laughter] its nice to be back in washington. Albeit briefly. Laura and i are honored you all came. I want to thank the chamber for opening up this beautiful building and for their concerns about our vets. I want to thank David Shulkin for being here. Hes the secretary of Veterans Affairs. Its really good you are here, mr. Secretary. Especially since in a couple hours, you will be across the street in the white house for a bill signing. Passed by republicans and democrats that President Trump will sign the bill which will give you some tools to reform the va. If anybody can reform the va, you can. You are a strong leader. And were lucky to have your service for our country. [ applause ] you know, a lot of times you hear people gripe about the va. And im sure there are some flaws in the system. But its important for our citizens and our vets to know the vast majority of people who work for the Veterans Administration care deeply about helping our vets transition. I want to thank people from our team, ken hersch and holly and miguel for putting on this conference. With us today are three educators. From three parts of the country. Ken signerhawk that spends a lot of time on Veterans Issues. Margaret spellings who used to be in my cabinet and was kens predecessor at the bush center is the head of the university of north carolina. And, of course, representing the great state of texas, admiral bill mccraven. They are with us because theyre going to discuss how better to help our vets get a meaningful higher education. There is well, as fontaine said she felt a little out of place at the university because of age but because of experience. Can the universities help the vets better transition . So they are here to talk about their ideas. I want to thank you for being here. We have a lot of vets here today. And their families. I wish would you stand up so we could recognize you. Thats and families. [ applause ] maybe we should have gotten everybody who wasnt a vet. You know, i tell people all the time that were a fortunate nation to have had millions volunteer in the face of danger. I view vets as a tremendous National Asset. I mean, these are folks that got a ph. D. In life without having had to go to college. They have seen a lot. They have learned team work and discipline and skills. They have been under pressure. The question is, can we help them if they need help . I want to thank fontaine and flo and michael for speaking. If you cant get a sense of the National Asset thats available for our country from these three, then you are not hearing very well. I mentioned michael last because he was a subject or maybe he thinks victim of my paintings. It turns out, michael, you are not the only subject who is here. Byron vin vecent and spencer mi are here. Five people i got to know well and five people who i painted. Do you like your portrait . General response was, im honored you painted me. [ laughter ] the reason i painted the men and women in the book portraits of courage is to share their stories and to raise money for the veterans programs at the bush center. So for those of you who have not bought the book yet, feel free to do so. One of the issues i hear a lot about from my veteran friends is, i want to work. I think the primary issue among the vets is, can i find meaningful employment . And one of the things that the bush center we have done is we have joint ventured with the u. S. Chamber to help our vets better understand how to bridge the military civilian divide. In other words, how better to talk in civilian terms. As well, were trying to help the private sector understand what a vet means when he speaks. Like, whats your qualifications, son . Im a sniper. A lot of corporate vicepresident s will say, i dont think we need a sniper this year. Hopefully, what they will say eventually is, this person is cool under fire, this person is willing to take on a tough assignment, this person is disciplined and well trained. So we have developed whats called a veteran employment transition road map. For those vets who are interested in discovering what we discovered and how to better how to give yourself a better chance of finding work, go to the employment transition road map at bushcenter. Org. One of the things that prevents vets from realizing their dreams of working are the invisible wounds of war. In the book that i painted, their stories which yield important lessons that we have learned. Rod talked about one of them. That is the stigma of postTraumatic Stress. Notice we dropped the d. Because if you are labeled somebody with a disorder, you are likely not to admit youve got a disorder. Who wants to be labeled a disorder . Say to themselves, i cant find work if i get a disorder. I wont get promoted. People wont understand me if i have a disorder. In order to defeat the stigma of postTraumatic Stress, we dropped the d. I like to tell people, it was courageous to volunteer in the face of danger. Its just as courageous to talk about the invisible wounds of war. So the book talks about people like turner who had never really talked about his postTraumatic Stress until he came to our golf tournament, stood up and started talking about it. And he realized the path to healing, the path to deal with the injury was to be open about it. The other thing we have learned is that peer to peer counseling really works well. Theres a lot of people who care about our vets. Its really hard for us to be its not hard to be empathetic. Its hard for us to really understand what a vet is trying to tell us. The best way a vet to get help is for a vet to seek a fellow vet and to be willing to talk about the problems. So theres a lot of people here that are involved with peer to peer counseling. I dont dare name them try red, white and blue, tomb rubicon. Theres a lot of really good programs that are working. Our mission at the bush center is to help vets who want to be helped to hook up with these counseling groups. Then the third stage, of course, is the help with professionals. Cohen center does a lot of good work. The va does a lot of good work. The fundamental question this is what the secretary is committed to is finding out that which works and focus on a result. Not who gets credit. But how can we help the vets transition . And im confident the work were doing here today is really going to make a big difference. Thats why its important that you all take what were doing seriously and come up with recommendations and action plans that all of us can help implement. One thing were doing were going to do at the bush center is were pretty good at this. That is helping people understand what it means to be a leader. So one of the real dangers in the president ial libraries is we can become pretty irrelevant quickly. We got four really good libraries in our part of the world. Johnson, bush 41, bill clinton, brother with a different mother, and ours at smu. So margaret smelli inspellings with this idea that bills library and i had limy lie blab. That is to have president ial leadership scholars. To bring people from all around the country, 60 a year, to our libraries to teach them case study methods on leadership. How does a president make a decision s decision . What does a president do with people on his team . The purpose of which is to train new leaders. And to give them a new perspective. Today, were announcing were going to do the same thing for veterans and those involved with helping veterans. So applications for a veteran Leadership Program will be made available on our website bushcenter. Org starting this fall. Im confident this program will make a Lasting Impact on not only our vets but on those who are trying to help our vets. Again, i want to thank you all very much for being here. This is a spectacular garagering of people. Who are committed to one thing. And that is helping vets and in so doing help this great nation of ours. God bless. [ applause ] good morning. My name is lee ann corrett. I wanted to share what an honor it is to be here today. It is inspiring and gratifying to be united alongside you as we work towards this common goal. Advancing the wellbeing of our veterans who have given so much of themselves to our great nation. Every day i see the extraordinary dedication, talent and leadership of our servicemen and women. I am even more blessed that i have the opportunity to see them firsthand following their formal service time. The truth is, veterans never stop serving. They may no longer wear a uniform, but the selflessness and character that defines military life never disappears no matter what comes next in their lives and careers. We believe veterans deserve our societys highest respect and were committed to ensure they are given ever opportunity to thrive and remain healthy in their civilian lives. We are grateful to president bush and mrs. Brush for making this a centerpiece of their post president ial work and are honored to participate. In a moment, we will hear from the honorable David Shulkin, secretary of the u. S. Department of Veterans Affairs and joining him to serve as the moderator of this mornings discussion is brian bender. Secretary shulkin was unanimously confirmed for this role by the senate on february 13, 2017. He brought years of experience serving as under secretary of Veterans Affairs for health with the va as well as from his distinguished career as a medical doctor, professor and leader in the field of health care. Brian bender is the defense editor of political pro. He previously worked for the boston globe and janes defense weekly covering military operations around the globe. He is the author of the book you are not forgotten, the story of an iraq veterans search for a missing world war ii pilot in the south pacific. Ladies and gentlemen, its now my great honor to welcome the ninth secretary of veteran affairs, the honorable David Shulkin, and our moderator journalist brian bender. Thank you. [ applause ] happy friday, everyone. Welcome. Thanks for coming. And joining us here at the u. S. Chamber of commerce. As you heard, my name is brian bender. Im the defense editor at politico. Here at the Bush Institutes stand to National Veterans convening. I will be moderating to get some of the administrations views on Veterans Issues going forward. Late they are afternoon, along with my colleague, we will have a conversation with congressman tim walls and senator boozeman on the Veterans Affairs committees to get a congressional perspective. Just a programming note. If you want to join the conversation on twitter, because we cant do anything these days without twitter, of course, the hash tag is stand to. Please join the conversation. Then just one last note. Special thanks to starbucks, our sponsor, for the event here this morning. Which probably got us here this more than, at least some of us. So without delay, lets get the conversation going, again, welcome to dr. David shulkin, the secretary of veterans afa s affairs. Thank you. Mrwe will start out talking about an issue that a lot of people care about, veterans employment. The va focuses on providing Health Services to veterans. But can you tell us a little bit about your view, your objectives in using the va and its convening power, its budget to try and do a better job of connecting veterans to society, connecting them to meaningful jobs as the president said . Should the va be doing more in terms of programs, or should the va be more of an integrator of whats already out there in the nonprofit world . Well, you mentioned that a lot of vas focus has been on health care. We have been changing the way that we think about health care to focus not so much on disease but on wellbeing. And when you think about the wellbeing of our veterans, you have to think about employment. Because one of the things that we have learned is the most powerful predictor of outcome and success and wellbeing is meaningful fulfillment in life. And part of that is the ability to be able to give back and to work. And so, a lot of our work recently has been in connecting veterans during this period of transition and finding meaningful ways for them to give back. As you know, we have prioritized veterans homelessness and we have made great progress. But if you dont connect people back with the way to sustainbly maintain themselves, they fall back into homelessness. In many of our areas that we work in in Emotional Health and the invisible wounds of war as the president was talking about, it really is connecting people back in with work. So our vocational rehab programs are really important. And connecting with Community Organizations and being part of the community to get veterans connected with the right resources is really important. Were at the u. S. Chamber of commer commerce. A lot of those in the audience come from Corporate America. Some of the places that are doing a very good job already of hiring veterans. Can you talk a little bit about maybe some things the government can do to further incentivize companies not just to hire veterans but possibly tax credits as some have suggested for those who hire reservists who might get called to active duty, go off for some months and basically companies now have to deal with that person not there. Are there things the government can do, that congress can do to incentivize Corporate America to do more . Yeah. Well, i think the overall good news is because of the work and so many of the people in this audience that are part of organizations, the secret is no longer a secret that veterans are really among the most preferred employees that corporations can hire, veterans are terrific entrepreneurs. Theyre starting businesses and companies all over the place. Back after 2001, the Unemployment Rate among veterans was 10. 7 , higher than the average population. Today, veteran employment is lower than the average population. Its 3. 7 . And companies, frankly, are struggling to find enough veterans to hire. Through the hiring our heros program, 1536 companies have committed to hiring over a million veterans. Theyre at about 600,000 now who have found veterans to hire and many, many more looking how they can identify such a talented pool of people to come and join their organization. While the government can do more, i think that we are really quite successful when you hear flo and michael and fontaine. Who want them to be part of their organizations . So i think that we found the successful recipe here. It really is is to connect people to do work like the Bush Institute is doing, to provide leadership skills, to be able to make those connections. Our younger veteran Service Groups are providing those types of skills. So i think we have really found something thats working already. Let me ask you on that, does the va have data or do you get a sense of what kinds of jobs veterans are getting . It looks like the overall numbers are good. But as the president mentioned and i think stressed meaningful employment. In other words, not just a job but spomething with a future, something they feel can be their new life as they integrate back into society . Do you have a sense of that . Is that something you looked at . I think that it is something that, again, the Bush Institute has identified a really key issue here. And that is leadership training and mentoring. Especially this peer to peer mentoring. Thats what you see so many of our younger veteran groups doing, which is really connecting people who want to be part of their communities, who want to be leaders, because the military really does provide leadership skills. And so while people may enter organizations at various levels, its really those first four to five years when you enter an organization, that you set your path on whether you are going to advance in that organization. I think its the mentoring leadership skills that are key in having a coach and having somebody who can help advise you on the best ways that you can contribute. Because we know about our veterans, that they tend to be much more involved and engage in their community. And people look up to them. And they tend to be natural leaders. And so it doesnt surprise me when i see an organizations increasingly that its veterans who are rising to the senior ranks and going on to be chief executives. A broader question about veterans and their challenges reintegrating with society. As we know, less than 1 of american men and women serve in the military, volunteer to serve in the military. How concerned are you that as americas conflicts have dragged on for more than a decade and a half now post 9 11, that you have a country that is by and large disconnected from the military itself, from military families, from veterans . Dont really fully comprehend what they go through, the struggles that they undergo. If they do know, perhaps theyre getting not a comprehensive picture of it. Are there things that someone at your level can do in terms of trying to connect the country at large a little bit more with what some would argue is almost a guard. Its a very narrow set of people who sort of live in their own world often times and feel that its really hard to come back to society and really be understood. Yeah. Im very concerned about the increasing military civilian divide. We talked about this a little bit last night with the president. And work is being done at Syracuse University to really try to understand this. But with 0. 8 of our population now serving, we have many, Many American families who dont even know people who have served or are currently in the military and dont understand what i have had the privilege as secretary of understanding about the tremendous commitment that not only these young men and women give when they go off to serve their country but their entire family gives whether they go off to serve. And so part of our responsibility at va and so many of our Community Groups is to make sure that we let people know about not only what these young men and women do when they raise their hand to protect our country but what our responsibility is as a country to them not only when they go off to conflict but when they come back. And i think that is one of the roles that we see. We learn a lot by looking at our countries. When you tackke a lock at countries in particular where everybody in the country serves, like a country like israel. You do not see so many of the problems when people come back with emotional or invisible wounds of war. Because everybody around them understands. So they have a builtin network where most families have somebody who serves so that the community understands. And i think what happens here is people return and except for fellow veterans, most people around them in work and in their life dont understand what theyre going through. So i think that we have to do a much better job of getting people in the country to understand how they can support our veterans when they return. Maybe we can switch gears a little bit and talk about what you probably know best, which is health. Which is a huge role that the va plays. Maybe we can start with the choice act, which as many of us know is fairly recent legislation that tries to take a little bit of the burden off the va. And help veterans who may not be close to a va facility or clinic to get care to get good care and do it through a private system, through a voucher program. That was just recently renewed by the congress. For some period of time. Theres some question about whether theres enough money to fund that. So can you talk a little bit about how its been working, number one . But also where you see that going. Is that a model for perhaps a much Larger Program where you have a Public Private system overall that relies on perhaps the Va Health System for certain things but then provides government subsidies for veterans to go to their Family Doctor if thats what they want to do, regardless of where they live . The origins of the Choice Program started with the va crisis in april 2014 where it became known that the demand for services was much greater than the supply of services in va. And congress came up with the Choice Program legislation. I think the most important thing that we learn from that was that va cant do this alone. That va needs to work with the Broader Community in health care and outside of health care if were going to really do and uphold our responsibility to our veterans. Congress, of course, designed the program and they designed it in a way that had two problems. One was, it was amazingly complex so that veterans didnt understand how to access the program. I cant imagine that it was complex. And the people who worked in the va didnt understand how to work the program. So very few veterans in the beginning were actually getting help. They were just getting frustrated. Secondly, they designed the program around administrative rules. The way you could access care is if you lived 40 miles away from a primary care doctor in the va or if you waited more than 30 days. And so what we have now proposed in order to continue the ability to access care into the community is two things. One is dramatically simplify the program so that people understand it. And secondly, get rid of administrative rolls and create a clinical system of care. And thats what a Health Care System should be doing. So were working now with congress to resign this program to make sure that it works. But we are committed as president bush said to focus on what works for veterans and what i think is clear what works for veterans is you take the best of what va does because va is doing terrific work in many areas. And you take the best of what the private sector does and you allow the veteran to be able to Access Services in an integrated fashion so that you dont experience the gaps in care that many in the private sector experience where doctors arent talking to each other, were not sharing information. And so people get caught in these gaps. But if you can create an integrated system between the private sector and the va, i think veterans will benefit the most from that type of system. Obviously, directly linked to the health of veterans longterm are disability benefits for those who have been wounded, those who are dealing with longterm Health Problems from their service. But the disability system as it is structured, as i understand it, has not been changed very much at all for decades, really. So im wondering if that is an issue that you have started to look at as well. In other words, a veteran who might have lost a limb or had a life long injury like that could still be fully employed in a digital economy, could still live a full life in a way perhaps that a generation or two ago a veteran could not. Does that beg the question of is our disability system, the payment structurstructure, the compensation structure, is it up to date enough . Should it include new things . Wellness programs, for example, that try to help veterans longer term live a fuller life as opposed to just writing them a check. Yeah. One of the challenges that i faced coming into government from the private sector, not getting an education in washington, is the challenge that it is to suggest new ideas that may potentially be viewed as a takeaway from current benefits. Thats extremely hard to do in washington. So i think you have to start with that everybody recognizes that we have a responsibility as a country to provide and to be able to supplement resources for veterans that were harmed or injured during their time of duty. And i dont think anybody is suggesting that we take away our commitment to that. But to suggest that theres not a better way to do things i think is also wrong. And so i believe our current disability system that is designed from 50, 60, 70 years ago, i would suggest that its not sustainable. And it may not be achieving the results of wellbeing for our veterans. Our system incentivize ieizes disability, when our system should be Incentivizing Health and wellbeing. And so i do believe that we do need to begin to start having a discussion and a dialogue, not so much about withdrawing our commitment, but how can we essentially enhance the outcomes of our system to help people. And this is going to be a very difficult discussion to have. Because this is one that i worry that if not dont well could become politicized. Imagine that. But, you know, va has really done a great job in keeping itself in a bipartisan dialogue. And i am committed to making sure that va and veterans dont become part of the political discussion but more part of how do we do what we do better . How do we accomplish our Mission Better . So i think that rethinking how we could approach disability is a key topic thats going to be very important in the future years. Weve heard a lot this morning or we have certainly been focused on post 9 11 veterans. As we heard from some of them this morning. But as you know, the median age of an American Veteran is, i think, 55. And so the largest population is an aging one. And obviously, that is not dissimilar from an issue were dealing with as a country. The so called silver tsunami. Is the va prepared for that in the sense of enough facilities, enough doctors . Because it seems like were entering a period where for the next 20, 30 years, the vietnam era veterans, cold war era veterans are really going to be a strain on the system. You dont hear a whole lot about that. Or it doesnt seem to me that theres a laser like focus on that issue. Are we prepared, what are we doing, what do we need to be doing more of . Yeah. I think you are exactly right. First of all, the va tends to see issues in America Health care before the rest of the Health Care System sees it. Its exactly what we are seeing now. The crisis in 2014, many people related directly to our returning younger veterans. But in actualalty, most of our demand was our Vietnam Veterans growing older and requiring more services. And so while the number of veterans is projected to actually decline in the next 20 to 30 years, pending a new major conflict, our demand for services actually is expected to go up. And so our focus is on how do we prepare to meet that demand. I think one could traditionally think of that as building more hospitals and capabilities in medicine and more longterm care facilities. But as you know, health care is changing. The models of care are changing. So were looking at how do we actually help people remain in their homes . How do we help them stay healthy and avoid the need for complex care that takes place in hospitals and institutions . So were increasingly trying to change our medical model. And rely more upon technologies like telehealth and technologies that can help people maintain their normal environments in their home environments. And were looking at how do we support structures like caregivers. And right now legislatively, va is able to provide caregivers to post 9 11 veterans, which is a terrific program that we have. But what we want do is expand that so that we can provide caregiver support to those that are older, because if we can keep people healthy and safe at home, thats really the environment that they want to be in and we want them to be in. And its also a costeffective solution. So were doing a number of things in our approach to the growing age of or veteran population. And i think that you are going to see new advances coming out as we begin to look at tools that will help our veterans stay healthy at home. One last question on veterans health. Of course, all of this is connected with employment and reintegrating into society in a meaningful way, finding a new life. A little bit of a controversial question. As i know you are aware, the american legion, one of the oldest certainly largest veterans organizations, not necessarily representative of the 9 11 generation, has been appealing to President Trump to reclassify or at least consider reclassifying cannabis, marijuana so the federal government could study its potential Therapeutic Properties for pts. Im going to start calling it pts, not ptsd. As i said, a controversial issue. Clearly, the government would have to go through some very significant steps to get to the point where federal research could be done. But you yourself said you want to do you think the va needs to do what works. We dont really know if that works. But theres certainly, as i think you would agree, some indications that that in a very controlled environment could possibly supplement some of the drugs, some of the therapies that are currently being used but some would argue are not really working. We still have 20 veterans a day killing themselves. Every time i see that statistic, im shocked each time. Its one of those few things that will shock you each time you hear it. What is your view as a medical doctor . Do you think the government should study it, or at least begin to see whether there might be something there . Well, our top priority, the only clinical priority that we focus on right now as our top priority is the prevention of veteran suicide. And we are taking the approach that until we can see results that are decreasing that number and getting it to zero, we have to be open to new ideas that are out there or therapies that may help. I wish that i thought it was going to be as simple as one pill is going to fix this. I done believe this is going to happen. I believe this is a multifactorial approach, which means that we have to be open to all sorts of new ideas. Now, the issue of medical marijuana from the federal Government Point of view is one that right now we are prohibited by law from doing research on it or prescribing it. So this is an area where actually the states are going to be leading in this. Because as it is increasingly being laws are being passed at the state level to use medical marijuana, we are seeing increasingly not only more Clinical Data coming out but we are seeing more research thats being done. And so as a physician scientist, i am extremely interested in learning from that data and trying to see, is this something that could help and could help veterans . But in this case, were not going to be out there doing that research or prescribing these different medicinal preparations unless the law is changed. Got you. I wouldnt be doing my job if i didnt ask you about some news of the day. We heard about this this morning. You will be at the white house later as the president signs the va accountability and whistleblower protection act, something i think members of both parties have wanted for a long time. That gives you some more power, some more authority to make Management Changes at the va. Can you give us a sense of where your head is about how you will go forward using some of that new authority . Yeah. Well, first of all, im grateful to congress and the president for moving forward with this. And you do see, this is an example where there is bipartisan support to help us fix issues that we know have been broken for a long time. And the basic issue is is that in order to work in the va, i believe it is an honor and a privilege to be able to serve. And there are in small numbers of cases employees that have forgotten that. And clearly have lost their commitment to the values that we hold dear. And when you let people stay in an organization who are not demonstrating those values, that decreases the morale and takes away the motivation for the vast, vast majority of our employees who as president bush said are overwhelmingly people that were proud of and the greatest professionals that i have seen working in health care in my career. So i believe that to be able to move people out who have lost their way is going to be part of the solution in fixing the va. And in fact, without that, without the ability to get the right people in these jobs and the right people in our leadership positions, i dont think were going to be able to reform the va. So this to me today is an important day. Its good news. For veterans and their families. Its good news for our employees. Because we need to make sure that everybody is working in the va is there for the right reasons. I dont think that this is going to be something that is abused. I think i take it seriously that everyone deserves due process. And were going to make sure that that due process exists. But when we find evidence and we have seen a lot of cases recently in the press that have just been so frustrating that we remove the employee and the merit system protection board judges bring those employees back. You just shake your head at those cases. So after today, i think were going to be able to change that course in va and it will be a positive step forward. You mentioned bipartisanship. And i think we would all agree that the veterans issue these days seems to be one of the few areas where members of both parties can get together and try to get things done. This afternoon as i mentioned, we will have a bipartisan duo up here from the senate and the house on the Veterans Affairs committee. What are a couple things you would ask them . What can congress do in the near term, not long term but in this congress, are there Things Congress can do to help you tackle some of the challenges . And what are some of those . Yeah. Well, first of all, i think its really important that we give the message to congress how important it is that they stay focused on whats right for veterans and dont create a partisan issue over va. And when you see whats happening in the rest of washington right now, you can imagine the pressures on our elected members to turn everything into a political issue. So i am very, very proud particularly of those who serve in our committees, some of the leaders we will talk to today, that they have been able to resist those forces and really stay focused on Veterans Issues. Were looking out of the senate right now for them to pass our appeals modernization act. You talked about policy and law that hasnt been updated in a while. Our appeals laws havent been updated since the 1930s. And it now takes on average six years to get a decision if you were to file an appeal today on a disability claim, it will take you six years to get a decision, without a change in the law, were not going to get that fixed. The house has passed it. Were waiting for the senate. We are looking for a solution from congress to help us find solutions for our choice funding problems. And the good news is that were getting more veterans than ever getting care that they need out in the community and in the va. But that has actually accelerated our spend rate in the Choice Program. So were looking for some help there. Were looking for legislation that will make the Choice Program work even better for veterans in the future like we were talking about. Were also looking for support to modernize the va. I think most americans would be surprised to know that our Financial Systems are running on cobalt technology. Last time people used it as a programming language was in the 1970s. Our scheduling systems are ms dos. The blue screens that i was using 30 years ago when i first got my first pc. Our buildings on average are over 60 years old. We have 450 buildings from the civil and revolutionary wars. And so what we really need to do is to modernize our system. Because our veterans deserve better than we have been giving them. Its why i announced recently that the va will be leaving its home grown Electronic Medical record over 35 years old to the department of defenses Electronic Medical record so that the first time we will have a modern off the shelf system from the time you enlist through longterm or end of life care. [ applause ] and we need congress to we need congress to step up and support those types of initiatives. These arent cheap. But in the long run, this is when you send somebody off to war or to conflict, you have already committed to a lifetime of responsibility. And this is part of our countrys responsibility and not making these investments is simply not responsible. Last question before we i think were out of time. Is there a Capital Improvement plan in the works at the va . In other words, what does this cost and how do we as a country pay for it . The va has for years not gotten the types of resources that it has needed. We have a 50 billion capital deficit. And that simply cant be addressed overnight. So what i have announced is that we have 1100 vacant and under utilized buildings. I have said in the next two years, i have a plan to essentially get rid of vacant and unutilized facilities. I want the ability to take those resources, invest them back in the va. Thats going to mean were going to need a different type of footprint. I will give you one example as we close here. We had announced that we were going to build a new hospital in omaha, nebraska. It took us about five years to get that plan going. And we wanted to build a new hospital for 560 million in omaha, nebraska. New bed tower. And, of course, as you know, health care is changing. You dont need as many hospital beds anymore. Most care is now ambulatory. So we took the 10 of money that was given to us for design fees, 56 million to plan the new hospital, and instead of planning a new hospital bed, we took the 56 million, we worked with the community in omaha, nebraska, a private public partnership, and the community donated another 40 million. And now were building a stateoftheart ambulatory facility for 96 million, using 10 of taxpayer dollars. Were going to have a stateoftheart facility in omaha that will serve the needs of veterans without building a big bed tower. And i think we need to think about what the footprint of va is going to welcome like in the future so that we can get stateoftheart facilities without having to spend the type of money we thought we needed in the past. I think together and working more with the private sector, were going to be able to reshape the system so everybody is proud and veterans are getting the best care. [ applause ] again, special thanks to you, mr. Secretary for joining us. That wraps it up. We all wish you good luck Getting Congress to close 1100 facilities around the country. Thank you. [ applause ] announcer ladies and gentlemen, please welcome, mrs. Laura bush. [ applause ] thank you, everyone. Thank you very much. Thanks, everybody. Thank you, all. Thanks to eric ever so and tom donahue. Thank you all for hosting this at the u. S. Chamber of commerce. Id like to recognize meg cab bathe the National Director of Caregiver Support Program at the department of Veterans Affairs. Thank you for joining us today. And thank you for your commitment to serving our Military Spouses and families. A special [ applause ] a special thanks to walmart and to the boeing company. Thank you for your generous support of the veteran community and thank you for sponsoring the Bush Institute stand to. And to all the veterans and active military here today, thank you for your Selfless Service to our country. [ applause ] as many of the servicemen and women gathered here today know you arent the only members of your family who serve. Your spouses serve as well. While our servicemen and women are deployed, their spouses are the ones taking care of everything at home. They care for the children. They manage the family finances. And they pray that their husbands or wives in uniform return home safely. Master sergeant rocky rodriguez and his wife marlene joined us at our ranch in 2013 and 2014 for the bush centers annual warrior 100 bike ride. When marlene talked about rockys years of service in the air force, she say we he served 25 years. I lived every deployment with rocky, every trial and tribulation so the day that i said yes to him, i didnt realize the impact his service would have on me. In fact, rocky so credits marlene with his recovery that george painted marlene in his portrait with rocky. [ applause ] thats why its so important to make sure that while our servicemen and women receive the support they need when they come home that we care for their spouses and families too. Today were discussing ways to improve that veterans transition to civilian life in the areas of wellness, education and employment. While there are over 4 million post911 veterans, there are 8. 10 million Family Members and we must consider how we can support their transition as well. All caregivers hope for their families to be in good physical and mental health, but as veterans transition to civilian life. They oven deal with the tres stresses of uncertainty and f d finding new meanings in their life. Post Traumatic Stress and the lack of stability make veterans more susceptible to issues like depression, homelessness, addiction and suicide and when one Family Member is suffering the entire family suffers leading to an increase in the risk of behavioral issues, anxiety and depression in military children too. Just as veterans need Good Health Care when they return home, caregivers need access to quality care for themselves and for their children. 66 of military families say they have difficulty finding good and affordable child care. And this is one of the reasons why military families are 27 less 27 less likely to have dual incomes and why 21 of Military Spouses who want or need to work are unemployed. 15 of military caregivers spend 40 hours a week at home caring for their veteran and often spend even more time caring for their children when child care is unavailable. In order to ensure that our caregivers have the opportunity to find meaningful work and contribute financially to their household we need to ensure that caregivers and Family Members are eligible for the same Transition Services that are offered to veterans through the government and through the nonprofit community. [ applause ] Steven Schwab is here today representing the Elizabeth Dole foundation. The Elizabeth Dole foun digss mission is to create an america where military caregivers are empowered, appreciated and recognized for their service to our nation. Through their hidden heros care giving community, caregivers around the country can access a Digital Forum where they can find emotional support for themselves and their families and where they can learn from other caregivers and where they can discover resources in programs that are available in their own communities. The Elizabeth Dole foundation is a terrific example of a support group directed at improving the wellbeing of those who help our Service Members and the Bush Institute applauds their work. Veterans and caregivers all want their children to be properly educated, but the average military family will move six to nine times during their Childs School career, an average of three times more frequently than nonmilitary families. States and local School Districts need to make sure that military children have equal opportunities for academic success, this means having teachers and School Administrators who understand the challenges of relocating to a new school. The differences in achievement standards and course offerings, High School Graduation requirements, Extracurricular Activities and how difficult it is for students to create a new life in a new school. While theyre plenty of organizations committed to supporting military children, few programs exist to assist with School Transition and academic support. Its our responsibility to make sure that students are not disadvantaged because they have a military parent. We need to place our military children on a path to success, preparing them for a Bright Future in college and beyond. Just like their spouses, studies show that caregivers primary concern when transitioning to civilian life is employment, their own employment. Military spouses often spend their marriage moving their family around the country and around the world. On average military families move to a Community Every two to three years, making it hard to keep a job. This displacement causes periods of unemployment and a weak professional network. Most military families need two incomes and too many are forced to live paycheck to paycheck and 80 of Military Spouses say that their job search has caused stress within their marriage. Some Companies Already recognize that hiring Military Spouses isnt only the right thing to do, its the smart thing to do. As a member of the Military Spouse employment partnership, their helping Military Spouses find jobs and theyre providing training to help them enter a new career field. And just this week, starbucks committed to hiring 10,000 veterans and Military Spouses by 2018 and 25,000 hires by 2025. The Elizabeth Dole foundation and starbucks are just a few organizations that have identified themselves as leaders in helping our veteran caregivers and families in the transition to civilian life and im grateful for their example. I want to thank the other 70 plus organizations recognized here today, government agencies, business, nonprofits, academia. Thanks to you for your commitment to our veterans and their families. As you work to improve veterans transition i ask that you also consider how you can support the hidden heros, the spouses, the fathers and mothers, the children and the loved ones who also serve our country. Military families are american families. They have the same priorities to create a newer touring home, to take care of their loved ones, to find a strong education for their children and to be financially secure, and they do so with more difficulties and obstacles. Im reminded of the old line that the danzer ginger rodgers did. She did everything that the great fred astair did except that she did it backwards and in high heels. Our military is the strength of our nation and our Service Members are the strength of our military and our caregivers are the strength of our veterans and wounded warriors. Their devotion to our men and women in uniform and their commitment to their marriage, to their family and to our country isen inspiration to us all. Thank you all and god bless you. [ applause ] announcer recently on cspan3, zachary wood at stay Senate Judiciary committee. Cancelled the speaker. Days later the president enacted new speaker policies that made bringing speakers to campus and especially arduous process for my student group. What i find impermissible, undemocratic to the intellectual character of the college i attend is the president s decision to disinvite a speaker solely on the basis of his inflammatory remarks about race. Congresswoman on the Opioid Crisis in the u. S. I was sitting next to the Denver Public librarian and i said what are the issues youre facing here at the Denver Public library and i thought she would Say Something like cybersecurity or access to books, she said, you know, we have people overdosing in the Library Every day and we need to get our librarians so that they can give it to people who have overdosed at the Denver Public library. And senator john mccain at the confirmation hearing of Deputy Defense nominee patrick shan in a han. We now have an executive from one of the five major corporations that has cor raled 90 of our Defense Budgets and on one of the major issues that this committee has had hearings about, has reported out our bill and you want to find out more information, not a good beginning. Not a good beginning. Do not do that again, mr. Shanahan or i will not take your name up for a vote before this committee. Announcer cspan3 programs are available at cspan. Org right on our home page or by searching the video library. Announcer tonight on the communicators. I dont think theres any dispute that everybodys in favor of an open internet. I think were in favor of basic internet rules. The only way to ensure that is through legislation. Reporter robert quinn for external and legislative affairs of at t, the Largest Telecom lobbying operation in washington talks about key issues in the companys interest such as Corporate Tax reform, privacy and net neutrality. Hes interviewed by david shepherdson. Were going through the process. We initiated the heart scott review of the department of justice last fall shortly after the deal was announced. I think we kicked it off in november. Were going through a process with the department of justice, you know. I think weve told the street that we expect the deal to close by the end of the year. We still have some foreign approvals that hang out there. Were not completely done