Order. Thank you for coming today especially the witnesses we have a number of witnesses available todays hearing is about the issue of suicide. As many people know this month in Americas National Suicide Prevention month across the country terrible wasteful loss of life they think john will remember when we first came in three years ago the first bill we passed was a Suicide Prevention bill that passed and if they could get any report they might have on the progress on the implementation in terms of automatic but its very important. I held a hearing at Georgia State university as a member of this committee. As they feel dishing hearing on the issue of suicide th suicidey redesigned it is in that year from leading up to august, 2014, the georgia principal hospital in claremont road i indicator hd three suicides, to oncampus and on the mishandling of available tools for suicide Like Pharmaceuticals and things of that nature and others were like awareness to improve the response to suici
The committee for increased hiring authorities. This hearing is two hours and 20 minutes. Let me call this meeting of the Senate Veterans committee, this hearing to order. Thank all of you for coming today. Especially our witnesses. We have a number of members who are on the way, but were going to in the interest of time, were going to get started. Todays hearing is about the issue of suicide. As many people in the room know, this month in america is National Suicide Prevention Month across the country. Suicide is a terrible, terrible, terrible loss and wasteful loss of life, and preventable loss of life. I think john will remember when we first came in as a committee three years ago, our first bill that we passed was the clay hunt Suicide Prevention bill. Passed this committee 990, and well ask the secretary and the other members from the v. A. To give us any report they might have on the progress of the implementation in terms of the act, but its a very important act. In august of 20
The hearing will come to order. We are here to discuss the president s fiscal year 2016 budget request for the department of Veterans Affairs. Mr. Secretary, welcome to the committee. Understand that your testimony will be a little bit different today than what we are accustomed to with reference to chart to help us better understand what you are seeing in terms of the challenges that lay ahead and i would say that is indeed a welcome change. So too is the open as you have had with me with members of this committee and this congress about your plans to change the culture at the va. As your testimony illustrates you have been extremely active in visiting va facilities. I think its well over 90 at this point, talking with employees veteran groups in your private sector colleagues with one aim in mind, putting everyones focus squarely on the needs of veterans. Thank you for your willingness to take the job of secretary and thank you for putting everything you have into that job. Turning t
In iraq, we were there on the ground collecting so we had data bases to use. The concern is in syria, the lack of our footprint on our ground in syria, that the data bases wont have the information we need. It is not the lack of process, it is the lack of information. And is there ways that you could suggest we go about trying to get this information . I just dont think you can go and get it. You are talking about a country that is a failed state. It does not have any infrastructure so to speak so all of the data sets, the police, the Intel Services that you would go and seek that exist dont exist. And that raises grave concern as being able to do proper background checks of the individuals coming into the country. Yes. All right. Now, mr. Taylor, thank you for your testimony as well. And as a member as chairman of the subcommittee on transportation and i look forward to working together for the Mutual Benefit of everybody. And looking at your written transmission and so i can better u
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.