From any of your states or dea. When our state senator just [inaudible] brings to me some articles is and studies that i, he thought that i should consider. I pay little attention to him until a couple of years later that i went to a conference he was giving to many people. And he explained x then i went back to those articles. I thank the nga staff and my taffe to be included one of those articles, and we all, all of us have it right now is an article by glenn greenwald, a yale professor on drug decriminalization in portugal. And this is a very touchy subject, i know. But just to give you numbers, in 2001 people that died by heroin is and opiate in portugal where it was, 281. In 2006 it was 133. They decriminalized all drugs. Just, i know its a very touchy subject, but i think its a good article to take a look at. On page 18 theres a table that shows how decline number of dead people by consumption of illegal drugs. Its something that i am, i havent been able to put forward in pert ri
We will go ahead and get started. I am scott madison, the executive director of the National Governors association. Feel free to take your seats. Welcome. This is the 108th summer meeting of the National Governors associati association and taking place with the backdrop of a lot of serious issues across the nation and world and of course two major Party Conventions taking place in the next couple weeks. I am happy to introduce the chairman of the National Governors association from utah, governor branstad and we have the vice chairman, governor mcauliffe from virginia and the host, the longest serving governor in the mystery of the United States terry branstad. We are happy to have him. [applause] and now, it is funny, people say the meeting is going great so far and i say it is good laws of governor branstad. I am turn it over to david yepsen and many of you probably know david. Heavy has been with the Des Moines Register and on Public Television in different capacities and now he is
We have a lot seeking service and the arts program has been very popular. I understand that the veterans access choice and accountability act allows for continuation of that, but could you address for me how that will happen . Its important for our rural veterans. They like it and it works for them and i just wanted to get clarification in terms of how its impacted by the choice card. So the legislation extended the arts program. We have extended the contract temporarily while we are renewing the arch program so it will remain in place essentially as it has existed in the past Going Forward. Okay. I appreciate that. I yield back, thank you. Senator flores. Mr. Secretary i appreciate you joining us and i also appreciate the work that you and secretary mcdonald and the team are doing to work with congress and this committee in particular to build the va at the 21st century. A few weeks ago there was an article about the business of research on returning war veterans and i will ask the ch
Have been occurring on a regular basis since Early September so i would like to thank you and i appreciate the time that you have invested in openly communicating with the staff on the house and the senate side of the committee on the implementation issues in the progress that you have been making on this implementation issues. In the va i hope it is a precedent for improving relationships as we go forward. The law provided Additional Resources and authorities to provide for the key improvements for veterans. Timely access to health care, expansion of the internal capacity and the indication of the benefits. Today i hope you will hear tangible ways that benefits. The veterans are getting the outcomes intended. If there are roadblocks to the implementation you need to know what they are and how it can be fixed on those roadblocks. With regards to timely access to health care i am aware that the department has expressed serious concerns with the 90 day deadline on the Choice Program. The
Life affirming story. Reporter clay had cancer four times over 17 years. I was his care giver and we had a lot of wonderful times we move from new york to california. He started life over again doing that Magazine Program at the university of california berkeleys journalism school. We had students who were a new generation of journalists to come to our house all the time. It was a wonderful period. Twice when he came back to new york and had to retire, his body began to slow down, as this is toward the end. I was ruminating. This was the smallest kitchen of the many kitchens of my life. It was unusually hot for june. Standing on top of the refrigerator has to be small silicon steel the ceiling. I was telling a story with mushrooms because the chinese speak highly of boosting the immune system. I still cant give up. Could he have left already . Once the hospital bed was dated at our apartment everything changed. We no longer sleep beside each other. We occupied different rooms. He sleep