Veterans moving forward . Delphine metcalffoster number , for all is care for women veterans. Paul how do you go about how does your organization go about promoting those two things . Numbere metcalffoster one, for 9 11, we have our registration staff in washington that promotes this with our elected officials. We are promoted every day. Right now it is just for post9 11. All areas are needed. We are making sure our voices are heard in our local areas and districts we are living in. Paul the disabled American Veterans has 1. 3 million members. Now, delphine metcalffoster. Remind us of what this organization is all about. When was it formed and what is its Broad Mission . Delphine metcalffoster it was formed in 1920. It Broad Mission is fulfilling the promises of the men and women who have served with respect and dignity. Injured and illness veterans. Given the benefits that they deserve, we have assisted them with benefits, and any kind of situations they might have as far as their families. We have a volunteer program, we have volunteers to assist our veterans, we have Education Programs and employment to assist them also. Paul you are the first woman and the first africanamerican woman to lead a major veteran service organization. What do you want to bring to your new role and what is unique about your background in your situation that will help you out . Delphine metcalffoster i want to bring forward the issues that we are having now and the issues we might have in the future. My role that i have served, i am an army veteran, 21 years in the , the firstes army sergeant, i am a desert storm, Desert Shield veteran, a combat veteran. The six 89th registration was what i was in charge of. Paul phone numbers on the bottom of the screen for our metcalffoster, the head of the disabled American Veterans organization, she is in new orleans this morning. Republicans call this number. 202 7488001 democrats call 202 7488000. Ndependents 202 7488002 we have a special line for disabled veterans. 3. 202 748800 delphine metcalffoster, you are a disabled veteran yourself. Tell us about your specific experience and how does that inform you . How does that help you move forward in terms of finding the best path for your organization . Delphine metcalffoster i am a disabled veterans. Andme back from combat suffered from ptsd. Registrations a company where we were in charge of putting bodies in body bags. This is one thing we will never forget. As you know, myself included, i never had to do anything that this work consisted of and i needed ptsd counseling. At the time i came back there were not many issues with women in combat so i worked with our andnization very tirelessly we worked with our v. A. Health care system to provide care for combat female veterans. Paul we have some remarks from shulkinran secretary who briefed reporters on what steps the v. A. Was taking to improve Health Care Access for vets. We will hear from him in just a couple of moments that to our guest, from the veterans perspective, what would you like to see in any Health Reform legislation that might be coming down the line . What are you looking for . As iine metcalffoster said, i will continue to look caregiversd pre9 11 for all areas. Veterans. E for women those are two of my issues we will be looking for. I will take hold of all the issues that veterans do have. That they have that i want to be there in order to give them our information. They have the website here on the screen. But to make sure they have access to our local v. A. Facilities to assist them. Paul that being said, here is secretary shall can now with reporters. We have done a significant job in improving access to care for clinically urgent veterans. So people with clinically urgent needs are being addressed in a more efficient way. We have Sameday Services in everyone of our 168 Medical Centers for primary care and Mental Health. Today, over 22 of veterans are seen on the same day basis. What we have done recently is we have posted our wait times for every single Medical Center across the country in a public forum for everybody to see what is good and not good in terms of weight times. There is no other Health System in the country that has done anything like that and there is no comparison to what the v. A. Is doing in terms of transparency and wait times. Yet, veterans are waiting 60 days or more for appointments in primary care and Mental Health in 30 of our Locations Nationwide so we have more to do. Paul delphine metcalffoster in new orleans, what did you hear in those remarks from the secretary . Delphine metcalffoster i heard in those remarks that there is progress being done. There are issues that they are addressing. Isnow our legislative staff with the secretary on making these procedures happen. First call for our guest, michael from crosby, texas, a democrat line. Good morning. Caller how are you all doing . Paul whats your situation . Commenti would like to on the hospital he having houston which is great. I dont know why they say the v. A. Is not doing their job. Anytime i go there i get treated with respect and my medicine is good. I am dealing with my problems. They are doing a good job. Paul anything you would change . Caller no. It is great. I love it. I would love to see how it works. Paul thanks for calling. Lets hear from our guest. Delphine metcalffoster great, michael, thank you very much. Paul carlton is from louisville, kentucky. Good morning to you. Caller i was calling about where are the Veterans Administration has decided that they start cutting your conversation. I was receiving 100 and they cut me down to 70 . Now, they are in the process, thinking about cutting down to 60 . Can i get your comment on that . Paul any response to our guest . Delphine metcalffoster there is no comment because we have what they Call National service the ars at your local office, regional office. They are here to assist you so i would suggest that you give him 877iamavet and im sure they will assist you in that matter. Paul lets hear from another caller. Illinois. M rossville, we are here with delphine metcalffoster the head of disabled americans. Caller i am calling because there is still so much discussion about singlepayer system for the United States and Health Reform and i would like the v. A. Would support a singlepayer system . There are problems, as the previous caller had described with decreasing reimbursements. I have heard from veterans, they really appreciate the services. The delays are problematic. Ofgiven the larger context changing the Affordable Care act and increasing support of singlepayer, i am wondering how that would play out with the Veterans Administration. Paul lets go to our guest in new orleans. She is asking about singlepayer and whether you support that . Well,ne metcalffoster as i said, i am with the the a mission. That. L stick with im sure in the long run it will happen but im not able to address that issue at this time. Paul bailey is on the line from charlotte, north carolina, the republican line. Caller my comment is simple. Funds there for veterans affairs, i think Services Rendered need to be regulated. In other words, in my profession before i do anything i have to look up what i would do in a book and what it pays and what i can charge. The human body has been extorted in this country. We have doctors that specialize in feet, eyes, toes and ears. Basically what it comes down to is the interests coming along with the v. A. And it is a slush pool. Everybody is drawing from it. I think it is time we start regulating. A wrenched ankle pays this ,uch and you can charge anymore the rooms stay, how much the rooms cost and what it boils down to is this whole gambit we have created with obamacare, we are basically paying off Student Loans for doctors who take eight years to learn how to work on a hand. That is my comment. Paul any reaction to the caller . Delphine metcalffoster no, thank you for his input. We appreciate that. Paul does your Organization Support the the a Choice Program we have been hearing about in recent months . Delphine metcalffoster we do support it but we also support the v. A. For them to fully fund the v. A. We are working with the Choice Program now. Paul what do you make of the secretary, we heard from him earlier . How do you think the v. A. Is doing in terms of access for vets. What advice would you give to the secretary . As iine metcalffoster said, i would work with the secretary and our legislative area is working with the v. A. To work out these issues and to work together. You go about doing that . What is the process your Organization Works from . Delphine metcalffoster as i said, at our National Headquarters we have a legislative staff that works with him and the v. A. On a constant basis as far as changing the laws or implementing different ideas that we have as veterans. Paul we have mike on the line from byron, minnesota. Byron, what would you like to ask about our guest . Caller first, let me say thank you for your service. Delphine metcalffoster thank you. Caller im tired of people cutting down the v. A. Health care system. I have had nothing but positive results when i go there. Use minneapolis hospital and the rochester Outpatient Clinic and i live about 10 miles from the clinic and i would rather use the v. A. Health care. They do better jobs. Delphine metcalffoster i appreciate that. Paul cheryl from alabama, press claim of your town please . Caller i just wanted to ask the y when the v. A. Started with posttraumatic stress syndrome, if she served in actual battle . Thank you. Paul any response there . Delphine metcalffoster i could barely hear her, could you repeat what she said . Paul it was a little bit tricky to hear you. Unfortunately, she is gone. Sorry about that. Lets move on to jean from marietta, kansas. Can hear her better. She is on the republican line. Caller hi there. What i am wondering is i hear these people saying what a good job the v. A. Is doing and things. I worked at the v. A. Myself for 17 years. In the hospital that i worked at , it had six operating rooms and they are only using two. And it is because of the lack of doctors. Our emergency room was completely shut down due to the lack of doctors. I worked on the medical floor. There were two wards. Both wards combined had a total of somewhere around 32 to 36 patients. Right now, they are limited to 12 rooms. That is all they can use on a medical floor. Paul delphine metcalffoster, that caller speaks to what he sees as a doctor shortage. Is that something you can speak to from your area . Delphine metcalffoster no it is not. I want to thank him for his service, 17 years at the v. A. Paul take us deeper into Mental Health treatment for ptsd. You mentioned your situation. Perhaps you can talk about Suicide Prevention as well. Do you think there are enough resources and assets out there for folks in those situations . Can you speak deeply about that . Delphine metcalffoster the suicide rate, as you know, is increasing. It has increased over the last 10 years. I feel like we should be more aware of our ptsd. We should have more funding to fund that program because it is very real and needed. They can go to dav. Org to get information about the tollfree number for Suicide Prevention there also. Paul how about for caregiver benefits, something we have covered in recent months . Is enough being done there or what else can be done . Delphine metcalffoster our headquarters, again, are getting with our elected officials and advocating in washington about the post and pre9 11 for all eras of the military. Paul tony in sierra vista, arizona. Independent caller. Good morning. Caller good morning. I want to thank you for what you are doing. Disabledhonor to be a veteran because i truly believe when you put on the uniform, you are aware that every day, a Service Members life is at risk and whether you are in direct not, it is important ,ou give 100 plus and that especially if you are doing 20 years. What i have experienced in arizona is i have had doctors who have said to me i am afraid of you. So what i now come to do is ask that they leave the door open. I will sign any waiver. If it starts to escalate, i will ask for an additional person in the room and then the last dr. That i saw here in sierra vista when i had those conditions that i just explained to you, at the end of the interview he says to me you need to request another provider. I said im not going to do that. If you dont want to provide service to me, you document why. Every Service Member to get copies of your records for every visit because they put things in there you are not aware of. Paul to our guest in new orleans, any response to the color . Delphine metcalffoster i just want to say, thank you for your service and all you are doing to assist other veterans. Paul finally, chuck from rhode island. Good morning. Caller i would like to preface my remarks. I am a lifetime member of the dav. They have treated me well. It is probably one of the best , if a lot ofy these troubled centers could emulate the administrators there it would be a much better system. I have no complaints. They are very professional. And they have wonderful service. From any final thoughts our guest in new orleans on the mission . Your new mission as head of your organization . Delphine metcalffoster i am going to continue the mission that we have done for 96 years. Is fulfillingsion the promises of the men and women who have served with respect and dignity. Paul how can folks find out more about your work and what you are doing in the organization . Delphine metcalffoster they can go on the website, dav. Org 877four to 62838. Paul our guest is delphine metcalffoster from new orleans, the World War Ii Museum in new orleans. She is the new National Commander of the disabled American Veterans. Thank you for your time. Delphine metcalffoster thank you, sir. Paul we will be right back in a couple of minutes with more of the calls and we will open phones so you can talk about any topic that you would like. Here are the numbers to call. Four republicans. Democrats, 202 7488000 and. Ndependence, 202 7488002 open phones, we will bring you the news of the day and we will be right back. Sunday on indepth, american educator, tea party activist, author and attorney Krisanne Hall is our guest. Everybody has a different idea of why the federal government is out of control and then the most asked question i get, as we teach, what do you suppose that is . What do we do about it . If we had been teaching the constitution properly, for the last 150 years, we would know what to do. She is the author of several books including essential stories for junior patriots, in defense of liberty, and sovereign duty. During our live conversation we will be taking your tweets and facebook questions. Watch indepth with chris and hall sunday, live from noon to 3 00 p. M. Eastern on book tv on cspan2. Cspan, where history unfolds daily. Cspan was created as a Public Service by americas Cable Television companies. And is brought to you today by your cable or satellite provider. Washington journal continues. Paul we are going to do some open phones coming up on 9 30 in washington. We will have a hearing at 10 00 on the proposed new fbi Headquarters Building here in washington and some of the issues involving that. And theye is in today