jersey and some of them in democratic states won. what a fantastic field of stars. then this guy comes down the escalator and knocks them all over right? i mean, it's just -- because it turns out that things go on are bubbling on in the country that people reading that saying that was a good piece, rick. your piece was really good, too and then there's like -- then the country is like what are you guys talking about like we haven't -- >> we leave the last few minutes of this event that you can watch online at cspan.org. taking you life to president trump will have remarks and sign an executive order on whistle blower protection. first remarks from vice president pence. >> thank you for your outstanding leadership here at the department of veterans' affairs. the american people and our president and our entire administration are grateful for

your dedication to our veterans. i want to thank all of you for being here today, especially the members of the united states senate and the congress who are with us. particularly, the chairman of the senate of veterans' affairs committee and congressman phil row on veterans' affairs. it is accurate to say in the congress of the united states support for our veterans is a truly unifying and bipartisan cause and join me in thanking all of these members for their work for our veterans. [ applause ] >> most of all thank you to the veterans here with us today. to their spouses and all those who are here to honor them. now, this is an important moment. in the life of the va and in the life of this nation we owe a debt of gratitude to those who serve that we could never fully

repay. today you'll see one more installment in that debt that we will never be able to repay for those who have paid the sacrifice of wearing the uniform and the american people are proud and grateful for it. david mentioned a moment ago my life did not take me on a pathway to wear the uniform of the united states but i'm the son of a soldier and the proud father of a united states marine and it is the greatest privilege of my life to serve as vice president to a president who cares so deeply about our military and about the men and women who have worn the uniform of the united states. [ applause ] from the outset of this administration president trump has been hard at work to keep his promise to rebuild our military, restore the arsenal of democracy and ensure those who are part of the greatest military on earth have access to

world class health care. not long ago the president signed into law the veterans' choice program extension and improvement act moved forward by the members of congress are with us today to get the care that's right for them. in nearly 100 days the american people have seen a level of energetic leadership that's made a difference. more than 500,000 jobs createsed, a record number of bills signed, more since 1947. but i can tell you knowing him well and serving with him closely that the legislation the president is proudest of and the progress most anxious to see the is for our veterans and we'll make one more installment with the stroke of the pen. the president will provide our nation's heroes with access to realtime world class health care. so i say with gratitude for his boundless energy for his commitment to those who serve

and those who have served our nation in uniform, it is my high honor and distinct privilege to introduce you to my friend and a friend to every veteran in america, the president of the united states, president donald trump. [ applause ] >> thank you very much. mike, you have been so magnificent as our vice president and we very much appreciate it. thank you very much. i'm pleased to be here and joined by so many members of congress. it's been really a fantastic period of time for me. and i'm honored also to be at the department of veteran

affairs because i will tell you this has been something right from the beginning of the campaign does not get any more important for me than making life really great for our phenomenal veterans that i can say. so the stage with a lot of great people and great friends, a couple of my friends are in the audience today. mike and laurie, where are they? where are they? where are they? these are incredible people. incredibly successful people and they just have an affinity for helping the veterans and helping david and i want to thank them. unbelievable. thank you. [ applause ] dr. moskowitz also. and we're going to protect those who protect the people protecting us.

first of all, secretary shulkin and i call him the 100 to nothing man because in a totally obstructionist group of democrats we say that with affection he got not only the republicans but he got all of the democrat votes and he won on a 100-0 clip. i hope they're right about that. [ applause ] but david is doing a phenomenal job. he was voted unanimously out of the united states senate and he's worked ever since then day and night to reform and improve the va. i'm also pleased that we're joined by so many members of congress. we have with us senators ernst. where is joni? what a tremendous woman. right from the beginning she has

been and she knows more about veterans than anybody. thanks joni. we appreciate it. senator isaacson. thank you senator. thank you very much. senator it. senator moran and senator tester. thank you, thank you, thank you all, thank you. along with congressman arrington, bergman, brighten stein, denlt, rowe, and win strop, i look forward to serving our veterans with all of you and i can tell you this group, whether they're democrat or republican, they're here to help and we're going to help and we're going to make this so good, it's going to be one of our crown jewels and it's happening already. as part of that process, secretary shul ken has carried out a thorough review and he had some very inside understanding of the v.a., because he's been here. but a thorough review of the

v.a. to uncover all of the problems and challenges that we inherited, of which there were so many. based on those findings, we're putting plans into place to fix those problems and give our veterans the health care they need and the health care they deserve. and they were so for me during this recent election and i can promise them and they know it's going to happen. we're not going to let them down. we have a team the likes of which has never ever been assembled and that includes outside people who are so brilliant and so good like ike and lorrh lorie and we will not until this job is totally done. during these first 100 days, chrk as you know, i've been saying this, a very extreme

emphasis placed p on these hyundais, joni, we've had a lot of legislation passed which nobody understands. i think it's 28 bills as of this moment. somebody said by the time it ends, it's 32 bills, and tremendous legislation. we've already made huge strides to improve the v.a. and the v.a. services. we've imposed new standards of accountability and transparency, including a new website that publishes weight times at every v.a. hospital. it is a website that works. this is not the $5 billion obama care website. dool we remember that? does anybody remember that? does anybody remember the $5 million website? no, i don't think so. we don't have to remember it

anymore. we've implemented same-day services so that the veterans in crisis can find help at the v.a. without any delay. last week i signed the veterans choice improvement act, very proud of that, so that more veterans can see the doctor of their choice and don't have to travel long distances or wait forever for v.a. care. they were waiting in lines for seven days, eight days, nine days, two weeks. some instances were horrible. they were waiting so long they had a very curable problem and they die before they got to see the doctor. it's not going to happen any longer. already this year, using the choice program, veterans have received 42% more approvals to see the doctor of their choosing, but that's just the very beginning of what we have

planned. so much more is coming. today we're taking another bold step forward. i'm signing an executive order to create an office of accountability and whistle-blower protection at the department of veterans affairs. this executive order makes it clear that we will never ever tolerate substandard care for our great veterans. with the creation of this office, we're sending a strong message. those who fail our veterans will be held for the first time accountable. at the same time, we will reward and retain the many v.a. employees who do a fantastic job, of which we have many. and i will tell you, some of the doctors in the v.a., i've heard it from so many people, they're the finest in the world. these are great, great people.

we have to get our vets to those doctors, but we have some of the finest doctors in the world. we have also some of the most honest employees and some of them expose wrongdoing and we will make sure that they're protected. we're also calling on the senate to pass legislation to give the secretary the authority he needs to ensure all v.a. employees are held accountable for how they treat our variance. today's action is historic, but it is only the start of our reforms. our veterans have secured this nation with their blood, sweat, and tears and we will not let them down. these are our great, great people. we will always stand with those who stood for freedom and who stood for us. they protected us. they've made it all possible and now we're going to protect and

take care of them. so i'd like to thank david and his family and all of the people that are working so hard at the v.a. they haven't had enthusiasm. david has just telling me, like this for many, many years and the veterans see what's happening. because i'm getting so many different messages through all forms of communication, of which we now have many. but they're very, very happy, very pleased with what's going on, so david, we want to god bloe bless you and your family. we wish you a lot of luck. you have a lot of talent. but you have a big job ahead. i want to wish everybody god speed and we will do a fantastic job at the v.a., rest assured. thank you very much and we're going to sign right now. thank you very much.

thank you. [ applause ] [ no microphone-inaudible ] [ applause ]

>> thank you very much. . thank you, thank you.

>> president trump will mark his 100th day in office with a rally in harrisburg, pennsylvania saturday night. that's scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. eastern. you can see it live on our companion network c-span. for the first time since ronald reagan was shot, the president is not attending the out when correspondent's association dinner. the dinner will be going on nonetheless. the entertainment is hassan minaj of the daly show. coverage begins at 9:30 p.m. eastern. >> sunday on q & a, the house of truth, a washington political salon and the foundations of american liberalism. we talk with author brad snider,

felix frankfurt ir, lewis brandeis and herbert hooufr who met regularly in the 1900s to debate politics and the future of the country. >> i think they all did this. race wasn't an issue for them. they cared about the rights of americans. that's the first time did supreme court struck down a state criminal conviction tunld due process clause. that was a huge moment in putting fair criminal trials on the liberal agenda and linking the idea of fair criminal trials with race. >> saturday night at 8:00 eastern on c-span's q & a. the senate appropriations