>> live friday, the house is during 9:00 a.m. to work on legislation to remove the gray wolf from the endangered species list. on c-span2 at eight: 30 a.m. a summit on improving oversight of the federal government. trump says veterans and military families will always be a priority for the administration. the president expressed commitment for improving

services at the white house where he was joined by the veterans affairs secretary. >> ladies and gentlemen, you didn't get rid of me. i may be a recovering politician but even in that status i have having extra to say. but i have a great honor right now. i'm going to introduce someone who is the reason i am here. in my confirmation hearing, i was accused by several senators of being the forrest gump of the united states senate because there was no question that they could give me that i could not fall back on some instance from the roman empire that would support the answer to the question. well i'm going to plead guilty to that and say something. i'm a pretty good presidential historian. and i did a piece today, i think it was in "usa today," maybe

it'll be tomorrow, there's never been a presidential campaign, certainly in the post world war ii era, where one of the candidates made veterans the centerpiece of his campaign. and that was brought home to me when i was made the acting secretary. now, for those of you who have had your heads beaten in by the jesuit fathers as i have had, being the acting secretary is like being in jesuit limbo. you are, but you're not. and i was amazed during that eight weeks that i was privileged to be the acting secretary of the department how much time the president of the united states spent with me, talking about veterans, talking about the future of the department of veterans' affairs. i have worked in white houses before and the notion that in an eight-week time span, any

president would spend more than one hour with someone who was outside of the white house complex is case, it was an honor. it was an honor for me as the son of a soldier. it was an honor for me as an officer. days that, that 100 i've been privileged to serve as the head of this department. all of the things i saw about president trump during my active time have been made manifest in the support that he has given to our nations warriors. he is returning from the marine barracks. had aterans have never better friend in the white house. it is my high honor and distinct pleasure to introduce you, the president of the united states, donald j. trump. thank you. [applause]

wow. that was such a nice introduction, mr. secretary. thank you. jesse understand, he is doing a great job. please sit down. he is a fantastic person who has committed like i have never seen. defense and they weren't happy about it. that is a good sign. if they are happy, you know you picked the wrong person. thank you very much. thank you, everybody, for being here. this is a tremendously important group of people to me. america's veterans, these are special people. to welcome thrilled

you all to the white house conference on supporting veterans military families. we all know how important families are for us. i want to thank, this man has been of great help, utah attorney general shawn ray us. thank you very much. [applause] earlier this week, and nation celebrated veterans day and the 100th anniversary -- 100 year anniversary of the armistice that ended world war i. an important day. a sunday, i had the immense privilege of visiting a cemetery and france to pay tribute to the brave americans who lay down their lives for our nation one century ago. 100 years. we will never forget but these heroes did to win.

today whoe here served our country in uniform and to every veteran and military family across our land, i want to express eternal gratitude and thanks of our entire nation. delivering for our great veterans require strong partnerships at all levels of government. that is why we are so grateful to you, the state, very important, and local leaders. it doesn't work without you. the are also glad to be joined by secretary of labor alex acosta. hello, alex. you are doing a great job. veterans --g our our efforts to ensure veterans

can find great jobs and rewarding careers. one of the best things we have going is you have maybe the greatest economy we have had in many years. thank you, alex. i thought i saw you back there. now you are where you belong. i want to thank all of the people who are making this economy go. we have so many people working so hard. it is booming. veteran unemployment has reached its lowest level in nearly 21 years. [applause] that number will be better because, if you look at statistics, african-american unemployment is the lowest level in history. hispanic unemployment is the lowest level in history. asian unemployment is the lowest

level in history. better for the veterans. is not the same -- 21 years is not the same. this is the lowest in 21 years. since day one, might ministration has taken action to -- we are working very hard on it. the landmarksigned v.a. accountability act. usountability, that ensures the right to get rid of, in a very nice way, or a very rough way, anyway we want -- [laughter] mistreat our veterans

and they are going to be held fully accountable. something for four decades, they have been trying to get it approved. i love the unions, i love civil service, they didn't make this easy. since my inauguration, we have removed 3600 government employees who are not giving our veterans the respect they deserve. in june, i signed into law the most significant the a reform in half a century, called veterans choice. everyone knows what that means. get if the veteran cannot the treatment they need from the v.a. in a timely manner, they can see a private doctor. daysdon't have to wait of or 20 days. -- they don't have to wait 12 days, or to 20 days.

i have heard horror stories. i don't think i left veterans out of one speech. i made plenty of them. top and now we are producing. since i took office, 2.2 billion veterans have been able to receive the care they need outside of the v.a. system. -- 2.2 millionon veterans have been able to receive the care they need outside of the v.a. system. doctor rightivate outside and we did for it. they are very thankful. it has been incredible. that program as time goes by. we are doing it step by step. we have had great support in congress. in september, i signed into law

the largest funding bill for the v.a. in history. billion for8.6 veterans mental health services. opioid abusefor prevention. the rural veterans have had it pretty tough over the years. away fromretty far potentially good treatment. working with the v.a. and the department of housing and urban development, we have helped 54,000 veterans in need. we have helped them find permanent housing and great services last year. to improve the efficiency of the v.a., i signed a modernization act. we have taken dramatic action to streamline the bureaucracy and

make tremendous progress. last year, we processed more than one million total claims. with 85,000 appeals, decisions. moreost in history and 62% than the previous year, which is a record. nobody has ever seen that kind of improvement. we have reduced the average 25%, wait time by nearly and that number will get substantially better with a little more time. he opened to the promised white house fee a hotline, which has already fielded more than 100 50,000 calls and emails from our veterans. in many cases, we receive calls bets. 150000 calls and

emails from our veterans. they have seamless access to mental health care and suicide prevention resources for veterans. there is a focus on the first year after separation from military service. that is when a lot of bad things can happen. million for206 suicide prevention programming. every fee a medical center offers same day emergency mental health care. we have to do more and we are working to do more. be working with every state and local leader, many of you are here, and around the nation to improve vital mental

health services for our veterans. priority for might ministration, has been from the beginning and always will be. until we get it right. we are getting close. once we get it right, we are going to keep it right, because it can go bad just as fast as we fixed it, so we are going to keep it right. pretty soon, we are just going to work on keeping it right. to our crucial element veterans agenda, is increased access to education. last year, i signed legislation to allow every veteran to use their g.i. education benefits at any point in their lives. earlier this year, i signed an executive order to promote military spouse hiring across the federal government, no terry families are the backbone of our nation. families are the

backbone of our nation. the fact is, i have done a lot. [laughter] [applause] goodbye, everybody. that is a lot. that is a lot. it is more than anybody has thought about. and i am proud of it. and we are not finished. i thought i could leave now. [laughter] we never will be finished. $716ve secured a record billion in military funding. military is the best way to prevent war. the stronger we are, the less chance we have of going to war. a great force, we have

the finest equipment, the finest planes, the finest missiles, rockets and ships. some are being built. i just gave out a tremendous order for brand-new f-35 fighter jets. they are stealth, you can't see them. other than that, they are easy to be. [laughter] not being able to see them is an awfully big advantage. we make the best equipment in the world. you should know that. we make equipment like nobody else comes close. our technology is far superior to anybody else. fighters, our -- our itfighterse, our tankers, is all made in the usa.

[applause] the greatesthave and most prepared force, military force anywhere in the history by far. it was coming -- it was becoming very depleted and you people probably know better than anyone else in the country what was happening. it was not good, and now it is really good. it is our sacred duty to support america's servicemembers. when they return home as veterans and heroes, we take care of them. it is very important. they really appreciated. nothing i have done is more appreciated -- i think we have done a lot for a lot of different groups -- no one has appreciated it more than the veterans. when i meet people backstage and

--tage, i think the v3et vets appreciate what did anyone else what we are doing for them. we will cherish those who protect us and we will celebrate the amazing heroes that keep america safe and strong and proud and free. to thank you all, you are all incredible people. i know what you have gone through, especially before we came through office. what you went through was incredible, horrible in certain ways. i know what you went through and it is my honor to be with you. god bless america, keep up the good work. thank you. [applause]

>> on the c-span networks, the house returns at 9:00 a.m. legislationwork on to remove the gray wolf from the endangered species list. two, improving oversight of the federal government. weekend for live coverage of the miami book fair, starting saturday at 10:00 a.m. eastern. they will discuss their book, russian roulette. at noon, an interview with supreme court justice soanya sotomayor. trumpedp.m. eastern, any advisory board member discusses her book, met politics.

goldberg.m., jonah with his book, suicide of the west. a.m., ay, 11:15 columnist on the middle class with her book, squeezed. p.m., a fox news journalist discusses his book. at 6:00 p.m., john kerry with his memoir, every day is extra. watch the miami fair, live this weekend on c-span2's tv. ohio governor john kasich is a potential presidential candidate in 2020. he delivered remarks at the first amendment gala in new hampshire. his remarks are about 40 minutes. kasich was a congressman for nine terms