In The News

As a 33-year military veteran, I'm outraged at recent events surrounding the Veterans Administration (VA) and the medical care provided to our veterans. Multiple news reports have raised allegations regarding preventable deaths and attempts to cover up treatment delays at VA health clinics. Whistleblowers have reported that the Phoenix VA Hospital developed a “secret waiting list” to hide these delays - which may have led to the deaths of dozens of patients while they waited for care.

These allegations are appalling and, if proven, will not be tolerated. I've served with countless, selfless service members - many of whom sacrificed their lives or endured serious physical and mental injuries; they - and all others who serve our nation in uniform - deserve better. These revelations, coupled with news reports about the intentional destruction of evidence during the investigation of this matter, have shaken Americans’ confidence in the VA and led two of the nation’s leading veteran organizations - The American Legion and Concerned Veterans for America - to call for the resignation of VA Secretary Eric Shinseki.

This isn’t a blanket condemnation of the VA, which successfully provides critical medical care to millions of veterans each day. I've seen firsthand the commitment and dedication of VA staff. But the problems with the VA bureaucracy are clear for all to see and the status quo simply is unacceptable.

First, too many veterans are waiting too long to receive medical treatment. As of last October, the number of pending claims reported by the VA stood at 717,007 - of which over 411,000 had been pending for more than 125 days.

While the VA has made some progress in addressing this issue, more can be done to directly reduce the backlog at facilities with the greatest wait time.  I’ve supported legislation that would direct funding already allocated within the VA to where it's truly needed most - VA Regional Offices, such as in Pittsburgh and Baltimore, which are most responsible for the backlog.

The answer isn’t necessarily to throw money at the problem - the VA’s budget has increased about 60 percent in five years. This is an example of doing “more with less” with targeted reallocation of funding to address the backlog problem at its source. Last fall, I also voted in favor of a bill, H.R. 2189, that would establish a commission to evaluate the backlog of veterans’ disability compensation claims and recommend ways to reduce the number of pending claims.

Second, we must hold the VA and its employees accountable when mistakes and grievous oversights are made.

            I’m a co-sponsor of H.R. 4031, the “Department of Veterans Affairs Management Accountability Act of 2014", which seeks to confront the widespread and systemic lack of accountability for VA senior executives. Multiple VA Inspector General reports have linked patient care problems to widespread mismanagement within VA facilities. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has found that VA bonus pay has no clear link to performance. As a result, the VA has given its senior executives cash bonuses of up to $63,000 - despite the lingering issues cited above.  H.R. 4031 would help bring real accountability to the VA by making it easier to fire or demote senior managers who are failing our veterans.  I also voted in favor of H.R. 357, the G.I. Bill Tuition Fairness Act of 2013, which would ban performance bonuses for VA Senior Executive Service employees and would heighten reporting requirements for VA employees.

         Finally, one of the areas where we're most clearly failing our veterans is mental health. While mental health issues are far too complex to hold the VA singularly accountable, it's incumbent upon us to honor the service of veterans facing mental health challenges and to find a solution.

The numbers are tragic. In 2013, 284 active-duty service members committed suicide, and the VA’s best estimate projects that 22 veterans die by suicide each day. A new poll from the Washington Post and Kaiser Family Foundation found that 51 percent of post-9/11 veterans know a service member or veteran who attempted or committed suicide.

Veterans deserve timely access to mental health care, yet many wait far too long for appointments. Veterans have earned high-quality care tailored to their needs, but too often our system fails to evaluate programs or ensure our service members are informed by best research our country has to offer.

Right from the start, we fail those who want to serve by not offering what could save their lives, or perhaps the lives of others - a mental health competency test. Currently, the Department of Defense does a thorough physical assessment of individuals before they join, but no mental health evaluation.  Why?

           To address this, I co-sponsored H.R. 4305, the Medical Evaluation Parity for Servicemembers (MEPS) Act, which would institute a preliminary mental health assessment at the time recruits first join the military. The assessment then may be used as a baseline to help identify changes in mental health throughout an individual’s military career.

        Congress owes it to all who serve to expedite these bills and fulfill the VA’s core values of integrity, commitment, advocacy, respect and excellence.