On the recordJune 11, 2014
as the son of an Air Force master sergeant and a member of the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, I take very seriously my responsibility to represent the interests of those who have served our country in uniform. When it comes to our Nation's veterans, their commitment to country is without question, and our country's commitment to them should be the same. Put simply, our veterans deserve better. That is why I am pleased to see that we have come together to address this crisis in the Senate. These men and women have served and sacrificed on behalf of a grateful nation. We need to ensure that they are getting the high-quality services they have earned. Our veterans deserve a system that proves their care is our top priority. Unfortunately, the VA is struggling to meet the health demands for our veterans. The VA inspector general is currently investigating misconduct throughout the VA health system. In order to ensure accountability, we have to give the VA the ability to fire and demote senior executive service employees who are responsible for these types of abuses. Under current law, senior VA employees are nearly untouchable. That means the very people responsible for hiding the true extent of wait times, for instance, and other abuses cannot be fired. That is incredible when you think about it. We cannot tolerate bad actors who abuse their power and put our veterans in danger.…
