The Public Record
American politician (born 1959)
★ Featured Quote
June 22, 2014
I'm not going to have faith until we are absolutely sure every single veteran has gotten an appointment.
— Jeff Miller
It's more than stunning and I would say that for somebody like this whistleblower to have been forced to make decisions that only medical providers should be making, to triage patients as to whether or not they should be put in a drawer is…
I will say this that I know the acting secretary is out and he is making some very positive changes, but the bureaucracy is still so big. There has to be accountability and people have to pay with their jobs and in some instances, there's…
We must work together to fix the unacceptable systemic problems in accessing VA healthcare and that the VA is taking action to accelerate, access to care reaching out to veterans.
It has been a shame that over at the V.A. they have been so close-minded that they can't understand there are people critical of them who are trying to fix the V.A. not just take away their bonuses.
I would think that Sloane has the skills that's necessary. He has the demeanor that is needed in order to force a change.
They have not understood the gravity of the situation from the very beginning. Why would the president wait three weeks to come out and talk about the issue?
Well, that's the president's decision. This is the choice that the president is making. Either you stick with the status quo or you bring somebody in that's going to shake up the system from the very bottom to the top.
It's not going to solve the problem. I've said it for a long time that this is much larger than one man. Secretary Shinseki obviously has lost the ability to lead his agency. Nothing is going to change with the secretary being gone but…
No, it wasn't a clerical error, and I'll tell you one even worse than that. In Pittsburgh, where at least six veterans died from Legionnaire's disease because the water was contaminated and they knew for a year the director of the…
Well, I would think the thing the president should have done today was to come out and say, I am going to sign an executive order that would allow all veterans who were backlogged in the system, who tried to get appointments, the ability…
No, it's not going to be enough but it's a step in the right direction. You've got an agency with 330,000 employees in size. This bill will basically focus on about 430 of them. It gives the secretary the ability to fire people who don't…
They are cooking the books. That is what they said in the very beginning about Phoenix.
I can tell you this, after what I heard today I am less convinced that the appropriate leadership is in place at the Department of Veterans Affairs.
I think it was an appropriate action. They do not need to have the people who are at the top of the list of causing the problems still at that particular facility. I think I have heard widespread acceptance from a lot of my colleagues…
What is even more stunning, Anderson, is the fact that the department has the ability to send veterans out into the private sector using fee basis care. So it is not even like the department does not have a tool or the avenue to get the…
I think that they have put the secretary basically in a box. They won't let him get out and speak. We haven't heard anything from him on this particular issue.
Not at all. I have been battling the department for a number of years now on transparency issues. In fact, I have on my Web site something called trials and transparency. I have over 90 requests that are in to the department, some dating…
Well, I'm not surprised. I had actually heard information that corroborated what the Arizona Republic has already put out. I, in fact, have given a request for a preservation order to the department. And unfortunately, it took them eight…
And nobody was held accountable. That's why we've asked the question again today, with members of the South Carolina delegation and members of the Georgia delegation, tell us exactly who was disciplined and now.
Unfortunately if they treat members of Congress, the U.S. House and the Senate this way, imagine how they treat the average veteran out there.
Where would it be more needed than to prevent the deaths of veterans? These are real people that we're talking about that are being harmed, either made sick, will be sick in the future or had died.
It's almost as if they're afraid to take the toughest disciplinary action that needs to be taken. And that is to fire somebody.
Politicians like Jeff Miller
