Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, veterans continue to be one of the most neglected groups in our country. These men and women have sacrificed their lives to ensure that our values and principles remain true; yet we still have people within the VA system who neglect these sacrifices and who disregard these men and women. As my colleague from Arizona mentioned, this flawed guidance from the VA headquarters is wrong and completely disrespectful to our country's veterans. The memo that was issued by the VA, commonly known as ``Fast Letter 13-10,'' was a deliberate attempt to make VA bureaucrats appear as if they were delivering services and benefits to veterans faster than they really were. Through these internal actions, some VA offices were ``eliminating'' the backlog of benefit claims with a stroke of a pen. Just because you lie about the details does not make the problem disappear. With one memo, the VA managers disregarded every performance measure that had been put in place to protect our veterans and their benefits. Mr. Chairman, I believe this brings up a large point--the problems within the Federal civil service and, as an employee within the VA stated, the dysfunctional culture of management corruption. For the time being, we must address this issue. I join my friend from Arizona in offering this amendment. We must ensure that VA managers care for our veterans in a timely and effective manner. I urge my colleagues to support this amendment.”