Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, I rise today to appeal to those on both sides of the aisle to hold the executives in the Department of Veterans Affairs accountable. I think what has been interesting in what we have heard a little bit is really a tale of not the two cities, as Dickens would have it, but a tale of two opinions. And one opinion is the preponderance of evidence we see in our district offices and our Washington offices of problems in the VA; and then on the other side, it is basically a, yes, it is bad, but let's still do business the same way. And I think that is where the American people get frustrated. I believe by now, everyone is already aware of the lapse in ethical and moral judgment in many of these areas, from Atlanta and South Carolina, others, but also at the Phoenix veterans hospital. You know, the decision there to cook the books that denied care to needy veterans is simply unconscionable. That fact alone should anger every Member of this body, and it certainly angers the 62,000 veterans and their family members in the Ninth District of Georgia. Sadly, though, it doesn't end there. One has to question our civil service compensation system. The executive at the Phoenix VA facility there received a $170,000 salary plus $9,000 in bonuses. For what? Saving taxpayer money? Mr. Chairman, $9,000 is unbelievable. We rewarded an executive who, in reality, was failing our fellow Americans.…”