Political Quotes

“Mr. President, today we have made great progress in protecting whistleblowers and veterans at Veterans Affairs hospitals across the county by passing the fiscal year 2017 Military Construction--Veterans Affairs Appropriations Conference Agreement, which includes S. 2291, VA Patient Protection Act. This bill provides protection for the protectors of our veterans, the whistleblowers, who are shedding light on the egregious acts of some employees at VA hospitals across the country. Unfortunately, one of those hospitals is the Edwards Hines Jr. Veterans Affairs Medical Center in my State of Illinois. Today I sent a letter to Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald regarding the most recent injustice uncovered by whistleblowers at the Hines VA. Whistleblowers brought to my attention that the remains of indigent veterans and those without next of kin are often left in the Hines VA morgue for over a month, sometimes longer, without proper postmortem care. The whistleblowers, who wish to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation and losing their jobs, brought forward information identifying Mr. Christopher Wirtjes, chief, patient administrative services at Hines VA, as the person responsible for this blatant disregard of a veteran's right for a timely and dignified burial. I have asked the Secretary to fire Mr. Wirtjes for failure to perform his duties. In addition to this latest trespass against veterans at Hines VA, Mr.…”