Political Quotes

“just a month ago, I was on the Senate floor talking about the struggles of a number of Kansas veterans as they attempted to utilize the Veterans Choice Program that Congress passed nearly 2 years ago. That program is being implemented by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. We looked for many opportunities to try to provide better service, more efficient service, more timely service to our veterans, and Congress ultimately came together and passed the Veterans Choice Act. As I indicated a month ago and numerous times on the Senate floor, that legislation, that law says if you are a veteran who can't receive the medical services you are entitled to, you have the opportunity to receive those services at a medical facility, a clinic, a physician, or a hospital at home. As an individual Senator who comes from a State as rural as most and more rural than many--and certainly as rural as the Presiding Officer's home State and the home State of the Senator from Missouri--we have a real interest in trying to make certain our veterans who live long distances from a VA hospital can access that medical care. I thought we took great satisfaction in the passage of that legislation. I certainly did. What we have discovered since then in its implementation has been one handicap, one hurdle, one bureaucratic difficulty, and one challenge after another.…”