Political Quotes

“I sure can. I talked previously about this. It has been a while. It has been 3 years. We talked about this accountability issue a lot in the Veterans' Affairs Committee and here on the floor. I think the context is important for folks who do make the claim that there is no need for this particular bill, that we are simply playing politics. That couldn't be further from the truth. If you remember, back in August of 2014, in response to systemic failures in the Veterans Health Administration, the Senate overwhelmingly passed the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014. We were both members of the committee back then. We both helped draft that bill. It passed by a vote 91 to 3. As my colleagues on the Veterans' Affairs Committee are well aware, the bill included a provision to hold senior executives of the VA more accountable. That provision was in response to multiple reports from both the Obama administration and an independent VA inspector general documenting the need to bring greater accountability to the VA. While much of the attention has been focused on senior-level employees, hospital administrators, and the like, there are employees across the system who need to be effectively held accountable for misconduct and inappropriate behavior. Last Congress, the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee reported bipartisan legislation that would give the VA greater authority to improve accountability for all employees.…”