Political Quotes

“I think I can say I was blessed to be here right before the tribute to Katie that our colleagues from Iowa gave. What an inspiring life of a young lady. Although cut short, her impact is felt by many. VISN Reorganization Act of 2012 I rise today to speak on a bill that I introduced last week, S. 3084, the Veterans Integrated Service Network Reorganization Act of 2012. This legislation would significantly reorganize the structure of the Department of Veterans Affairs, or VA, Veterans Integrated Service Networks, or VISNs, to make these networks more efficient and to allow resources to be moved to direct patient care. The veterans' health care system in our country was originally established to treat combat-related injuries and to assist in the recovery of veterans with service-connected disabilities. Since its start, the scope of the Veterans Health Administration, or VHA, has expanded and now treats all veterans enrolled in the health care system through hundreds of medical facilities located around the country. Prior to 1995, VHA was organized into four regional offices. These regional offices simply channeled information between the medical centers and the VA's Washington, DC, headquarters office. Since the regional offices' duties were to pass on information to the facilities, they had little ability to exercise independence in implementing policies based on the needs of the veterans in their region.…”