Maurice Hinchey: “The VA and its apologists for VERA would have us believe that VERA is an equitable allocation of resources. The fact of…”

“The VA and its apologists for VERA would have us believe that VERA is an equitable allocation of resources. The fact of the matter is it is not anything of the kind. And the impact of VERA is not confined to the Northeast. The impact of VERA is spreading all across the country. We have been the guinea pig for this program. The New York metropolitan area, and the Northeast generally, has been the laboratory from whence this Frankenstein monster has originated. But, Mr. Chairman, it is now sweeping across the country and it is going to impinge upon every single veterans hospital, with the exception of a few in a few States. Florida might not be affected, that is correct. It may not be that Arizona will be affected. There will be two or three States, perhaps, that are not affected. But as I indicated in the my opening remarks, whether veterans are served out of the Boston headquarters or the Pittsburgh headquarters or the Durham, North Carolina, headquarters or Nashville or Chicago or Kansas City or Dallas or Denver or Long Beach or others, they are being impacted and they will be impacted more severely as time goes on.”