Political Quotes

“I wish to speak to the issue that was just brought up dealing with veterans funding and specifically the Choice Program. Three years ago, Congress put into place a response to what was happening in VA centers all over the country. We were all appalled with what was happening at VA centers all over the country. But for any of us who are in congressional offices, we were aware, were pushing on this issue, and had pushed on this issue for a while. But the media exposed what we all saw, and that was long-secret waiting lists for veterans so that the VA centers could keep their positive numbers up and look better--months of waiting for things that would take days across the street. As I dealt with the VA center in my own city, at times it would take 6 months to get a knee replacement surgery at the VA center, when at the great hospital directly across the street, they could get that same surgery within 2 days. As to hearing aids, it would take months and months to actually go through the process and to get them at our VA centers. As to cancer care, if you were diagnosed with cancer and had needs and treatment that was going to be required, they would literally send you across the country, sometimes more than 2,000 miles away, to actually get cancer treatment--away from your family. Congress responded to that by putting into place the Choice Act. It was an emergency.…”