Political Quotes

“The gentleman moved back and forth from the original allegations to today's report from the inspector general, but left out some very important points, and I want to make sure the House is operating from full information. The allegation that veterans died for a lack of care was not proven by today's report. In fact, the inspector general said today they have no ability to determine this issue. The actual whistleblower who made this allegation in the first place was on FOX News on Sunday and said that he had no ability to tie the death to the delay. I think we don't want to create a situation where we don't have veterans seeking care based on misinformation. So what I want to do is just take a minute and make sure the House is aware that under every analysis, the care at the VA is good or excellent. This is from the actual veterans' care organizations and their testimony before the Congress, House, and Senate. In fact, today, I had a young woman who was a paralyzed Vietnam war veteran. She walked into my office. She is involved in a spinal cord program at the Bronx VA that has got her up and walking. It is part of the ReWalk system. She was first denied some benefits because her autoimmune deficiency was caused by agent orange, and that had been denied for many years. But under General Shinseki, they have allowed this. And now, because she had more than a 50 percent disability, a quality wheel chair and other access. I want to make this point clear.…”