Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I rise today to urge my colleagues to confirm Michael Missal, the nominee for the Department of Veterans Affairs inspector general. For far too long, our Nation's veterans have been without a permanent watchdog in place to ensure the VA affords them the care that they deserve. I have seen the damage that acting leadership in the VA Office of Inspector General has done in my own State of Wisconsin. Numerous veterans of the Tomah VA facility suffered for years through dangerous prescription practices, whistleblower retaliation, and a culture of fear. The VA Office of Inspector General, under acting leadership, conducted a multiyear investigation of the Tomah VA facility but then swept the allegations under the rug--the secret report that was hidden from veterans, the public, and Congress. Months after the report was finalized and closed, Jason Simcakoski, a 35-year-old Marine Corps veteran, died of a lethal cocktail of over a dozen different drugs at the Tomah VA facility. Another Wisconsin veteran, Thomas Behr, died after being treated at the Tomah VA facility. Mr. Behr's daughter Candace told me that had she known about the inspector general's report, she never would have taken her father to the facility and he might be alive today. In other words, had the VA Office of Inspector General been transparent and published the findings of its investigation, these tragic outcomes could very well have been avoided.…”