Political Quotes

“Scandals such as these confirm the VA lacks safeguards against official abuses, and it also lacks accountability--the kind of accountability that would ensure American veterans get the care and support they need in a timely fashion. In the wake of the Phoenix revelations--and now, more urgently after what happened at Fort Collins and now reports of abuses at San Antonio and Austin, perhaps--I have called on the majority leader to hold hearings on these scandals, and I reiterate that call today. I also reiterate my call for VA Secretary Eric Shinseki to resign his position and to let someone else take on the reforms necessary to get the VA back on track. As I said yesterday, and as the American Legion noted, Secretary Shinseki is an American patriot who did multiple combat tours in Vietnam and has devoted his life to serving his Nation. He deserves nothing but our respect for that service. But, unfortunately, the VA scandals on his watch have been so numerous and so outrageous that they demand immediate accountability, and it has become clear to me that Secretary Shinseki is not the right person for the job. He has been in charge of the Department more than 5 years. Under his watch, many of the VA's problems have gotten worse, not better. These problems call for new leadership and a new direction. As Dan Dellinger of the American Legion said on Monday: There needs to be a change, and that change needs to occur at the top. I emphasize again the urgency of the situation.…”