[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 78 (Thursday, May 22, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Page S3259]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          VETERANS HEALTH CARE

  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, this weekend Americans will gather to 
remember all who have fought and perished so that we might live in 
freedom. Memorial Day is our chance to honor their extraordinary 
sacrifices.
  Of course, Kentucky has long played a proud and vital role in the 
defense of our Nation. I am honored to represent so many Kentuckians in 
the Armed Forces, including those stationed at Fort Knox, Fort 
Campbell, the Blue Grass Army Depot, and members of the Reserves and 
Kentucky National Guard.
  One of the reasons Memorial Day is so important to me is because it 
allows Americans to reflect and give thanks for all that we have--to 
recognize that none of it would have been possible without so many 
Americans we have never met putting everything on the line for us. That 
is why the men and women who protect us deserve our full support when 
they are deployed, when they are training, and when they return home. 
Most Americans certainly agree with that statement.
  Yet as we have recently learned, that is not what is happening. So 
many Americans now turn on the evening news just to be sickened by the 
steady drip, drip from the Obama administration's growing veterans 
scandal. The denial of care to our veterans is a national disgrace and 
the scandal only seems to increase in scope by the day.
  We first heard about 1 hospital in Phoenix, then we heard about 10 
medical centers across the Nation, now there are at least 2 dozen VA 
facilities under investigation. It all leads to an obvious question: 
How widespread is this failure to treat our veterans?
  We need answers from the President and his administration. The White 
House claims the President didn't even know about the latest scandal 
until hearing about it on the news, even though a top official 
testified he knew of inappropriate scheduling practices at VA health 
care clinics as far back as 2010. It sure raises a lot of questions.
  It is a curious thing. President Obama, the most powerful man in the 
free world, always seems to be the last to know about what is going on 
in his own administration. From the Obama administration's IRS scandal 
to its ObamaCare Web site fiasco, just about every time, the President 
claims to be in the dark until the wrongdoing surfaces on its own--
usually in the press. The pattern is incredibly worrying.
  If it is true he learns so much through the press--if he knows that 
little about what is going on in his own administration--then I 
recommend he get reengaged. Right now. Right now. Because American 
Presidential leadership is needed today. This scandal appears to be a 
failure of huge magnitude, and the people we represent are demanding he 
rise to the challenge.
  Our veterans are counting on him to work with both parties to get to 
the truth and to pursue solutions that can make things better--
solutions such as the VA reform bill that passed the House yesterday 
with strong bipartisan support. That legislation, which I have 
cosponsored and which Senator Rubio has been the leader on, would make 
it easier to remove high-level VA employees for performance failures. 
It is a smart idea. There is no reason for us not to pass it quickly 
right here in the Senate. The President should call for its passage 
right away too. That would be one positive step forward for him--a 
small one, but a positive one, even though, for some reason, the White 
House has been ambivalent about the bill.
  Look, we all remember how engaged the President was when 
healthcare.gov flopped. He was very engaged. He didn't just send a 
staffer out to Phoenix; he didn't just give a secretary a stern talking 
to; he didn't say he wouldn't stand for it. He pulled out all the 
stops. He made it his No. 1 priority to get that Web site running, even 
if that is still not done. What I am saying is the President should put 
more effort into helping our veterans than his attempt to fix a Web 
site. Only he can work with us to get to the truth. Our veterans 
deserve it. They deserve answers. They deserve accountability, and they 
deserve solutions.
  As we look ahead to Memorial Day, I hope the President will work 
constructively with us to give them just that--to prove how grateful we 
are to the brave men and women who protect us every single day.
  Madam President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Massachusetts.

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