[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 85 (Tuesday, June 3, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3380-S3381]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. McCAIN (for himself, Mr. Coburn, Mr. Burr, Mr. Flake, Mr. 
        Isakson, Mr. Inhofe, Mr. Grassley, Mr. Roberts, Mr. Hoeven, Mr. 
        Coats, Mr. Barrasso, Mr. Johanns, Mr. Rubio, Mr. Cornyn, Mr. 
        Alexander, Mr. Kirk, Mr. Wicker, Mrs. Fischer, Mr. Portman, Mr.

[[Page S3381]]

        Toomey, Mr. Boozman, Mr. Moran, Mr. Thune, Mr. Scott, Mr. Enzi, 
        and Mr. Graham):
  S. 2424. A bill to provide veterans with the choice of medical 
providers and to increase transparency and accountability of operations 
of the Veterans Health Administration of the Department of Veterans 
Affairs, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
  Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, it has been almost 2 months since 
allegations that some 40 veterans died while waiting for care at the 
Phoenix VA were first made public. Since that report, we have learned 
of similar allegations of gross mismanagement and data manipulation at 
42 VA medical facilities across the U.S. More troubling, according to 
the Office of the Inspector General's preliminary report, 1,700 
veterans in the Phoenix VA Health Care System who thought they were 
about to receive care were never even placed on the VA's Electronic 
Waiting List and are ``at risk of being forgotten or lost in Phoenix 
HCS's convoluted scheduling process''. Today, it is clear that delaying 
medical care and manipulating records to hide those delays in care is 
systemic through the Department of Veterans' Affairs health system. 
This has created in our veterans' community a crisis of confidence 
toward the VA--the very agency that was established to care for them.
  Today, I joined Senators Coburn, Burr, and Flake to introduce the 
Veterans Choice Act of 2014. This bill would, principally, empower 
veterans with greater flexibility when choosing their medical care and 
increase transparency and accountability within the VA to ensure that 
it delivers quality care to our veterans in a timely manner. 
Specifically, it would give veterans the option to go to a different 
doctor if the VA can't schedule an appointment within a reasonable time 
or if the veteran lives too far away from a VA medical facility. 
Additionally, this bill would prohibit scheduling or wait-time metrics/
goals from being used as factors to determining performance awards or 
bonuses. It would also require the Secretary of the VA to punish 
employees who falsify data, including civil penalties, suspension or 
termination. And, empower the Secretary of the VA to remove any top 
executive at the VA if the Secretary determines that his performance 
warrants removal.
  Put simply, unlike some other proposals that have been made to reform 
how the VA delivers care, this bill would squarely address the root 
causes of the tragic circumstances that have brought us to this point.
  For almost all this century, Americans have been fighting in faraway 
places to make this dangerous world safer for the rest of us. They have 
been brave. They have sacrificed and suffered. They bear wounds and 
mourn losses they will never completely recover from--and we can never 
fully compensate them for. But, we can care for the injuries they 
incurred on our behalf and provide for their physical and emotional 
recovery from the battles they fought to protect us. Quality care for 
our veterans is among the most solemn obligations a nation must pay, 
and we will be judged by God and history by how well we discharge ours.
  Indeed, we must be worthy of the sacrifices made on our behalf How we 
care for those who risked everything for us is the most important test 
of a Nation's character. Today, we are failing that test. We must do 
better tomorrow. Much better.
  For the 9 million American veterans who depend on the VA for their 
health care, and for the families whose tragic stories we have heard 
over the last two months, who I know are still grieving their losses, 
it is time to provide our veterans with the care, choice, and 
accountability that they so rightly deserve. I am pleased to be 
associated with the bill Senator Burr, Senator Coburn and Senator Flake 
introduced today, which would help the nation achieve those laudable, 
necessary goals. I urge my colleagues--on both sides of the aisle--to 
support it.

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