[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 89 (Tuesday, June 10, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Page S3512]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                          Veterans Health Care

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, Americans across the Nation have been 
truly shocked by the way our veterans have been mistreated. The fact 
that 18 veterans died in Phoenix alone while waiting for care is, as we 
all know, a national tragedy. This should be reason enough for 
Washington to take decisive action to reform a system that has allowed 
this tragedy to occur and action to hold those responsible accountable.
  Yet, as we know, the scandal extends well beyond Phoenix. In the 
words of the government's own inspector general report, the kind of 
problems we saw there are systemic and extend throughout the 
administration's facilities.
  A new internal audit released just yesterday found that the scandal 
has spread to 76 percent of the VA facilities that were surveyed. It 
also found that about 100,000 veterans continue to wait for VA 
appointments and that many veterans have already had to wait 3 months 
or more. This is a national disgrace.
  I recently received a message from a disabled veteran who lives in 
West Liberty, KY. He said he has experienced delay after delay in the 
VA system, and he is understandably fed up. He said every time he 
thinks he is getting somewhere, he finds that some VA employee has 
changed a date in his file or posted a ``no show'' for appointments he 
was not aware of.
  ``I suppose I will become a casualty of the war with the VA,'' he 
wrote, ``before I ever receive a decision on my appeal or ever receive 
proper treatment.''
  We know this is not right. That is not the promise this country made 
to our veterans, and there is no good reason to make veterans wait 
another day longer. There is no reason for the majority leader to 
prioritize partisan bills aimed at boosting Democratic turnout in 
November over bipartisan legislation that is aimed at fixing the 
problems at the VA.
  We will have a vote tomorrow on one of these partisan bills that is 
going nowhere, when we know the Sanders-McCain bill is ready. It has 
been filed and that is what we ought to be moving to. Veterans have 
been made to wait long enough at these hospitals. Congress should not 
keep them in the waiting room by putting partisan games ahead of 
solutions. Fixing this problem is where the Senate's focus should be 
right now.
  As the Acting VA Secretary recently said, the extent of the problems 
at the VA ``demand immediate actions.'' He is certainly right about 
that.
  I know the majority leader is going to have us turn to another one of 
these political show votes tomorrow, written by people over at the 
campaign committee, but we will have plenty of time to consider bills 
designed to fail later. Instead, now is the time for the Senate to act 
like the Senate again--to be serious and more than just a campaign 
studio for one political party.
  Senators Burr, Coburn, and McCain have been working extremely hard on 
the issue, along with the chair of the Veterans' Affairs Committee. We 
all know there is no one in this Chamber better suited to tackle this 
crisis than John McCain. He understands the experience and needs of our 
veterans.
  We should give Senator McCain and the rest of this group the space 
and support they need to get effective and bipartisan reform through 
the Senate. Given that their legislation contains provisions similar to 
a bill that has already passed the House overwhelmingly, I think we 
will get there as well, but we need to give the effort the attention it 
deserves first, and that means putting the designed-to-fail bills off 
to the side for a minute because, look, this is what the American 
people actually sent us to do--to legislate.
  I am calling on the majority leader and the President to hit the 
pause button on the never-ending campaign. Veterans have been denied 
care. Veterans have actually died. This is an issue that deserves the 
Senate's immediate attention.
  If our colleagues are serious about getting to the bottom of the 
scandal, holding the perpetrators accountable, and enacting reform to 
fix it, then they will actually focus on helping our veterans instead 
of worrying about saving their own seats this November.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Washington.
  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I thank the Republican leader for his 
comments on the veterans situation. I believe everybody in this body 
agrees, on a bipartisan basis, that we should move this bill forward as 
quickly as possible and address the real crisis. This is an issue I 
have been talking about for a long time. No one who serves our country 
should wait in line to get the health care they need when they come 
home.
  I am delighted both sides are working very expeditiously to move this 
legislation forward, and I hope we can take that up as soon as possible 
and move it without it becoming political on either side.