[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 120 (Tuesday, July 29, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5018-S5021]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
NOMINATION OF ROBERT ALAN McDONALD TO BE SECRETARY OF VETERANS
AFFAIRS--Continued
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the time until 2:45
p.m. will be equally divided in the usual form.
The Senator from Washington.
Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, before I begin I do want to take a
moment to commend the chairmen of the Veterans' Affairs Committees in
both the House and the Senate for their commitment to reaching a deal
that puts our veterans first and gives the VA the tools they need to
address immediate challenges.
More importantly, I really applaud their work to build and strengthen
the VA system in order to continue to deliver the best care for our
Nation's heroes over the long term.
The deal they announced yesterday is a very important step toward
addressing a lot of issues that we know exist within the VA system, but
it cannot be the final step. As transparency and accountability
increase at the VA, so will the investigations and reports of
additional concerns, requiring even more action from the VA, from the
administration, and from this Congress.
However, as Chairman Miller said yesterday, we cannot legislate good
character here in Congress. It is going to be up to the leadership at
the Department of Veterans Affairs to truly enact those reforms.
So I have come to the floor today in support of the nomination of
Robert McDonald, someone I believe has the skills necessary to make
these necessary changes as the next VA Secretary.
As I told Mr. McDonald last week, he is faced with a truly monumental
task. Even as we pass comprehensive legislation to bring significant
reforms at the VA to reduce wait times, to improve accountability,
there are still many serious challenges the VA must address.
Twenty-two veterans still take their own lives each day. Thousands of
veterans are alone, coping with sexual assaults. And while the
Department has made commendable progress, it will be an uphill battle
as we work to eliminate veterans homelessness and the claims backlog.
Mr. McDonald will have to grapple with these and many more issues--all
on day one.
When I met with Mr. McDonald in my office a few weeks ago, he told me
he was one of the veterans who was lost in the system during his
transition from military life to civilian life. So I trust--I trust--he
understands what a critical moment this is for the VA and why we must
finally fix many of these systemic and cultural challenges.
We have all made a promise to those who have signed up to serve. So I
encourage my colleagues to support this nomination. I am hopeful the
steps we are taking here this week on behalf of our Nation's heroes
will finally ignite the much-delayed reforms our veterans have been
demanding and they deserve.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from North Carolina.
Mr. BURR. Madam President, I stand today not to rehash with my
colleagues the crisis that exists at the Veterans' Administration or to
share it with the American people. They know the story, and especially
our Nation's veterans, who have been given the runaround.
I am here to highlight a success in the Senate. See, my colleagues,
on July 7, 2014--not even a month ago--we received the nomination for
the new VA Secretary from the President.
On July 22 of this month, we had a confirmation hearing on that
nomination. On July 23--the next day--Robert McDonald was passed
unanimously out of the committee. Today--before the end of July--we are
on the Senate floor to confirm Robert McDonald as the next VA
Secretary.
I rise to urge my colleagues to support this nomination. The VA needs
a confirmed Secretary in place to begin a long, arduous process of
reform and cultural change.
By now, our colleagues probably know that Bob McDonald is a veteran
himself. He is a graduate of West Point. He served 5 years in active
duty, and served most of that time at Fort Bragg, NC. So I consider him
one of ours.
He spent more than 30 years working for Procter & Gamble--I think the
most competitive manufacturing company in the world. His work led him
across the globe. But he also had prominent roles at a number of other
organizations--Xerox, United States Steel Corporation, and the Business
Roundtable.
Mr. McDonald has frequently lectured to groups on leadership skills,
and his leadership philosophy was highlighted in the book ``The
Leader's Compass.'' He is the type of leader we need at the VA at this
very crucial time.
Bob McDonald clearly has the experience to run an organization as
large and as diverse as the Department of Veterans Affairs. Perhaps
more importantly, he has selflessly agreed to take the challenge of
leading the VA at its most critical time--something many people might
have passed on.
I hope this week, in addition to this nomination, we will pass
legislation to help the VA and its next leader address the systemic
problems with access to VA health care and a corrosive culture that led
to this crisis. But that legislation would be just one step. An
enormous amount of work must be done from within the VA to rebuild its
reputation and to turn it into an agency that will live up to the
expectations of our veterans and a nation grateful to them for their
service. We need a strong leader to do that, and I am glad Robert
McDonald has agreed to serve his country once again in this important
role.
The nomination received the unanimous support of the Veterans'
Affairs Committee. I urge my colleagues: Confirm Robert McDonald as the
next Secretary of the VA, and let's get on with the important work of
reform at that agency.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alabama.
Mr. SHELBY. Madam President, my colleague from North Carolina has
just spoken on behalf of the nomination of Robert McDonald to be the
Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and I will do
likewise. He has also spoken of his background as a graduate of West
Point, as an Army officer, and as the CEO of one of the largest
companies in the world.
[[Page S5019]]
I had the occasion to meet with Mr. McDonald, and he could be the man
of the hour. I hope he will be. He looks that way now.
With that in mind, I rise today in support of Robert McDonald's
nomination for Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs. It is
my hope that Robert McDonald will bring a renewed commitment, energy,
and acumen to address the Department's systemic problems that we all
know exist.
The allegations against the Department of Veterans Affairs are
incredibly serious. Therefore, I rise in defense of our Nation's
veterans. Our veterans have put themselves in harm' way to defend us,
and I think it is only right that we do everything in our power to
defend them and their interests when they return home.
Allegations that veterans were not only denied timely access to care
but that scheduling delays, secret waiting lists, and lost records may
have led to veterans' deaths are totally unacceptable. These
allegations of mismanagement and cover-up at the Veterans'
Administration are beyond disturbing; they are sickening, they need to
be corrected, and they need to be corrected immediately.
Our veterans deserve better. Our veterans have earned these benefits
through their dedicated service and sacrifice to our Nation, and the VA
must correct these problems, not just study them. It is my hope that
Robert McDonald will actively work to address these tremendous
challenges.
But according to the VA's recent nationwide audit, new patients using
the Central Alabama Veterans Health Care System waited an average of
over 74 days to see a primary care doctor. That is totally
unacceptable. That is nearly three times greater than the national
average of 27 days for new patient wait times. I look forward to
working with the new VA Secretary to review the Department's plan to
initiate corrective action, both in Alabama and across the Nation.
While the VA's wait time statistics are certainly disturbing to all
of us, the problem does not end there. Allegations that VA employees
may have submitted false records to justify their own receipt of
performance bonuses suggest the possibility that the deceit and
mistreatment I have described may also have been compounded by a lot of
fraud.
In May, Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Barbara Mikulski and I
wrote a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder and called on the
Department of Justice to begin appropriate criminal and civil
investigations into allegations of misconduct at the Veterans'
Administration. We have also recommended that the Commerce-Justice-
Science appropriations bill--and we serve as the chair and ranking
member of that committee--provide the resources for these
investigations. The Veterans Affairs and Military Construction
appropriations bill provides an additional $5 million to investigate VA
scheduling practices. And legislation introduced this week requests an
additional $17 billion to improve the VA over the next 3 years.
While I commend these efforts to initiate corrective action, I
believe it is only a starting point. A lack of funding is not the
mainspring of the VA's troubled past. I look forward to working with
the Presiding Officer and others--with the new VA Secretary--to ensure
these problems at the VA are rectified as soon as possible before any
more veterans are adversely affected.
Solving the issues at the VA has never been more imperative than it
is today, as American service members continue to risk their lives
every day for our Nation. Support for our Armed Forces must never
waiver, and it must be just as strong when they return home. Who will
fight our wars in the future if we do not prove that we respect our
veterans today?
Veterans have risked their lives for the freedoms we all enjoy and
thus should receive the care they most assuredly deserve and have
earned. Defending veterans' access to timely medical care today is the
very least, I believe, we can do because they defended us first.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Florida.
Israel
Mr. NELSON. Madam President, a part of the appropriations
supplemental bill we will consider tomorrow is approximately $245
million--I think I have that figure right--for the additional
assistance to the Israeli Government for the Iron Dome system.
The United States has been assisting Israel in order to be able to
buy this system. To the credit of the scientists and the military
planners in Israel, they developed this system, and it is a very
sophisticated system. As a matter of fact, when you watch the rockets
go off, you will see an incoming round coming, in this case from Gaza,
often without any precision guidance.
That is an interesting thing, that they are shooting at urbanized
areas where the general civilian population is, and they have incoming
rounds that no one knows where they are going; thus, the need for a
sophisticated radar that can track it and distinguish first if it is
going to fall in an area where there is nobody, where there is nothing
in the way of equipment that would be harmed and, therefore, save the
ordnance that otherwise would be shot. But the radar is so
sophisticated that within seconds and fractions of seconds it can
determine that, and then shoot off the round that will intercept the
incoming round.
It is a sight to behold to see this Iron Dome rocket go upward and
then change its trajectory, almost at a 90-degree angle, to home in on
the incoming warhead, and they have a 90-percent success rate.
When this system was first produced, it was so successful that the
Israeli people, who had been bombed from outside their territory and
had been accustomed to running to bunkers, to shelters, to places where
they could be safe, with the institution of Iron Dome, often would come
outside and see this aerial fireworks display because it had such a
tremendous success rate.
Now things have changed because in the latest conflict with Hamas--
and this is just in the course of the last 3 or so weeks--over 2,300
rockets have been fired into Israel. Hamas continues to fire more
rockets.
Each night, if you turn on your television news shows, you see
another display of all of this going on over on that side of the
planet. Thus the need to supply more of the Iron Dome system and the
ordnance that goes with it. And thus there will be this item that will
be part of the supplemental appropriations request. I commend it to our
colleagues to vote for it. It is a system that consistently the U.S.
has helped to fund. It has saved a lot of lives.
Remember, the ordnance that is being shot into Israel is usually not
a guided system. That is part of the terror that is being aimed at
Israel, because it is to inflict casualties upon a civilian population.
Yet, with this sophisticated system, 90-percent effective, it is saving
a lot of lives. That is what I wanted to share with the Senate.
I yield the floor, and I ask unanimous consent that the time during
quorum calls be charged against both sides.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. NELSON. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. BOOKER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order
for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. BOOKER. Madam President, I rise today filled with anguish and
heartbreak that is shared by so many Americans who have been watching
over the past week as countless innocent children and innocent
civilians have been killed and live in states of great fear or even
terror. Millions are running for bomb shelters time and time again. We
are seeing people in Gaza killed or maimed and seeing people in Israel
live under the terror in the sky and terror coming from below.
I want to stand resolute and clear about the true cause of this
crisis. That lies squarely with Hamas, a terrorist organization whose
ends do not start and finish with the well-being of the Palestinian
people. Their primary focus and their clear agenda is not peace for
their people. Written into their very charter is the firm determination
to eliminate the State of Israel. They have proven this evil
determination to do everything necessary to achieve their goal. They
are willing
[[Page S5020]]
to kill Israelis. They are willing to kill Americans. They have killed
them both. Even worse, they are willing to put innocent Palestinians in
harm's way, causing death and destruction within their own communities,
to their own children, to their hospitals and to their schools.
They are in the interests of wracking up casualties to add what they
consider, in a warped way, moral force for their terrorist aim. I
believe clearly in the evidence that this terrorist organization is
willing to stop at no end in order to build their tunnels and to
advocate and advance their independence.
They are willing to deny their people food. They are willing to deny
their people construction materials that could be building schools and
building infrastructure. They are willing to deny medical supplies.
They are willing to deny a higher standard of living in order to
support clearly terrorist activities.
This is unacceptable. This is unacceptable. This is unacceptable. We
as Americans cannot advocate for or in any way accept a false peace
that will allow Hamas, a terrorist organization, to continue their
effort to destroy the State of Israel. Hamas is not seeking peace.
Hamas is not seeking the peaceful coexistence between two states. What
they are simply doing is they are willing to cause death and
destruction to destroy Israel. Hamas is not a democratically elected
organization. They are a terrorist organization. They do not speak for
the Palestinian people. Hamas speaks for Hamas.
Their history of killing Americans and Israelis and putting countless
of their own people in harm's way, causing their destruction and their
denial of the basics, must be stopped. For the sake of the Palestinian
people and for the sake of the Israeli people, we as a Nation cannot
support any measure or any agenda that gives this terrorist
organization harbor or support, that gives this terrorist organization
any advantage in trying to achieve their end.
We cannot in this Nation advocate for that kind of false peace that
allows Hamas to go back to tunneling, to firing rockets, to hiding
missiles in schools and in hospitals, and putting more innocent
children in harm's way. We as Americans must advocate for a true peace
where two sides clearly recognize the right for peaceful coexistence
and where both sides pledge to a true cessation of aggression, not a
peace that allows one side to go back to its evil end, to tunneling, to
plotting, to preparing just for the next attack. We have seen this
before in recent history. We cannot allow it again. Right now we are in
a state of crisis. America's voice must be resolute.
We stand with our allies. We stand with the democratic State of
Israel. We stand against terrorism.
This is why today I come before you in support of the $225 million in
additional funding requested by the Department of Defense to ensure
that the Iron Dome in Israel remains equipped to protect civilians from
Hamas-fired rockets.
Hamas has fired over 2,500 rockets at Israel over the past 3 weeks,
while putting innocent Palestinians at risk to protect their stockpiles
and their evil ends. Yesterday alone 51 rockets and mortar shells were
fired at Israel.
In this time of crisis, America must stand for a true peace for the
Palestinian people and for the Israeli people. Now, as a terrorist
organization has evil ends to destroy the State of Israel, we must
stand with our ally. We must stand with the State of Israel. We must
stand for peace. Therefore, I support this expenditure and continue a
resolute, unwavering, and unequivocal support of the continuance of the
State of Israel.
Mr. McCAIN. Madam President, I am pleased that the Senate is taking
action this week on two extremely important measures for our Nation's
veterans. First, Congress is poised to pass the Veterans Access,
Choice, and Accountability Act. This compromise, bipartisan legislation
will, for the first time, provide our Nation's veterans who cannot
easily get into a Department of Veterans Affairs, VA, health care
facility, the ability that most Americans already have: to choose their
own doctor. I am also extremely pleased that the legislation allows
senior managers of the VA to be fired if they fail to do their jobs.
The Senate is also set to approve the nomination of Mr. Robert
McDonald to head the VA. As important as our legislation is for fixing
the VA, we cannot legislate a change in culture. Only the head of an
agency can reform a toxic culture that allowed veterans to die on wait
lists while senior officials lied in order to collect their bonuses.
I have met with Mr. McDonald and we see eye to eye on the massive
problems that need to be fixed and the challenges that lie ahead. I am
confident he is the right person with the right experience to lead the
VA during this challenging time. He is a veteran himself but also has
decades of private sector management experience that will serve him
well in implementing the Veterans Choice Card and repairing the culture
of the VA to focus on the veteran and restore honesty and
accountability to that workforce. I thank him for accepting this
challenge to serve the Nation again and look forward to working with
him in the days ahead.
Mr. LEAHY. Madam President, as we have learned over the past several
months, there has been a clear and inexcusable lack of well-earned
quality care and timely service provided to many veterans who depend on
it from the Department of Veterans Affairs. I hope that the
confirmation of Robert McDonald as VA Secretary will be the next step
forward in ensuring that our veterans and their families receive the
benefits, compensation, and support services they rightfully deserve.
While I continue to recognize the hard work and commitment of the many
men and women working in the VA system, the broader organizational
culture has failed to harness and strengthen individual efforts in
order to fulfill our promises to men and women that serve and their
families.
When he assumes his new post Robert McDonald will have his work cut
out for him at the VA, and he must lead the Department's deep soul-
searching. It is my hope that his management experience at Procter &
Gamble, including his experience addressing inefficiencies in a
corporate entity, will make him the right man for the job. The
replacement of a Cabinet Secretary alone does not increase
accountability, nor does it reform the underlying problems that enabled
the environment we now find ourselves in. These foundational reforms
must take place throughout the management of the VA system, and they
must address long-term, as well as short-term, challenges.
I was also pleased to hear that after many rounds of negotiations,
Senator Sanders and his counterpart in the House have finally reached a
compromise that addresses many of these needed reforms. I commend them
both, and I hope this legislation will be swiftly brought to the Senate
and House floors and then signed by President Obama, so we can get back
on track in serving our veterans as they so honorably have served our
Nation. I look forward to working with the future Secretary McDonald to
ensure that timely access to quality care for our veterans and their
families is the ultimate priority of the VA.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. All time is expired.
The question is, Will the Senate advise and consent to the nomination
of Robert Alan McDonald, of Ohio, to be Secretary of Veterans Affairs?
Mr. GRASSLEY. I request the yeas and nays.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
There appears to be a sufficient second.
The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk called the roll.
Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Hawaii (Mr. Schatz) is
necessarily absent.
Mr. CORNYN. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the
Senator from Tennessee (Mr. Alexander) and the Senator from Kansas (Mr.
Roberts).
Further, if present and voting, the Senator from Tennessee (Mr.
Alexander) would have voted ``yea.''
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Manchin). Are there any other Senators in
the Chamber desiring to vote?
The result was announced--yeas 97, nays 0, as follows:
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[Rollcall Vote No. 243 Ex.]
YEAS--97
Ayotte
Baldwin
Barrasso
Begich
Bennet
Blumenthal
Blunt
Booker
Boozman
Boxer
Brown
Burr
Cantwell
Cardin
Carper
Casey
Chambliss
Coats
Coburn
Cochran
Collins
Coons
Corker
Cornyn
Crapo
Cruz
Donnelly
Durbin
Enzi
Feinstein
Fischer
Flake
Franken
Gillibrand
Graham
Grassley
Hagan
Harkin
Hatch
Heinrich
Heitkamp
Heller
Hirono
Hoeven
Inhofe
Isakson
Johanns
Johnson (SD)
Johnson (WI)
Kaine
King
Kirk
Klobuchar
Landrieu
Leahy
Lee
Levin
Manchin
Markey
McCain
McCaskill
McConnell
Menendez
Merkley
Mikulski
Moran
Murkowski
Murphy
Murray
Nelson
Paul
Portman
Pryor
Reed
Reid
Risch
Rockefeller
Rubio
Sanders
Schumer
Scott
Sessions
Shaheen
Shelby
Stabenow
Tester
Thune
Toomey
Udall (CO)
Udall (NM)
Vitter
Walsh
Warner
Warren
Whitehouse
Wicker
Wyden
NOT VOTING--3
Alexander
Roberts
Schatz
The nomination was confirmed.
____________________