[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 6]
[Senate]
[Pages 8986-8987]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         HONORING OUR VETERANS

  Mr. ISAKSON. Mr. President, on the last Monday of every May our 
country pauses to commemorate Memorial Day and honor the men and women 
who died in wars around the world in defense of freedom, liberty, 
peace, and the United States of America.
  This coming Monday is no exception. I urge my fellow Members of the 
Senate, all Georgians, and all Americans, to take a moment sometime 
over this weekend to pause and give thanks for the sacrifices made so 
we can do what we are doing here today, and so Georgians and Americans 
can do what they do on the lakes, beaches, and mountains of our country 
as they celebrate Memorial Day.
  I was honored and pleased to travel to eight of the American 
cemeteries in Europe--in Italy, Luxembourg, Great Britain, and France, 
particularly Normandy, on the 70th anniversary of D-day, which is 
coming up--and pay tribute to the thousands of graves of Americans who 
went overseas in World War I or World War II and gave their life--
sacrificed and died--so we can live in freedom and peace today.
  Our Armed Forces are a great gift to us. They never ask for anything 
in return. They always give their service to our country. They swear 
their allegiance to protect and defend our domestic tranquility, and 
every single time they do the job.
  Today we know they are deployed in Afghanistan, we know they are 
deployed in Africa, we know they are at sea--both on top of the sea and 
under the sea--and in the air, always looking to see that America is 
safe and free from harm.
  I encourage all of my fellow citizens to say a special prayer of 
thanks this weekend for the men and women who sacrificed and died on 
behalf of our country, and on behalf of freedom, liberty, and peace for 
all mankind.
  There is no secret that there is a scandal at the Veterans' 
Administration. We don't know how pervasive and we don't know how deep. 
But it surrounds the appointments and the cooking of the books in terms 
of appointments and services to our veterans and the VA health care 
system.
  I know they have a hard job, but their first job and their main 
responsibility is to see to it our veterans get the health care they 
deserve, the health care we promised them, and the health care we are 
going to see to it they get.
  I want the President to exhibit leadership and make sure we have a 
rudder in the water so we sail the ship of state in the right direction 
in terms of the VA, and let the chips fall where they may--including if 
the Department of Justice should be involved in case there is any 
criminal intent or criminal activity. To cook the books or lie to the 
Federal Government would, in my opinion, be a crime and people should 
be held accountable. But to call for the head of just one person 
without going through the entire VA is wrong.

[[Page 8987]]

  Last August I held a hearing in Atlanta because we had three untimely 
deaths in the Atlanta VA--two by suicide, one by drug overdose. All 
three were determined to be the fault of the VA in terms of the mental 
health ward in particular and the lack or failure to follow up on 
appointments. That was the beginning of my awareness of what was 
happening in Georgia.
  To Georgia's and Secretary Shinseki's credit, we replaced the 
Director in Georgia with Ms. Wiggins. Ms. Wiggins now meets with me on 
an every-other-month basis to go over the activities in the VA--and 
when we had an incident 6 weeks ago, she was the first to call me 
before the news media, saying a mistake had been made and punishment 
had been issued, and she was going to see to it that VA had a 100-
percent record of service to the veterans. We need that attitude and 
approach in every single VA hospital, VA clinic, and VA medical 
facility in the country.
  I hope the President will exhibit the leadership necessary to call on 
every element of government--from the inspector general, to the Justice 
Department, to the VA itself--to get to the bottom of what has gone 
wrong, because it is intolerable, it is unacceptable, and it is wrong, 
here on the doorstep of a holiday where we celebrate those who 
sacrificed their life for our freedom, if there are veterans losing 
their life because of our inability to serve them in the VA hospitals.
  I hope the President will exhibit that leadership. I hope we get to 
the bottom of it. As one member of the veterans committee, I pledge my 
commitment to get to the bottom of it. Our veterans deserve no less.
  I yield the floor and I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Booker). The Senator from South Dakota.
  Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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