[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 7]
[Senate]
[Page 9997]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   RECOGNITION OF THE MINORITY LEADER

  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Republican leader is 
recognized.


                          Veterans Health Care

  Mr. McCONNELL. Yesterday the Senate passed bipartisan legislation to 
address the VA scandal. The Sanders-McCain bill will increase patient 
choice, it will infuse some much needed accountability into the VA 
system, and it was important for us to show some urgency in addressing 
the crisis. That is why I voted for it, and that is why I am glad that 
the majority leader decided to move forward on this effort, even if it 
took a vote to set aside a partisan bill in order to take up this 
important bipartisan legislation.
  It will now go to conference so it can be improved further. The 
sooner the bill managers begin negotiations with their colleagues in 
the House, the sooner we can get a bill on the President's desk. I am 
optimistic they will do just that.
  As I have said all week, the systemic failures and scandals we have 
seen within the administration are a national disgrace. When you see 
100,000 veterans--100,000 of them--waiting for care, that is a national 
disgrace. When you see so many veterans waiting 3 months or longer just 
to get an appointment, that is a national disgrace. And when you see 
veterans dying before they even receive care they were counting on, it 
is completely unacceptable.
  So this problem needs to be solved, and there is more to be done. A 
lot of the responsibility here resides with the President himself. He 
still needs to nominate a capable manager who possesses the necessary 
skills, leadership, and determination to fix this scandal. He needs to 
support the thousands of VA workers committed to serving our veterans 
and to provide all those who serve bravely with the timely care they 
deserve, and he needs to use all the tools in his toolbox to address 
the systemic management failures--both the tools he already has and the 
new ones we can provide him, such as those contained within the 
legislation we passed yesterday. Our veterans have waited long enough 
for care, and they shouldn't be made to wait any longer.

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