[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 8]
[Senate]
[Pages 10413-10414]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   SHULKIN AND COUNCIL CONFIRMATIONS

  Mr. BLUMENTHAL. Mr. President, last night, the Senate confirmed David 
Shulkin to be the Under Secretary for Health and LaVerne Council to be 
the Assistant Secretary for Information and Technology at the 
Department of Veterans Affairs, VA.
  Let me begin by thanking Chairman Isakson for making the confirmation 
of Dr. Shulkin and Ms. Council a priority for this Congress.
  Dr. Shulkin comes to the Veterans Health Administration, VHA, with 
significant experience managing complex health care organizations. 
Prior to being confirmed as Undersecretary of Health Dr. Shulkin was 
the president of Morristown Medical Center where he oversaw a 658-bed 
facility that has received countless awards for its excellence in care. 
During his confirmation hearing before the committee, Dr. Shulkin 
stated, ``We all agree that the status quo is simply not acceptable. I 
want to assure you that, if confirmed, it would be my sole mission each 
and every day to transform the VA health system into one that provides 
our veterans with the highest level of quality care.'' Given the 
challenges that face VA, I look forward to working with Dr. Shulkin to 
ensure the status quo does not persist. I am committed to ensuring VA 
provides high-quality care options to veterans.
  Ms. Council has significant private sector experience in managing 
global information and technology programs, including service as the 
first global chief information officer at Johnson & Johnson and leading 
the consolidation of 250 operating companies across 57 countries in the 
world. I trust that her experience will allow her to navigate ongoing 
issues around health data interoperability between VA and DOD, and I 
look forward to collaborating with her to make this a practical reality 
for VA and DOD clinicians and veteran patients. At a time when data 
security is being tested by dramatic increases in malware and intrusion 
attempts, it is more critical than ever to have a permanent leader in 
place to remediate known security deficiencies and ensure that health 
and personal data remains secure in VA systems. I am committed to doing 
right by veterans on this critical issue.
  VA continues to lurch from crisis to crisis, facing health care 
funding shortfalls, construction cost overruns, growing patient wait 
times, insufficient collaboration between VA and DOD, and a backlog of 
disability compensation claims and appeals. In the face of these 
crises, these nominees will assume two of the toughest jobs in 
government given all of the attention VA has received of late. VA's 
culture has been described as corrosive and nonresponsive, and there 
continues to be a need for a significant change in the culture at VA. I 
expect both Dr. Shulkin and Ms. Council to use their expertise and 
experience to make these changes and improve VA services for veterans.

[[Page 10414]]

  Finally, I would like to highlight one additional area of concern. 
There are far too many key leadership positions at VA that remain 
unfilled. There are still five positions requiring Senate confirmation 
that are occupied by officials serving in an interim or acting 
capacity. A permanent, Senate-confirmed leadership team is vital to 
make the significant and necessary changes to the culture of an 
organization of the size and scope of VA. The bottom line is VA needs 
permanent, Senate-confirmed leadership in place in order to meet the 
significant challenges that continue to face the Department. The Senate 
needs the names of qualified nominees to fill VA's many vacancies.
  As the ranking member of the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, I 
congratulate Mr. Shulkin and Ms. Council, and thank them for their 
willingness to serve the veterans of this great Nation.

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