Congressman Lamborn Calls on VA Secretary Eric Shinseki to Resign

Statement

During this evening's House Veterans Affairs Committee hearing, Congressman Doug Lamborn called for the resignation of VA Secretary Eric Shinseki.

"My position has been clear. Heads must roll. Those responsible for these waitlists must be held responsible immediately. Unfortunately, the new IG report makes it clear that Secretary Shinseki is failing to hold people accountable. Therefore, the time has come for Secretary Shinseki to resign. What we're seeing in the VA IG report about secret wait lists and schemes to deny our veterans care is appalling. Here we have a concrete example of the failure of bureaucracy and a failure of leadership. Funding has not been an issue. A supportive populace has not been the issue. The issue has been with bureaucrats, aided and abetted by the hands-off leadership style of this Administration, from President Obama to Secretary Shinseki on down. We have so-called leaders who are more concerned with padding their stats and pursuing their perversely structured incentives than in genuinely helping our veterans. Even Secretary Shinseki's response to the IG investigation today was a failure. He promises to "triage" the 1,700 veterans on the secret wait list in Phoenix. Those 1,700 veterans shouldn't be triaged, they should be seen immediately."

"Secretary Shinseki's leadership has failed the 1,700 or more veterans in Phoenix, and the 100,000 veterans in my district deserve a Secretary of the VA who can be trusted. I demand that President Obama direct the Attorney General to launch a criminal investigation into the culture of corruption that is seemingly running rampant through the VA. The VA has been lying and deceiving veterans and Congress but we will not tire and we will not rest until we get to the bottom of this appalling tragedy."

- Congressman Doug Lamborn (CO-05)

Source