Mr. Speaker, I rise today to bring awareness to the outrageous, the almost unimaginable findings from the ongoing VA inspector general's review of the Phoenix Health Care System and now some two dozen other facilities.
The stated VHA goal is a 14-day wait for a first-time primary care appointment--14 days, 2 weeks. It is a little much for some, but it seems appropriate, reasonable for many. That is their goal. Whether I agree with it or not, that is their goal.
However, I am going to read from the executive summary of the inspector general's allegations:
``Allegations at the Phoenix HCS include gross mismanagement of VA resources and criminal misconduct by VA senior hospital leadership, creating systemic patient safety issues and possible wrongful deaths. While our work is not complete, we have substantiated that significant delays in access to care negatively impacted the quality of care at this medical facility.''
Mr. Speaker, that is breathtaking. That is breathtaking. This is our Federal Government.
Falsified data reported last year by Phoenix HCS showed veterans waited, on average, 24 days for their first primary care appointment. Falsified data said that they waited an average of 24 days; however, the recent IG report found that veterans actually waited, on average, 115 days for their first primary care appointment, with approximately 84 percent of those waiting more than 14 days, which was the stated goal.
Mr. Speaker, 115 days for their first appointment. That is the appointment where you go talk to the doctor and you tell him what is wrong or what you think is wrong and he starts making an assessment. That is not treatment. That is just an appointment with the doctor. Mr. Speaker, 115 days.
To put it another way, VA management at Phoenix HCS met 16 percent of its wait time goal, and those folks still received bonuses for that action. The folks that do the work got a bonus for meeting 16 percent of their goal.
When people say to you, as a Representative, there are things wrong with the Federal Government, Mr. Speaker, this is what is wrong with the Federal Government. Even after cooking the books, the stated goal of an average 14-day wait time was not met. Even after that.
Now, I was proud to vote for Chairman Miller's VA Accountability Act last week, but it is a shame--I don't know what it is--that it takes an act of Congress to fire somebody in the Federal Government. If you are the Secretary and you find somebody that has done something wrong--and in these cases, potentially criminal--and you can't fire them, what is going on here?
Now, this is not a new circumstance. We have actually known about it for years. Republicans--and I have been here a year and a half--and, I imagine, Democrats have been complaining for years about this because they see it in their districts. But nothing has been done. And some will say, well, Congress hasn't appropriated the right money. Three times the amount of money since 2001 has gone to the VA for care--for care. Three times it has been increased.
Mr. Speaker, where the President says he has got a pen and a phone, I beseech you--I beseech him to call up a veteran in this circumstance. Use the phone. Use your pen for an executive order and fix this. It is not the words, Mr. President--we are all frustrated, and we are all infuriated by this--but it is actions. These are members of the military, men and women who have served, men and women of action. Words are cheap, Mr. Speaker. It is actions that we require.
JFK said in one of his speeches that a nation is revealed by whom it honors. What is revealed by what is happening now, what has been happening, and what hasn't been happening?
Now, just to kind of show where our priorities are, let's talk about what you can get with an access card. This gentleman I am reading about bought a swordfish steak at $18.99 a pound or went to the gourmet coffee section and ground up some roasted fresh beans. I guess it is okay to buy your Halloween candy with an access card. We can provide an access card for that, but we can't find a way to provide for the veterans who took an oath?
Mr. Speaker, they said:
I will defend this country, I will lay my life down, and I won't question. Mine is not to ask why, mine is to do or die.
Our side of the deal is that we pay, we equip you, and prepare you to fight and win, and after you come home all busted up and changed, we will take care of you.
Oh, that is what we say, but apparently that is not what we do. We can find a way to pay for these things, but not for that obligation.
Mr. Speaker, resignation is fine. But that is not going to fix it. We request the administration to take action and fix it.