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I thank the gentleman from Michigan for his leadership on this important issue.
Madam Speaker, I come to the House floor tonight to speak in support of the Demanding Accountability for Veterans Act, which I am proud to cosponsor.
You would think Congress wouldn't have to act to demand accountability from the VA on behalf of our veterans, but, sadly, as everyone knows, that is not the case with the current VA. The VA is supposed to provide service and benefits that all of our veterans have earned by protecting our freedom. Instead, what we have in too many cases is a bunch of bureaucrats in both Washington and in the local facilities who seem content to collect a paycheck and not serve the public.
Enough is enough.
The least we should expect is, when the inspector general issues a corrective action report about a public health or a patient safety problem, the VA employees would be held accountable for fixing it.
At the VA hospital in Buffalo, New York, which is right outside my district, the improper use of insulin pens resulted in some 700 veterans being potentially exposed to HIV and hepatitis. In this case, the IG issued a corrective action report. The public has every right to expect the VA to be held accountable for implementing a fix to make sure something like that never happens again. Without this legislation, we can't make that promise, and that is an insult to our veterans and to all Federal taxpayers.
This legislation also makes it easier to get rid of the bad apples at the VA so that issues with problem employees don't fester and overshadow the care being delivered by hardworking VA nurses and doctors.
Again, I want to thank Congressman Benishek for his work on this legislation, and I urge my colleagues to pass the bill.
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