Fixing the VA is Difficult

Floor Speech

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Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker, earlier this month, the President drove
right past the Phoenix VA hospital, the facility at the center of the
biggest scandal plaguing our Nation's veterans, without taking a second
to stop.

Last night in his hour-long speech, the President hardly skimmed the
surface in addressing the major challenges our veterans are facing, but
he did mention we need to do more to provide our veterans more job
opportunities.

We agree. In fact, on this same floor just a few weeks ago, Members
of the House passed legislation that would do just that: encourage our
employers to hire more of our heroes.

Astonishingly, though, our President failed to even mention one word
about the excessive wait times, second-rate care, fraudulent records,
destroyed files, and complete incompetence that had been brought to
light last year in the VA.

He made no mention on the appeals process or recommendations to
improve the lengthy process our veterans face to access the care and
treatment they deserve, a topic the House is scheduled to have a
hearing on tomorrow.

Fixing the VA is difficult but not impossible. We are here to provide
solutions, but we need our leader to be ready to work with us, to be
ready to help us so we can finally give our veterans a system that
works for them, not against them, in a timely fashion.

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