Miller Statement on Sec. McDonald's Disney Comments

Statement

Today, Chairman Miller released the following statement regarding VA Secretary Bob McDonald's comparison of Department of Veterans Affairs wait times to those at a Disney theme park.

"There is nothing amusing about VA's performance over the past few years, and comparing VA wait times to those of an amusement park is just plain wrong. Wait times are of critical importance to the veterans waiting for VA medical care and they should be to Sec. Bob McDonald as well. In fact, the VA scandal over fraudulent wait times -- in which department officials cooked the books in order to make excessive waits for medical care appear shorter -- is precisely why McDonald is now VA secretary. Unfortunately, nearly two years after McDonald took over at VA, the department's wait-time rhetoric doesn't match up with the reality of veterans' experiences. But given the fact that VA has successfully fired only a handful of employees for wait-time manipulation while letting the bulk of those behind its nationwide delays-in-care scandal off with no discipline or weak slaps on the wrist, I am not at all surprised these problems persist. And until the department takes steps to remove all who caused VA's wait-time manipulation problems from the payroll, efforts to reform the agency will never succeed. In the meantime, attempts among department officials to downplay the significance of wait times for VA medical care will only further erode the trust of the veterans the department is charged with serving." -- Rep. Jeff Miller, Chairman, House Committee on Veterans' Affairs

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