Scott Statement on the Resignation of V.A. Secretary Eric Shinseki

Statement

Congressman Robert C. "Bobby" Scott issued the following statement today after Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki announced his resignation:

"Eric Shinseki has dedicated his life to serving our nation in the U.S. Army, as a General, as Army Chief of Staff, and as Secretary of Veterans Affairs. He has always tried to do what he thought was best for our nation. In 2003, he gave his honest assessment about the required troop levels of going to war in Iraq, which led to him being forced out of the Pentagon. Had the Congress and Bush Administration heeded his advice, the human cost of that misguided war may have been far smaller.

"As a combat veteran himself, he was deeply committed to improving the care of our nation's veterans. This devotion, even in light of the V.A.'s deep-rooted issues, was certainly evident by the fact that our nation's major veterans service organizations were willing to give him time to fix the V.A.'s problems.

"Secretary Shinseki's resignation removes a political distraction, but it does not solve the litany of problems facing the V.A. Those responsible for manipulating scheduling and wait time reports must still be held accountable. The initial recommendations of the Inspector General must still be implemented. And, most importantly, our veterans at the greatest health risk as a result of the scheduling delays must still receive the appropriate medical care immediately.

"It will now be up to an acting secretary to address these issues, while we wait for the next secretary to be nominated and confirmed. As I have stated before, accurately recording the wait times will do nothing to solve the problem that too many of our veterans are waiting too long to see a doctor. I hope the acting secretary will soon report to Congress on what additional resources the Department needs to reduce and eliminate wait times, which will undoubtedly require hiring additional doctors and specialists."

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