VA Reform DOA

Silhouette of Soldier in Front of US FlagYou’d think, given that Obama and his handlers and overseers were told about the malfeasance of VA hospitals over five years ago, something would have been done about it before it turned into such a scandal. Yet, the boy did nothing. Beyond a bit of worthless and empty rhetoric the boy never even spoke of it.

The only people who seem to have tried to initiate some form of Veterans Affairs Reform were the members of the US House of Representatives and every one of their efforts was DOA upon reaching the US Senate. Over the past 18 months the House has passed at least 12 bills that would initiate various forms of reform within the VA but Harry Reid has refused to bring any of them to the Senate floor for consideration, debate, and vote.

In the past 18 months, since I’ve been a member of Congress, we’ve passed, on the House floor, at least 12 reform VA bills. Mandating the VA to fix different things, mandating the VA to report different things, mandating them to fix their website, bipartisan bills that went to the Senate, and they are DOA on the Senate side.

— Rep. Jackie Walorski (R-IN)

The House’s most recent attempt at reforming the VA system was a simple bill to allow the Secretary of Veterans Affairs – currently Eric Shinseki – to actually fire employees for poor performance or willful malfeasance such manipulating and falsifying data.  It had fairly broad bipartisan support – even Nancy Pelosi endorsed it.  Yet, this bill too was DOA in the Senate.

Think about this the next time – and there will be many next times – some domestic enemy claims that the GOP is obstructionist or a “Do Nothing” party. Think about the fact that Harry Reid and the Senate Democrats have been proven to be unwilling to even consider any and bills, no matter how needful, limited, and simple, that originate in the GOP-led House of Representatives.

 

 

 

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