AP: VA Official Concedes 'Integrity Issue,' Apologizes - Time To Send In The Active Duty Military

Really?

Today in Washington - June 10, 2014
The Senate reconvened on at 10 AM today and voted 90-0 to confirm Hannah Lauck to be United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Virginia.

At noon, the Senate began voting on confirmation of the nominations of Leo Sorokin to be United States District Judge for the District of Massachusetts, and of Richard Boulware II to be United States District Judge for the District of Nevada.

At 3:30, the Senate will vote on cloture on two nominees to be members of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and then on cloture on the nomination of Stanley Fischer to be the vice chairman of the Fed Board.

Yesterday, Democrats led by bully Harry Reid continued to use the precedent they set when they used the nuclear option to break Senate rules and allow cloture to be invoked on nominations with fewer than 60 votes. Under that precedent, cloture was invoked on the Lauck, Sorokin, and Boulware nominations yesterday.

The House reconvened at 10 AM today.  After noon, they will take up the following following bills:
H.R. 4810 — "To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to enter into contracts for the provision of hospital care and medical services at non-Department of Veterans Affairs facilities for Department of Veterans Affairs patients with extended waiting times for appointments at Department facilities, and for other purposes."
H.R. 4745 — "Making appropriations for the Departments of Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development, and related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2015, and for other purposes." Which had extended debate yesterday and was left unresolved.

Yesterday the House passed the following bills:
H.R. 1679 (Voice Vote) — "To amend the Expedited Funds Availability Act to clarify the application of that Act to American Samoa."
H.R. 2072 (Voice Vote) — "To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the accountability of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to the Inspector General of the Department of Veterans Affairs."
H.R. 3211 (Voice Vote) — "To amend the Truth in Lending Act to improve upon the definitions provided for points and fees in connection with a mortgage transaction."
H.R. 4228 (Voice Vote) — "To require the Department of Homeland Security to improve discipline, accountability, and transparency in acquisition program management."
H.R. 4412 (401-2) — "To authorize the programs of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and for other purposes."
S. 1254 (Voice Vote) — "To amend the Harmful Algal Blooms and Hypoxia Research and Control Act of 1998, and for other purposes."

All across the United States there are hundreds of proposed manufacturing facilities not being constructed because they are held up in burdensome permitting processes and bureaucratic red tape. According to the American Chemistry Council (ACC), there are currently 180 announced manufacturing projects that will contribute an estimated $115 billion to the U.S. economy. By 2023, the ACC estimates, these new investments could generate tens of billions in chemical industry exports and hundreds of thousands of permanent jobs. Today, H.R. 4795 introduced by Congressman Steve Scalise (R-LA) to revitalize the American manufacturing industry passed with bipartisan support in the Energy and Commerce Committee with a vote of 30-19.

The Promoting New Manufacturing Act, H.R. 4795, will increase investment in American manufacturing and create new jobs by:

Reducing costly construction permitting delays that impede the construction of new facilities by requiring the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to provide guidance on how to comply with new or revised air quality standards.

Increasing transparency by making public the number of Clean Air Act New Source Review (NSR) preconstruction permits issued annually and the timelines for the full permitting process.

Promoting the efficient processing of permits by requiring the EPA to provide Congress with an annual report on the actions being taken by the agency to expedite the permitting process.

The bill may now move to the full House for consideration. While expected to pass the House, Senate Democrats continue their trajic record of blocking House bills that will revitilize the economy, create jobs and put people back to work by getting Government off the backs of Americans.

The Washington Times reports, "Tens of thousands of veterans are stuck in backlogs awaiting care at VA facilities, the department said Monday in a report that confirms employees regularly cooked the books, often under pressure from supervisors, to try to hide long wait times. the audit found that 70 percent of Veterans Affairs facilities surveyed placed patients on alternate wait lists, meaning many of those veterans probably weren’t recorded in the official reports back to headquarters and were used to dole out bonuses to VA executives.

A Wall Steet Journal, also emphasized the scope of the problems at the VA. “The preliminary internal VA investigation disclosed on Monday surveyed 731 facilities, including all the major hospitals and outpatient clinics serving at least 10,000 veterans, and interviewed 3,772 staffers. Some 76% of facilities showed at least one instance when the date of the appointment was doctored, and 70% of facilities kept at least one set of dummy books. These departures from policy were not always intended to game the system but all too often were. ‘Findings indicate that in some cases, pressures were placed on schedulers to utilize inappropriate practices in order to make waiting times (based on desired date, and the waiting lists) appear more favorable,’ the 54-page report observes. ‘Such practices are sufficiently pervasive to require VA re-examine its entire performance management system and, in particular, whether current measures and targets for access are realistic or sufficient’ (their emphasis). . . . What is becoming ever more clear is that the VA's abuses were not merely a one-off or a rogue hospital in Phoenix. This conspiracy was perpetrated across the VA system and coordinated among hundreds of workers including everyone from clerks to senior management.”

Given all that has been learned about the scandal at the VA, both houses of Congress are working on legislation to begin to address some of these issues. The House will be voting on a bill today and a bipartisan veterans bill is ready for debate in the Senate. But, as usual, majority Senate Democrats have decided they’re more interested in yet another partisan show vote instead on a bill they claim is about student loans but would do nothing to make college more affordable or create jobs.

Speaking on the Senate floor this morning, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said, “Americans across the nation have been truly shocked by the way our veterans have been mistreated. The fact that 18 veterans died in Phoenix alone while waiting for care is a national tragedy. This should be reason enough for Washington to take decisive action – action to reform a system that allowed this tragedy to occur, and action to hold those responsible accountable. And yet, as we now know, the scandal extends well beyond Phoenix. In the words of the government’s own inspector general report, the kind of problems we saw there are ‘systemic’ and extend throughout the Administration’s facilities. . .

“And there’s no good reason for the Democrat Leader in the Senate to make veterans wait another day longer. There’s no reason for the Majority Leader to prioritize partisan bills aimed at boosting Democrat turnout in November over bipartisan legislation aimed at fixing the problems at the VA. That’s why we should move to the Sanders-McCain bill introduced last night. Veterans have been made to wait long enough at these hospitals. Congress shouldn’t keep them in the waiting room by putting partisan games ahead of solutions. Fixing this problem is where the Senate’s focus should be right now. As the acting VA Secretary recently said, the extent of the problems at the VA ‘demand immediate actions.’ He’s right. I know the Majority Leader would rather turn to a political agenda he already admitted was written by campaign staffers. But we’ll have plenty of time to consider bills designed intentionally to fail later. Instead, now is the time for the Senate to act like the Senate again. To be serious. To be more than just a campaign studio for one political party. . . . So I’m calling on the Majority Leader and the President to hit pause on the never-ending campaign. Veterans have been denied care. Veterans have died. This is the issue that deserves the Senate’s immediate attention.”

As for the VA, it is time to send in the active duty military! Considering the recent release of 5 major terrorists from GITMO, and the reported excellent medical treatment of detainees at GITMO, why aren't medical staff from both GITMO and DOD medical units beingdeployed into the VA medical system? It would do the VA some good to have to be under the operational oversight of active duty military commanders and medical professionals until the VA proves that this oversight is no longer needed meaning that VA employees are now falsifying reports and are indeed providing appropriate medical care of veterans. Also, as many veterans have noted, there are too many foreign doctors and other medical staff in VA hospitals supposedly treating vets while themselves being in teh U.S, for training. Why are vets being used as "subjects" for training? In summary, the VA apologies are not sufficient. It is time for committed oversight by active duty medical teams until the issue is resolved. It is past time and there needs to be the immediate removal of VA civilians be they staff members, supervisors, doctors, nurses, and others who ordered, permitted or supervised the falsification of VA records, actions or treatment of veterans. And as an aside, deply some of the excellently trained military construction teams, including guards units, to cleanup, repair and replace or reconstruct deteriorated VA facilities quickly and at much lower costs that outside civilian contracts.

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