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| Obama sets timeline for VA review, defends his record on veterans | Obama sets timeline for VA review, defends his record on veterans |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| President Obama said Wednesday that he had ordered his top deputies to complete their review of what has gone wrong in the Veterans Affairs’ health system within a month, adding that if veterans are not receiving the care they deserve, “I will not stand for it.” | President Obama said Wednesday that he had ordered his top deputies to complete their review of what has gone wrong in the Veterans Affairs’ health system within a month, adding that if veterans are not receiving the care they deserve, “I will not stand for it.” |
| Speaking to reporters at the White House briefing room, Obama said he had ordered VA Secretary Eric K. Shinseki to complete his preliminary review of long wait times and false record-keeping at VA medical centers in several states by next week. His deputy chief of staff, Rob Nabors, who has been ordered to conduct a broader survey of the agency’s health system, will finalize his report within a month, the president added. | Speaking to reporters at the White House briefing room, Obama said he had ordered VA Secretary Eric K. Shinseki to complete his preliminary review of long wait times and false record-keeping at VA medical centers in several states by next week. His deputy chief of staff, Rob Nabors, who has been ordered to conduct a broader survey of the agency’s health system, will finalize his report within a month, the president added. |
| “If these allegations are found to be true, it is dishonorable, it is disgraceful and I will not tolerate it, period,” the president said, even as he said he would await the results of an inspector general’s probe before punishing anyone. “Once we know the facts, I assure you, if there’s misconduct, there will be accountability.” | “If these allegations are found to be true, it is dishonorable, it is disgraceful and I will not tolerate it, period,” the president said, even as he said he would await the results of an inspector general’s probe before punishing anyone. “Once we know the facts, I assure you, if there’s misconduct, there will be accountability.” |
| And Obama delivered a strong endorsement of the embattled Shinseki, saying he had helped improve veterans’ care and services over the past five years and was dedicated to helping his fellow soldiers. | And Obama delivered a strong endorsement of the embattled Shinseki, saying he had helped improve veterans’ care and services over the past five years and was dedicated to helping his fellow soldiers. |
| “Rick Shinseki has been a great soldier. He himself is a disabled veteran, and nobody cares more about our soldiers than Rick Shinseki,” he said, noting that the secretary had worked on issues ranging from reducing the rate of homelessness among veterans to expanding access to the G.I. Bill. “He has put his heart and soul into this thing, and he has taken it very seriously. . . . He has been a great public servant and a great warrior on behalf of the United States of America, and we are going to work with him to solve the problem.” | “Rick Shinseki has been a great soldier. He himself is a disabled veteran, and nobody cares more about our soldiers than Rick Shinseki,” he said, noting that the secretary had worked on issues ranging from reducing the rate of homelessness among veterans to expanding access to the G.I. Bill. “He has put his heart and soul into this thing, and he has taken it very seriously. . . . He has been a great public servant and a great warrior on behalf of the United States of America, and we are going to work with him to solve the problem.” |
| The president also defended his own record on veterans’ issues, noting that it has helped define his career and that his times with wounded soldiers and those in the field have been “the most searing moments of my presidency.” | The president also defended his own record on veterans’ issues, noting that it has helped define his career and that his times with wounded soldiers and those in the field have been “the most searing moments of my presidency.” |
| “Taking care of veterans and their families has been one of the causes of my presidency, and it is something that all of us have to be involved in and have to be paying attention to,” he said, adding that veterans need to know that “we are going to fix whatever is wrong, and as long as I am privileged to be commander in chief, I’m going to keep on fighting to deliver the care and the benefits and the opportunities that your families deserve, now and in the decades to come.” | “Taking care of veterans and their families has been one of the causes of my presidency, and it is something that all of us have to be involved in and have to be paying attention to,” he said, adding that veterans need to know that “we are going to fix whatever is wrong, and as long as I am privileged to be commander in chief, I’m going to keep on fighting to deliver the care and the benefits and the opportunities that your families deserve, now and in the decades to come.” |
| Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) questioned the president’s commitment to addressing the controversy Wednesday, saying in a statement that Obama had pushed harder to resolve problems with the botched federal online health insurance marketplace last fall. | |
| “A crisis of the magnitude facing the VA on providing care to our veterans demands clear leadership from President Obama,” McConnell said in a statement. “Unfortunately, so far I have yet to hear from the president that he is treating the VA crisis with the seriousness it deserves.” | “A crisis of the magnitude facing the VA on providing care to our veterans demands clear leadership from President Obama,” McConnell said in a statement. “Unfortunately, so far I have yet to hear from the president that he is treating the VA crisis with the seriousness it deserves.” |
| And Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) called Obama’s comments “wholly insufficient in addressing the fundamental, systemic problems” plaguing the VA health-care system. | And Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) called Obama’s comments “wholly insufficient in addressing the fundamental, systemic problems” plaguing the VA health-care system. |
| “We need answers, leadership and accountability, none of which we’ve seen from the Obama Administration to date,” McCain said in a statement. | “We need answers, leadership and accountability, none of which we’ve seen from the Obama Administration to date,” McCain said in a statement. |
| McCain also expressed support for a bill expected to be passed Wednesday in the House that would make it easier for the VA secretary to fire career employees or managers found to be hampering veterans’ care. | McCain also expressed support for a bill expected to be passed Wednesday in the House that would make it easier for the VA secretary to fire career employees or managers found to be hampering veterans’ care. |
| The House is expected to pass the VA Accountability Act later Wednesday, and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) has introduced the Senate version of the measure, but Senate Democrats have not indicated whether they will allow a vote on it. | The House is expected to pass the VA Accountability Act later Wednesday, and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) has introduced the Senate version of the measure, but Senate Democrats have not indicated whether they will allow a vote on it. |
| Ed O’Keefe contributed to this report. | Ed O’Keefe contributed to this report. |