Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa today made the following comment on Senate passage of a bipartisan bill to improve conditions for veterans health care. The Senate-passed bill makes it easier for veterans who have been delayed in getting initial appointments at a federal Department of Veterans Affairs facility to receive treatment from private doctors instead. The legislation also makes it easier to fire senior Veterans Affairs employees over poor performance. The Senate-passed measure is similar to a bill approved unanimously Tuesday in the House of Representatives.
“The legislation gives more choices to veterans who are shut out of the system. It brings accountability by making it easier to fire senior people who are cooking the books to make themselves look good at veterans’ expense. I hope both houses of Congress will work out a final version of this legislation and send it to President Obama for his consideration soon. The veterans health care scandal is cause for bipartisanship. This is just one example of how we ought to be able to set aside partisanship for the good of the country.”
More information on Grassley’s views and work on veterans issues and the scandal is available here and here.
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