The resignation of the Secretary of Veteran’s Affairs Eric Shinseki, although inevitable, should not subtract from his extraordinary service in the U.S. Army, nor should it blind us from ferreting out the real culprits in this scandal. This disgrace started at the top but was abetted at local and regional levels. Yes, heads should roll and Shinseki began that process prior to his departure.
As our older veterans know, this current episode is but another chapter in the 84-year history of the VA – mostly good, but some horrible. During my years as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, we were constantly responding to the concerns of veterans. But Congress had our veterans’ scandals too. I remember in the 1980s the terrible difficulty that veterans of the war in Vietnam experienced from the effects of Agent Orange – a dangerous toxin sprayed by our own government for the purpose of defoliation of the jungles. Desperately ill vets who had contacted the spray urgently needed medical help which was denied them until a few of us, most notably Congressman Tom Daschle, wrote and passed a law requiring help.
The Department of Veteran’s Affairs is quick to point out the excellent treatment that most of our vets receive and the VA is correct about that. But these scandals about lack of attention and care for ill veterans do occur and the question is who is to blame. Obviously, the answers are complex and there is plenty of blame to share, but sick people don’t want explanations, delays and excuses.
The sign on President Harry Truman’s Oval Office desk read, “The Buck Stops Here.” In this case indeed it does but not just with President Barack Obama, who has not given adequate attention to the veterans, many of whom he sent to Afghanistan. The buck also and most importantly stops with the U.S. Congress. In fact it is there where the buck actually starts, and Congress has underfunded the vets and the VA for decades. I found that more than a few members of Congress who were quick to show up for the parades, cut the ribbons, and be visible at every flag raising, were the same members who voted “no” on properly funding the VA. It happened just a few weeks ago in the Senate when some members prevented a bill to increase VA’s funding from even being discussed. Some in Congress crow about 10 years of increases in the VA budget but they don’t say that those increases were entirely inadequate given the aging veteran population taken together with those now returning from our wars.
Frankly, this Congress is full of people who care more about cutting spending and the myth of deficit cliffs than they do about veterans. Why? Because too many members in both the House and Senate truly and mistakenly believe our government is incapable of doing great things. Those members, with their constant condemnation of the federal government, “no” votes and constant filibusters are directly responsible for the lack of help that torments millions of vets and their families.
Hopefully, our veterans and their organizations are keeping a close eye on Congress and the voting records of its members. That should include understanding which political party and which senators and representatives have records as true friends of the nation’s veterans.
Pat Williams is a former U.S. congressman