CNN “State of the Union” host Candy Crowley on Sunday sat down with the chairs of the House and Senate Veterans Affairs oversight committees to quiz them on their role in letting Veterans Affairs backlogs go unnoticed.
“We added up the number of hearings together that the two of you have had since 2013, the beginning of the last session. It was well over 90,” she said to Rep. Jeff Miller (R-FL) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), adding that the two committee chairs had 10 joint hearings.
“You have to wonder now looking at this mess, and everyone saying we knew this and knew that, but looking at this mess now, is this not also a failure of oversight?” she asked.
Miller told Crowley that he has written to President Obama about wait times at VA facilities, but conceded that Congress likely played a role in the shortcomings.
“Sure, everybody probably is culpable in this, but we’re doing what we’ve been asked to do, and that is to find out the information,” he said.
“Well, what good is Congressional oversight,” Crowley probed, “if you’ve all been working on it for a year or two years, or let’s face it, going back a decade, not you two specifically…”
Sanders then jumped in, noting that “clearly there are incompetent administrators.” He also added that it may have a lot to do with funding.
“They’re treating 6.5 million people a year, 230,000 people every single day. Is there waste in the system? Absolutely,” he said. “But at the end of the day, when you have 2 million new veterans coming into the system, some with very difficult and complicated problems, I do think we have to take a hard look and see if we have the resources.”
Finally, after Miller lamented that the House has made many oversight requests that VA has yet to answer, Crowley took a jab at the many subpoenas the Republican-led House has issued.
“Can’t you just subpoena them?” Crowley asked. “They subpoena everyone else.”
Watch the clip via CNN:
Good for Crowley. First instance I have seen of a newscaster asking a pertinent and obvious but somehow taboo question of a politician.
Not just a failure of oversight but a FAILURE OF FUNDING BY CONGRESS! (sorry about yelling).
VA management is not the only problem.
with adequate funding many of the problems in the VA would get resolved. This should not be a political football. We as a nation owe medical care to our veterans. it’s the least we can do. And then there’s lack of jobs, suicide rates, homelessness all of which are higher in returning vets.
“…Sure, everybody probably is culpable in this, but we’re doing what we’ve been asked to do…”
Hold it right there. Let’s focus on the “you’re culpable” part.
Crowley has targeted the central biggest story in this mess, the failure of Congress to do its job. Given a political structure where Congress drives the media message (always away from itself), here is a chance for journalists to justify their spot in the First Amendment.
We already know Congress is “only” going to do what Congress asks of itself. The truth is Congress is broken. That’s a HUGE story. Question every Senator or Representative who dares to raise his sanctimonious head, and ask, “Where were you? Why did you fail our troops?”
That was a good start. But she should have brought up their
voting record… Which senator/congressperson voted
to BLOCK / DEFUND Veterans.
Their votes are a matter of public record… STOP THE BS…
“Sure, everybody probably is culpable in this”
Ongoing care issues utterly confused by a skimmer media skillfully spun from the culpable, rotting entrails of GOP psyop campaigners…Lots of smoke, no resolution.