We need to modernize an outdated agency, bring it into the 21st century, and ensure that the VA is better equipped to treat the health and psychological issues that are unique to our veterans.
Caring for our nation's veterans must be our top priority as we work to create a more efficient and effective healthcare system at the VA.
There will be far greater accountability, dramatically improved access, responsiveness, and expanded care options, but the Department of Veterans Affairs will not be privatized under my watch.
As a veteran, I believe we have a responsibility to take care of all our men and women who have served - and I will fight to fix the crisis at the Veterans Administration caused by negligent leadership in Washington.
Congress will be tempted to wipe their hands of this, go to the Election Day and say 'we've done our part' and that's where groups like ours, Concerned Veterans for America, veterans across the country have to keep the heat on them to say this is just the start. VA is not fixed.
The Veterans Administration is a scandal. It's corrupt, and what's going on is a disgrace. And, believe me, if I win, if I become president, that will end. The veterans will be treated properly.
When I'm president of the United States, we're going to have a VA that cares more about our veterans than about the bureaucrats who work at the VA.
When Congress puts party labels aside, like we did on VA reform, we can accomplish some great things for the American people. But those occasions were far too rare.
As efforts to fix this failure at the Veterans Administration continue, I also intend to persist in demanding answers and action on the establishment of a new clinic to serve the veterans in North Central Washington.
We need to address the systemic structural issues within the VA - the misallocation of resources, the interminably long waiting lists, the bureaucratic inefficiencies - to ensure that our American heroes are properly protected the second they return home from war.
