President Obama defends handling of veterans affairs issues in North Carolina speech
CHARLOTTE (WTVD) -- His standing with veterans damaged by scandal, President Barack Obama on Tuesday defended his administration's response to Veterans Affairs lapses that delayed health care for thousands of former service members, but conceded more needed to be done to regain their trust.
His appearance also had deep political overtones in a state where the Democratic senator, Kay Hagan, is facing a difficult re-election and has sought to distance herself from Obama's policies, declaring as recently as Friday that his administration had not "done enough to earn the lasting trust of our veterans."
But Hagan and the state's Republican Senator, Richard Burr, were at the North Carolina Air National Guard Base to greet Obama. She welcomed him warmly and he gave her a peck on the cheek.
Obama and Hagan were both addressing the American Legion's National convention, with the president's address to the legionnaires the latest administration response to the health care uproar that led to the resignation of Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki in May.
Obama declared that the nation owes veterans for their service and that the lengthy wait times and attempts to hide scheduling flaws were "outrageous and inexcusable."
"We are very clear-eyed about the problems that are still there," Obama said. "And those problems require us to regain the trust of our veterans and live up to our vision of a VA that is more effective and more efficient and that truly puts veterans first. And I will not be satisfied until that happens."
Obama promised "a new culture of accountability" under new Secretary Bob McDonald. "Bob doesn't play," Obama said.
He announced steps to strengthen access to mental health care by members of the military, to improve the transition for those leaving the military from care administered by the Defense Department to that run by Veterans Affairs, and to foster suicide prevention and better treatments for post-traumatic stress syndrome.
Earlier this month, Obama signed a $16.3 billion law aimed at easing the long waits that tens of thousands of military veterans had endured to get medical care.
The law, a product of rare bipartisanship in the House and Senate, followed reports of veterans dying while awaiting appointments to see VA doctors and of a widespread practice of employees covering up months-long wait times for appointments. In some cases, employees received bonuses based on falsified records.
The VA says investigators have found no proof that delays in care caused any deaths at a VA hospital in Phoenix.
Moving beyond the steps included in the law, Obama planned to take executive actions that:
- Automatically enroll military personnel who are receiving care for mental health conditions and are leaving the service in a program that transfers them to a new care team in the VA.
- Undertake a study designed to detect whether people show signs of being vulnerable to suicide or post-traumatic stress syndrome.
- Spends $34.4 million in a VA suicide prevention study and about $80 million on a program to treat diseases, including post-traumatic stress syndrome.
Obama also announced a partnership with lenders such as Wells Fargo Bank, CitiMortgage, Bank of America, Ocwen Loan Servicing and Quicken Loans to make it easier for active-duty service members to obtain mortgage interest rate reductions.
LOCAL REACTION
Carol Barker got the call two days ago. President Obama would be calling her name during his convention speech, praising her service and efforts to aid homeless veterans. The Greensboro resident, and retired Air National Guard Master Sergeant, still looked surprised when she heard her name.
"It was humbling," she said, taking the focus of herself and applauding her own colleagues.
Barker said she liked what she heard from the administration's reform plan, but she knows the waiting game all too well. It's an issue her friends grapple with trying to get basic care from the VA. She'll need more than a speech and legislation. She needs action.
"That's what I want," said Barker. "I want the promises kept."
Frank Stancil, adjutant for the American Legion of North Carolina echoed Barker.
"I'm always amazed at the incompetency and not being able to get rid of 'em," Stancil said. "If this VA Director is incompetent they just transfer them somewhere else."
Stacil called Obama's stance on managerial misconduct and a plan to move forward "encouraging." He also listened closely to Hagan's announcement regarding the Fayetteville and Jacksonville VA hospitals.
Lease agreement plans for additional space have finally passed through what the senator called "federal bureaucracy." Earlier this summer, then-acting VA Secretary Sloan Gibson noted space as a top challenge for the Fayetteville VA, now infamous for its excessive wait times. Hagan said the hospitals immediately found a way create space by entering short-term lease agreements with other facilities, a move that came to a screeching halt when the General Services Administration questioned the proper characterization of lease terms.
"Everyone was ready to move except the federal bureaucracy," said Hagan during her speech Tuesday. "After months of waiting, I actually had to contact the president directly to get these leases moving."
The North Carolina GOP criticized Hagan following the speech, saying she has "rubber-stamped" Obama's policies, and used the hard stance on the VA system and administration policy to get her through a tough mid-term election.
Stancil said he believes a number of issues and people have led to the fallout in the North Carolina VA system, and it doesn't all go back to the feds. He said Elizabeth Goolsby, the Fayetteville VA director, is doing well under tough circumstances, and an inherited, tangled system. But the American Legion will continue to act as a watchdog for improvements.
"To make sure that we keep their feet to the fire, and progress goes on and gets better."
