Crawford Issues Statement Regarding H.R. 3230 Vote

Following Wednesday’s House vote on H.R. 3230, the “Veterans’ Access to Care through Choice, Accountability, and Transparency Act of 2014,” U.S. Rep. Rick Crawford (AR-1) issued the following statement regarding his “Nay” vote:

“As a veteran, the son of a veteran, and brother of veterans, I take a special interest in the defense of our nation and the sacred trust in which we hold those who have given their all in support of that mission. What we’ve learned about the VA in recent months is disturbing and heartbreaking. The agency has authority to address wait times and has even had adequate funding, yet those in leadership positions chose to ignore the veterans they are charged to serve. Instead, they lied, covered up, and punished those who attempted to call attention to problems. To my knowledge, no personnel have been fired or held to account as a result. This is unacceptable. Unfortunately, these shortcomings can’t be addressed with money alone. Sadly, Congress has a history of throwing money at problems and calling them ‘solved.’

“I can’t support today’s VA conference report because I don’t feel it is a responsible approach. Instead of adding over $11 billion in new deficit spending, we should first require the VA to reprioritize wasteful spending in other areas and use all of its unexpended funding to address wait times with the legal statutory authority it already has to utilize outside doctors. And if additional supplemental funds are needed, then Congress should appropriate those on an as-needed basis. In my view, this would be a more responsible approach in light of the debt crisis that is bearing down on our nation.

“Finally, this conference report restores hundreds of millions of dollars for bonuses to VA personnel, including many of the very people who have mistreated our veterans in recent years. The House voted unanimously last month to strip out funding for bonuses and now it’s inexplicably placed back in. Congress can, and should, do better.”