Considering the long wait times and the attempt to cover up these delays, President Obama condemned the problems that have plagued the Veterans Affairs but also defended the Secretary of Veterans’ Affairs, Eric Shinseki.
In speaking at a news conference, Obama said, “Anybody found to have manipulated or falsified Veterans Affairs records will be held accountable. I will not stand for it. None of us should.”
After meeing with Shinseki at the Oval Office, the President also met Rob Nabors, the White House deputy chief of staff who has been given the responsibility of working with the VA from here on.
As for reports about long wait times and attempts to cover up these delays, the President remarked that it would dishonorable and disgraceful if this behavior was proven true.
He also remarked that Nabors was already on the way to Phoenix today to check on reports at a facility which was said to be manipulating statistics about veteran care.
The President also repeatedly used the word ‘accountability’ in his speech and also mentioned that a number of employees were already asked to go on administrative leave.
He also stated that his administration’s responsibility will be to bring the VA into the 21st century and that would be a difficult issue to deal with.
After his speech, the President only took two questions out of which one was why the situation has reached this point. He responded by saying that there had been a delay in finding out what was actually going on, thanks to a number of falsified reports.