President Barack Obama finally made a statement Wednesday on the Veterans Affairs scandal, vowing to hold anyone involved accountable.
The scandal has grabbed the nation’s attention, as it has been discovered that long waiting times and delayed health care may have been directly responsible for the deaths of veterans at VA hospitals. It has been alleged that staffers fabricated records to make it appear that wait times were not longer than allowed and that veterans were seen in time, even if they had not been.
“If these allegations prove to be true, it is dishonorable, it is disgraceful, and I will not tolerate it,” Obama said at the White House.
According to NBC News, Obama said that he will continue to work with VA Secretary Eric Shinseki on the investigation and solving the problem “at this stage.” Obama laos called Shinseki a “great public servant,” even as veterans groups and Congress call for him to resign.
“I know that Rick's attitude is that if does not think he can do a good job on this, and if he thinks he's let our veterans down, then I'm sure he is not going to be interested in continuing to serve,” Obama said, referring to Shinseki. “At this stage, Rick is committed to solving the problem and working with us to do it.”
CBS News reports that Obama met with Shinseki and White House deputy chief of staff Rob Nabors Wednesday morning before making the statement. Nabors has been assigned to work closely with Shinseki on the investigation and is being sent to the Phoenix VA hospital, which has been the center of the scandal. There, it has been reported that 40 veterans died due to delayed health care.
Later this week, the House plans on voting on a bill that would make it easier for Shinseki to fire those responsible.
Critics of the White House have accused the administration of failing to fix this problem before it got worse. There have been reports that Obama had received memos on the issue as far back as 2008.