Democratic Candidate for Congress Kevin Strouse (PA-8) says House Republicans and Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick’s lack of congressional action is the real issue about the Veterans Affairs controversy.
Strouse, a former Army Ranger and veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan, said he is “outraged” at the mismanagement of the Philadelphia Veterans Benefits Center. He asked when Fitzpatrck and House Republicans found out about the corruption like that taking place at the Philadelphia facility.
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“Congress was quick to call for General Shinseki’s head when similar allegations first came to light in Arizona–and I agreed that a change in leadership was necessary–yet this Republican Congress and Congressman Fitzpatrick have done nothing to address any of the underlying causes of the systemic backlog at VA centers across the country,” Strouse said in a statement.
Monday night, Fitzpatrick took part an ad hoc committee member of the Committee on Veterans Affairs which focused on the backlog and data manipulation at the Philadelphia facility and other across the nation. The meeting was in response to a report released earlier in the day by the VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) published titled, Review of the Special Initiative to Process Rating Claims Pending Over 2 Years.
Credit: Amanda Kuehnle/LevittownNow.com
The scathing report provided detailed information about corruption that was found within the investigation such as VA Regional Office staff inaccurately processing over 17,000 claims, resulting in over $40 million in improper payments.
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Strouse’s answer to the problems at VA centers would be eradicated by Congress investing in upgrading the infrastructure of Veterans Affairs offices
Upgrading the IT infrastructure at the VA in order to increase the efficiency of claims processing and reduce costs over the long term, is the area where the former Army Ranger thinks congress should focus on, however, “Republicans in the House and Senate, including Congressman Fitzpatrick, have repeatedly voted against properly funding the VA,” Strouse said.
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Strouse added he thinks there are bi-partisan solutions to rid the VA of its problems, however, the ineffectiveness of Congress presently is getting in the way of addressing such issues important to Veterans and their families throughout the country and locally.
Among the findings of the report issued Monday were the Philadelphia office alone, improperly made payments topping $2 million.
- The VA manipulated dates to make claims look newer then they actually were,
- The VA hid and shredded mail to lessen workloads,
- The VA ignored whistle-blower warnings—leading to millions of dollars of duplicate payments being wrongfully issued, and
- The VA is pressuring and retaliating against the very whistle-blowers who are trying to help veterans, and trying to make the system work better.
