7/24/2019 Bernie Sanders September 3, 2014

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BERNARD

SANDERS, VERMONT,

CHAIRMAN

JOHN

D.

ROCKEFELLER IV, WEST VIRGINIA

PATry

MURRAY, WASHINGTON

SHERROD BROWN,

OHIO

JON TESTER,

MONTANA

MARK

BEGICH, ALASKA

RICHARD BLUMENTHAL,

CONNECTICUT

MAZIE K, HIRONO,

HAWAII

STEVE ROBERTSON,

STAFF DIRECTOR

9Hnitsd

Ftatss

Fsnsts

COMMITTEE ON VETERANS' AFFAIRS

WASHINGTON,

DC 20510

September

3,

2014

Oliver B.

Mitchell

III

PO

Box

2705

Long

Beach,

CA 90801

Dear Mr. Mitchell:

Thank

you

for

contacting

me regarding

current

practices

of the Department of Veterans Affairs. I

appreciate

hearing from

you

on

this important

issue.

Inappropriate actions against

whistleblowers

must stop. The House

of

Representatives

has

recently

held

a

series

of

hearings

dedicated

to

ensuring

employees of the VA who expose flaws

within

the agency

are

protected,

not

retaliated

against. Over 67

claims

of retaliation

by VA

supervisors

against

employees

who filed

whistleblower

complaints

are

currently

being

investigated.

The

Senate Veterans

Affairs

Committee

(SVAC)

uses the tool

of

oversight

to ensure veterans

are

receiving

the best

quality

care

available. I regularly

direct my

staff

to

personally

evaluate the

services

provided

by

the VA

through

site

visits,

hearings

and

investigations.

SVAC will

continue

to

use aggressive

oversight to

preemptively

avoid

future

problems

and

maintain a

cultrne

of

honesty

within

the

VA.

To

ensure

VA has

the resources

and authority needed

to

address

this,

and other, recently

identified

issues,

Senator

McCain

and I introduced

The Veterans' Access to

Care through

Choice, Accountability

and Transparency

Act

of

2014

(S.

2450), which

was

passed

in

the

Senate,

as

H.R.3230,

as

amended,

and

has

now

been agreed to

by the

House of

Representatives

and

signed

by the

President.

This

bipartisan

legislation

overhauls

a variety

of aspects

of

the

VA

and

includes

extensive

protection

for whistleblowers.

It

gives

the VA

authority

to immediately

remove

senior

executives,

based on

poor

job

perforrnance,

while

preventing

wholesale

political

firings. This

bill

provides

veterans

who

can't

get

timely appointments

with

VA doctors the option of

going

to

community

health

centers, military

hospitals

or

private

doctors using Veterans

Choice Cards.

This

measure

authorizes

the

VA

to

lease

26

new health

facilities

in

17 states, and

authorizes

emergency funding

to

hire

new

doctors, nurses

and other

providers

in

order to address system-

RICHARD M.

BURR,

NORTH

CAROLINA,

RANKING

MEMBER

JOHNNY ISAKSON, GEORGIA

MIKE

JOHANNS,

NEBRASKA

JERRY

MORAN, KANSAS

JOHN

BOOZMAN,

ARKANSAS

DEAN HELLER, NEVADA

LUPE

WISSEL, REPUBLICAN STAFF DIRECT

7/24/2019 Bernie Sanders September 3, 2014

2/3

wide

health care

provider

shortages and to

take other steps

necessary

to ensure timely

access

to

ca"re.

This

legislation also

seeks to

give

the VA the

authority

to

rapidly hire

new

health care

providers

in

areas

with shortages.

You

can view

the details

of

this

and other

veterans-related

legislation

through the

Library of

Congress'

website.

Please

visit:

thomas.loc.gov/home/thomas.php.

As

chairman of this

committee,

I

promise

to

do

everything in my

power

to ensure that the brave

men

and women,

who

have

put

their lives

on the

line

to

defend our

country,

receive the highest

quality

benefits

and services

they undoubtedly

earned and deserve.

Again,

thank

you

for

contacting me. For up-to-date

information

on

what

the Senate Committee

on

Veterans'

Affairs

is working on,

please

visit

wwrn'.veterans.senate.gov.

Sincerely,

Z

Bernard

Sanders

Chairman

7/24/2019 Bernie Sanders September 3, 2014

3/3

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