Rep. Tom Reed (R-Corning)
WASHINGTON – Congressman Tom Reed (R-Corning, NY-23)on Monday said problems within the Department of Veteran Affairs extend far beyond resignations and administrative troubles to what could be criminal activity.
Reed says anyone found guilty of criminal activity including manipulating official documents must be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law. And while Reed said VA Secretary Eric Shinseki’s decision to step down is the right one, Reed says it doesn’t go nearly far enough and more work needs to be done to fix the systemic problems across the whole system.
With the VA’s budget being increased by 256 percent over the last decade and staffing seeing an increase of 56 percent since September 2000, Reed says the VA faces deep-rooted cultural problems, not resource-based problems.
Reed made his comments during his weekly conference call with regional media.
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