Page 24 - Va S News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

The dedicated men and women of the veterans affairs to accomplish this mission. i'd like to thank my family for supporting me throughout my life. but especially during this next chapter, my wife deanne, my daughter jenny and son-in-law scott and my son rob are all here today. my parents and deanne's mother could not attend here today. but thank you for your love and support. thank you again, mr. president. i look forward to working with you to transform veterans affairs to better serve our country's veterans. thank you. [ applause ] >> that was president obama nominating robert mcdonald to hea...

>> mr. president, thank you for your confidence in me that this nomination demonstrates. it would indeed be an honor and a privilege if confirmed by the senate to serve as the secretary of veterans affairs. to improve the lives of our country's veterans, and to help change the way the u.s. department of veterans affairs does business. mr. president, in your remarks just now, you have made it clear what you expect, a va that is more effective, mow efficient, and that truly put our veterans first. if confirmed by the senate, my priority would be to lead that transformation. my life's purpose has...

Are profoundly gaitful for the good work you do and i'm grateful as well. but, we're here today because of problems that have outraged us all. that includes the inexcusable conduct that we've seen at too many va health care facilities. so i'm here for two reasons. to update you and the american people on how we're fixing these problems and announce choice for the next secretary of veterans affairs to move us forward. the first thing everyone should know, those responsible for manipulating or falsifying records and tolerated it are being held accountable. some officials have been relieved of th...

What was good decision to make sure that folks who previously had difficulty accessing va services were finally admitted, whether it's because they had ptsd or folks with cases previously of agent orange, all of which meant more people coming into the system. we have had to get up and running and we're doing quite effectively, work in terms of post-9/11 g.i. bill to make sure our young people are able to get the training they need after they leave our military. so, across the board, there's been some terrific work. but there's a lot more that has to be done. we have to fix some things that are...

Like a dead man walking going into he job? >> i think he would be. i think what he does is he very quickly determines what authorities he knees to be given. what the american people need to realize is that the va has for the most part a huge number of staff and personnel that want to do right by our veterans. but it has to be led properly. there needs to be accountability standards adhered to. need to be consequences when there are shortfalls. right now we don't have that. clearly the reports indicated this cor rose such cull -- crosssive culture, cutting back on the care, especially in medica...