FL Congressman On VA Scandal: 'Who's Running The Show?'
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Chris Stigall spoke with Florida Congressman Jeff Miller on Talk Radio 1210 WPHT about the investigation into the Department of Veterans Affairs that discovered veterans were being kept on secret lists designed to mask the amount of time they were kept waiting to receive medical care.
Miller, the Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs, detailed numerous examples of obstructions an investigation team encountered during their visit to the Philadelphia VA on July 2nd.
Congressman Miller On VA Scandal
The Congressman from Florida's First District said the acting Regional Director of the Philadelphia VA attempted to move investigators into a room that was being recorded with surveillance equipment.
"When they got to that particular room, two of the [microphones] were activated, as was the camera that was sitting in the room that's used for the video teleconference. At that point they said no, they did not want to do what they were going to do in that room and requested to be moved to another place…When we brought that to the Under-Secretary's attention at the hearing Monday Night, there was no denial that, in fact, they were activated. We don't know whether they were going to record or monitor, but either way, it was inappropriate," Miller explained.
Miller seemed to believe that the entire department is out of control, and no one has been able to cut through the chaos as of yet.
"To my knowledge, there's been nobody reprimanded for fired. Who's running the show? Your guess is as good as mine. The director, and there is a new director there, Diana Rubens…may think [she's] running the show. But [she's] not. The bureaucracy is running it," he said.
Miller's committee intends to restore order to the VA and said the department cannot just do as it chooses.
"They should be accountable…They have now grown to an agency of well over 333,000 people who think that they are untouchable, and we are beginning to tear away layer after layer of the bureaucracy and show them that they are not infallible. In fact, they are accountable to the taxpayers, and we're not going to rest until justice is served," Miller commented.
