Like many Nebraskans, I have been closely following news and developments regarding mismanagement at the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), which manages medical centers across the country. The VHA is under investigation for placing veterans on “secret wait lists” to allegedly hide the true number of veterans waiting for care for more than two weeks. Reports suggest dozens of veterans across the nation died while waiting for VHA-provided care. 
 

Each day seems to bring more disturbing news about fraudulent behavior. According to the Associated Press, the investigation has expanded to over 26 medical facilities nationwide. The Secretary for the Department of Veterans Affairs, Eric Shinseki, recently testified before the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee about this growing national scandal. After carefully reviewing his testimony and watching his attempt to grapple with the crisis, I am not convinced the secretary is doing enough to immediately address the ever-growing problems. 
 

I do not believe that Secretary Shinseki has demonstrated the strong leadership necessary to aggressively address this systemic failure. He has had time to act – to step up and to lead – and he has fallen short. Numerous whistleblowers have come forward to expose rampant abuse, which news outlets like CNN have been reporting on for almost six months. The time for patience, expressions of anger, and more reports has passed. The American people want action. The recent resignation of Under Secretary for Health Robert Petzel – who was already scheduled to retire – is nothing more than an empty gesture of accountability. 
 

Thankfully, Nebraska has not been directly impacted by this scandal at this point. Nonetheless, I am deeply troubled by the drastic loss of confidence in the secretary. While I am grateful for Secretary Shinseki’s previous military service, I believe it is now time for him to step down. A new secretary must work to regain credibility with our nation’s veterans and demonstrate, at a minimum, basic competence. 
 

Another step we can take to begin to restore faith with our veterans is to ban employee bonuses in the Veterans Health Administration. I introduced legislation, along with Senator Richard Burr, the Ranking Member on the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, to ban bonuses at the VHA through 2015.
 

In April 2013, Secretary Shinseki announced that the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) would not be awarding performance-based bonuses for senior executives due to “a failure to meet performance goals for reducing a sizable backlog in claims processing.” However, Secretary Shinseki has not done the same here with regard to the VHA’s recent scandal.
 

It is disappointing that an Act of Congress is even necessary to stop bonuses at an agency engulfed in a national scandal. But where the administration falls short – particularly when it comes to enhancing accountability – Congress must step forward. 
 

Similar language was passed in the House of Representatives on April 30, 2014 by an overwhelming bipartisan vote of 416 to 1. Even President Obama seemed to agree with our measure, stating at a May 21, 2014 White House press conference that bonuses should not be awarded to those responsible for the mismanagement. I hope the Senate quickly adopts this provision as a small, but important step forward to restoring public trust. I am fully committed to ensuring these problems are fixed and that trust is restored with the public and our veterans, who have sacrificed so much for our country.
 

Thank you for participating in the democratic process. I look forward to visiting with you again next week.