Charlotte, North Carolina: Heralding a new “culture of accountability” at the Department of Veterans Affairs, President Barack Obama on Tuesday announced executive actions to help active-duty military members, their families and veterans, ranging from strengthening access to mental-health care to making it easier for troops to reduce mortgage payments.
Speaking at the American Legion’s annual convention in the wake of a scandal involving falsified records and long wait times at VA facilities, Obama reaffirmed his support for America’s veterans and said his administration will do all it can to ensure that members and former members of the military receive full benefits.
“They were there for America. We now need to be there for them,” Obama said at the Charlotte Convention Center to a crowd of veterans who applauded tepidly.
Obama called the VA scandal that led to the ouster of Secretary Eric Shinseki “outrageous and inexcusable” and said that America has to do more to uphold its “sacred trust” to those who have served in the armed forces.
He announced 19 executive actions to help improve mental-health care for veterans, including a pilot program of mental-health peer support, automatic enrolment of outgoing military members who are receiving mental-health treatment into a bridge program and an expansion of suicide-prevention programmes.
“We can’t stand idly by on such tragedy,” Obama said of military suicides. “So long as any service member or veteran is suffering or feels like they have nowhere to turn or doesn’t get the support that they need, that means we haven’t done enough. We all know we need to do more.”
The president was joined by VA Secretary Robert McDonald, who Obama said is “instituting a new culture of accountability.”
“Bob doesn’t play,” Obama said. “So my bottom line is this: Despite all the good work that the VA does every day, despite all the progress that we’ve made over the last several years, we are very clear-eyed about the problems that are still there.”
The speech came as a report from the VA inspector general confirmed that numerous veterans died after receiving poor care in a VA hospital in Phoenix. The report did not confirm widely reported allegations that at least 40 veterans died while awaiting care.
The report said the inspector general reviewed the records of 3,409 veterans and found 45 cases in which patients experienced “unacceptable and troubling lapses” in care. Of those, 28 experienced long delays in care, and six died, the report said. Seventeen other patients experienced care that “deviated from the expected standard independent of delays,” and 14 of them died, the IG found.
The problems, Obama said, “require us to regain the trust of our veterans and live up to our vision of a VA that is more effective and more efficient and that truly puts veterans first. And I will not be satisfied until that happens.” Earlier this month, Obama signed a bill injecting more than $16 billion into the beleaguered department.
Obama’s speech at times took on the tone of an address on international and domestic policy, touching on the financial crisis, energy independence and Mideast strife. To an audience that “carries the scars” of combat, he said America must use its power wisely.
“History teaches us of the dangers of overreaching and spreading ourselves too thin and trying to go it alone without international support, or rushing into military adventures without thinking through the consequences,” Obama said. “You know that we should never send America’s sons and daughters into harm’s way unless it is absolutely necessary and we have a plan and we are resourcing it and prepared to see it through.”
That means not sending troops back to Iraq — a point Obama has reiterated since ordering air strikes against Islamist militants in the country and a humanitarian mission to aid a persecuted minority sect earlier this month. “Let me say it again: American combat troops will not be returning to fight in Iraq,” Obama said.
The president went on to caution that although eliminating a “cancer” like the Islamic State “won’t be easy and it won’t be quick,” the way to fight such groups is not with large-scale deployments that “overstretch our military” but rather with a broader-based strategy led by the new Iraqi government.
“So we’re strengthening our partners, more military assistance to government and Kurdish forces in Iraq and moderate opposition in Syria,” Obama said.
That was the single time Obama directly addressed Syrian issues after authorising reconnaissance flights over Syria during the weekend. The White House has said that Obama has not made a decision to pursue military action in Syria and officials will not say whether Obama has been presented with any specific options regarding Syria, where the Islamic State is believed to have captured and killed American journalist James Foley.
“But our message to anyone who harms our people is simple. America does not forget, our reach is long, we are patient, justice will be done,” Obama said. “We have proved time and time again we will do what’s necessary to capture those who harm Americans, to go after those who harm Americans ... And we’ll continue to take direct action where needed to protect our people and to defend our homeland.”
