Daines to Talk With Montana Veterans About the Department of Veterans Affairs Issues Friday

Representative Steve Daines is scheduled to meet with veterans in Missoula and Helena on Friday to talk about the ongoing issues within the Department of Veterans Affairs and also address the challenges facing Montana veterans as they navigate the VA system.

Daines is scheduled to speak in Missoula at 2:30 p.m. following his Helena visit at 10 a.m. These meetings come in response to recent reports that up to 40 veterans may have died due to delayed care while on a secret waiting list meant to conceal increasing backlogs at a Phoenix, Ariz. VA facility.

"Like many Montanans, I am outraged by reports that a number of VA clinics have failed to give our veterans the care and honor they deserve," Daines said. "These clinics deliberately covered up delays that may have ultimately led to the preventable deaths of at least forty veterans. Yet the VA executives at these troubled facilities are more likely to be given a bonus than face any sort of accountability. This is disgraceful, and I stand with the millions of Americans who are demanding accountability from the VA."

Daines spoke on the House floor Wednesday to urge support for the Department of Veterans Affairs Management Accountability Act, and called upon the VA to provide Montana's veterans with the answers they deserve.

"The Department of Veterans Affairs Management Accountability Act will ensure that the VA is able to remove career appointees who are failing to do their jobs," Daines said. "This is common sense. If you fail to do your job, and fail the men and women you serve, you shouldn't be getting bonuses. You should be held accountable. Our veterans deserve nothing less."

Daines recently called on VA Secretary Eric Shinseki to resign, following similar calls from other national veterans' organizations.