WASHINGTON, D.C.— House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) issued the following statement on the House’s passage today of the bipartisan Veterans Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act of 2017. The legislation will now go to President Trump’s desk to be signed into law. 

“I am glad that the House took important action today to hold the Veterans Administration (VA) accountable so our veterans can get the care they deserve.

“Our veterans made incredible sacrifices in defense of our freedoms and way of life, and in return, it is our obligation to ensure they have access to quality and timely health care. But, under our current system, the VA often fails to live up to their end of the bargain.

“While the majority of VA employees are committed to caring for our veterans, there have been far too many instances of outrageous employee actions that have directly put our veterans at risk and hindered their ability to get the care they need. Many of these horrendous actions we’ve seen at the VA–from a nurse participating in a surgery of a veteran while intoxicated, to an employee engaging in armed robbery, to a care provider watching pornography on the job–would be instant fireable offenses anywhere in the private sector.

“Yet, under the VA’s unworkable civil servant rules, the department cannot fire these bad actors. Without the ability to hold VA employees accountable, we are doing a grave disservice to our veterans. 

“That’s why the members from both sides of the aisle came together today in the House and passed this legislation. This bill creates a new, streamlined process to fire, demote, or suspend any VA employee for misconduct, while also expanding the protection of whistleblowers who expose these bad and dangerous actions.

“We owe this to our veterans–and our taxpayers–so we can hold the VA accountable to do their job and provide a level of service and care we can all be proud of. I am looking forward to President Trump signing this into law, so we can continue this process of fixing the VA once and for all.”