VA Secretary McDonald Meets Officials to Lay Out His Vision to Reform and Reorganize Department

SEPTEMBER 12, 2014, WASHINGTON – VA Secretary Robert A. McDonald met today with the chairmen and ranking members of the Senate and House Veterans Affairs Committees to affirm his commitment to working together to better serve Veterans. McDonald outlined his Road to Veteran’s Day, a series of strategies and actions that will enable the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to rebuild trust with Veterans and the American people, improve service delivery, and set the course for long-term excellence and reform.

This meeting today at Veterans Affairs (VA) headquarters between Secretary McDonald, Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Ranking Member Richard Burr (R-NC) and House Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Jeff Miller (R-FL) and Ranking Member Mike Michaud (D-ME) follows a press conference Secretary McDonald held Monday, his first testimony as Secretary before Congress Tuesday and a meeting Wednesday with the leadership of 29 Military and Veterans Services Organizations to discuss his vision to reform and reorganize the department.

“I sincerely thank the members of the committees and our Veteran and Military Service Organization partners for their leadership and support of our Nation’s Veterans, their survivors and dependents,” said Secretary McDonald. “I told them that caring for our Nation’s Veterans is a non-partisan responsibility and that we have a lot of work to do to rebuild the trust of our Veterans. But I know that with the help of these partners, VA will be better able to meet the needs of our Veterans and effectively and efficiently provide them with the high-quality care and benefits they’ve earned.”