NEW YORK, NY (June 7, 2017) — Yesterday, the Senate easily passed the Department of Veterans Affairs Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act, a landmark bill that will give the VA Secretary tools needed to hold bad actors accountable. Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), the leading voice for the post-9/11 generation of veterans, started fighting for VA accountability over three years ago, when the VA scandal in Phoenix first was exposed. Today, IAVA applauds the Senate for quickly passing the bill and calls on the House to do the same. 

In June 2014, IAVA announced its Marshall Plan for Veterans, chief among this plan was a call “to swiftly pass legislation that would expand the VA secretary’s authority to fire or demote senior staff for poor performance.”

“This is welcome news to veterans nationwide. Given that the scandal in Phoenix alerted the country to the outrageous state of the VA health care system nearly three years ago, this change is long overdue. IAVA applauds the leadership and diligence of Senators Tester, Rubio and Isakson to move forward this bill that will empower the VA to remove bad-acting employees,” IAVA Founder and CEO Paul Rieckhoff said. “IAVA and our members have fought relentlessly to give the VA Secretary the tools needed to address workforce accountability and save veterans’ lives. We encourage Senate and House leaders to quickly work together to pass the strongest VA accountability measure that can be signed into law.” 

Earlier this year, IAVA launched our historic She Who Borne The Battle campaign to ensure that women veterans get the recognition and services they deserve. According to data from VA, between 2005 to 2015, the number of women Veterans enrolled in VA health care increased 84 percent, from 397,024 to 729,989. Accountability is absolutely necessary to ensure that the growing population of women veterans get adequate care and services.