Senator Johnny Isakson is the Chair of the Senate Veterans Committee and his office issued the following yesterday:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, October 16, 2015
Contact: Amanda Maddox, 202-224-7777
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Isakson Statement on Hickey Resignation
Calls on Secretary McDonald to quickly nominate candidate who will reform VBA
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, today released the
following statement about the resignation of Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Under Secretary for Benefits Allison Hickey:
“Recent
findings by the Inspector General clearly show that the Veterans
Benefits Administration desperately needs new leadership. The systemic
culture of fraud, waste and gross misuse of taxpayer
money by VA executives for their own personal gain while
veterans benefits claims have been backlogged
for years is appalling and must end. While I thank Under Secretary
Hickey for her military service, this is an opportunity for Secretary
McDonald to nominate someone who will hold bad actors within the VA
accountable and reform the Veterans Benefits Administration.
I strongly urge Secretary McDonald to nominate someone as quickly as
possible - this is not a position that the VBA can afford to have vacant
for long.”
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The Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs is chaired by U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., in the 114th Congress.
Isakson
is a veteran himself – having served in the Georgia Air National Guard
from 1966-1972 – and has been a member of the Senate VA Committee since
he joined the Senate in 2005. Isakson’s home
state of Georgia is home to more than a dozen military installations
representing each branch of the military as well as more than 750,000
veterans.