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 Today’s policy proposal is intended to keep faith
with this tradition by recognizing the service of those who have
done so much to ensure the freedom and the liberty that we all hold
so dear.
Responsibility and commitment must be the benchmarks by which the
effectiveness of any system of government is evaluated. In short,
does a nation always stand true to its ideals and honor the promises
that it makes? Sadly, the recent scandalous revelations regarding
the Department of Veterans Affairs would suggest that the nation has
fallen woefully short in living up to its time-honored commitment to
care for those who gave their all in service to the nation.
Regardless of our party affiliation, we can all agree that this
situation is intolerable and that it must be remedied.
 Last year the U.S. Congress agreed to a stopgap measure that would
begin to address the backlog of cases that are pending in the VA
hospital system. Under this system a veteran is entitled to receive
emergency healthcare at a non-VA facility at VA expense provided
that the hospital has an agreement with the Department of Veterans
Affairs. Yet, in an apparent bureaucratic snafu, the non-VA
hospitals that agree to provide these important services were denied
the ability to advertise this to the public. It is unclear as to
whether this policy represents a fear of free market competition or
whether it is intended to maintain a monopolistic hold on healthcare
on the part of the VA, but either of these justifications is
unsound. The prohibition on advertising these vital services must be
lifted. [to
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 Junius Rodriguez believes that in addition to
lifting this advertising ban so that more veterans have access to
vital medical services, the stopgap measure should be expanded so
that additional healthcare facilities that wish to participate in
providing care to veterans are allowed to do so under the umbrella
of VA benefits. The measure of true reform in this regard must be
whether we are providing the promised health services to our
nation’s veterans, not to whether or not the bureaucrats in
Washington, D.C. are given an opportunity to save face. This is the
least that we can do to keep the faith with those who have served
their nation through the years with honor and selfless dedication. [Text from file received] Past related
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