In Case You Missed It: Senator Scott Op-Ed in The State: Protecting South Carolina’s Veterans

Charleston, SC – U.S. Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) published an op-ed in Sunday’s The State newspaper highlighting his efforts to protect South Carolina’s veterans.  A portion of his op-ed is reprinted below:   Protecting South Carolina’s Veterans Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) August 17, 2014   The State   The brave men and women who have worn our nation’s uniform deserve our honor and our kept promises. South Carolina’s 400,000 veterans rely on the services provided by the Wm. Jennings Bryan Dorn VA Medical Center in Columbia, Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center in Charleston and the 11 community-based outpatient facilities across the state.   That is why I, like, so many Americans, was extremely troubled when news reports broke of widespread mismanagement problems and secret waiting lists at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ medical facilities.   The exposure of mismanagement prompted me to lead a group of 24 Senate colleagues in asking for an immediate, independent investigation. Following that request, I wanted to hear directly from Palmetto State veterans, so in June, I hosted veteran listening sessions and office hours across South Carolina to learn first-hand the problems veterans are experiencing.   I long have fought to end the VA claims backlog, voted against veterans’ pension cuts and had staff working to assist veterans navigating through, but hearing from so many veterans, sharing similar experiences, prompted me to go directly to the VA secretary to demand answers.   And after the Obama administration did not respond to my initial request for answers about the 13 S.C. facilities, I went directly to the local leadership of Dorn and Johnson to get answers. Both leaders discussed how locally, it seems we are making improvements on wait times. We still have work that needs to be done, but the good news is that at least in this state, we have a collaborative effort to improve the quality of care experienced by our veterans.   Building on that hope to move this process forward, I voted for the bipartisan Veterans Access, Choice and Accountability Act, which overwhelmingly passed both the Senate and the House and was signed into law by President Obama earlier this month.   Click here to read Senator Scott’s full piece on The State’s website.   Click here to learn more about Senator Scott’s work to support South Carolina’s military and veterans.   ###