WASHINGTON, DC -- U.S. Senator Jack Reed today met with Robert “Bob” McDonald, the President’s nominee to serve as the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA). 

Reed is a senior member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction & Veterans Affairs.  He helped pass the largest veterans budget in history in 2014 to improve access to care, process disability claims, and help treat Traumatic Brain Injury and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder for those returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.  He also helped pass the Veterans’ Access to Care through Choice, Accountability, and Transparency Act of 2014, aimed at getting veterans off wait lists and into hospitals and clinics and rectifying the deep-seated issues at the VA.

During today’s meeting, Reed stressed the need to fix the systemic issues within the VA to ensure veterans receive the care and services they’ve earned in a timely manner.  Stating:

“We must keep our promises to veterans and restore trust, integrity, and accountability to the entire VA health system. 

“Our veterans have made incredible sacrifices and they deserve great care.  Bob knows what it means to serve.  He has the character and experience to lead the VA through this challenging time.  I look forward to his confirmation and having him come up to Rhode Island to hear directly from our veterans and see firsthand the quality of care they are receiving at our VA facilities.  The men and women of the Providence VA do vital work caring for our veterans and addressing their needs.  I worked to make Providence the first regional VA office in the nation to install a new Veterans Benefit Management System (VBMS) and I want to ensure they are a national leader that provides the highest quality care.  Nothing less will suffice.

“We must continue to invest wisely in the health, education, and economic prosperity of our veterans and military families.  That includes addressing the doctor and nursing shortage at the VA and increasing accountability.  We need an adequately funded and staffed VA.  I will continue working on a bipartisan basis to address these critical issues.”

Earlier today, Reed, a member of the Appropriations Committee, helped advance the Department of Defense Appropriations Bill for Fiscal Year 2015, which includes an additional $3.6 million in funding for the Pentagon to continue developing a program that allows it to provide all records electronically to the VA.  Going forward, this would greatly improve the speed and efficiency with which the VA is able to process veterans’ disability claims.

In the wake of the scandal, both the full U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives have passed separate veterans bills aimed at addressing long VA wait times and reforming our veterans’ health care system.  House and Senate negotiators are currently working in conference toward an agreement and Senator Reed is urging them to reach a bipartisan consensus as quickly as possible.

Mr. McDonald is the former Chairman, President, and CEO of Procter & Gamble (P&G).  He retired from P&G in June 2013 after 33 years with the company.  He currently serves on the McKinsey Advisory Council and on the boards of U.S. Steel and the Xerox Corporation.  He previously served as Vice-Chair of the Business Roundtable, and was appointed by both President Bush and President Obama to the Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiation.

Mr. McDonald graduated from West Point in 1975 and served in the 82nd Airborne Division.

If confirmed, McDonald will replace Acting VA Secretary Sloan Gibson.

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