Jeff Miller: Eric Shinseki's Record at VA 'Tainted'

After VA Secretary Eric Shinseki resigned on Friday, U.S. Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., the chairman of the U.S. House Veterans Affairs Committee, praised his record in the Army but insisted his record in the Obama Cabinet will forever be tainted due to poor leadership on VA medical centers.

"Everybody knows Eric Shinseki is an honorable man whose dedication to our country is beyond reproach, Miller said on Friday. I thank him for his legacy of service to our nation. Unfortunately, Shinseki's tenure at the Department of Veterans Affairs will forever be tainted by a pervasive lack of accountability among poorly performing VA employees and managers, apparent widespread corruption among medical center officials and an unparalleled lack of transparency with Congress, the public and the press. Appropriately, Shinseki is taking the brunt of the blame for these problems, but he is not the only one within VA who bears responsibility. Nearly every member of Shinseki's inner circle failed him in a major way. Those who surrounded Shinseki shielded him from crucial facts and hid bad news reports, in the process convincing him that some of the departments most serious, well-documented and systemic issues were merely isolated incidents to be ignored. Eric Shinseki trusted the VA bureaucracy, and the VA bureaucracy let him down.

Right now, VA needs a leader who will take swift and decisive action to discipline employees responsible for mismanagement, negligence and corruption that harms veterans while taking bold steps to replace the departments culture of complacency with a climate of accountability, Miller added. VAs problems are deadly serious, and whomever the next secretary may be, they will receive no grace period from Americas veterans, American taxpayers and Congress.