FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, June 30, 2017
Contact: Amanda Maddox, 202-224-7777
Kristen Hines, 202-224-9126
Isakson Highlights VA Accountability ahead of Fourth of July
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson, chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, today released a video highlighting his work to improve accountability at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) through the swift passage and enactment of a new law ahead of the upcoming Fourth of July weekend.
The bipartisan legislation, the Department of Veterans Affairs Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act, which was introduced on May 11 by Isakson along with U.S. Senators Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Jon Tester, D-Mont., ranking member of the committee, seeks to improve accountability at the VA and represents the first major reform to civil service at the VA since Congress passed the Veterans Access, Choice and Accountability Act in 2014.
After sailing through both the Senate and U.S. House of Representatives, President Trump signed the legislation into law on June 23 – only six weeks after the bill was introduced.
An excerpt from Isakson’s remarks is included below.
“You know, there are no Republican veterans and Democratic veterans – there are only American veterans. They are the Americans that fought for our flag, fought for our Constitution, fought for our liberty and fought for each of us.
“We passed major legislation to benefit our veterans for the work they did to make all of us free. On this Fourth of July, as the chairman of the committee in the United States Senate, as one who served in the United States military and one who loves this country – thanks to those veterans who made America possible and preserve its liberty today. God bless the United States of America and all our people.”
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The Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs is chaired by U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., in the 115th 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 Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 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 armed services as well as more than 750,000 veterans.
