Arlington, Va. – Concerned Veterans for America (CVA) will host a press conference in Phoenix, Arizona, Friday, April 8, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the cabanas at Steele Indian School Park to mark the two-year anniversary of the start of the VA wait list scandal (see map below).
This month marks two years since the VA wait list scandal was revealed by the Arizona Republic and other media outlets. Since then, despite tens of billions of dollars in additional funding for the VA, wait times for health care have gone up at many VA hospitals and there are still almost-daily reports of misconduct within the agency. Additionally, only recently have three VA managers at the heart of the scandal been recommended for termination – over 700 days after the scandal began – and one of them, Phoenix VA Chief of Staff Dr. Darren Deering, was allowed to remain in his critical job for nearly two years despite clear evidence that he had engaged in misconduct.
Dan Caldwell, CVA’s vice president of political and legislative action, and Matt Dobson, CVA’s Arizona state director, will be joined by VA whistleblower Brandon Coleman to discuss the ongoing problems at the Phoenix VA and demand that leaders of both parties of Congress allow votes on critical pieces of VA reform legislation.
Dan Caldwell gave the following statement regarding the upcoming two-year anniversary of the scandal:
“It has been nearly two years since the misconduct and corruption at the Phoenix VA was brought to light. Since then, sadly, many of the problems that were revealed as a result of the VA wait list scandal have only gotten worse and veterans who rely on the VA are still suffering as a result of the VA’s continued inability to deliver health care and benefits in a timely manner.
“That is why CVA will continue to highlight the problems at the VA and will aggressively demand real VA reform to ensure that our veterans receive the care and benefits they earned through their service to our country.”
For media RSVP, please email press@cv4a.org
Press conference information:
Friday, April 8, 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m
Cabanas at Steele Indian School Park • 300 E. Indian School Road, Phoenix, AZ 85012
To schedule a TV, print or radio interview with a CVA expert, please email press@cv4a.org. For media inquiries or requests for comment, please email CVA Press Secretary John Cooper (jcooper@cv4a.org)
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Concerned Veterans for America is a non-partisan, non-profit, 501(c)(4) organization that advocates for policies that will preserve the freedom and prosperity we and our families so proudly fought and sacrificed to defend.