During a Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee hearing last week, Rep. Jerry Moran (R-KS) spoke about the Veterans Crisis Line.
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00:00Mr. Chairman.
00:02Senator Rubin-Full, thank you.
00:03Just a couple of wrap-ups from me, Mr. Secretary.
00:06I wanted to give you the opportunity and maybe just to educate me.
00:10What's the facts with the Veteran Crisis Hotline?
00:15The facts on that were is the original, as we protected all those who actually answered the phone.
00:20And this was a concern that came up many times because I started seeing in the press,
00:24it was accusations from the Hill and other places that we had actually fired the ones who were actually answering the phones.
00:29The answer to that, even from career folks, was that was not true.
00:33What we did have is we found there were some that were staff that were let go.
00:38When we immediately looked at that, I made the decision that we would make everybody back in,
00:41would protect the entire group because we didn't want anybody to falsely accuse that we were not answering the lines.
00:47And so today, is the crisis hotline any less or more, have more or less personnel than it did before this episode?
00:56I think it's still at the same lines as it has in the last one.
00:59The people that were let go that you returned came back?
01:03They're back. Yes. Yes, they're back.
01:04Okay.
01:04And then you answered my question about your interest in an IG and believe in its value.
01:10Would you also ask the White House for an IG for the department?
01:14We already have.
01:15Okay. That's my question.
01:17Mr. Secretary, anything you want to, I often ask, this isn't just a treatment of you, the witnesses,
01:23if they have anything they want to clarify or correct.
01:27No, look, I appreciate it.
01:29I appreciate the ranking member.
01:30We have the same goals, I think all of us on this diet.
01:33We're going to disagree, and we're going to disagree about how to go about it.
01:36But there's several things, Mr. Chairman, that I'm not going to do, and I'm not going to,
01:39and I don't think it's fair to VA employees, and I don't think it's fair to veterans,
01:42to take things that are pre-decisional.
01:44Many of the things that have been discussed today were leaked memos designed to disrupt.
01:48They were designed to make the VA look bad or make veterans scared.
01:54I'm not going to do that.
01:55I'm going to challenge anyone that's going to hurt or scare a veteran or scare employees.
01:59We're going to give you everything that we can at the time.
02:02I promise you that, and I continue to do that.
02:03We've had conversations, you and I have.
02:05But when we're doing something as large as we are at an organization that's sensitive on this hill,
02:11it would not be right for us to do that in public.
02:14It would not be right for us to just come out and say,
02:17here's everything that we got, and then have everybody scared,
02:19because in the end it may not be the final decision.
02:21What we're going to do is come to the best possible decision we can for the veterans in this country
02:26so that they have a VA system that actually works.
02:29And when we understand that, again, the VA has been an issue for a long time.
02:33We're trying to not make it an issue anymore.
02:35We're trying to get it to the point where it is doing what it's supposed to be doing
02:38and taking care of the veterans that are earned.
02:39And I appreciate the chance to be here today.
02:41And I would just encourage you, it would be a mistake if I didn't,
02:45to see if your crew can answer our team, both minority and majority staff's, questions fully and promptly.
02:53Yeah, one other thing, can I say one other thing about that?
02:56Since, I've been in about 90 days, we have answered from ranking member Blumenthal and SVAC minority alone.
03:03We have responded to 78 RFIs, 11 briefings, 9 technical assistance calls,
03:074 technical assistance are in progress, and many, many visits.
03:11We've also recommended, answered 19 letters from Senator Blumenthal and Chairman Moran, 68 letters and RFIs.
03:18Now, we may not like, you may not like the answers, and that's fine.
03:21That was my mistake, because we're going to start this conversation all over again now.
03:25Yeah.
03:25So, I just want to make it clear.
03:27We're going to do that.
03:28Just so you don't.