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Don't Blame The VA When Congress Falls Short

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By DEREK MAUL | The Brandon News

Published: March 29, 2007

We have all heard variations of the following cliché, but it's a truism that bears repeating. "Reputation" is what others see, but "character" is who we really are. Or, reputation is based on what other people believe we're doing; while character is revealed in what we do when no one else is paying attention.

I've been thinking about the distinction a lot lately, both in response to my own life and as I continue to wonder at the hypocrisy, the posturing and the attention-seeking behavior exhibited by so many politicians.

The Walter Reed Army Medical Center scandal is one troubling case in point. All across the nation legislators have been scurrying over to their local Department of Veterans Affairs' facilities for those all-important photo opportunities, "fact-finding" tours and finger-pointing sessions. They invited the press and had sound bites ready to go. "We're here to ask some hard questions." "My constituents are looking for answers." "Our nation's heroes deserve better." "Is this the thanks soldiers get for their sacrifice?"

Meanwhile, more than four years into a war that is returning broken GI's home by the thousands, VA hospitals face mounting challenges and unprecedented workloads along with woefully insufficient funding.

We have had ample opportunity to allocate support appropriate to the task, but instead Congress has chosen to spend needed resources putting even more young men and women in harm's way.
Back to the original discussion. Politicians finesse their reputations grilling hospital staff in front of TV cameras when things don't seem to be going right. But true character is revealed when those same representatives fail to follow up with substantive work back on Capitol Hill.

One VA administrator told me that Washington is good at issuing bills mandating critical initiatives and vital programs. Sign the legislation with the fancy Montblanc pen, visit a wounded soldier and smile for the cameras. Then those same lawmakers fail to come up with adequate funding and hospitals are forced to make hard choices that are lose-lose for everyone concerned.

Here in Tampa, for example, our VA hospital, the James A. Haley VA Medical Center, is achieving miracles. Doctors literally reassemble broken soldiers, and the medical staff follow up with care protocols hitherto unimagined. Great results are achieved day after day, providing hope and a future in the face of despair. Veterans Affairs advertises the James A. Haley campus and its satellites as "The busiest VA facilities in the nation."

The cost, however, is revealed in a serious lack of capacity to provide routine care at the other end of the spectrum.

What turns out to be scandalous is not so much care delivery at Walter Reed as our lack of commitment as a nation to do what is right by our veterans across the board.

What's scandalous is the image of lawmakers pointing fingers in front of TV cameras then retiring to their private Capitol Hill health club, a line item that's always well funded.

What's scandalous is the precedence that appearance has over substance in America, and the truth about Walter Reed is that we just happened to get caught.

We live in a sound bite world and if we are not careful we will limit our commitments to similar parameters and we will have become a people who have forgotten how to follow through. That's what is wrong with Washington. We should not govern in small made-for-TV increments, and we certainly should not live that way. But we do.

If you are one of those people who yelled at the television when the Walter Reed story broke, demanding "Something's got to be done," then do something already and volunteer. Your local chapter of the Red Cross is a great place to start.

Don't forget that we have government of the people, by the people and for the people. We are the people, so are our veterans, so are the politicians and so are the good folk over at the VA.

Bottom line is this: We need to work on our deep-down character as a nation and not just the outward appearance. But, being a representative democracy, our character is all about me and it's all about you. We can't demand anything of Washington, or Walter Reed, or the local VA that we're not prepared to ante-up ourselves.

Derek Maul is a writer who lives in Valrico. You can reach him at derekmaul@gmail.com.

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