CHARLOTTE, N.C. — President Obama promised several thousand military veterans on Tuesday that he would take further action to improve their access to health care and housing as he seeks to turn around a dysfunctional system.
Addressing the national convention of the American Legion, Obama acknowledged that the government needed to "regain credibility" after disclosures of falsified records and poor care, and he vowed to follow through on changes that will make the Department of Veterans Affairs system "more effective and more efficient" and put veterans first.
"What we've come to learn is that the misconduct we've seen at too many facilities with long wait times and veterans denied care and folks cooking the books is outrageous and inexcusable," Obama said to polite, if not enthusiastic, applause. "We are going to get to the bottom of these problems. We are going to fix what is wrong. We are going to do right by you and your families, and that is a solid pledge and commitment I'm making to you here."
Obama was joined by Robert McDonald, a former Procter & Gamble chief executive who took over as veterans affairs secretary from Eric Shinseki. The former general resigned in May amid reports of troubles throughout the system.
The president has also signed bipartisan legislation devoting $16 billion to the goal of fixing the veterans' health care system by, among other things, hiring more medical-care providers to shorten waiting times. The new law will give McDonald more authority to fire officials for poor performance, and will allow veterans to use other providers if they cannot obtain prompt attention at a VA facility.
In speaking to the veterans, Obama mentioned the military action he has ordered in Iraq, and added that the country's prayers were with the family of James Foley, the American journalist whose beheading was shown in a video released last week by the Islamic State. "Our message to anyone who harms our people: America does not forget, our reach is long, we are patient, justice will be done," he said. He went on to warn that the battle with the Islamic State "won't be easy and won't be quick."
The president also emphasized that he planned to bring home most troops from Afghanistan by the end of the year, and would not send ground troops back into combat in Iraq. "We will not allow the United States to be dragged back into another ground war in Iraq, because ultimately it is up to the Iraqis to bridge their differences and secure themselves," he said.
He made no direct mention of the debate about whether to order airstrikes or other military action against Islamic State forces in neighboring Syria. But he said that in fighting terrorists, "the answer is not to send in large-scale military deployments that overstretch our military and lead us to occupying countries for a long period of time, and end up feeding extremism."
The president used the visit to the convention to announce several other steps he will take, using his executive authority, to improve services for veterans, primarily to make it easier for them to receive mental health care and to lower their monthly housing payments.
Among other things, members of the armed forces leaving the service will be automatically enrolled in the VA's transition program, rather than having to seek it out themselves or requiring referrals, officials said.
The Department of Veterans Affairs will test expanded peer support for mental health, conduct studies on early detection of post-traumatic stress and suicidal thoughts, and extend suicide prevention and mental health training for health care providers, chaplains and others who work with veterans.
The administration will also team up with large banks to make it easier for active-duty military service members to reduce mortgage interest rates, and will expand efforts to make sure troops can get the student debt relief to which they are already entitled, officials said.
Not everyone was impressed. "President Obama's actions today fall far short of what's needed to regain the trust of America's veterans," Representative Jeff Miller, a Florida Republican and chairman of the House's Veterans' Affairs Committee, stated.