Nomination of Michael Missal

Floor Speech

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Mr. JOHNSON. Mr. President, I rise today to urge my colleagues to confirm Michael Missal, the nominee for the Department of Veterans Affairs inspector general.

For far too long, our Nation's veterans have been without a permanent watchdog in place to ensure the VA affords them the care that they deserve.

I have seen the damage that acting leadership in the VA Office of Inspector General has done in my own State of Wisconsin. Numerous veterans of the Tomah VA facility suffered for years through dangerous prescription practices, whistleblower retaliation, and a culture of fear. The VA Office of Inspector General, under acting leadership, conducted a multiyear investigation of the Tomah VA facility but then swept the allegations under the rug--the secret report that was hidden from veterans, the public, and Congress.

Months after the report was finalized and closed, Jason Simcakoski, a 35-year-old Marine Corps veteran, died of a lethal cocktail of over a dozen different drugs at the Tomah VA facility.

Another Wisconsin veteran, Thomas Behr, died after being treated at the Tomah VA facility. Mr. Behr's daughter Candace told me that had she known about the inspector general's report, she never would have taken her father to the facility and he might be alive today.

In other words, had the VA Office of Inspector General been transparent and published the findings of its investigation, these tragic outcomes could very well have been avoided.

Under acting leadership, the VA Office of Inspector General has tried to stonewall my investigation into the tragedies at Tomah VA medical facility. Its actions have shown that, under acting leadership, the VA Office of Inspector General has become too close to the VA, the agency it is charged with overseeing. The acting leadership lacked the fundamental tenets of transparency and accountability that all inspectors general should have that could literally mean the difference between life and death.

I was forced to resort to a subpoena to obtain the information about the investigation of the Tomah VA Office of Inspector General, and there are still some documents the acting leadership has refused to produce. For over a year, I have urged President Obama to appoint a permanent VA inspector general. I was pleased that President Obama finally heeded my calls--and, quite honestly, the calls of many of my colleagues--when he nominated Michael Missal to the position late last year. My committee, the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, moved his nomination after carefully considering his qualifications, and we reported him out to the full Senate immediately.

I am hopeful that under Mr. Missal's leadership, the VA Office of Inspector General will restore veterans' trust in the inspector general's office, protect VA whistleblowers, and forge a new relationship with Congress, but above all else, I hope Mr. Missal will use his position to help ensure the finest among us receives the high- quality care they deserve.

I am confident Mr. Missal is up to the task, and I thank him for agreeing to serve in this supporting role.

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