WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Rep. Ron Kind (D-WI) voted today in support of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Management Accountability Act of 2014, to help ensure that the VA serves our veterans in the most effective and efficient manner possible.

“The VA serves a truly noble purpose: to serve and care for our men and women in uniform. That’s what makes the recent reports of failures at the VA so disturbing,” said Rep. Kind. “It’s absolutely critical that the Department performs its duties at the highest level. This bill is a positive step forward, but we need to keep working to ensure that every veteran gets the care he or she deserves.”

The bill, H.R. 4031, authorizes the VA Secretary to fire any individual from “Senior Executive Service” at the VA, if his or herperformance warrants removal. It also requires the VA Secretary to notify the House and Senate Veterans' Affairs committees within 30 days following a dismissal.

Rep. Kind is also taking proactive steps on behalf of veterans in Wisconsin. He and his staff are reaching out to VA clinic staff across the state for updates on care backlogs or any other obstacles that may exist in their delivery of care, in an effort to identify any issues that providers or veterans may be experiencing.

“None of the outrageous delays that some veterans have been subjected to have been reported in Wisconsin, but I’m staying in touch with VA clinics and veterans around the district to make sure that we don’t hear stories like the ones we’ve been hearing from other states,” concluded Rep. Kind.