Sen. Murray is right to dog VA

Sen. Murray is right to dog VA

The Olympian

Sen. Patty Murray, the senior U.S. senator from Washington, has done the veterans of this state proud by drawing national attention to the fact that the Department of Veterans Affairs deliberately underestimated statistics on veteran suicides and suicide attempts.

Murray, a Democrat, has gained a reputation as a pit bull on veterans’ issues. She helped force VA Director Jim Nicholson out of office last July.

Now Murray has her focus on Dr. Ira Katz, the man in charge of VA’s mental health programs. Murray said he has lied to Congress and the public over suicide rates and should be removed from office.

Internal VA e-mails show that 12,000 veterans attempt suicide a year, yet department officials put the number at fewer than 800.

“The suicide rate is a red alarm bell to all of us,” Murray said. “We are not your enemy,” she told a VA official testifying before the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee last week. “We are your support team, and unless we get accurate information, we can’t be there to do our jobs.”

Her grilling of Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs Gordon Mansfield made national headlines. Mansfield told Murray and other senators he did not think there was any deliberate attempt to mislead Congress or the public.

To Mansfield, Murray asked, “How do we trust what you’re saying when every time we turn around we find out that what you’re saying publicly is different from what you’re saying privately? How can we trust what you’re saying today?”

Murray read from Dr. Katz’s internal e-mail on suicide rates. The e-mail was disclosed because of a class-action lawsuit filed against the VA in San Francisco.

Katz’s e-mail began: “Shh!!”

“If the attitude inside the VA is ‘shh!!’,” Murray said, “then we are doing a disservice to the men and women we have asked to serve us.”

Mansfield said it was “unfortunate” and that the e-mail “does not bode well” or “send the right message.”

How’s that for an understatement?

Pressing her call for Dr. Katz’s resignation, Murray said in a written statement, “It is imperative that the individual responsible for providing top notch mental health services to our veterans be open and honest about the VA’s needs. Dr. Katz’s irresponsible actions have been a disservice to our veterans and it is time for him to go. The number one priority of the VA should be caring for our veterans, not covering up the truth. The epidemic of veterans’ suicide is horrifying but it should also be preventable. In order to ensure that it is, the VA must be honest about the numbers and the needs. It is time for the VA to own up to the true cost of the war and ensure our heroes aren’t lost when they come home.”

Murray is right. Katz should go and the VA must admit it has a suicide epidemic on its hands and react accordingly.

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Senator Murray is one of my personal hero's, she is the veterans best friend on Capitol Hill and I look forward to the day when she becomes the Chairwoman of the Senate VA Committee then look out, she will clean house then

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