WASHINGTON, DC – Congresswoman Kay Granger (TX-12) issued the following statement after the release of the interim Inspector General Report regarding the Phoenix Veterans Affairs Health Care System.

“The findings of the IG report are inexcusable. This report backs up the allegations of a systematic failure at the VA and shows criminal type behavior took place to conceal wait times and deny veterans the health care they are owed and deserve. All those involved must be held accountable for these reprehensible actions of mismanagement and neglect that have put too many lives at risk.

“I have lost faith in the current leadership at the VA. At this point, I don’t see how Secretary Shinseki can continue to serve as the head of this vast and what has become a dysfunctional bureaucracy. The activities that have been allowed to take place are disgraceful, and I believe Secretary Shinseki should resign immediately.

“Our veterans deserve to have a capable manager who can restore trust and begin to repair the VA from top to bottom. Our veterans were promised a health care system that would provide them with the best care in the world, it is clear the current leadership has failed to live up to that standard.”