Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) issued the following statement today regarding Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Eric Shinseki’s resignation, calling on Senate Democrats to empower his successor and bring greater accountability to the VA by supporting S. 2013, the VA Management Accountability Act of 2014. Rubio is the Senate’s original sponsor of the bill, which passed the U.S. House of Representatives with the support of 165 Democrats and is co-sponsored by seven Democrats in the United States Senate.

“Secretary Shinseki’s resignation is just the first step in addressing the institutional neglect of veterans at the VA, but that alone won’t solve the problem. The systemic mismanagement will continue unless we bring reform to the VA and hold all those who are responsible accountable. Under current law, whoever succeeds Secretary Shinseki will be prohibited from firing VA employees such as those detailed in the inspector general’s latest report, who have failed at their jobs and therefore failed our nation’s veterans.

“This level of failure is simply inexcusable and must be fixed immediately. Our veterans deserve the best medical treatment possible, which is why I hope more Senate Democrats will join in supporting the VA Management Accountability Act of 2014, a bill that would bring accountability to the VA and empower the new VA Secretary to fire and hold accountable those who had responsibility in neglecting, mistreating, or mismanaging care for our veterans. This is a common sense, bipartisan reform that deserves a vote in the Senate as soon as possible so we can better care for those who have courageously served our nation.”