WASHINGTON (WV News) — West Virginia Sens. Joe Manchin and Shelley Moore Capito renewed their pledge Wednesday to preserve and safeguard medical services for the state’s veterans.
During a virtual listening event organized by Manchin’s office, both senators promised to work to pass the Elimination of the VA Asset and Infrastructure Review (AIR) Commission Act.
The bill would scrap the AIR Commission, which is tasked with reviewing and approving recommendations from Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough that could lead to a dramatic overhaul of the VA medical system.
While the recommendations are not yet finalized, McDonough’s initial report called for major changes at four of the VA medical centers in West Virginia — in Beckley, Charleston, Huntington and at the Louis A. Johnson VA Medical Center in Clarksburg.
The bill, introduced in the Senate Tuesday, is sponsored by Manchin, D-W.Va., and Capito, R-W.Va., along with Sens. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., and Martin Heinrich, D-N.M.
“We’re leading the charge of a strong, bipartisan group of senators,” Manchin said. “That’s not easy to come by in the most toxic atmosphere that we have.”
Passing the bill will surely be a “fight,” but it’s one the senators are glad to take on, Capito said.
“We know that the four medical centers that we’re very proud of in West Virginia, that our veterans are by and large happy with the quality of care and the different services that are offered,” she said. “The recommendations, as it looks to West Virginians, are going in the wrong direction — eliminating emergency services and eliminating surgeries. So we are fighting together to just eliminate this whole process.”
West Virginia Veterans Affairs Cabinet Secretary Edward “Ted” Diaz said he was first briefed on the recommendations to the AIR Commission a few weeks ago.
“At that time, I recognized what the AIR recommendations were and what they meant for West Virginia,” he said. “It’s a reduction in services. It’s a reduction in health care access. It’s a reduction in mental health care access for our veterans in the state.”
Hershel “Woody” Williams, a Quiet Dell native and the nation’s only living Medal of Honor recipient from World War II, participated in Wednesday’s session and thanked the senators for their efforts.
“I encourage all West Virginians, in one wild yell, to say, ‘Let’s stop it,’” he said. “We can’t have this.”
Williams, who was recently hospitalized at a VA facility for 15 days, said he can personally attest to the quality of care he received.
“They took such good care of me. The doctors were very considerate, very concerned and very passionate about what they were doing,” he said. “So, we have got to kill this thing somehow.”