Vern Evans
My friend, fellow veteran, and former House colleague Doug Collins from the great state of Georgia could not be a better choice by President-elect Donald Trump to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs during the incoming Trump administration.
I served with Doug for six years in the House and was privileged to get a front-row seat to witness his character, servant leadership, and care for the betterment of all Americans, from all walks of life.
During the 118th Congress, my committee uncovered numerous, preventable, and frankly unacceptable scandals and missteps by the Biden-Harris administration. From lies coming from the White House that veterans’ benefits were at risk of being cut, to issues of sexual harassment and a lack of accountability for those at VA who allowed it, to the Biden-Harris administration shelling out thousands of dollars in bonuses to D.C. office staff instead of the frontline VA workers they were meant for — all of these actions go against the very intent of VA as a government agency.
The VA was created for the veteran, not government bureaucracy. But time and time again, over the course of my 10 years on the House VA Committee, first as a committee member, and then as chairman, I have seen people come in who lose sight of that core principle.
President Lincoln was right when he said America shall “care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan.”
Red tape and political posturing should not precede that mission. I know my friend Doug Collins understands this without a second thought. Particularly due to his service in the Navy, then as an Air Force reservist who deployed to Iraq, and later an accomplished attorney and representative of his community on Capitol Hill. Doug understands how high the stakes are for our nation’s veterans and their families, because his family is one of them.
He understands that red tape should not stand in the way of veterans across the country being able to receive the health care choice they are eligible for, or the benefits they are entitled to. He understands that bad VA employees who aren’t upholding VA’s core mission should not just be shuffled around to another facility, they should be asked to find a new paycheck. He understands that a government bureaucrat shouldn’t decide whether or not a veteran gets due process before they lose a constitutional right, a judge should. He understands that woke policies have crippled the quick delivery of care and benefits to veterans nationwide.
My friend from Georgia understands common sense, which is why he will fight tooth and nail at the second-largest government agency to put the people it serves – not the status quo – back at the core of its mission.
Together, we will immediately move to implement these changes at VA to restore veterans’ faith in the agency, deliver on the mandate the American people have given their elected officials, and ultimately ensure that veterans and their families have the opportunities to realize the American Dream. Veterans and their families have earned nothing less.
I look forward to Doug’s swift confirmation by my colleagues in the Senate to serve as the twelfth Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and I am ready to work with him on day one to implement President Trump’s veteran-first agenda. Let’s get to work.
Rep. Mike Bost, R-Ill., is a Marine Corps veteran and serves as the Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.
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