Kirk Leads Bipartisan Group of Senators in Introducing VA Patient Protection Act

S. 2291 Forces VA to Address Reports of Patient Abuse, Punish Those Who Retaliate Against Whistleblowers

Bill Protects VA Employees Who Protect Veterans

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) today announced the introduction of the bipartisan VA Patient Protection Act (S. 2291) to force the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to address reports of abuse of veteran patients and to punish VA managers who ignore, intimidate and retaliate against whistleblowers. The Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee (SVAC) today held a hearing on S. 2291 several other VA reform bills.

"This bill protects our veterans by protecting those who care for them," Senator Kirk said. "By giving whistleblowers like Germaine Clarno and Dr. Lisa Nee a voice, we can end the VA's culture of corruption and make sure our veterans are never again treated like second-class citizens."

"This bipartisan bill provides critical protection to whistleblowers who uncover wrongdoing-- misconduct that often victimizes veterans and squanders taxpayer dollars," said SVAC Ranking Member Blumenthal. "All too often VA managers have sought to intimidate or punish public servants who disclose important information about health care delays, fraudulent record-keeping or other issues. Whistleblowers literally speak truth to power, and need and deserve protection against reprisal or retaliation."

"Whistleblowers are heroes," Senator Grassley said. "They ought to be celebrated, not ignored, sidelined or fired.  Whistleblowers were critical in exposing the VA scandals, and they're critical to fixing what's wrong at the agency. The independent Office of Special Counsel has vindicated many VA whistleblowers so far. Our bill will protect the employees who are going out on a limb to make the agency work for veterans."

"Our veterans deserve to have confidence that VA hospital staff have no one but the patient's best interest in mind when they spot a problem, and VA employees shouldn't have to fear retaliation for standing up and advocating for the veterans they serve," said Senator Gillibrand. "This legislation would help ensure VA employees who stand up for veterans don't have to fear punishment and retaliation for doing what's right for their patients."

"As the events at the Tomah Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Wisconsin have illustrated, when VA whistleblowers are punished for reporting wrongdoing, it can dramatically affect the care provided to our nation's veterans," Senator Johnson said. "There must be zero tolerance within the VA for whistleblower retaliation. The transparency and information that whistleblowers provide is essential to ensuring the highest quality of care for the finest among us."

"More must be done to change the status quo. We must work to build a VA that embraces, rather than retaliates against, whistleblowers who want to improve the system," Senator Baldwin said. "We need to ensure that whistleblowers are empowered and this bipartisan reform legislation will hold the VA managers accountable for unacceptable retaliation and intimidation. Most importantly, it will improve the VA so veterans can get the care and services they need and deserve."

In order to address the challenges faced by VA employees who stand up for veterans, and to punish the managers who retaliate against whistleblowers, the VA Patient Protection Act:

• Punishes retaliation. After the first offense of retaliation, a supervisor will receive a minimum 12-day suspension. On the second offense, they will be fired.

• Holds supervisors accountable. Supervisors' performance ratings will be tied to how they respond to and deal with whistleblower reports and complaints.

• Protects whistleblowers. The Whistleblower Protection Act will be expanded to prevent retaliation against VA doctors and nurses through performance reports. All VA employees will receive training about their rights as whistleblowers.

• Ensures complaints are handled properly. Mirroring the Marine Corps Request Mast, employees who report misconduct can go to the next level supervisor if their immediate supervisor fails to properly handle their complaint. Establishing a formal complaint process ensures there is a paper trail to hold the VA accountable.

Since the VA scandal broke last year, Senator Kirk has heard from current and former workers at the Edward Hines, Jr., VA Hospital in Illinois about practices that harm veterans. These whistleblowers - including Germaine Clarno, a social worker at Hines and president of the AFGE Local 781, and Dr. Lisa Nee, a former Hines cardiologist who experienced retaliation from VA officials after reporting a backlog of hundreds of unread echocardiogram tests and unnecessary surgeries - have faced retaliation and intimidation from VA officials, and their calls to improve care for veterans have been ignored.

As chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs (MilCon/VA), Senator Kirk recently held a field hearing in Chicago in which Clarno and Dr. Nee testified about the retaliation, patient abuse and manipulated scheduling practices at Hines VA.

Reports of systemic misconduct and retaliation against whistleblowers are common across the nation, including:

• Dr. Katherine Mitchell, who first broke the VA wait list scandal, testified before the Senate MilCon/VA Appropriations Subcommittee about how she disclosed improper staffing in the emergency department and secret waitlists at the Phoenix VA. Management retaliated against Dr. Mitchell by removing her as the emergency department director.

• A doctor at Hines VA fraudulently inflated his productivity by entering service codes for work he did not perform - an allegation substantiated by the VA's Office of Medical Inspection - but is still employed at Hines and has not been disciplined.

• After a VA employee in Louisiana discovered secret wait lists and filed complaints with the VA Office of Inspector General (OIG), the OIG failed to investigate the wait lists, but sent criminal investigators to investigate the whistleblower by looking into how he obtained the wait lists, confiscating computer equipment and asking him to submit to a lie detector test.

• Instead of investigating reports of a Puerto Rico VA hospital director's misconduct, the VA sought to remove the employee who reported the misconduct. When the privacy officer concluded the whistleblower had not made an unauthorized disclosure, the VA sought to remove her as well.

• A VA employee in Wisconsin who reported improper disclosures of veterans' health information was fired for sending an email - to report the misconduct - that contained personal information about a veteran.

• A nurse at a VA in Delaware who disclosed improper treatment of opiate addiction faced retaliation in the form of a 14-day suspension for minor allegations of misconduct.

• A VA employee in Wisconsin filed for whistleblower protection after being asked to falsify attendance records. Two weeks later, he resigned citing harassment and further disclosed problems with opioid over-prescription.

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International Adoption Hearing Highlights Concerns of Families

WASHINGTON - Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley today said that many families are rightly confused and frustrated with the adoption situations in several countries around the world.

Members of the Judiciary Committee listened to emotional testimony during a committee hearing about the difficulties families are having adopting children internationally.  Grassley held the hearing in honor of National Adoption Month and to raise awareness about these families' situations.  Dr. Rick Wilkerson from Spencer, Iowa, testified at the hearing.  He discussed his family's experience adopting a child from Haiti following the country's earthquake in 2010.  The Wilkerson family has adopted several children both domestically and internationally.

"American families have opened their hearts and homes to children from around the world, but despite the successes and the positive impacts of international adoption, there are also challenges.  There have been barriers for some families as other countries face internal conflicts and struggles," Grassley said.  "These children make families even stronger.  So highlighting the difficulties they are encountering and promoting good public policy in this area is in the country's best interest."

In today's hearing, Grassley highlighted the struggles that more than 400 families are currently facing in bringing home children from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  The adoptions have been finalized by the home country as well as the United States, yet, despite the fact that the parents must provide financially and emotionally for their children who are physically in the Congo, they cannot bring them home.  Grassley has contacted the State Department regarding the matter on behalf of the Iowa families.  He has written repeatedly to Congolese officials to do everything possible to resolve the issue.

After today's committee hearing, Grassley and other members of the Senate met with the Congolese ambassador to the United States to discuss the adoption issue and a way forward for these families, all of whom simply need immigration travel documents from the Congolese government to bring home the children.

Grassley has championed several policy initiatives that help families overcome some of the roadblocks that make it difficult to bring a child into a permanent home.  His work includes the expansion of the federal adoption tax credit, which is now permanent and indexed to inflation, as well as authorship of several pieces of legislation that improve the ability of children to secure permanent homes.

Grassley is also the co-founder and co-chair of the bipartisan Senate Caucus on Foster Youth which works to raise public awareness and educate policymakers about the challenges facing foster youth, especially those who age out of the system with no long-term support structure in place.

The Coralville Center for the Performing Arts will host the 2015 Festival of Trees on Saturday, November 28 beginning at 6:30pm at Brown Deer Golf Club, located at 1900 Country Club Drive in Coralville.

This annual event features live and silent auctions of artistically decorated trees and wreaths created by local artists and organizations.  In addition to the auction, the event features heavy hors d'oeuvres, cash bar, and performances by City Circle, Young Footliters, and dancing to Rod Pierson's Not-So Big Band.  The popular grab bags will again feature exciting prizes for both children and adults!

Tickets ($25, or 10 for $200) are available at coralvillearts.org, by phone at 319.248.9370, and in person at the CCPA box office and Coralville Recreation Center.

Breakfast with Santa

Families are invited to join Santa at Brown Deer Golf Club for pancakes, fruit, juice, and coffee on the morning of November 28 at 9am or 10:30am, all in the gorgeous atmosphere of the Festival of Trees.  Santa's elves will have crafts, and each family will get to take a picture with Santa, which will be emailed by the following Monday, perfect for holiday cards!

Tickets are $10 in advance and $12 the day of the event, and are available at coralvillearts.org, by phone at 319.248.9370, and in person at the CCPA box office and Coralville Recreation Center.

Festival of Trees Open House - Friday, November 27 1:00-5:00 pm

Enjoy pie and coffee while you get a special preview of the trees and wreaths created for this year's Festival!  Admission is only $5 at the door at Brown Deer Golf Club.

City Circle Acting Company is the community theater program of the Coralville Center for the Performing Arts.  Since 1997, City Circle's mission has been the production of high quality dramatic, musical, and performing art pieces for the enjoyment of the public.  Upcoming City Circle productions include Oliver (December 11-20), Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (February 12-14), and 1776 (April 29-May 8).

Owned and operated by the City of Coralville, the Coralville Center for the Performing Arts is dedicated to enriching the community and contributing to the vitality of Coralville by offering an accessible, affordable venue for a variety of performances, presentations, and public and private events.  The 472 seat theater opened August 26, 2011 and has hosted performances from City Circle Acting Company, Orchestra Iowa, Cedar Rapids Opera Theatre, Dan Knight, Lola Astanova, Lorie Line, Judy Carmichael, Jim McDonough, Nolte Academy of Dance, and many others.  Coralville schools are also able to use the Center free of charge up to three times per year. The Center was named 2012 Member of the Year by the Iowa City/Coralville Area Convention and Visitors Bureau.

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Parents - do you need a few hours without the kiddos to run errands, have a date night, or go to dinner? The downtown Y is now offering, Kids Night Out! The Y staff has tons of fun and exciting activities planned throughout the evening including arts & crafts, swimming, movies and gym time. They will also serve the kids dinner. 

Mount Prospect, IL - As Illinois residents prepare their homes for the holiday season, the nonprofit Illinois Fire Safety Alliance (IFSA) advises them to be aware of and avoid potential fire and burn hazards. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) reports that Thanksgiving is the leading day for home cooking fires ? followed by Christmas Day and Christmas Eve ? while candle and decoration fires peak in December.

"Unfortunately, fire and burn prevention measures are often overlooked during the holiday season as families have their minds on the celebrations themselves, but statistics prove that we should be even more attentive to fire safety during this time," says IFSA Executive Director Philip Zaleski.

Cooking Safety

Cooking is the leading cause of home structure fires and injuries. It is also the third leading cause of home fire deaths. In 2013, Thanksgiving had more than three times the average daily number of reported home structure fires caused by cooking.

• Do not cook when tired or leave cooking unattended.

• Unplug appliances in case of a fire.

• Do not use water to put out grease fires.

• Prevent scald burns to children by turning pot handles inward on the stovetop; create a three-foot, child-free zone around the stove.

• Push the test buttons on your smoke alarms to make sure they are properly working.

• Do not use turkey fryers indoors; consider purchasing a turkey cooking appliance that does not use oil, as oil splashes and spills cause serious burn injuries.

Candle, Decoration & Lighting Safety

Nearly half of all holiday decoration fires occur because decorations are placed too close to a heat source. Two of every five home decoration fires are started by candles, which most commonly occur on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year's Day.

• Never leave candles unattended.

• Place candles on flat, heat-resistant surfaces at least one foot away from anything that can burn.

• Battery-operated flameless candles are better alternatives to traditional candles.

• Keep decorations clear from heat sources and be sure they are flame resistant or flame retardant.

• Choose live trees that are fresh and green with needles that are difficult to remove.

• Keep live trees well watered and away from heat sources that can dry them out.

• Live trees should be disposed of shortly after Christmas.

• Tree lights should be turned off overnight and when residents leave home.

Electrical failures or malfunctions were factors in nearly two-thirds of fires involving holiday or decorative lights.

• Use clips, not nails, to hang lights so cords are not damaged.

• Check if lights are intended for indoor are outdoor use and use appropriately.

• Outdoor lights should be plugged into a ground-fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) protected outlet.

• When choosing lighting and electrical components, be sure they are UL listed to limit risks.

• Do not overload electrical outlets/extension cords; electrical components can overheat and ignite.

• Replace or repair damaged cords.

• Avoid placing extension cords across doorways or under carpets.

• Call a qualified electrician if outlets or switches are warm and if there are frequently blown fuses or tripping circuits.

NFPA Statistics: "Home Fires Involving Cooking Equipment" (November 2015); "Home Structure Fires That Began with Decorations" (November 2013); "Home Christmas Tree and Holiday Light Fires" (November 2013).