The Vice President: Well, thank you, Secretary Shokan.
Thank you for that very gracious introduction,
and more importantly, thank you for your outstanding
leadership here at the Department of Veterans Affairs.
The American people, and our President, and our
entire administration are grateful for your
dedication to our veterans.
I want to thank all of you for being here today,
but especially, I want to thank the members of the
United States Senate and the Congress who are with us.
Particularly, the Chairman of the Senate Veterans
Affairs Committee, Senator Johnny Isakson
and Congressman Phil Roe, the Chairman of the House Committee
on Veterans Affairs.
It is accurate to say in the Congress of the United States,
support for our veterans is a truly
unifying and bipartisan cause.
And join me in thanking all of these members
for their work for our veterans.
(Applause.)
Most of all, thank you to the veterans
here with us today, to their spouses, and all
those who are here to honor them.
This is an important moment in the life
of the VA and in the life of this nation.
We owe a debt of gratitude to those who served in
uniform that we can never fully repay, but today,
you'll see in our President's actions
one more installment in that debt that we will never be able
to repay for those who have paid
this sacrifice of wearing the uniform.
And the American people are proud and grateful for it.
You know, David mentioned a moment ago, my life
did not take me on a pathway to wear the uniform
of the United States, but I'm the son of a soldier,
and I'm the proud father of the United States Marine.
And I can say it is the greatest privilege
of my life to serve as Vice President to a President
who cares so deeply about our military and about
the men and women who've worn the uniform
of the United States.
(Applause.)
From the outset of this administration,
President Donald Trump has been hard at work to keep his
promise to rebuild our military, to restore the arsenal
of democracy, and to ensure that those who were part
of the greatest military on earth have access to world-class
health care.
Not long ago, the President signed into law
the Veterans Choice Program extension
and Improvement Act, moved forward by the members
of Congress who are with us today to empower veterans
to get the care that's right for them.
In nearly 100 days, the American people have seen
a level of energetic leadership.
It's made a difference more than 500,000 jobs
created a record number of bills signed more since
1947, but I can tell you knowing him well
and serving with him closely, that the legislation
the President is proudest of and the progress that he's
most anxious to see it's been the progress
for our veterans.
And we'll make one more installment today with
the stroke of the pen, the President will take
another crucial step to providing our nation's
heroes with access to real-time world-class
health care.
And so, I say with gratitude for his boundless energy,
for his commitment to those who serve and those who have
served our nation in uniform, it is my high honor and distinct
privilege to introduce to you my friend and a friend
to every veteran in America, the President
of the United States, President Donald Trump.
{Applause.)
The President: Thank you very much.
And, Mike, you've been so magnificent as
our Vice President that we very much appreciate it.
Thank you very much.
I'm pleased to be here.
And we're joined by so many members of Congress.
It's been really a fantastic period of time for me.
And I'm honored also to be at the Department
of Veterans Affairs, because I will tell you this has
been something, right from the beginning of the
campaign -- does not get any more important for me
than making life really great for our phenomenal veterans.
That I can say.
So, we're sharing the stage with a lot
of great people, a lot of great friends.
A couple of my friends are out in the audience today --
Ike Perlmutter, Laurie Perlmutter.
Where are they?
These are incredible people, incredibly
successful people.
And they just have an affinity for helping
the veterans and for helping David.
And I want to thank them.
Unbelievable.
(Applause.)
Thank you.
Dr. Moskowitz, also.
(Applause.)
And we're going to protect those who protect.
And we're going to protect the people that are
protecting us.
First of all, Secretary Shulkin -- and I call him
the 100-to-nothing man, because in a totally
obstructionist group of Democrats -- we say that
with affection --
(Laughter.)
-- he got not only the Republicans but he got all
of the Democrat votes.
And he won at a 100-to-nothing clip.
So, I guess -- boy, do they know.
I hope they're right, you know.
(Applause.)
But David is doing a phenomenal job.
He was voted unanimously out of the United States
Senate, and he's worked ever since then, day
and night, to reform and improve the VA.
I'm also pleased that we're joined by so many
members of Congress.
We have with us Senators Ernst -- where's Joni Ernst?
Where is Joni?
What a tremendous woman.
And right from the beginning, she has been --
(Applause.)
-- and she knows more about veterans than anybody.
Thanks, Joni.
Really appreciate it.
Senator Isakson -- thank you, Senator.
Thank you very much.
(Applause.)
Senator Moran and Senator Tester, thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you, all.
(Applause.)
Along with Congressmen Arrington,
Bergman, Bridenstine, Dent, Roe, and Wenstrup.
I look forward to serving our veterans with all of you.
And I can tell you, this group, whether they're
Democrat or Republican, they're here to help.
And we're going to help, and we're going to make
this so good, it's going to be one of our crown jewels.
And it's happening already.
As part of that process, Secretary Shulkin
has carried out a really thorough review --
he had some very inside understanding of the VA
because he's been here -- but a thorough review
of the VA to uncover all of the problems and
challenges that we inherited, of which
there are so many.
Based on those findings, we're putting plans into
place to fix those problems and give
our veterans the healthcare they need and the
healthcare they deserve.
And they were so for me during this recent
election, and I can promise them, and they
know it's going to happen -- we're not going
to let them down.
We have a team the likes of which has never,
ever been assembled.
That includes outside people who are so
brilliant and so good -- like Ike and Laurie.
And they're helping us.
And they don't fail.
Much work lies ahead, but we will not rest until
this job is totally done.
During these first 100 days -- which, as you
know, I've been saying there's a very extreme
emphasis placed on these 100 days, Joni.
It's not quite as big as they're saying.
But we have really laid a foundation -- had a lot
of legislation passed, which nobody understands.
I think it's 28 bills as of this moment.
Somebody said, by the time it ends, it's 32 bills.
And tremendous legislation.
But we've already made huge strides to improve
the VA and the VA services.
We've imposed new standards
of accountability and transparency, including
a new website that publishes wait times at every VA hospital.
This is a website that works.
This is not the $5 billion Obamacare website.
Do we remember that?
Nobody remembers that.
Does anybody remember the $5 billion website?
No, I don't think so.
We don't have to remember it anymore.
We've implemented same-day mental health services
at all 168 VA medical centers, so that the
veterans in crisis can find help at the VA,
without any delay.
Last week, I signed the Veterans Choice
Improvement Act -- very proud of that -- so that
more veterans can see the doctor of their choice,
and don't have to travel long distances or wait
forever for VA care.
They were waiting on lines for seven days,
eight days, nine days, two weeks.
Some instances were horrible.
They we're waiting so long -- they had a very curable
problem and they died before they got to see the doctor.
It's not going to happen any longer.
Already this year, using the Choice Program,
veterans have received 42 percent more approvals
to see the doctor of their choosing.
But that's just the very beginning of what
we have planned.
So much more is coming.
Today, we're taking another bold step forward.
I'm signing an executive order to create
an Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection
at the Department of Veterans Affairs.
(Applause.)
This executive order makes it clear that we will never,
ever tolerate substandard
care for our great veterans.
With the creation of this office, we are sending
a strong message: Those who fail our veterans will be held,
for the first time, accountable.
At the same time, we will reward and retain the many
VA employees who do a fantastic job --
of which we have many.
And I will tell you, some of the doctors in the VA,
I've heard it from so many people, they're the finest
in the world.
These are great, great people.
We have to get our vets to those doctors.
But we have some of the finest doctors in the world.
We have also some of the most honest employees,
and some of them expose wrongdoing, and we will
make sure that they're protected.
We're also calling on the Senate to pass legislation
to give the Secretary the authority he needs
to ensure all VA employees are held accountable
for how they treat our veterans.
Today's action is historic.
But it is only the start of our reforms.
Our veterans have secured this nation with their
blood, sweat and tears, and we will not let them down.
These are our great, great people.
We will always stand with those who stood
for freedom and who stood for us.
They protected us.
They've made it all possible, and now we're
going to protect and take care of them.
(Applause.)
So, I'd like to thank David
and his family, and all of the people that are working so hard
at the VA.
They haven't had enthusiasm -- David was
just telling me -- like this for many, many years.
And the veterans see what's happening --
because I'm getting so many different messages
through all forms of communication, of which
we now have many.
But they're very, very happy, very pleased
with what's going on.
So, David, we want to God bless you and your family.
We want to wish you a lot of luck, with a lot
of talent, because you have a big job ahead.
I want to wish everybody Godspeed.
And we will do a fantastic job at the VA, rest assured.
Thank you very much.
And we're going to sign right now.
Thank you very much.
(Applause.)
So, this is improving accountability at the VA.
Such important steps are being taken.
(Applause.)
Thank you everybody, thank you very much.