Tester sounds off on VA reform

Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) on Wednesday slammed his fellow lawmakers for dragging their feet on legislation to fix the embattled Veterans Affairs Department.

His conference committee of 28 House and Senate lawmakers “is in its fourth week now and there isn’t much to show for it” in the way of a compromise, Tester said during a hearing of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee.

He said that some lawmakers have “balked at the cost” of the overhaul, though he noted roughly 800 soldiers have recently been sent to Iraq to advise government security forces there and “I didn’t hear one person talk about the cost.”

“I never heard anybody talk about the costs … or offsets for the cost” when the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were approved, Tester said.

Read more: http://thehill.com/policy/defense/212419-tester-sounds-off-on-va-reform