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Boehner says Veterans Affairs Dept. has made little progress a year after wait-time scandal

Associated Press
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FILE - In this April 14, 2015 file photo, House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. Boehner says the Department of Veterans Affairs is no better off a year after former VA Secretary Eric Shinseki resigned. Shinseki had stepped down amid a scandal over long wait times for veterans seeking health care and falsified records to cover up the delays. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File) (The Associated Press)

FILE - In this May 30, 2014 file photo, then-Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki speaks in Washington. House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio says the Department of Veterans Affairs is no better off a year after Shinseki resigned. Shinseki had stepped down amid a scandal over long wait times for veterans seeking health care and falsified records to cover up the delays. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File) (The Associated Press)

FILE - In this April 15, 2015 file photo, work continues on the Veterans Affairs hospital in Aurora, Colo. House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio says the Department of Veterans Affairs is no better off a year after former VA Secretary Eric Shinseki resigned. Shinseki had stepped down amid a scandal over long wait times for veterans seeking health care and falsified records to cover up the delays. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File) (The Associated Press)

House Speaker John Boehner (BAY'-nur) says the Department of Veterans Affairs is no better off a year after former VA Secretary Eric Shinseki (shin-SEHK'-ee) resigned. Shinseki had stepped down amid a scandal over long wait times for veterans seeking health care and falsified records to cover up the delays.

In a speech on the House floor Wednesday, Boehner said the VA has made little progress since Shinseki resigned, despite a new law that overhauled the agency and authorized $16 billion in new spending.

Boehner said the number of patients facing long waits is about the same, and the number of patients waiting more than 90 days has nearly doubled.

Boehner said the VA's problems are so deep it can't even build a hospital. That was a reference to a half-finished project in Denver that is $1 billion over budget.