Station:   KNUS, 710 am

Guests:   Coffman, Mike

Link:        https://omny.fm/shows/steffan-tubbs-show

Date:        March 29, 2018

Topics:     Veterans, Shulkin, Construction Management, Adm. Ronny Jackson, Aurora Veterans Hospital, Over-Budget, Overdue, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Perlmutter

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(The following notes are representative of the chronological comments made during an radio interview, broadcast live.)

• HOST STEFFAN TUBBS:  Why was firing Shulkin the right decision for Trump to make? Saw your tweet!
  • COLORADO U.S. REPRESENTATIVE FROM SIXTH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT, MIKE COFFMAN:  I originally concluded that Shulkin had to go before his “travel-gate” scandal
    • Where he lied to investigators
      • About the nature of his travel
      • At taxpayer’s expense
    • But really, it’s about the Aurora VA hospital
      • Stephanie Fiotas was head of Construction management for VA
        • Her fingerprints were all over:
          • The 1 billion dollar cost overruns
        • Also, three other hospital projects.
          • And the delays, construction years behind schedule
        • I advocated for firing, and having her criminally prosecuted
          • For misleading Congress
          • Over the status of these projects
    • What Shulkin did that was wrong:
      • – not only did he not fire Fiotas
      • But he tried to promote her
        • To being the head of acquisitions
        • AND construction
        • INCREDIBLE!
      • We met over it
        • He pulled back the promotion
        • And put her back to original position
        • But she remained head of Construction Management
      • I led the Congressional effort to strip the VA of their authority in Construction
        • So they’d never be responsible for building another facility
        • I moved the Army Corps of Engineers to take over the Aurora Project
          • They’re finishing up now
      • When I met with Shulkin, I said, “Why don’t you clean house?”
        • Shulkin was a holdover from the last administration
        • We [Congress] had given the last administration the authority to fire execs (just under political appointees) at the VA
          • They never used it
          • Shulkin refused to use it
      • Unless you’re willing to take on that calcified layer, and that bloated bureaucracy of senior leadership, the culture of the VA – the bureaucratic incompetence – will NEVER, ever change
      • I could see that Shulkin was doing nothing to affect change
• TUBBS:  In the last 24-48 hours, we learned that Adm. Ronny Jackson will takeover at the VA. Do you support that decision? Does he have the necessary experience?
• COFFMAN:
  • I honestly don’t know
  • It will take someone from the outside to clean up the VA
    • Not somebody from the inside
    • Jackson is from the outside
      • Looks like – from his bio – he was a “hands-on” type of Naval physician, combat surgeon
        • I credit him for that
        • Didn’t hang out behind a desk
        • But he did not have significant commands
      • We served in Iraq at the same time (2005-06)
      • He was promoted to President’s Physician in ‘06, and became Admiral at that stage
  • I’m going to sit down with – and I’m going to level with him
    • I’ll tell him:
      • “You’ve got to be Marine Corps tough”
      • You’ve got to fire people at the top
      • You’ve got to clean house
      • Cuz if you don’t:
        • The culture at the VA won’t change
        • And you will fail!
        • And I’ll call you out on it
  • I’ve been tough on the past three VA Secretaries
    • I think I have an obligation to sit down with him
  • I’ve written to the President, and made my case in writing, as to why I think Shulkin had to go
    • I lobbied the White House to get rid of him
    • So, I’m here to fight for our veterans
      • Regardless of who is in WH
      • I will continue to do that
• TUBBS:  We’ve talked for years about the cost overruns – when will this hospital open in Aurora and how much will it cost, overall
• COFFMAN:
  • Later this summer – it will open
  • You can tack on another $300M for final billing
    • But that is operational items and costs
    • Not construction costs
    • The $300M will be for equipment – always separate from construction
  • But there is so much — HUGE problems with this hospital
    • No PTSD facilities in planning
      • We called them out on it, after the fact
      • And they responded by adding another stand-alone structure for PTSD
      • I led the effort to secure extra funding for that, but in the end the PTSD building was scrapped
        • So we’re still using the old VA facilities for PTSD
        • And we’ll have to continue using the old hospital for in-patient PTSD treatment
    • The new Aurora Hospital doesn’t have primary care exam rooms
      • INSULTING!
        • Perlmutter and I weren’t briefed on it until, probably, a few months ago.
• TUBBS:  How does that even happen?
• COFFMAN:
  • It’s just unbelieveable
  • They had to have known for a very long time
  • It’s classic VA incompetence
    • And what has NOT changed under Shulkin
    • They hide and coverup stuff until way late in the process, until the last minute
    • And then, when it’s inevitably going to come out, they tell you
    • They invited Perlmutter and I to tour the new hospital:
      • They said, “Oh, we want you to see the old hospital first”
      • WHY?
      • Because the first floor of old hospital will have to remain open to have that primary care staff that won’t fit in the new hospital
        • So until we build another primary care facility somewhere in the metro area,
        • We have to stay at old site
        • And we can’t then redevelop the old hospital
          • We’ll have to sign an emergency lease
• TUBBS:  It should have NEVER come to this.
• COFFMAN:
  • No.
  • This new hospital has twice the square footage, compared to old hospital
    • But the same number of in-patient beds
    • And the distance from inpatient wards to X-Ray facility is a pretty significant distance!
      • Someone had fun designing it!
      • Pretty esoteric
  • That’s why I led the effort in Congress to strip them of their authority to manage construction of any new facilities
    • And they should have been criminally prosecuted! Not promoted!
      • It is offensive
        • To veterans
        • And to taxpayers
  • Shulkin, when I met with him, he turns to me and says, “She [Fiotas] might have sued us!
    • I think that’s not true
    • We had revised the law
    • She could have been fired expeditiously as senior executive service employee
      • Under the new law
    • Year after year after year in the VA, there is report after report after report of failure – of FAILURE – in so many different areas of the VA, and yet these same people have been allowed to keep the same positions, year after year after year, despite their promises that they’re going to clean it up. AND THEY NEVER DO! And they never do
    • So let me tell you, He is going to be short lived – Admiral Jackson! I mean, I tell you what, I’ll give him a little bit of space. But he better start moving on some of these folks! And he better start cleaning house!
    • Just like I said, he’s got to be Marine Corps tough when he gets [in] there
• TUBBS:  Your take on the Trump-StormyDaniels interview Sunday night and that whole situation? — we don’t really need to go into it, especially on Vietnam Veterans Day
• COFFMAN:
  • I did not watch it
  • [laughs]
  • I cannot comment on it
  • You know, It is what it is
  • You know, if I were [the] President, who I would fear would probably [be] Melania.
    • She’s looks to be pretty tough, there
    • And I think he’s going to pay a price for that one!
    • And the OTHER ones!
• TUBBS:  I want to make sure I quote you correctly – [re-states Coffman’s “Melania quip”]
• COFFMAN:
  • I would! I would
  • She looks to be tough. She looks to be tough.
• TUBBS:  [laughs] Don’t bring it up, next time you see her! Ha ha.
• TUBBS:  But, You and I have been at many military functions honoring veterans, and so forth. What does March 29, Vietnam Veterans Day mean to you?
• COFFMAN:
  • I think we’ve forgotten so much about the tremendous price they paid
  • Most impactful event in my life – beyond being deployed in Iraq during first Gulf War:
    • My father was a career enlisted soldier
      • His last post was Fitzsimmons Army Med Center
    • At the height of the Vietnam War, I volunteered at Fitzsimmons – in ’68-’69 when I was 14 or 15 years old — with the Junior Red Cross
    • That hospital was SO packed with wounded!
      • Wards were full
      • End-to-end beds
      • In the hallways
    • And the morale was so low among those soldiers
      • Who were never welcomed home!
      • The surrounding community had nothing to do with them
      • The only people who would come to see them were immediate family members
    • They were mostly amputees – stabilized at Fitz before starting re-hab at the VA
      • Booby traps
      • Landmines
      • So they were missing arms and legs
    • VERY tragic
    • In those years – ’67-’69, the height of the war – there were 1,000 killed in action every month! INCREDIBLE!
      • And to not be welcomed home
      • It is an extraordinary statement for this country
      • And as the war became more controversial, the country became more divided about their support for those who fought
      • VERY, very sad!
  • And I’m motivated to be on House Veterans Affairs Committee, just to make sure that it never happens again.
• TUBBS:  What about you? Would you throw your hat in the ring for Secretary of VA, if Ronny Jackson doesn’t work out?
• COFFMAN:
  • [laughs]
  • Well, I don’t know, — I’m not –
  • [laughs]
  • I’m sub-committee Chair for Military Personnel on House Armed Services Committee
    • I deal with everything on the active duty and guard/reserve sides
      • Recruiting & retention
      • Healthcare system
      • Retirement system
      • Military justice
      • Force structure – like, how big should the military be
    • So, I’ve been very excited to have that opportunity on the Armed Services Committee
• TUBBS:  Would you take that position if it were offered?
• COFFMAN:
  • If it were offered, I probably would
    • Because I’d feel an obligation if the President came to me to do it
    • I’m hoping that Jackson can deliver
    • Because this President has NOT delivered on the commitments that he made to the American people
      • He has wrongly said that things are improving at the VA under his watch
      • And that’s simply not true – there has been NO change, whatsoever!
        • Well, maybe there’s SOME change, but Trump can’t take credit
        • Like, for example, when veterans were dying while on secret waiting lists.
          • Because of bonuses given to scheduling folks
            • They shrunk the pool of people waiting
            • So that they would get bonuses
          • We’re watching that more, now
          • And so, that’s better
      • But overall, the culture of the VA is unchanged under this President
        • And so, certainly, I’ll be watching
        • And I’ll be tough
• TUBBS:  What is the Honest Ads Act? And why are you sponsoring it?
• COFFMAN:
  • I think the catalyst for it was Russia’s intervention in our election.
  • But in a broader sense, it is simply updating the Campaign Finance Laws
    • In terms of disclosure —We’ve always had requirements around disclosure
      • You have to publicly disclose the identity of organizations running attack ads, in traditional media platforms
      • But did not take into account Social Media
        • NO disclosure requirements there
        • Which allowed an opportunity for Russians to try and intervene
      • This law would update disclosure requirements
        • Same requirements for traditional media and new electronic media platforms
      • Not just to prevent foreign intervention in our election processes
      • But it improves the political culture of our own campaigns
        • Allowing voters to see who is behind a particular ad
• TUBBS:  Great to talk with you, always welcome, we look forward to seeing you down the road
• COFFMAN:
  • Appreciate it!