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Democrats say Harvey’s ouster isn’t enough

The sudden resignation Friday of Army Secretary Francis Harvey in the wake of a spreading scandal over treatment of outpatients at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington did not end concerns among lawmakers that the military leadership had forgotten a basic mission: taking care of the troops.

After Defense Secretary Robert Gates appeared in the Pentagon for a brief news conference to say he had accepted Harvey’s resignation, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo., praised Harvey for stepping down. “First-hand accounts and news reports of conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center’s outpatient facilities are deeply disturbing, and in this instance the buck stops with Army Secretary Harvey,” Skelton said.

However, Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., thinks the wrong person resigned. “ ‘I think the change that Secretary Gates announced today is positive, but the fact remains that the general in charge of the medical command knew of the problems and then diminished them when they became public,” she said, referring to Lt. Gen. Kevin Kiley, the Army surgeon general, who previously had served as Walter Reed commander from 2002 to 2004.

“I agree with Secretary Gates that the doctors and nurses at Walter Reed are top notch, but today’s announcement does not go far enough,” McCaskill said, adding that Kiley “was responsible for the command culture that caused these problems and should be relieved of his command.”

McCaskill spokesman Adrianne Marsh said the senator “really believes the problems are in the Army Medical Command, and the person responsible for the culture there is Lt. Gen. Kiley.”

Sen. Barak Obama, D-Ill., who is co-sponsoring a bill with McCaskill that would order a complete overhaul of how the military treats combat wounded soldiers and their families, said: “The sad reality is that deteriorating facilities and unacceptable neglect have plagued not only the brave men and women receiving treatment at Walter Reed, but service members throughout the hospital system. Congress must act quickly to bring systemic change.

Obama, a Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee chairman, is one of the frontrunners in the race to be the next Democratic presidential candidate.

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., a Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee member who has been critical of the military’s handling of outpatients, also said Harvey’s removal is not enough.

“This action is a good step toward ridding the Bush administration of those who’ve failed our troops and veterans,” she said. “But our troops need more than rolling heads. They need a comprehensive plan and decisive action to fix the problems at Walter Reed and the scores more plaguing the Administration’s health care system for our returning heroes.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., called Harvey’s resignation “further evidence of the administration’s inability to competently discharge its responsibilities to those most deserving of the nation's attention.”

“Whether it is in the failure to respond effectively to the needs of hurricane victims on the Gulf Coast or the needs of our troops wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan, the administration’s actions do not reflect the level of performance the American people have a right to expect of their government,” Pelosi said.