{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://roby.house.gov/story-type/roby-news/yellowhammer-news-roby-presses-va-officials-staffing-issues-alabama-facilities", "Yellowhammer News: Roby presses VA officials on staffing issues at Alabama facilities  My veterans are suffering", "2019-11-15", "2019", "2019-11", "Republican", "House", "AL", "Martha Roby", "R000591", "roby.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "U.S. Rep. Martha Roby (AL-02), a member of the House's Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee, on Thursday participated in a hearing regarding the Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection's failures at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).\nRoby questioned Michael J. Missal  inspector general of the VA  and Dr. Tamara Bonzanto  the assistant secretary for accountability and whistleblower protection of the VA.\nIn her questioning and remarks, Roby highlighted the importance of whistleblowers in uncovering critical issues at Central Alabama Veterans Health Care System (CAVHCS) and the urgent need for staffing improvements within the VA system.\nShe specifically pressed the inspector general as to why the system is not seeing any internal change impacting the lives of Alabama's tremendous veterans.\nRoby asked, Is there a disconnect between the administration's view of how the VA is operating and the IG's reports on the issues, and is the administration doing enough to implement IG recommendations?\nShe commented, This [whistleblower] hearing is important because there are some VA facilities in this country that are working well and serving our veterans well. There are others that are not, and that happens to be the one in my districtThere is a tremendous problem with our veterans even having the ability to be seen. It's just not getting better. I continue to be so outraged and frustrated as to why this is not getting betterMy veterans are suffering because of it.\nYou can watch Roby's full remarkshere.\nThe southeast Alabama congresswoman has long been a vocal advocate for veterans and improving the VA system.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://roby.house.gov/story-type/roby-news/yellowhammer-news-roby-presses-va-officials-staffing-issues-alabama-facilities"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.518147997558117, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}