{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.tester.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=5581", "Tester: Dont Put Veterans on Hold [press_release]", "2017-10-11", "2017", "2017-10", "Democrat", "House", "MT", "Jon Tester", "T000464", "www.tester.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "(Big Sandy, Mont.) \u2013 After the implementation of a new White House veterans\u2019 hotline, U.S. Senator Jon Tester is calling on VA Secretary David Shulkin to ensure the VA is quickly responding to the high volume of veterans who are lodging complaints or seeking answers. Despite the VA's existing options for receiving complaints, President Donald Trump established an additional veterans\u2019 hotline that has registered over 21,000 calls since its creation in June. Tester noted that the White House is frequently routing these calls back to local VA offices, which are often understaffed and do not have the ability to address the additional casework in a timely manner.  \u201cWe need to set up a call center system that meets the expectations of veterans and their loved ones,\u201d wrote Tester, Ranking Member of the Senate Veterans\u2019 Affairs Committee, in a letter to Shulkin. \u201cI share the desire for this hotline to be productive and effective, but I am concerned that the influx of calls will exceed the VA\u2019s capacity to serve our veterans, and veterans deserve better.\u201d There are numerous VA call center numbers available to veterans who have questions about health care, benefits and other issues. That\u2019s why Tester is calling on the VA to ensure that all complaints are prioritized and tracked to make sure they are promptly and thoroughly addressed. Tester\u2019s letter to Shulkin is online HERE. Toll free numbers to contact the VA about health care, benefits and other issues is online HERE.", 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://www.tester.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=5581"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8558148983865976, "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"}