WASHINGTON – On the eve of the Veterans Day holiday, U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, today spoke on the Senate floor to highlight the importance of supporting our nation’s veterans.

“Tomorrow… we celebrate the armistice of World War I and Veterans Day in America, and today on the floor of the United States Senate we are working to fix problems at the Department of Veterans Affairs that have confronted our veterans for the better part of the last 10 years,” said Isakson.

Noting the need to be “part of the solution” to fix one of the “worst agencies in the federal government,” Isakson highlighted what the Senate has done to address programs at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and help veterans so far this year, including passing the Clay Hunt SAV Act and reforming VA construction programs in light of the gross overrun of the Denver VA Medical Center construction project. He called on the Senate to pass the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriation Act to continue this progress and ensure that our veterans, troops and critical military needs are funded in fiscal year 2016.

“We are not letting our veterans down. We are uplifting them. We are seeing to it they get what they deserve,” said Isakson. “The VA is a work in progress. There will still be problems, but… we are going to do what our veterans did for us.

“We are going to see to it that those who fought and died for the United States of America are rewarded not only for themselves with their health care but their retirement benefits and their loved ones as well.”’

Earlier today, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., commended Isakson for his work this year as chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.

“Veterans should know that they have many champions fighting for them here in the Senate. One of them is Senator Isakson, the Chair of the Veterans’ Affairs Committee,” said McConnell. “Under his leadership, the committee has actively sought to do right by the men and women who never hesitate to do right by us. He’s sent important legislation to the Senate floor that we’ve been able to pass on a bipartisan basis — and that the President has signed into law.”

Last week, Isakson highlighted the Senate’s accomplishments so far this year for veterans in a letter to his Senate colleagues.

Click here to watch Isakson’s full remarks on the Senate floor.

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The Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs is chaired by U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., in the 114th Congress.

Isakson is a veteran himself – having served in the Georgia Air National Guard from 1966-1972 – and has been a member of the Senate VA Committee since he joined the Senate in 2005. Isakson’s home state of Georgia is home to more than a dozen military installations representing each branch of the military as well as more than 750,000 veterans.