News & Opinion

This week, Rep. Phil Roe, M.D. (R-Tenn.) Ranking Member of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, penned an essay in The Ripon Forum in honor of Veterans Day. Read the article here and below: Be Grateful for the Many Sacrifices that Keep Us Free The Ripon Forum Volume 53, No. 5 By: Dr. Phil Roe 11/4/19 Every year on November 11th, Americans pay tribute to the men and women who… Read more »

In honor of Memorial Day, Rep. Phil Roe, M.D. (R-Tenn.) chairman of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs penned the below op-ed in The Washington Times:                                                 Memorial Day is a day we pay tribute to the men and women… Read more »

Chairman Roe and Ranking Member Walz penned this op-ed on ArmyTimes.com. September is National Suicide Prevention Month, and as legislators and leaders of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, we have a duty to ensure veterans contemplating ending their lives have access to the tools and resources they need to know they are not alone. Recent data released by the… Read more »

Chairman Roe penned this op-ed on Medium. Each Memorial Day, we pause to pay tribute to the brave men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice to protect the freedoms we hold dear. We owe them a debt we can never fully repay, which is exactly why we must strive to honor their service any way we can. One way to do that is to take care of the loved ones they leave behind. I’m proud… Read more »

Chairman Dr. Phil Roe and Senators Marco Rubio and Johnny Isakson, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, penned this op-ed for Military Times: The vast majority of Americans value their jobs and understand they are accountable for their work. They know that if they perform poorly, there will be consequences, and if they engage in illegal behavior, they will likely be… Read more »

Chairman Dr. Phil Roe penned this piece for Military Times. I can still remember the look on Johnny Parham’s face when I passed him the baton during our 2-mile high school relay race. We were pretty good, if I do say so myself. Johnny was my friend. Even though it’s difficult for me to get through, I still tell his story because, even after all of these years, I often… Read more »

The VA must be held accountable. Here’s what Congress needs to do By Chairman Phil Roe, M.D. FoxNews.com A recent study completed by the U.S. Government Accountability Office found that, on average, it takes six months to a year to remove a permanent civil servant in the federal government. Oftentimes, it takes even longer. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is not exempt… Read more »

The Department of Veterans Affairs has received a lot of negative attention lately for failing to adequately deliver the care and benefits America promised our veterans. In addition to the department’s massive disability-benefits backlog, a disturbing pattern of preventable veteran deaths and other patient-safety issues has emerged at VA hospitals around the country. Read more »

Veterans Affairs Department officials assured lawmakers during a hearing Wednesday that VA has taken measures to ensure it will not waste taxpayer dollars on lavish conferences such as two widely criticized human resources training events held in Orlando, Fla., in the summer of 2011. But the hearing turned contentious, with one Republican going as far as to say he “could care less about the bureaucrats” at VA. Read more »

The Department of Veterans Affairs spent nearly $87 million on training conferences last year. Maybe. Read more »