MILLER TALKS a ballistic missile unless you want to put a nuclear warhead on it and send it toward the United States. “ He is worried about the unknowns of Iran’s nuclear program. “I have had conversations with IAEA inspectors—those are the folks that will be tasked with going in and actually doing the inspections,” Miller said. “They're saying the only thing that (Iran) will talk to us about is what they've declared, so they've already cheated.” The congressman said, “There's no reason to trust them on this particular issue. To allow them to continue a nuclear program, I think, is a very poor choice for this administration and not a road on which we should be going down.” He said that the Obama administration had people on the Hill selling the agreement hard to Democratic lawmakers. “Secretary of State John Kerry is good at trying to sell stuff, but that doesn't necessarily mean the deal he's trying to sell is a good one,” Miller said. “They have got a lot of people on their side of the aisle that do not want to be a part of this deal. Then you've got world leaders that are saying this is not an appropriate deal.” The day before Miller’s “Pensacola Speaks” interview, President Obama announced he intended to remove Cuba from a list of countries that sponsor terrorism. Miller isn’t convinced that is a good idea. He believes the president is more focused on his legacy than what is right for this country. “I'm obviously not a fan of reinstating relations yet,” he said. “We still have people who survived the Castro regime takeover and they are still oppressing their
“What we want to do is to fix the problem, make the bureaucracy work for the veteran." Congressman Jeff Miller
By Rick Outzen Iran, Cuba and VA clinics have been hot topics in Congress since the Easter break. Inweekly reached out to Congressman Jeff Miller (R-Chumuckla) for his views on the issues. After a long day of committee hearings, Rep. Miller spoke with Inweekly on News Talk 1370 WCOA’s “Pensacola Speaks” on April 15. The U.S. and five other world powers are seeking to complete the details of a deal to curb Iran’s nuclear program by a June 30 deadline. A draft was released on April 2. Rep. Miller believes the proposed framework of the Iran Nuclear Accord is a problem. “It does not stop Iran’s ability to deliver a nuclear missile,” he said. “Even if they are not manufacturing any type of a weapon, they are working on the ability to deliver that weapon. There's no reason to develop
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people, killing their people, jailing their people.” Rep. Miller said it would be the Communist leaders who benefit from lifting any sanctions. “When you open trade with Cuba, all they're going to do is start putting it in their pockets and keep oppressing and pushing down their people. We saw it right after the United States started sending overtures their way.” He admitted there are Republicans who would like to see a wide open market with Cuba. “There are a lot of folks that want to send agricultural products in that direction. Some of my friends from Arkansas and
Arizona and out in the Midwest are very inclined to want to lift the trade embargo, but, again, the experiences that have happened in the past are very similar to those that happened when Castro came to power. “ Rep. Miller warned, “Anybody thinks that they can go down there and make an investment and a profit without the government taking a piece of it or keeping it, I think, is just uninformed.” He said, “Look, I would like for that island 90 miles off the coast of Florida to become a trading partner of ours. I would like for there to be free and open trade, but not as long as the Castro regime is there.” Miller chairs the House Veterans Affairs Committee. A year ago, whistleblowers reported of a “secret waiting list” of 1, 400 to 1,600 sick veterans in Phoenix,
Arizona. The congressman from Northwest Florida built a bipartisan coalition that pressured the White House to do something about the long waiting lists at VA medical facilities and investigate allegations that those lists did not include all the veterans requiring care. A year later, he said progress in the Department of Veterans Affairs, which has 350,000 employees and an annual budget of $170 billion, has been slow. “I had an oversight hearing today on the Denver Hospital debacle, which is just unbelievable. A hospital that started out at $350 million and has now climbed to $1.73 billion, an architect's dream.” He said there has been very little, if any, oversight of the VA over the years, but the bipartisan cooperation on his committee is still strong. “This is one of those things where if we wanted to, we could really make political hay out of it. What we want to do is to fix the problem, make the bureaucracy work for the veteran instead of the veteran try to work their way through a myriad of things.” The congressman is frustrated with how VA senior leaders aren’t held accountable for their mismanagement. He said the Denver hospital cost overrun was pointed out by a whistleblower a couple of years ago. “Believe it or not, he got fired for insubordination and the guy that fired him, who was the overseer of the director, got to retire with his full benefits in place,” Miller said. “This would never happen in the private sector. You would not have a 100-percent cost overrun on the construction of anything because the project manager would be fired, but (VA) defended him up until about a month ago. They finally took a deposition from him and the day after they took the deposition, he handed in his papers.” {in}
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