We Must Ensure Our Veterans Have Access to the Best Health Care in the World

This Labor Day weekend, we celebrate the Americans who keep our economic engine running strong.

As I’ve traveled across the state to visit with veterans, small business owners, farmers, community leaders, servicemen and women, and many other Texans, I’ve seen firsthand the tireless spirit of hard work that courses through each and every one of them. Americans possess a unique industrialism and thirst for opportunity that has been the backbone of our free enterprise system.

Unfortunately, President Obama continues to stifle the American workforce with onerous regulations and increasingly burdensome taxes, resulting in the lowest labor force participation rate in nearly 40 years.

Our nation has long been the land of opportunity, but the Obama administration has spent nearly eight years preventing businesses and individuals from reaching their full potential. I will continue to do everything in my power to scale back government intervention in our economy and let American workers do what they do best: innovate, grow, and prosper.

Earlier this week, I met with officials at San Antonio’s Audie L. Murphy Memorial VA Hospital, where I observed the San Antonio Polytrauma Rehabilitation Center and the hospital’s three-dimensional prosthetic printing program. Ialso visited Brooke Army Medical Center to speak with military leaders, health care providers, and Wounded Warriors.

[PHOTO: Sen. Cruz tours Audie L. Murphy Memorial VA Hospital in San Antonio, observes three-dimensional prosthetic printing program. Office of Sen. Ted Cruz. 08/31/2016.]

Home to 1.7 million veterans, the great State of Texas has a deep-seated appreciation for our brave service members. We stand by those who have fought and risked their lives for our security. Veterans across our state and country are struggling with the VA on a daily basis, and for far too long, there has been an utter lack of accountability within the department. We made a solemn commitment to our veterans that we have not been honoring, and that failure is unacceptable. I’m confident that the most effective tool to fixing VA mismanagement is expanding choice and empowering veterans to choose their own doctor, and I will continue fighting to provide those who have bravely served our country with access to the best health care in the world.