June 3, 2007
Posted: 08:47 PM ET

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Illinois Sen. Barack Obama said he did not know about the poor conditions for outpatients at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, a primary rehabilitation hospital for injured war veterans, until he read a report in the "Washington Post."

"Unfortunately, it turned out the outpatient facilities were disastrous," Obama said. "And that's why we have legislation moving forward to make sure we're not only just painting over some of the mold that was in there but also making it easier for families and veterans to negotiate the system once they're outpatient."

Obama said he has visited the medical facility many times and that it "does great work." Obama is a member of the Veterans Affairs Committee in the Senate.

– CNN Associate Producer Lauren Kornreich

Filed under: Barack Obama


Greg   June 3rd, 2007 9:15 pm ET

That headline is extremely mis-leading. I don't think any of the candidates new about the conditions at Walter Reed before it was made public.

Sam, Johnson City TN   June 3rd, 2007 9:20 pm ET

That's not the whole story. He said when he visited Walter Reed, he visited in-patients, but it turned out that it was out-patients services that were horrendous.

Neville Gabriel Appanna,South Africa   June 3rd, 2007 9:30 pm ET

As I would see things 'painting over mold' just makes mold worsen.Active work requires a cleanup first. Significantly reducing AID, that has over the years proven itself to have been 'stolen' could acively contribute millions of $$ to US veterans that are more deserving of aid..This is not to say that US should cut off aid to Africa and wherever else they assist, but it might consider employing active envoys to administer,and report on progress,which would lead to 'effective AID,and still allow necessary liquid funds to be injected into US's own systems.

Dave Lombard   June 3rd, 2007 9:37 pm ET

I can't believe the idiocy of this issue even coming up. Does anyone really think that a United States Senator has the time to research every detail of every V.A. hospital? (Is it his job to determine if the bedpans at the V.A. hospital in Lincoln NE are properly cleaned?) And what of every other VA hospital in every other state? Should he visit each and every one? Maybe we should have him personally check the roofs of each hospital for leaks as well. OF COURSE THE CANDIDATE WAS "CLUELESS!" I'm sure he's "clueless" about a lot of things. Believe it or not, there ARE things Senators don't know. Their knowledge of specific details about every goverment facility in the county is not the reason we pick a president. We choose them for their values, ideas, intellectual strengths, and the vision they have for where they believe our country is headed.

John, Wisconsin   June 3rd, 2007 10:15 pm ET

Umm, wasn't EVERYONE unaware?

Jasper, MV, CA   June 4th, 2007 3:44 am ET

the title on this article is pretty blatantly misleading. perhaps you could change it…?

Pam   June 4th, 2007 7:44 am ET

I agree with the first person who commented here. Your headline for this item is grossly misleading.

sheila whitehead houston tx.   June 4th, 2007 12:23 pm ET

Obama is the ticket with Biden for vp

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