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The Massachusetts Democrat fielded questions from The Enterprise about issues with the Veteran's Affairs medical system, the opioid crisis, and illegal immigration.

BROCKTON Resources and oversight are the keys to getting the nations Veterans Affairs system back on track and keeping it there, according to U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren.

The Massachusetts Democrat fielded questions from The Enterprise about issues with the Veterans Affairs medical system, the opioid crisis, and illegal immigration during a press conference following a tour of the Brockton Veterans Affairs Medical Center Thursday.

Warren said the federal government has been working to improve conditions and services in the national Veterans Affairs system by increasing oversight at all of the countrys facilities and finding ways to boost the systems funding.

The VA became embroiled in a national scandal in 2014 when systemic problems with falsified record-keeping and lengthy waiting times for care at facilities across the country came to light. At least one veterans death has been linked to the problems.

In March, a Mississippi Marine Corps veteran died in the Brockton facility after overdosing on the potent synthetic opioid fentanyl while being treated for severe post-traumatic stress disorder. The facility has faced whistleblower allegations of patient neglect and an outbreak of Legionnaires disease in recent years.

Right now, were asking our veterans facilities to deal with an opioid crisis that is growing out of all proportion, and they need help to be able to do that, Warren said. Its up to us in Congress to make sure that they have the money that they need to hire the people that they need to make this happen.

She noted shes recently worked on a bill to expand veterans educational benefits.

I think whats really important that we not just go down to Washington and pass another law and say the problem is solved. It really means that we come to the VA centers themselves and hear whats happening and let (them) tell us where are the best places to help... and we need oversight when that help is provided.

Warren also voiced support for proposals to open supervised sites where intravenous drug users can inject under the watch of medical professionals in Massachusetts. Such a facility has been floated by supporters in Boston.

Im a data-driven person, and the latest data I have seen suggests that this may be a way to bring down deaths from opioids, she said.

Overdose deaths have begun trending down statewide after mounting for years, recent state data shows, but Massachusetts still lost more than 2,000 residents to drug-related overdoses in 2016.

Warren also decried threats by the Trump administration to cut off certain federal funding to cities that decline to aid the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency in apprehending illegal immigrants, often dubbed sanctuary cities. Last winter, local faith groups lobbied for Brockton to take that stance.

I believe in the Constitution of the United States, and I think the Constitution is entirely clear that the federal government cannot withhold funds from localities as a way to try to bend those localities to the federal governments desires on enforcement or any other issues that are not directly related to the funds themselves, she said.

The state Supreme Judicial Court last month ruled that local law enforcement has no authority to hold individuals on orders from ICE, known as immigration detainers.

There are no grounds under state law to be able to detain, Warren said. I think thats correct.

The Brockton visit was the first stop on Warrens tour of the southeastern part of the state. She continued on to visit High Point Treatment Center in Plymouth and held a town hall event in Marshfield at night. She spent Wednesday in New Bedford.

In Brockton, Warren toured the hospitals long-term rehabilitation, mental health and spinal cord injury units. She also visited a program that the hospital runs for female veterans struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Vincent Ng, the director of the VA Boston Healthcare System that the Brockton campus is part of, said that 10-week program is one of just two in the country. Warren met with eight women currently working through the program, he said.

Its for woman veterans who have experienced trauma, and whove been to other programs and failed, unfortunately, Ng said. This is kind of their last stop. It helps them with special skills to cope with PTSD.

The tour finished with a roundtable discussion with local leaders and state representatives at the recently renovated Howard House, a private-public partnership that houses homeless veterans and provides them with vocational training to help them live independently.

It makes me proud, once again, to be from Massachusetts and to see what Massachusetts is doing for our vets, Warren said of the visit.

Ng said Warren met and spoke one-on-one with some of the veterans at the facility.

She is really a veterans advocate, she met and talked with them and made them feel honored, and we should honor our vets for the service theyve provided to this country, he said.

Got news tips? Contact Tom Relihan at trelihan@enterprisenews.com, or (508)427-4014.

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Warren talks vets, addiction, illegal immigration at Brockton VA ... - Enterprise News