Senator Johnny Isakson opened up about mass shootings, the poor ranking for the Atlanta VA, and of course Georgia's own governor's race being watched from around the country.
Isakson was attending a home dedication for a veteran on Veteran's Day, but took a few moments to talk with 11Alive's Hope Ford.
First up, the Governor's race between Brian Kemp and Stacey Abrams.
Isakson said the race was hard-fought and tiring for both parties, but added it was time to move on and get to work.
“The race is over, voters have spoken. Brian Kemp is going to be a great governor," Isakson saud. "I’m confident in that."
The Senator also discussed the shift in the House majority, from Republican to Democrat.
“I’m glad we kept the Senate in Washington as Republicans, in terms of the majority, and the House looks like it will flip to the Democratic majority, but not so large that it’s going to put us at gridlock," Isakson said. “For a short period of time, it won’t be very pretty. We have a lot of people that may want to have a fight for a while, but in the end, it’s about getting the money of the taxpayers spent on the thing the taxpayers want, being frugal with it and making sure our veterans get their services, make sure our veterans get their paychecks and we as a country continue to grow and prosper.”
On the topic of veterans, Isakson discussed the Atlanta VA, which was recently ranked one of the worse in the nation.
“I won’t make any excuses for the Atlanta VA, but I will say they have improved immensely from where they were," Isakson said. "Bad is a relative term. Relative to where they were, they’ve come a long way and they’re much better. They’re getting there, but they are short on personnel; We are nationwide. We have as many as 30,000 vacancies in the VA healthcare system out there right now and we have to improve on that and get that in a good place.”
The conversation with Isakson wrapped up after discussions on what seems to be a never-ending trail of blood left behind from almost daily mass shooting in the country.
“It makes me sick to my stomach," Isakson began. "If I could snap my fingers and do anything, if I could end gun violence and I could end the mass murders, that’s the number one problem that we have to confront. I’m not going to say there isn’t a solution, but it’s one of the hardest problems to solve. If you make it illegal to do it, somehow, they’ll go get a gun and do it anyway. You’ve got to change the culture and you have to make the punishment tough. But, these people that are pulling off these mass shootings, they already know they’re going to die. That’s part of their plan. It’s the mental health aspect of it that’s so difficult.”
