Grassley on VA Spending on Art, Continuing to Press for Answers

Statement

Last month, Sen. Chuck Grassley asked the Department of Veterans Affairs why it spent $20 million on art in recent years, despite backlogs for patient care. The Palo Alto VA facility spent a particularly high amount, according to reporting of OpenTheBooks.com. Grassley received responses from the VA. He made the following comment on the responses.

"There's a major discrepancy in the dollar amount spent on high end art. OpenTheBooks.com found approximately $20 million spent on art from 2004 and 2014. The VA reports approximately $4.7 million spent on art from January 2010 through July 2016. The VA needs to account for the discrepancy. The VA acknowledges "poor decision-making' regarding artwork purchases at Palo Alto. However, it's not clear that the VA is doing enough to prevent more "poor decision-making' in the future. I intend to press the VA on that point. Veterans deserve a good environment in every hospital, but most of all, they deserve the care they need when they need it. Buying expensive artwork sends the message that the VA has its priorities out of whack. Not being able to account completely for the purchases also raises questions."

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