Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2015

Floor Speech

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Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of this amendment, which seeks to redirect funds from the general administration account to the Department of Veterans Affairs inspector general's office.

As a member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, I am a firm believer in oversight of the Federal Government. The more sunlight on Federal activity, the more honest and efficient it will be. I am also a strong proponent of the inspector general community.

Since the Inspector General Act was passed into law, the IG community has saved taxpayers billions of dollars and has uncovered countless examples of wrongdoing in the Federal Government.

These allegations about the Phoenix VA health care system are troubling, but I am also a firm believer of the rule of law. These investigations must be completed in order for us to have these answers. The answers from the IG report will yield both improvements to the VA process and hold accountable anyone who has done any harm.

I support this amendment because I support a timely, but thorough resolution to the investigation. Let us give the IG's office the resources it needs. I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support passage of this commonsense amendment.

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Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of this amendment.

I would first like to thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Rothfus) for offering this amendment. Our offices have worked closely on this issue.

To reiterate, this amendment to the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act is a simple one. Senior leadership at the VA has repeatedly failed the very veterans they are meant to support.

Initial responses for benefit claims hover close to a year in many cases, with appeals responses taking significantly longer. In too many instances, these matters even require Congressional intervention.

My staff, though happy to do so, has far too many cases open on behalf of the veterans trying to receive their earned benefits with the Veterans Administration.

With so many of our veterans being let down by their government, those in charge of the administration of benefits should not be rewarded. This should be common sense.

I would also like to take a quick moment to thank Congressman Jeff Miller, chairman of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee, for introducing similar legislation that would allow the Secretary of the VA to fire senior executives or cut their pay for lack of performance.

There are many Members on both sides of the aisle interested in shaking things up at the VA. I suggest we start here today by adopting these relevant amendments that will hold these government employees accountable.

Again, I urge passage of this amendment.

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Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Chair, I rise to stand with veterans throughout the country and offer a simple amendment that seeks to prohibit funds in this bill from being used to create or maintain any unofficial recordkeeping system at the Department of Veterans Affairs.

As many of you know, numerous news reports have surfaced that assert that the Phoenix Veterans Affairs Health Care System has been using secondary, unofficial records of veterans' claims and appointment requests. These allegations claim that the reasoning behind these actions was to misrepresent the actual wait times the veterans faced as they sought health care.

A whistleblower has come forward and alleged the facility was taking the vets' application information, transcribing that information to an unofficial shared document, and only putting veterans' information and requests into the real system when they knew that the veterans were likely to receive an appointment within a 2-week timeframe. If true, on paper, the VA central office here in Washington would be under the impression that the wait time goals for appointments were being met. According to reports, veterans were waiting for months and months on end.

The House Veterans' Affairs Committee is conducting an investigation into the matter and so far has said as many as 40 veterans suffered and died while waiting for appointments through the Phoenix VA system. Their investigation is ongoing, and they fear there could be many more deaths as a result of this negligence.

I would like to thank the full committee chairman, Chairman Miller, and Oversight and Investigation Subcommittee Chairman Coffman for their efforts on this front.

The inspector general's office at the VA is also conducting investigations into these allegations. It is my hope that we get to the full truth soon and that those responsible are held accountable. Depending on the findings, criminal charges may even be in order. In the meantime, my goal is to ensure that such recordkeeping practices are not allowed to take place.

I have said this before, it is sad that we have to legislate in this way. When government bureaucrats don't use good judgment and common sense, regulations and laws must be changed to prevent bad behavior. No matter what the investigation shows and no matter who was involved, this practice must be prevented in the future. My amendment seeks to do just that.

Only the official systems approved by the Veterans Administration's Central Office should be used. This way, we have oversight, accountability, and uniformity. It is my hope that one day we also have a little more efficiency in these processes.

Thank you for your consideration, and I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support the passage of my commonsense amendment.

With that, I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Chair, I rise to offer an amendment that seeks to redirect funds that would otherwise be spent on Department of Veterans Affairs bureaucrats and administrative expenses and puts those monies towards timely service for our veterans.

Although this amendment is a dollar-for-dollar transfer within this bill, which will result in a neutral impact on the bill's budget authority, the amendment will actually decrease budget outlays for 2015 by $1 million according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

The general administration account for the Department of Veterans Affairs is funded at $321,591,000. Funds to this account can be spent on things that have nothing to do with administrating critical services for our veterans. Examples include things like receptions, conferences, uniforms, and excessive travel for bureaucrats.

It is no secret that the VA, like other Federal agencies like the GSA and the IRS, has in recent years abused the trust of the American people by spending exorbitant amounts of money on conferences and travel expenses. I think we all know that the VA has had its share of problems in the past few years. Meanwhile, wait times for claims processing and appeals processing are horrendous.

The most recent report put forth by the VA indicates there are more than 600,000 veterans' claims pending with the VA. Even more troubling is the fact that 319,363 claims have been pending for more than 125 days.

Many of our veterans are simply giving up. They are either giving up on trying to obtain the benefits they deserve, or worse, some of them are giving up on life altogether. It is a travesty, and this appalling trend must by reversed.

It is disheartening to me that such wasteful spending occurs while veterans are crying out for help. It is distressing that it occurs while veterans are taking their own lives. It is truly disturbing that it occurs when we have veterans dying as they wait for care.

I appreciate the committee's hard work and its acknowledgment of the importance of reducing the backlog in this bill. Having said that, I think we can do more and should focus on prioritizing funding for efforts that will lead to timelier care for our Nation's heroes as opposed to administrative expenses. That is why I proposed redirecting a mere 1 percent of the funds in the general administration account away from the funding for conference expenses and bureaucrats and shifting those funds towards reducing the VA backlog.

It is unfair to say that all VA employees and officials have abused the trust of the American people and the veterans that they are meant to serve. There are many within this Department who work tirelessly to get through their claims and streamline processes. To those people, I say ``thank you.''

Our veterans and the American taxpayers are not pleased with the overall production level at the VA. It is time to remember and act on the mission at hand: serving our veterans who have given so much for this Nation.

I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support the passage of my commonsense amendment.

With that, Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

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