Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2017
Floor Speech
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Chairman, I rise to offer a simple amendment to prevent wasteful new administrative spending within the VA General Administration Account, and to ensure that scarce resources are not diverted away from the priorities that need them most.
My amendment will strengthen and support the position of this committee to ensure that none of the funds made available by this act may be used by the administration's proposed bureaucracy quagmire called the Veterans Experience Office. While the name may make this proposed new nationwide office sound like a good idea, this proposal would unleash a new cadre of Federal bureaucrats to stand between the veterans and their benefits, repeating those terrifying nine words, ``I'm from the government and I'm here to help.''
We all share the goal of improving each and every veteran's experience with the VA. However, it would be foolish to permit the creation of a new general administration program that would siphon off more than $72 million away from the programs and offices prioritized by this committee as those most in need of support.
I commend the committee for identifying this wasteful proposal in their report, stating, ``While the committee supports the Secretary's efforts to improve the ways VA interacts with veterans, it has doubts about the wisdom of establishing a large new office with regional staffing at this late date in the administration.''
While the position of the committee is clear, my amendment is necessary to ensure that the administration is prohibited from transferring limited funds within the general administration account to fund this unwise and duplicitous proposal. This administration is notorious for ignoring the will of Congress and seeking out loopholes to advance the executive branch's agenda. This track record of rogue behavior is why this amendment is so necessary in order to carry out the committee's recommendation and properly care for our veterans.
The VA doesn't need more money to hire more people pushers to create an even larger bureaucracy between the veterans and their benefits. Instead, let's ensure resources are allocated where they have the most effective and efficient benefit for those who have given their country so much.
I ask my colleagues to support this commonsense amendment. I thank Chairman Dent and Ranking Member Bishop for their time.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Chair, I rebut.
This President and his agencies have shown time and time again that they are eager to ignore the will of Congress and to implement his agenda wherever they can. This is a necessary reminder that the VA is hardly a vestibule of good behavior. I think we need to make them concentrate on doing their procedures right that they currently cannot do right. I urge Members to accept my amendment.
I yield back the balance of my time.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Chair, I offer an amendment. I have offered similar amendments in the last 2 years, and they have passed each time. I had hoped that it would not be necessary to offer this amendment again this year.
Unfortunately, an investigation from the Government Accountability Office that was released last month found that the VA schedulers are still manipulating appointment wait times and are underestimating how long veterans have to wait to get care at a VA facility. The GAO's most recent audit found that schedulers changed dates and shortened wait times for 15 to 20 percent of the cases reviewed. To make matters worse, USA Today recently claimed to have studied more than 70 investigative reports, and it found that these manipulations were being performed at the behest of the VA supervisors.
Last year, a different inspector general investigation uncovered an actual memo from the VA leadership that encouraged this type of behavior. The memo I speak of is known as the Fast Letter 13-10, and it was handed down directly from the Office of the Director of the Veterans Benefits Administration to the Philadelphia VA Regional Benefit Office. I was appalled--but not totally surprised--to learn of this memo.
The need for my amendment first surfaced 2 years ago as a response to explosive allegations about the Phoenix VA's keeping secondary, unofficial records of claims and appointment requests. My commonsense amendment simply prohibits the VA from keeping unofficial recordkeeping systems and manipulating wait times.
I have said this before, but it is sad that we have to pass amendments to prevent this type of behavior. When government bureaucrats don't use good judgment or common sense, Congress must address these issues. We must have one consistent patient recordkeeping system within the VA in order to provide accountability, uniformity, and to prevent employee manipulation.
I urge my colleagues to support this amendment. I thank Chairman Dent and Ranking Member Bishop for their time.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. GOSAR. I thank the gentleman.
Mr. Chair, we want to reward good behavior, and until they illustrate good behavior, the amendment is going forward. I appreciate the chairman's support.
I yield back the balance of my time.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Chair, in a 2015 report from the VA Office of the Inspector General, it was discovered and reported that two senior staff members used their positions of power to financially and personally benefit from unethical behavior.
Diana Rubens and Kimberly Graves not only coerced two VA managers to leave their positions against their will, they then manufactured circumstances that allowed for them to take the positions in question. To make matters worse, these women then took advantage of the VA's relocation expense program. Relocation bonuses may be given to current employees if an open position will be difficult to fill without such an incentive. In both of these instances, this clearly was not the case. In total, these women walked away with more than $400,000 in taxpayer funds.
As if these actions weren't heinous enough, when the VA did attempt to hold Rubens and Graves accountable, the VA was subsequently overturned because they failed to discipline the other employees involved in this case. I am appalled--but ultimately, again, not surprised--to hear of this story. The VA has been riddled with scandal and plagued with lawlessness for years now.
Chairman Miller said it best in the days that followed the reversal of the VA's decision, stating: ``Every objective observer knows that the Federal civil service system coddles and protects misbehaving employees instead of facilitating fair and efficient discipline; and until VA and Obama administration leaders acknowledge this problem and work with Congress to solve it, it will never be fixed.''
Mr. Chair, my amendment is a commonsense approach that simply reaffirms the requirements in the Code of Federal Regulations for employment incentives and relocation expenses.
Had the VA followed these regulations, Diana Rubens and Kimberly Graves wouldn't have been able to force two managers to leave and then get reimbursed for moving across the country to take their spots.
I have said this before, but it is sad that we have to pass amendments to prevent this type of behavior. When government bureaucrats fail to serve the American people through the use of common sense, Congress must address these issues personally.
I urge my colleagues to support this amendment. I thank the distinguished chair and ranking member for their help.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Chair, trust is a series of promises kept, and it is very notable that the VA has lost the trust of Congress and the American people and, more importantly, our veterans. So until we get this right, until they can actually earn the respect and do the due diligence that they are expected to do for our veterans, it is a requirement of us to make sure, like a dog on a bone, to hold them accountable.
I hope that everybody will vote for this amendment.
I yield back the balance of my time.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Chair, recently, a veteran receiving care from the VA contacted my office to express his concern about pro-union fliers being posted in VA facilities. The veteran sent me a picture of one of these fliers, shown here for your reference. Right here.
As you can see, this flier is an attempt to recruit union activists. Another flier, just above it, praises the agenda at the AFL-CIO. The veteran who contacted me was appalled that he was barraged by these pro-union advertisements during his visits to the VA. I couldn't agree more.
Our Nation's heros should not be subjected to blatantly partisan advertisements while trying to receive medical care at VA facilities. My staff investigated this issue and found that, while solicitations like these are prohibited by law, union lobbyists were able to carve out a special exemption that allowed solicitation of labor organization membership or dues in VA facilities. This is a blatant abuse of taxpayer-funded facilities for the purpose of pushing a pro-union agenda. Given the obvious political nature of these groups, they should not be allowed to advertise in the VA facilities.
Furthermore, the fact that VA employees are engaging in union activities while on the clock is unacceptable, given the current state of the VA. Any time these employees spend time doing union activities is time they cannot spend treating our veterans. With a massive backlog of cases and the fact that veterans have literally died waiting for care, this abuse of taxpayer money and our veterans must be put to an end.
For that reason, I introduced the amendment currently at the desk. My amendment will prohibit the use of funds to implement, administer, or enforce the current union loophole. Defunding this exemption that allows unions to solicit members and dues at VA facilities would place unions under the same regulatory framework as other 501(c)'s.
I urge my colleagues to support this amendment. I thank the distinguished chair and ranking member.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Chair, once again, my amendment is critical to ensuring that our veterans receive the care they deserve in a nonpoliticized environment. Again, this amendment idea came from a veteran who was outraged about the VA being littered with union recruitment fliers.
No veteran should be forced to endure blatantly partisan union advertisements in a taxpayer-funded building in order to receive the medical care they earned defending our country.
We should all agree that the VA employees should be spending their taxpayer-funded time treating veterans, not posting union fliers and negotiating for higher wages, especially given the VA claims and the backlog of appeals that exist.
I encourage adoption of the amendment.
I also want to make sure that people understand that this amendment would create that the unions be treated as any other 501(c).
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Chair, well, once again, we want to make sure that everybody is treated fairly about this. As you can see, the blatant attempt here about recruitment to the unions within our VA is outright disgusting.
We want to make sure that everybody is treated fairly and has the opportunity for fair speech, but this gives a hand up to the unions. I ask all my colleagues to vote for this amendment.
I yield back the balance of my time.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Source