Today, Chairman Miller released the following statement ahead of the hearing "The State of VA's Fiscal Year 2015 Budget" to take place this Thursday, June 25, 2015 at 10:30 a.m. in room 334 of the Cannon House Office Building.
"VA's continued lack of transparency and refusal to be forthright with Congress is unacceptable. It was not until I called a hearing in response to warnings from the field about the budget that VA admitted to a $2.6 billion shortfall. Secretary McDonald has testified 4 times within nearly as many months about VA's budget, without ever mentioning a shortfall of this magnitude. Less than 3 weeks ago, VA came to Congress asking to remove $534 million from medical care to pay for the largest construction failure in VA history. Talking around the facts and alluding to the need for budget flexibility without justification or supporting data has become an all too familiar practice at VA. I look forward to discussing with Deputy Secretary Gibson how such a massive shortfall could have come as a surprise to the department, and how to put an end to these frequent cost overruns while ensuring veterans receive the care they have earned." -- Rep. Jeff Miller, Chairman, House Committee on Veterans' Affairs