VA Accountability First and Appeals Modernization Act of 2016

Floor Speech

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Mr. MILLER of Florida. Madam Speaker, I withdraw my reservation of a point of order.

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Mr. MILLER of Florida. Madam Speaker, I claim the time in opposition to the gentlewoman's motion.

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Mr. MILLER of Florida. Madam Speaker, one thing that can be said about Ms. Titus is she is consistent and she has tried every way possible in order to have this piece of legislation pass. Actually, it was debated and defeated in the committee when we had an opportunity to talk about this issue before.

There were 80 amendments that were offered on this particular piece of legislation. Twenty-two amendments were accepted, and as the Members have seen, a vast number of Democratic amendments were accepted and allowed to be debated on the floor.

This bill is about accountability. This bill is trying to give the Secretary the tools that he needs in order to hold people accountable. The problem that exists today at the Department of Veterans Affairs, as the Department Secretary has said and as other high-ranking officials at the Department have said, is it is almost impossible to hold somebody accountable or to fire somebody at the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Imagine this: a VA employee that was drunk went into an operating room, and it took almost a year in order to hold them accountable; a VA employee was a willing participant in an armed robbery in Puerto Rico, and after a lengthy and administrative battle where the employee was supported by the public employee unions, the employee was reinstated in their previous position and got no discipline at all.

The VA has not held anybody accountable for the $2.5 billion budget shortfall that took place in 2015, and they have held nobody accountable for the $1 billion cost overrun at the Aurora, Colorado, VA Medical Center.

This is about holding bad bureaucrats accountable. We don't need poison pills in this particular bill. We need to move forward, and I urge my colleagues to oppose the MTR.

Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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