Chairman Isakson, Ranking Member Blumenthal, and members of the Committee, thank you for
holding this hearing today. I would like to submit for the record my views on pending legislation
before the committee, namely S. 1082, the Department of Veterans Affairs Accountability Act of
2015.
In the wake of reports detailing how very few people have been held accountable for last year's
scandal at the Department of Veterans Affairs, on April 23, 2015, I introduced the "Department
of Veterans Affairs Accountability Act of 2015," which would give the VA secretary new,
expanded authorities to remove or demote any VA employee based on poor performance or
misconduct.
This legislation would expand on last year's VA reform law by giving the VA secretary the
authority to terminate any employees for performance-related issues, not just managers. It
mirrors legislation (H.R.1994) filed in the U.S. House of Representatives by House Veterans
Affairs Committee Chairman Jeff Miller.
Last year, I was proud to lead the effort to give the VA secretary the authority to fire senior
executives based on performance. A year later, it's clear additional authorities are needed to deal
with the full scope of the problems at the VA. Once enacted into law, this new legislation will
leave the VA secretary with no excuse but to hold people accountable for the dysfunction and
incompetence plaguing our VA system, while protecting whistleblowers from retaliation. We
must show our veterans the respect they have earned by removing any employees with terrible
performance from the system our veterans rely on.
I also want to recognize that later this week the Subcommittee of the House Committee on Oversight
and Government Reform will hold its own hearing on reforming the VA. It will hear testimony
from Florida constituent and St. Johns County Assistant Administrator Jerry Cameron about
problems stemming from the VA's selection and leasing process for new facilities. It represents
part of a larger national problem regarding our VA facilities, which are experiencing significant
delays and cost overruns that ultimately hurt both veterans and taxpayers.
I strongly support S.1082 and recommend the committee favorably report the bill out as soon as
possible so that it receives a vote by the full U.S. Senate. I also hope today's hearing will help
shed light on VA accountability reform and provide the committee with a better understanding of
how we can best serve our veterans.