Over the last few months, scandals at the VA have dominated the news. These issues have been centered around mismanagement and a lack of accountability up the chain of command. The House has done its part passing three bipartisan bills to help correct the serious issues at the VA. Harry Reid needs to put our veterans before political gamesmanship, and force the Senate to act on these pieces of legislation. 1. Veteran Access to Care Act of 2014 (H.R. 4810): Veterans are experiencing extreme wait times when trying to get VA care. H.R. 4810 addresses this by requiring the Secretary to provide non-VA care to veterans who have faced extensive wait times or live more than 40 miles from a VA medical facility. The House passed the bill on June 10, 2014 by a vote of 426-0. 2. Department of Veterans Affairs Management Accountability Act of 2014 (H.R. 4031): Authorizes the Secretary to address the severe mismanagement and lack of accountability at the VA by removing senior executives whose performance warrants it. Currently, a performance-based removal of these senior executives is a cumbersome, multi-step process. H.R. 4031 enables the Secretary to remove them in the same manner as a professional staff member of a Member of Congress. The House passed the bill on May 21, 2014 by a vote of 390-33. 3. Demanding Accountability for Veterans Act of 2014 (H.R. 2072): As of March 2013, more than 1,000 recommendations made by the VA Inspector General (IG), the agency’s internal watchdog, had not been implemented by the VA. H.R. 2072 makes a number of reforms to force the VA to be more accountable to the IG. For example, if the IG determines that the VA has not appropriately responded to an IG report, the IG must notify Congress and the Secretary of the failure to respond. The House passed the bill on June 9, 2014 by a voice vote.
Posted on: Wed, 23 Jul 2014 14:43:22 +0000
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