VA Management Alignment Act of 2017

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1066) to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to submit to the Committees on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and the House of Representatives a report regarding the organizational structure of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on H.R. 1066.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, in just a few days, Americans will once again take time to remember and honor the sacrifices of the very few of our fellow Americans who have sworn a solemn oath to defend this great Nation.

As an Army Medical Corps veteran myself, I am proud that, with the support of leadership and Members of both sides, we will pass a series of bills today and tomorrow that improve the delivery of healthcare and enhance the benefits available to America's veterans.

On our first bill, H.R. 1066, the VA Management Alignment Act, issues with the organization and management of the Veterans Health Administration and the Department of Veterans Affairs, in general, are nothing new. In 2015, the independent assessment found VA's organizational structure to be unnecessarily complex, rampant with mistrust and risk aversion, confused about priorities and strategic direction, and hampered by a workforce that was losing motivation and a leadership team that was overwhelmed by crisis management. In 2016, the Commission on Care found VA to have one of the lowest organizational health scores in all of the Federal Government and lacking effective national policies and a rational organizational structure.

Similar findings have been made by veterans, veterans service organizations, VA employees, the Government Accountability Office, the VA inspector general, and others in countless reports and testimony and stories over the last several years. They have also been common themes in the recent oversight hearings and site visits.

In order to improve the care, benefits, and services that VA provides to our Nation's veterans and increase accountability for poor- performing employees, VA must first clarify and rationalize the Department's organizational structure and the roles, responsibilities, and lines of authority for supervisors, managers, and employees.

H.R. 1066 would jump-start that effort by requiring the VA to use the work the independent assessment, the Commission on Care, and others have already done to create a report on how the Department is to be structured--to include clearly defined roles and responsibilities of key leaders across all

levels--and submit it to Congress for review.

I am grateful to Representative Kilmer for sponsoring this legislation. I urge all of my colleagues to support it.

Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 1066, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I encourage all Members to support this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, on November 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th, I was ill, so I was not present for the Roll Call votes held on those days. Had I been present, I would have voted:

``Aye'' on Roll Call 607, on the motion to suspend the rules and pass H.R. 3562, to amend title 38, United States Code, to authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to furnish assistance for adaptations of residences of veterans in rehabilitation programs under chapter 31 of such title, and for other purposes.

``Aye'' on Roll Call 608, on the motion to suspend the rules and pass H.R. 1066, the VA Management Alignment Act.

``No'' on Roll Call 609, on approving the journal.

``No'' on Roll Call 610, on ordering the previous question on H. Res. 607, providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 3043) Hydropower Policy Modernization Act and providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 3441) Save Local Business Act.

``No'' on Roll Call 611, on agreeing to H. Res. 607.

``No'' on Roll Call 612, on approving the journal.

``Yea'' on Roll Call 613, on the motion to recommit H.R. 3441, the Save Local Business Act.

``No'' on Roll Call 614, on passage of H.R. 3441. This bill would effectively eliminate joint employment from the National Labor Relations Act and Fair Labor Standards Act, blocking workers from holding a joint employer accountable for wage theft, equal pay violations, and other unfair labor practices. Today, many employers seek to avoid their legal obligations to ensure that workers receive the wages they are due and bargain in good faith, and H.R. 3441 would make it more difficult for workers to hold the joint employers who set many of the conditions of their work accountable.

``No'' on Roll Call 615, on the motion to suspend the rules and pass H.R. 3911, the Risk-Based Credit Examination Act. H.R. 3911 would weaken oversight of major credit rating agencies such as S&P and Moody's, which were at the center of the 2008 financial crisis, and create the possibility of credit rating agencies challenging the SEC in court if they felt the examinations were not ``appropriate''.

``No'' on Roll Call 616, on ordering the Previous Question on H. Res. 609, providing for consideration of H.R. 2201, the Micro Offering Safe Harbor Act.

``No'' on Roll Call 617, on passage of H. Res. 609.

``Yea'' on Roll Call 618, on the motion to suspend the rules and pass H.R. 4173, the Veterans Crisis Line Study Act.

``Yea'' on Roll Call 619, the Rush Amendment to H.R. 3043.

``No'' on Roll Call 620, on passage of H.R. 3043, the Hydropower Policy Modernization Act. I recognize the need and importance of modernizing the licensing process for hydropower projects to both power companies and the workers who build, operate, and maintain them. However, I have concerns that H.R.

3043 ignores constructive suggestions that would improve the licensing process while still maintaining environmental protections and will usurp the authorities of states, tribes, and federal natural resource agencies.

``Yea'' on Roll Call 621, on the motion to suspend the rules and pass H.R. 3705, the Veterans Fair Debt Notice Act.

``No'' on Roll Call 622, the Micro Offering Safe Harbor Act.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I believe that we have a responsibility to ensure that military veterans have access to the benefits and services that they have earned. These men and women have had our backs, and we need to have theirs.

We can't stand by as they endure challenges seeing doctors or getting treatment because of management failures and unnecessary bureaucratic barriers. Taxpayers have spent millions of dollars, tens of millions of dollars, to identify how the VA is broken and to identify opportunities to fix it.

The Government Accountability Office has raised specific suggestions related to management issues, but, unfortunately, the VA has implemented few, if any, of these solutions, and that cannot stand.

How can our Nation's veterans expect to get what they have earned if the leaders and components of the VA are not expected to cooperate with one another? How can they expect to see medical providers if the VA cannot bring in or maintain talented medical professionals?

The VA Management Alignment Act is a bipartisan effort to address these and other management problems that have real consequences on the delivery of care to our friends, our neighbors, and to our loved ones.

Representative Newhouse and I drafted this bill with input from the Government Accountability Office to bring an end to this disjointed and inefficient system. The bill would require the Secretary to outline the roles, responsibilities, and accountability measures of senior leaders and branches of the VA and to provide Congress with a series of legislative options to assist the Secretary in realizing positive change.

The goal of this bill is to help Congress and the administration work together to fix these problems. The goal of this bill is to make sure veterans get the care and the benefits that they have earned.

I would like to thank Chairman Roe and Ranking Member Walz for their leadership and support in moving this bill forward. I would like to thank my colleague from California (Mr. Takano) for his help as well.

I urge my colleagues to support this legislation to help us align the VA into a system that can deliver on our Nation's responsibilities to our military veterans.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 1066, the VA Management Alignment Act.

The men and women who have bravely served our country in uniform deserve the peace of mind that the VA will work for them--not against them.

Over the past few years, our nation's veterans have too often experienced outrageous wait times, long lines, and mismanagement at VA facilities across the country. In the wake of these scandals, the members of this body have passed multiple bills aimed to right these wrongs and improve VA functions. Unfortunately, we hear far too often of problems continuing to plague the halls of VA medical facilities.

The VA Management Alignment Act directs the Secretary of the VA to report to Congress the steps the Department will take to ensure that the organizational structure of the VA is both efficient and effective.

Supported by groups including the American Legion and the American Federation of Government Employees, this bill seeks to chart a meaningful path forward to better serve those who put their lives on the line to serve us. It is integral that the VA make clear the steps it will take to ensure that our nation's veterans have access to the quality, timely care that they deserve.

I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I thank veterans across the country for their service.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1066, the VA Management Alignment Act of 2017, as introduced by my colleague from Washington, the most excellent Representative, Derek Kilmer. His advocacy and hard work on behalf of veterans is commendable.

This bipartisan measure will require the VA Secretary to report to Congress on the roles, responsibilities, and accountability of employees within VA.

This oversight is sorely needed. Last Congress, in testimony before the Veterans' Affairs Committee, the bipartisan co-chairs of the Commission on Care both highlighted how little attention is paid to the VA's human resources to ensure the Department is functioning efficiently. Representative Kilmer's legislation will help lead to a VA that more effectively meets veterans' needs.

I have enjoyed working with Representative Kilmer to advance this legislation through committee and truly appreciate his work on this issue.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Kilmer).

Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 1066, the VA Management Alignment Act of 2017.

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