Department of Veterans Affairs Information Technology Reform Act of 2022

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of my legislation, H.R. 2250, the VA Information Technology Reform Act of 2022.

When I began serving on the Veterans' Affairs Committee, I was horrified to discover that Congress is shoveling roughly $9 billion a year into VA

information technology, with disappointing results and very little useful information about how it is even being spent.

The VA's annual IT operations budget is nearly $5.8 billion. The disastrous Electronic Health Record Modernization Program received $2.6 billion last year alone, and several hundred million more dollars go to other IT programs annually.

To be sure, every year VA produces hundreds of pages of budget documents about IT. But when I examined them, I found very little relevance to what is actually happening and zero accountability. That is why I introduced H.R. 2250, the VA IT Reform Act. It would require VA to report on major IT projects, costs estimates, schedules, and performance goals before they begin and before any money is spent on them. If the project is approved, that information would then become baseline that progress is measured against annually.

If we had already been getting all this information, several of the VA big-ticket IT projects would have been canceled, and some would never have been started at all. Instead, we are working to contain the damage from the EHR, while still piecing together how it even began.

At the same time, VA is now on its second attempt to modernize its supply chain and its third attempt to replace its financial systems.

My legislation would also reform how VA budgets for IT. It would require the Department to rank each requested project in terms of costs, risks, and benefits, and present each office's IT needs in plain language, not the indecipherable categories that now exist.

Finally, my bill would make the VA Chief Information Officer responsible for the Financial Services Centers IT's activities and make troves of information from the Office of Management and Budget about the VA IT programs available to Congress.

Once Congress has all of this information, it is our responsibility to oversee the spending decisions VA is making. Every IT project has to improve the services and benefits our veterans receive or it should not receive a single dollar more of taxpayer money.

I thank Mr. Mrvan and Mr. Banks for working with me on this bill, and I urge all of my colleagues to support it.

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

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2250) to amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the management of information technology projects and investments of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous material on H.R. 2250, as amended.

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

Mr. Speaker, the Department of Veterans Affairs Information Technology Reform Act requires VA to report on the cost, schedule, and performance information for major information technology projects. A major information technology project is a project that exceeds $500 million in total life cycle costs.

H.R. 2250, as amended, also requires VA to ensure that each major IT project is managed by an interdisciplinary team. The bill is necessary due to the numerous issues that the VA has had with technology modernization and management of its major IT programs. This bill provides Congress with key information to conduct proper oversight over those programs.

Mr. Speaker, I wholeheartedly support this bill. I urge all my colleagues to do the same, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I am prepared to close.

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

Mr. Speaker, in view of the fact that I know this Congress, the 117th Congress, is coming to a close and I may not see you up on the rostrum and the dais again, I wanted to say mahalo for your service in our military, mahalo for your service to the people of Hawaii, mahalo for your service to the American people.

I ask all my colleagues to join me in passing H.R. 2250, as amended, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2250, as amended, the VA Information Technology Reform Act of 2022. Mr. Rosendale, Mr. Mrvan, and Mr. Banks have worked on this legislation in the Technology Modernization Subcommittee for over 2 years.

The VA relies on information technology to deliver nearly every service and benefit to our Nation's veterans. But it is no secret that there have been many struggles with IT projects that fail to deliver. Cost and schedule overruns and poor performance are routine.

This bipartisan legislation creates new accountability standards for VA to plan, initiate, and manage large IT projects. Congress has to be informed in advance, before any money is spent, and the VA has to create a baseline to measure each project's performance against.

The legislation also reforms how VA budgets for IT and increases transparency into the Department's activities and needs.

I commend Mr. Rosendale for being a watchdog on this important and difficult issue.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Montana (Mr. Rosendale).

Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to support this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I rise today regarding missed votes. Had I been present for Roll Call vote No. 482, On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass S. 3369, I would have voted Yea. For Roll Call vote No. 483, On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass S. 4359, 1 would have voted Yea. For Roll Call vote No. 484, On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass, as Amended H.R. 2250, I would have voted Yea. For Roll Call vote No. 485, On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass, as Amended H.R. 3630, I would have voted Yea.

Madam Speaker, I am not recorded for Roll Call votes No. 481, No. 482, No. 483, No. 484, and No. 485. Had I been present, I would have voted Yes on Roll Call No. 481 En Bloc Suspensions (H.R. 5721, H.R. 7299, H.R. 7277, H.R. 4275, H.R. 6290, H.R. 5502, H.R. 8416); Yes on Roll Call No. 482 (S. 3369); Yes on Roll Call No. 483 (S. 4359); Yes on Roll Call No. 484 (H.R. 2250); and Yes on Roll Call No. 485 (H.R. 3630).