Jason Chaffetz

Under clause 2 of rule XII, bills and reports were delivered to the Clerk for printing, and bills referred as follows:

Mr. CHAFFETZ: Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

H.R. 624. A bill to restrict the inclusion of social security

account numbers on documents sent by mail by the Federal

Government, and for other purposes; with an amendment (Rept.

115-50, Pt. 1); referred to the Committee on Ways and Means

for a period ending not later than May 23, 2017, for

consideration of such provisions of the bill and amendment as

fall within the jurisdiction of that committee pursuant to

clause 1(t) of rule X.

Mr. Chair, I really appreciate what Chairman Roe of Tennessee is doing. He pours his heart and soul into one of the most important issues and things we can deal with here in Congress and, that is, helping our veterans.

Veterans step up and serve in our military. I stand in awe. They do the heavy lifting. They run through the fire. They engage. Then they come home, and we have got to do a better job of taking care of those people who take care of us.

The Veterans Administration, just like the rest of Federal Government, has a lot of good people who actually work there, do care, and have big hearts. With a government of more than 2 million people, every once in a while you come across some bad apples. They may be a poor performer, or they may just have their heart in a different place, and we have got to deal with these bad apples.

While you have a whole set of people who are actually trying to do the right thing, you are going to run into some people every once in a while who aren't doing the right thing, and you have to be able to dismiss them.

Now, the Oversight and Government Reform Committee has jurisdiction on the Federal civilian workforce, and we have worked closely with Chairman Roe of Tennessee to help make this possible.

Through the last couple of years that I have been chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, we have heard a number of accounts where Federal employees couldn't be disciplined fast enough. It was obvious what they had done, but they had run into roadblocks in being able to dismiss people.

We heard horror stories from the Environmental Protection Agency where there was a sexually harassed intern that lasted for 3 years. It took 5 weeks to process the harasser's removal proceedings.

We heard the Government Accountability Office come and testify before our committee that it can take 6 months to a year to remove a Federal employee for poor performance. You know what? That isn't good enough. When you have a bad apple and somebody is misusing the system and they are not performing, they are hurting our veterans. And when they are hurting our veterans, I take that personally. Everybody should take that personally. Nobody wants to see that happen.

So this bill, H.R. 1259, is a very important bill to accelerate that process. Again, let's remember that most of the people who work there are good, hardworking, patriotic people who care. But when you do have a bad apple and you do need to get rid of that person, we have to have an expedited removal proceeding.

I know this bill does a number of things, but I can tell you, having heard testimony time and time and time again in a variety of Federal agencies, especially the VA, this is a much-needed bill.

We are going to work as a committee to implement reforms like this governmentwide. To put the Veterans Administration first and deal with this first, I think, is the right priority of this Congress.

Again, hats off to Chairman Roe of Tennessee and the committee as a whole for addressing this so aggressively and so early in the 115th Congress.

I urge passage of H.R. 1259.

Mr. Chairman, I want to thank, certainly, Dr. Wenstrup, for bringing forward this bill, and also the ranking member here for good bipartisan work.

1978 was a good year. I was playing soccer at the AYSO as a young, 11-year-old kid. It was also a good year because that was the last time the civil service had a total revamp of its system. It has been that long since civil service has had this type of reform, and we are looking, on the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, to take what is being done here in a good, bipartisan way, and try to institute some of these good best practices into the broader Federal Government.

The current hiring process is far too long and far too complex. We want to ensure the Federal Government remains a competitive employment option. We also want to make sure, particularly at the VA, that the department has the necessary data to make smart hiring decisions and ensure important positions are filled.

This bill will allow technical experts to earn promotions without having to necessarily go into the management track, which is very important. For some of the skill sets, you don't have to be in management if you are providing a skill that is so imperative to making sure we take care of our veterans.

The bill also allows for a fast-tracked reemployment of former VA employees who have a proven record of success at the agency. We get some people trained up, maybe they go and do something else, we ought to give the people priorities in coming back as well, to make sure that we have the most qualified Federal workers who are taking care of the people who have taken care of us. They did the heavy lifting for this country, and they deserve better, and we can do better by them. A big part of that would be passing this bill, H.R. 1367.

So, again, I want to thank Mr. Wenstrup for his leadership. I am glad this is moving forward, and I stand in support of the bill.