June 06, 2017

Roe, Walz Commend Senate on Passage of Accountability Legislation

Washington, D.C. - Today, Reps. Phil Roe, M.D. (R-Tenn.) and Tim Walz (D-Minn.), Chairman and Ranking Member of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, respectively, released the following statements after the Senate passed legislation to bring accountability to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA):

“With the Senate’s passage of this legislation, we are one step closer to creating a true culture of accountability at VA while protecting the whistleblowers who are essential to identifying and addressing problems within the department,” said Roe. “I’m grateful to Senators Isakson and Rubio for championing this legislation in the Senate, and I’m glad much of my bill was included in the Senate’s. I thank President Trump and Secretary Shulkin for making accountability reform one of their highest priorities, and I look forward to getting this legislation to the president’s desk so we can give Secretary Shulkin the tools he needs to hold bad actors accountable and bring wholesale reform to the Department of Veterans Affairs.”

“I applaud my colleagues in the Senate for passing this important bipartisan legislation that will give the VA Secretary the tools they need to hold bad employees accountable while maintaining constitutionally mandated workplace protections that shield good employees and whistleblowers from retaliation, said Walz. “I call on House leadership to take up the Senate version of this bill without delay. Now is the time to bring real, long-lasting, and constitutional accountability measures to the Department of Veterans Affairs.”

Background:

The Senate bill, the Department of Veterans Affairs Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act of 2017, includes key portions of Chairman Roe’s legislation. The Department of Veterans Affairs Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act of 2017 would:

  • Create a new streamlined and efficient process to remove, demote or suspend (for longer than 14 days) any VA employee for poor performance or misconduct with a concrete shortened timeline, while still protecting employees’ due process rights, and would provide them with the right to appeal the action.
  • Provide expanded protections for whistleblowers and would specifically bar VA from using this removal authority if the employee has an open whistleblower complaint/case with the Office of Special Counsel.
  • Provide the Secretary with the authority to reduce an employee’s federal pension if they are convicted of a felony that influenced their job at VA; recoup a bonus provided to an employee who engaged in misconduct or poor performance prior to receiving the bonus; and allow the Secretary to recoup any relocation expenses that were authorized for a VA employee only through the employee’s ill-gotten means, such as fraud waste or malfeasance.
  • Authorize the Secretary to directly appoint individuals to the positions of Medical Center Director and Director of Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) if they have a demonstrated ability in the medical profession, health care administration or health care fiscal management. This will make it easier to fill these critical positions quickly.

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