[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 175 (Monday, December 17, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Page S13357]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      TOP GOVERNMENT ETHICS AWARD

  Mr. ROCKFELLER. Mr. President, today I am proud to highlight the 
recognition given to the Department of Veterans Affairs for the 
outstanding job they have done and the recognition they are receiving 
for their employee ethics programs.
  The Office of Government Ethics has announced that VA's Office of 
General Counsel received their Outstanding Ethics Program Award. The 
award was presented on December 13 by Amy Comstock, the director of the 
ethics office.
  VA has the largest centralized ethics program in the Federal 
Government and is the second largest Federal department with 219,000 
employees scattered nationwide and hundreds of facilities. Ethics 
issues are administered through the Office of General Counsel, both in 
VA's central office and through its 23 regional counsel office, who 
review financial disclosure reports and conduct annual ethics training. 
These efforts are supported by human resources staff.
  In addition, VA's ethics issues are particularly complex. VA's 
mission is so broad and many of its employees have outside activities. 
For example, many VA physicians are also on faculty at affiliated 
universities and conduct outside research.
  It is critical that our Federal agencies live up to the expectations 
of the Americans people, particularly of the nation's veterans whom we 
serve. This award demonstrates how a centralized and proactive approach 
can yield tremendous results. I am pleased to see VA's efforts being 
recognized.

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