[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 76 (Tuesday, May 20, 2014)]
[House]
[Page H4484]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1215
   THE $4 BILLION INTEGRATED ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORD PROJECT--HALTED

  (Mr. CHAFFETZ asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. CHAFFETZ. Mr. Speaker, it was April 2009 when President Obama 
said that he was going to form an integrated electronic health record 
project to take the records between the DOD and Veterans Administration 
and, together, he said that it ``would represent a huge step towards 
modernizing the way health care is delivered and benefits are 
administered for our Nation's veterans. It would cut through red tape 
and reduce the number of administrative mistakes.''
  Fast forward to February of 2013. The Department of Defense and the 
Veterans Administration announced that they were going to halt this 
program. It was a $4 billion--not $4 million, not $40 million, not $400 
million--a $4 billion project. Secretary Hagel, and I quote him: ``I 
didn't think we knew what the hell we were doing.''
  So after all these years, $4 billion later, they totally halted and 
abandoned this project that was going to improve the quality of health 
care for our veterans. It wasn't for a lack of money, but there was a 
lack of leadership and management and dedication.
  Mr. Speaker, this cannot stand. We do need to do better for our 
veterans. This has got to be a national priority.

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