[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 120 (Tuesday, July 29, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1262]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            INTRODUCTION OF THE VA BONUS ACCOUNTABILITY ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. KYRSTEN SINEMA

                               of arizona

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 29, 2014

  Ms. SINEMA. Mr. Speaker, today Dr. Dan Benishek and I will introduce 
the VA Bonus Accountability Act. This bipartisan legislation claws back 
bonuses fraudulently paid to VA employees who manipulated wait times 
data.
  The revelations that veterans at the Phoenix VA, and veterans at 
other VA facilities across the country, were placed on secret lists and 
had to wait months before seeing a doctor are immoral and un-American. 
That veterans who served our country honorably may have died while 
waiting for care is unconscionable. Those responsible for this disaster 
must be held accountable.
  Ongoing audits by the VA and the VA Office of Inspector General 
reveal systemic problems with wait times, with the scheduling process, 
and with the honesty and integrity of the system. Evidence from 
multiple VA facilities shows intentional and systemic manipulation 
occurred to cover up long wait times and veteran deaths. Despite this 
misconduct and administrative failures, thousands of VA employees 
received bonuses for their performance.
  In 2013, the VA awarded more than $380,000 in bonuses to executives 
and directors at 38 VA hospitals where investigations were ongoing 
regarding increased delays in patient care and potential falsification 
of appointment records. Last year in total, the VA gave out $2.7 
million in extra pay to its top ranking officials.
  Over the last three years, the Phoenix VA, ground zero for the VA 
scandal, paid out almost $10 million in bonuses to its employees. All 
of this as patient wait times increased, data was intentionally 
manipulated, and whistleblowers were ignored or punished.
  Our legislation requires the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, based on 
the findings of the VA Office of Inspector General and after notice and 
opportunity for a hearing, to order employees who contributed to the 
purposeful omission of veterans from electronic wait lists, and 
received a bonus in part because of such omission, to repay the bonus.
  The first priority of the VA and Congress must be providing our 
veterans the care they need. Many dedicated VA employees, many of them 
veterans themselves, work tirelessly to provide the best care to our 
veterans, but they are limited by this broken system, which is failing 
millions of our veterans.
  If we are going to change the culture at the VA so that veterans 
truly come first, we must also hold accountable those who intentionally 
manipulated wait times data and received bonuses based on this 
fraudulent data.
  We urge our colleagues to cosponsor our legislation to bring 
accountability and change the corrosive culture at the VA.

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