[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 46 (Thursday, March 16, 2017)]
[House]
[Pages H2136-H2139]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




IMPROVING AUTHORITY OF SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS TO HIRE AND RETAIN 
                     PHYSICIANS AND OTHER EMPLOYEES


                             General Leave

  Mr. WENSTRUP. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to 
insert any extraneous material into the Record on H.R. 1367.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Yoder). Is there objection to the 
request of the gentleman from Ohio?
  There was no objection.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 198 and rule 
XVIII, the Chair declares the House in the Committee of the Whole House 
on the state of the Union for the consideration of the bill, H.R. 1367.
  The Chair appoints the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Budd) to 
preside over the Committee of the Whole.

                              {time}  1811


                     In the Committee of the Whole

  Accordingly, the House resolved itself into the Committee of the 
Whole House on the state of the Union for the consideration of the bill 
(H.R. 1367) to improve the authority of the Secretary of Veterans 
Affairs to hire and retain physicians and other employees of the 
Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes, with Mr. Budd 
in the chair.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The CHAIR. Pursuant to the rule, the bill is considered read the 
first time.
  The gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Wenstrup) and the gentleman from 
Minnesota (Mr. Walz) each will control 30 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Ohio.
  Mr. WENSTRUP. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of my bill, H.R. 1367, to 
improve the authority of the Department of Veterans Affairs to recruit 
and retain employees.
  VA's mission of honoring and serving our Nation's veterans is second 
to none in the Federal Government, and a high-quality, high-performing 
workforce is key to VA's ability to successfully execute on that 
mission.
  H.R. 1367 contains a number of provisions that would strengthen VA's 
ability to identify staffing shortages, recruit employees to fill 
vacant positions, quickly onboard new hires, and retain high-performing 
workers across the country. It also contains provisions that would 
improve leadership and accountability throughout VA and increase the 
number of veterans in the Federal workforce.
  To assist VA in identifying and addressing local staffing 
deficiencies, this bill would modify the annual determination of 
staffing shortages to include five clinical occupations and five 
nonclinical occupations for each VA medical center. Staffing needs can 
vary significantly from facility to facility, even within the same 
State, and create a variety of delays, backlogs, and other challenges 
for veterans.
  This provision would allow VA to use this existing reporting tool, 
which dates back to the 2014 Choice Act, to target a total of 10 
occupations at each VA medical center and use VA's existing direct hire 
authority to expeditiously address shortages for those occupations.
  To increase leadership development opportunities for emerging leaders 
and encourage the dissemination of best practices between and among VA 
and private sector, the bill would establish an executive management 
program to allow eligible VA and private sector employees the 
opportunity to take 1-year fellowship positions in either comparable 
private sector entities or VA, respectively. This idea was brought to 
us by a veteran participating in the joint Veterans of Foreign Wars-
Student Veterans of America legislative fellowship program and would 
mirror a successful fellowship model used by the White House and the 
State Department.
  To increase accountability for senior VA decisionmakers, the bill 
would require annual performance plans for VA political appointees, 
similar to the annual performance plans that are required for Senior 
Executive Service employees.

                              {time}  1815

  Like SES employees, political appointees perform at the very highest 
levels and play critical roles in setting and achieving high profile 
policies and priorities. It is only appropriate that they too be held 
accountable for their performance.
  To incentivize the hiring of veterans across the Federal Government, 
the bill would change the service requirement for reservists and 
guardsmen to be eligible for veterans' preference from 180 days of 
consecutive Active-Duty service to 180 days of cumulative Active-Duty 
service, and expand those considered preference eligible to include all 
retired servicemembers.
  Veterans gain a variety of skills during their time in uniform and 
are often

[[Page H2137]]

uniquely suited to Federal employment. In recognition of this, some 
form of veterans' preference has been in place since the Civil War. By 
modernizing this important benefit today, we can bring needed skill 
sets to the Federal workforce and promote employment opportunities for 
veterans, a win-win if there ever was one.
  To encourage former VA employees who left VA service to gain relevant 
education or experience and then return to the VA, the bill would allow 
the VA to noncompetitively reappoint a former employee to a position 
not more than 1 grade higher than their former position.
  I believe we must do everything possible to encourage former 
employees to come back and work at the VA and reward them for 
furthering themselves and using their new skills to benefit veterans.
  In order to be eligible for reappointment under this authority, the 
former employee must have voluntarily, within the prior 2 years, 
maintained a satisfactory performance record while at the VA, and 
retained any necessary licensures or credentials.
  To assist the VA in identifying and prioritizing vacancies, the bill 
would require the VA to establish a recruiting database listing each 
vacant position that the VA determines is critical to the VA's mission, 
is difficult to fill, or both.
  Also, the bill would authorize and encourage the VA to track 
qualified applicants for vacant positions and use the recruiting 
database and the qualified applicant pool to quickly fill vacancies 
that have gone unfilled for a prolonged time.
  To ensure the VA human resources professionals have a thorough 
understanding of the VA's unique hiring authorities, the bill would 
require Veterans Health Administration HR employees to receive regular, 
ongoing training.
  The VA healthcare system benefits from direct hiring authorities for 
clinical personnel under title 38, United States Code. However, these 
hiring authorities are unique to the VA and can be complex and 
difficult for HR employees to understand and work with, which increases 
the likelihood that those authorities go underused and HR professionals 
experience burnout.
  This provision would support those professionals in their important 
work while ensuring that veterans benefit as much as possible from the 
special hiring authorities that Congress has granted the VA in statute.
  To encourage highly skilled employees wishing to advance in their 
career at the VA without taking on a management role, this bill would 
require the VA to establish a promotional track for technical experts 
that does not require transition to a managerial position. This is a 
commonsense provision that would increase the VA's ability to retain 
employees in highly technical positions who want to remain at the VA 
and continue moving forward in their careers, but are either 
uninterested in or ill-suited to becoming a manager.
  To increase the understanding of the VA's succession planning 
efforts, the bill would require the Government Accountability Office to 
conduct a study on succession planning at each VA medical facility, as 
well as within the Veterans Benefits Administration and the National 
Cemetery Administration.
  Earlier this week, the VA confirmed that 80 percent of current 
Veterans Integrated Service Network directors and 25 percent of current 
VA Medical Center directors are eligible to retire. Last year, the VA 
testified that it can take more than 6 months and multiple 
reannouncements to fill these important positions in both rural and 
major metropolitan areas.
  Effective succession planning is critical to ensuring stable 
leadership and to identifying and developing emerging leaders who are 
ready, willing, and able to step up when existing directors or other 
managers retire or depart. I look forward to reviewing the results of 
GAO's work to see what further improvements can be made in this area.
  To improve recruitment and retention of younger employees, the bill 
would require the VA to allow for excepted service appointments leading 
to conversion to career or career-conditional employment for students 
and recent graduates.
  VA's existing workforce is aging and, as I mentioned just a moment 
ago, increasingly retirement-eligible. Unfortunately, the VA has 
historically performed poorly in comparison to other Federal agencies 
when it comes to hiring younger employees, which could put the VA's 
future at risk. I am hopeful that this provision will increase the VA's 
ability to build a pipeline of young talent.
  Finally, to increase the VA's understanding of why departing 
employees choose to leave the VA and, in turn, how the VA could improve 
in order to retain other employees, this bill would require the VA to 
develop and deploy a standardized, anonymous exit survey process. The 
VA has an existing survey process but it is underutilized, with just 30 
percent of all clinical employees completing it prior to their 
departure over the last 5 years, according to a GAO report issued last 
year.
  Factors that contribute to employees voluntarily leaving VA service 
cannot be addressed unless they are identified, and this provision 
would help us do that.
  In conclusion, Mr. Chairman, the future of the VA, our Nation's 
second largest bureaucracy, depends on the VA's ability to effectively 
and efficiently recruit and retain highly qualified and motivated 
employees in towns and cities across this country. In an increasingly 
competitive market with an increasingly retirement-eligible workforce, 
the stakes are simply too high for the VA to continue to struggle to 
hire the employees it needs.
  While more remains to be done to simplify and shorten the VA's hiring 
process and strengthen the VA's ability to bring the very best 
professionals onboard to serve our veterans, H.R. 1367 is the first 
step to ensuring a sufficient VA workforce is available to veterans for 
generations to come.
  I urge all my colleagues to join me in supporting this legislation.
  Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

         House of Representatives, Committee on Oversight and 
           Government Reform,
                                   Washington, DC, March 10, 2017.
     Hon. David P. Roe,
     Chairman, Committee on Veterans' Affairs,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Mr. Chairman: I write concerning H.R. 1367, ``to 
     improve the authority of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to 
     hire and retain physicians and other employees of the 
     Department of Veterans Affairs; and for other purposes.'' As 
     you know, the Committee on Veterans' Affairs received an 
     original referral and the Committee on Oversight and 
     Government Reform a secondary referral when the bill was 
     introduced on March 6, 2017, I recognize and appreciate your 
     desire to bring this legislation before the House of 
     Representatives in an expeditious manner, and accordingly, 
     the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform will forego 
     action on the bill.
       The Committee takes this action with our mutual 
     understanding that by foregoing consideration of H.R. 1367 at 
     this time, we do not waive any jurisdiction over the subject 
     matter contained in this or similar legislation. Further, I 
     request your support for the appointment of conferees from 
     the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform during any 
     House-Senate conference convened on this or related 
     legislation.
       Finally, I would ask that a copy of our exchange of letters 
     on this matter be included in the bill report filed by the 
     Committee on Veterans' Affairs, as well as in the 
     Congressional Record during floor consideration, to 
     memorialize our understanding.
           Sincerely,
                                                   Jason Chaffetz,
     Chairman.
                                  ____

                                         House of Representatives,


                               Committee on Veterans' Affairs,

                                   Washington, DC, March 10, 2017.
     Hon. Jason Chaffetz,
     Chairman, Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, House 
         of Representatives, Washington, DC.
       Dear Chairman Chaffetz: In reference to your letter on 
     March 10, 2017, I write to confirm our mutual understanding 
     regarding H.R. 1367, to improve the authority of the 
     Secretary of Veterans Affairs to hire and retain physicians 
     and other employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs and 
     for other purposes.
       I appreciate the Committee on Oversight and Government 
     Reform's waiver of consideration of provisions under its 
     jurisdiction and its subject matter as specified in your 
     letter. I acknowledge that the waiver was granted only to 
     expedite floor consideration of H.R. 1367 and does not in any 
     way waive or diminish the Committee on Oversight and 
     Government Reform's jurisdictional interests over this or 
     similar legislation. I will support a request from the 
     Committee on Oversight and Government Reform for appointment 
     to any House-Senate conference on HR. 1367. Finally, I will 
     also support your request to include a copy of our exchange 
     of letters on this matter in the Congressional Record during 
     floor consideration.

[[Page H2138]]

       Thank you for your attention and assistance in this matter. 
     Sincerely,
           Sincerely,
                                               David P. Roe, M.D.,
                                                         Chairman.

  Mr. WALZ. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of H.R. 1367. I would like to 
thank the gentleman from Ohio, first of all, as an incredibly important 
Member of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee, a doctor himself and, 
as important, a colonel in the United States Army and the United States 
Army Reserve. An incredible insight into the very issues we are 
addressing and, I think, bringing this bill right now, we had a very 
good debate on fixing the VA, moving them in the right direction. And 
this piece of legislation is incredibly spot-on about another piece of 
that accountability.
  Dr. Wenstrup's bill will help the VA better understand its staffing 
shortages, and I think this is important. We all say 45,000 openings or 
whatever; it is important for us to know, do we need to hire all 45,000 
of those; which ones are critical; which ones can be done faster. So 
that piece is common sense.
  It develops an executive management fellowship program that will 
allow the VA to send its leaders to the private sector to learn best 
practices and vice versa; again, incredibly smart, welcome change.
  It will allow the VA to develop technical advancements, so employees 
who are in a specific field can advance in title and salary, without 
moving to a management role.
  Quality hiring, training, and retention starts with a good HR 
department. This legislation will provide critical research into best 
HR practice and then provide the training to VA HR managers. These 
provisions, along with other hiring authorities, will help the VA get 
the right people in the door.
  Currently, as the gentleman said, the process is slow, cumbersome, 
and, quite honestly, I think it just burns people out before they get 
there. And these are really dedicated folks who want to serve.
  I have a gentleman I have become acquainted with who is a nationally 
renowned cardiac surgeon who left a very lucrative private practice to 
go to the VA after his son was wounded in the current conflicts in Iraq 
and Afghanistan, and chose to do his part by going back into the VA 
system.
  He mentioned how cumbersome it was. He mentioned some of the 
bureaucratic troubles that he had, and all he wanted to do was bring an 
incredible skill set to serve those who served us; and Mr. Wenstrup's 
bill does exactly that.
  I encourage all Members to support this legislation, and ask that 
consideration in support of the amendments be brought forward, be 
considered. Each of these amendments will improve on a really good 
piece of legislation, improve the Secretary's ability to recruit, 
train, and retain a quality workforce.
  Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. WENSTRUP. Mr. Chairman, I would just like to take a second here 
to thank the ranking member for his hard work and putting forth many of 
the ideas that are in this bill and working with us, and thank him for 
his service to our country in the military and the high rank that he 
achieved, and bringing those experiences to us.
  Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Utah (Mr. 
Chaffetz).
  Mr. CHAFFETZ. 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.
  Mr. WALZ. Mr. Chairman, before I yield to the gentleman from Florida, 
I would like to point out, as a new Member bringing new vitality and 
new blood to this, how encouraging it is, both to me and, I would hope, 
to his constituents. Seeking out ways to serve veterans, coming to try 
and work on legislation in a bipartisan manner speaks volumes for his 
commitment.
  I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Soto).
  Mr. SOTO. Mr. Chairman, we send our servicemen and -women overseas in 
harm's way to protect our country because we know that freedom isn't 
free. So it is fundamental, as we, with such vigor, ask them to go to 
the battlefield, that we protect them when they are off the 
battlefield. And it is fundamental that, when they return, they have a 
world-class hospital system.
  Now, today we begin consideration of H.R. 1367, which is exciting 
because it is a bipartisan bill to improve the VA's authority to hire, 
train, and retain physicians and other critical staff in the Veterans 
Health Administration.

  Over the last 5 years, we have seen more than 2 million veterans 
enroll in the VA healthcare system, and we believe--both parties 
believe that nothing should stand in the way of any veteran having 
confidence in and access to care and benefits they earned and deserve.
  I represent the central Florida area, and we are so honored to have a 
brand new Orlando VA, in a high-growth area, and the need is great. I 
was also honored to be able to have an office right across the street 
from the VA hospital that we just opened up last week, to be in 
proximity and to help our veterans.
  But I can tell you, having met with some of our veterans already, we 
are looking at 3- to 6-month waits, even in a new facility.
  A gentleman, who I will refer to as Mr. Smith so that I don't divulge 
his personal information, came to me yesterday, and he had issues with 
a podiatrist. He was not able to see them over the next couple of 
weeks. And in his goat farm in my district, he is unable to pursue his 
gainful employment, and we are trying to get him in over the next 2 
weeks, but it could be 3 to 4 weeks.
  So we need to stand together to restore trust and accountability and 
fill these positions. And so I applaud both parties, and I am excited 
for the Veterans' Affairs Committee to take this bold action to recruit 
and retain the most talented workforce, which is well-needed to provide 
quality and timely medical care for our Nation's veterans, for those in 
central Florida, Florida, and beyond.

                              {time}  1830

  Mr. WALZ. Mr. Chair, before I reserve the balance of my time, I would 
like to point out to the gentleman from Florida that he has a 
podiatrist right here in Dr. Wenstrup, so we can just solve the problem 
as we stand.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. WENSTRUP. Mr. Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Maine (Mr. Poliquin), who has been a very vocal supporter of our 
veterans every step of the way.
  Mr. POLIQUIN. Mr. Chair, I would like to point out for the Record 
that

[[Page H2139]]

both Mr. Walz and Mr. Wenstrup are both veterans, and we are so 
grateful for their service to our country in so many different ways.
  Mr. Chair, it was our first commander-in-chief, George Washington, 
who said, and I paraphrase, that we can never expect young men and 
women to rise to the occasion to fight for our country and for our 
freedom unless we take care of those who have already sacrificed on the 
battlefield. So the wonderful thing about serving on the Committee for 
Veterans Affairs, Mr. Chair, is that it is completely bipartisan.
  This is all about our veterans. We just love them in the State of 
Maine--66,000 veterans strong in our Second District of Maine, Mr. 
Chair. We have one of the highest percentages of our population that 
are veterans in the country, and we are very, very proud of that.
  I must say that, in my dealings with Togus--which is, by the way, Mr. 
Chair, the first military hospital in the country. It is about 150 
years old now. They set up to take care of our Civil War veterans about 
150 years ago.
  In any event, in talking with the folks at Togus, they made it very 
clear to me, Mr. Chair, that one of their biggest problems they have, 
and it is ongoing, is: How do we hire quickly and retain the best 
quality doctors, nurses, and medical technicians to care for our 
heroes?
  That is why I am so excited and grateful for this opportunity to vote 
for H.R. 1367, because it helps solve one of these problems. It removes 
red tape in the hiring process. It streamlines the hiring process.
  The Veterans Administration has about 360,000 employees, so it is a 
very large organization. When that happens, of course, you need to deal 
with administrative burdens and red tape and what have you.
  So I am encouraging all of my fellow colleagues here, Republicans and 
Democrats, to make sure they vote for this bill, H.R. 1367, because our 
best fought for us, Mr. Chair, our best fought for us. It is time that 
our best take care of those who fought for us.
  Mr. WALZ. Mr. Chairman, I have no further speakers and will be 
prepared to close after the gentleman is done.
  Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. WENSTRUP. Mr. Chair, once again, I encourage all Members to 
support H.R. 1367, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. WALZ. Mr. Chair, I can't thank the gentleman enough--smart 
legislation combining many good ideas, willingness to incorporate those 
best practices, and then, I think, forcing VA to start moving in that 
direction.
  This is an example, I think, of where the VA is at. And while we may 
disagree, and you saw a little bit of it today, it is not because there 
is any disagreement on what the final outcome is.
  Dr. Wenstrup's bill is smart. It will improve care; it will get good 
people in the VA; it will retain them; and it will improve HR practices 
to make sure that happens.
  I encourage my colleagues to support the bill and some of the 
amendments that will work to improve upon a very good piece of 
legislation.
  Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The CHAIR. All time for general debate has expired.
  Mr. WENSTRUP. Mr. Chair, I move that the Committee do now rise.
  The motion was agreed to.
  Accordingly, the Committee rose; and the Speaker pro tempore (Mr. 
Poliquin) having assumed the chair, Mr. Budd, Chair of the Committee of 
the Whole House on the state of the Union, reported that that 
Committee, having had under consideration the bill (H.R. 1367) to 
improve the authority of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to hire and 
retain physicians and other employees of the Department of Veterans 
Affairs, and for other purposes, had come to no resolution thereon.

                          ____________________