[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 47 (Friday, March 17, 2017)]
[House]
[Page H2174]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           VA ACCOUNTABILITY

  (Mr. LaMALFA asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the House's 
efforts this week to improve the employment standards at the Department 
of Veterans Affairs.
  In recent years, complex bureaucratic processes can take up to a year 
to remove or discipline a VA employee for misconduct or subpar 
performance. The VA has even had trouble firing one employee who 
participated in an armed robbery and another who participated in a 
veteran's surgery while intoxicated.
  Just last year, VA Deputy Secretary Sloan Gibson testified at a 
hearing that it was too difficult to fire bad employees. That is why I 
was happy to vote in the House this week for the VA Accountability 
First Act of 2017. This legislation provides the VA Secretary more 
flexibility to demote, suspend, or remove employees for misconduct or 
subpar performance.
  Additionally, the House has passed a second bill today to make the 
hiring process more efficient, allowing the VA to recruit and retain 
the best in the field. As a result, the VA can fire bad employees and 
replace them with good ones who have a passion, and we can retain at 
the agencies we want to work hard for our veterans. This will lead 
directly to higher quality care for our veterans, which is the whole 
reason and purpose we do this.

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