[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 18]
[House]
[Pages 24437-24441]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




   DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT 
                        IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2005

  Mr. BUYER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill 
(H.R. 4061) to amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the 
management of information technology within the Department of Veterans 
Affairs by providing for the Chief Information Officer of that 
Department to have authority over resources, budget, and personnel 
related to the support function of information technology, and for 
other purposes.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 4061

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Department of Veterans 
     Affairs Information Technology Management Improvement Act of 
     2005''.

     SEC. 2. MANAGEMENT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN DEPARTMENT OF 
                   VETERANS AFFAIRS.

       (a) Resources, Budget, and Personnel Authority of Chief 
     Information Officer.--Section 310 of title 38, United States 
     Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new 
     subsections:
       ``(c) To support the economical, efficient, and effective 
     execution of the information technology objectives, policies, 
     and plans of the Department in support of Department goals, 
     the Secretary shall ensure that the Chief Information Officer 
     has the authority and control necessary for the development, 
     approval, implementation, integration, and oversight of 
     policies, procedures, processes, activities, and systems of 
     the Department relating to the management of information 
     technology for the Department, including the management of 
     all related mission applications, information resources, 
     personnel, and infrastructure.
       ``(d)(1) The Secretary, acting through the Chief 
     Information Officer, shall develop, implement, and maintain a 
     process for the selection and oversight of information 
     technology for the Department.
       ``(2) As components of the development of the process 
     required by paragraph (1), the Secretary shall develop for 
     the Department--
       ``(A) an information technology strategic plan that 
     includes performance measurements; and
       ``(B) an integrated enterprise architecture.
       ``(3) The information technology strategic plan shall set 
     forth a multiyear plan for the use of information technology 
     and related resources to support the accomplishment of the 
     Department's mission.
       ``(4) The Chief Information Officer shall review and update 
     the information technology strategic plan and the integrated 
     enterprise architecture on an ongoing basis to maintain the 
     currency of the plan and the currency of the enterprise 
     architecture with technological changes and changing mission 
     needs of the Department.
       ``(e)(1) Funds may be obligated for information technology 
     for the Department only in accordance with the process 
     implemented under paragraph (1) or as otherwise specifically 
     authorized or delegated by the Chief Information Officer or 
     as otherwise directed by the Secretary.
       ``(2)(A) Amounts appropriated for the Department for any 
     fiscal year that are available for information technology 
     shall be allocated within the Department, consistent with the 
     provisions of appropriations Acts, in such manner as may be 
     specified by, or approved by, the Chief Information Officer.
       ``(B) If for any fiscal year amounts referred to in 
     subparagraph (A) that are available for the Veterans Health 
     Administration (or are otherwise available for functions 
     relating to medical care) are to be allocated under 
     subparagraph (A) in a manner that is inconsistent with the 
     allocation method known as the Veterans Equitable Resource 
     Allocation, such allocation may be made only with the 
     approval of the Secretary and after the Under Secretary for 
     Health is notified.
       ``(3) When the budget for any fiscal year is submitted by 
     the President to Congress under section 1105 of title 31, the 
     Secretary shall submit to Congress a report that identifies 
     amounts requested for information technology for the 
     Department. The report shall set forth those amounts both for 
     each Administration within the Department and for the 
     Department in the aggregate and shall identify, for each such 
     amount, how that amount is aligned with and supports the 
     information technology strategic plan under subsection (d), 
     as then in effect.
       ``(f)(1) The Chief Information Officer shall select the 
     Chief Information Officer for each of the Veterans Health 
     Administration, the Veterans Benefits Administration, and the 
     National Cemetery Administration. Any such selection may only 
     be made after consultation with the Under Secretary with 
     responsibility for the Administration for which the selection 
     is to be made.
       ``(2) Each Administration Chief Information Officer 
     selected under paragraph (1)--
       ``(A) shall be designated as a Department Deputy Chief 
     Information Officer; and
       ``(B) shall report to the Department Chief Information 
     Officer.
       ``(3) The Department Deputy Chief Information Officers are 
     responsible for implementing in their respective 
     Administrations, as directed by the Department Chief 
     Information Officer, the information technology

[[Page 24438]]

     strategic plan and the integrated enterprise architecture 
     developed for the Department by the Department Chief 
     Information Officer pursuant to subsection (d)(2).
       ``(4) To accomplish the policies, programmatic goals, 
     information technology system acquisitions, and alignments 
     prescribed, authorized, or directed by the Department Chief 
     Information Officer, each Department Deputy Chief Information 
     Officer shall maintain, for their respective Administrations, 
     operational control of all information technology system 
     assets and personnel necessary, including direct management 
     of the Administration's software and applications development 
     activities.
       ``(5) The Department Deputy Chief Information Officers--
       ``(A) shall be the principal advocate for the information 
     technology needs of their respective Administrations; and
       ``(B) shall assure, by coordinating with the Department 
     Chief Information Officer, that the business and mission 
     needs of their respective Administrations are met by 
     considering requirements at all levels.
       ``(g)(1) The Secretary shall ensure that the annual report 
     submitted by the Secretary pursuant to section 11313 of title 
     40 includes an identification of any obligation approved by 
     the Chief Information Officer under subsection (e)(1), 
     including the date, amount, and purpose of such obligation.
       ``(2) The Secretary shall submit to the Committees on 
     Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and House of Representatives 
     an annual report, not later than March 1 of each year 
     (beginning in 2009), providing the Secretary's assessment of 
     the implementation during the year covered by the report of 
     the provisions of subsections (c), (d), and (e). Each such 
     report shall include--
       ``(A) the assessment of the Secretary as to increased 
     efficiency within the Department of information technology 
     acquisition processes, management, responsibility, and 
     accountability as a result of those provisions; and
       ``(B) estimated cost savings to the Department as a result 
     of those provisions.
       ``(h) In this section, the term `information technology' 
     has the meaning given that term in paragraph (6) of section 
     11101 of title 40.''.
       (b) Reports to Congress on Implementation.--
       (1) Periodic progress reports.--
       (A) Reports required.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
     shall submit to Congress progress reports on the 
     implementation of subsections (c), (d), and (e), of section 
     310 of title 38, United States Code, as added by subsection 
     (a).
       (B) Time for progress reports.--A report under subparagraph 
     (A) shall be submitted as expeditiously as feasible after the 
     end of the 60-day period, the 90-day period, and the 180-day 
     period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act.
       (C) Matter to be included.--Each report under this 
     paragraph shall set out the progress to date on the 
     implementation of the provisions specified in subparagraph 
     (A).
       (2) Interim reports.--After the completion of the first 12 
     months, and after the completion of the first 18 months, of 
     the implementation of the provisions specified in paragraph 
     (1)(A), the Secretary shall submit to Congress an interim 
     report on the operation of those provisions to that date. 
     Each such report shall include the following:
       (A) The assessment of the Secretary as to increased 
     efficiency within the Department of Veterans Affairs of 
     information technology acquisition processes, management, 
     responsibility, and accountability.
       (B) Estimated cost savings to the Department as a result of 
     those provisions.
       (3) Final implementation report.--Not later than January 1, 
     2008, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a final report 
     on the implementation of the provisions specified in 
     paragraph (1)(A). The Secretary shall include in that report 
     the matters specified in paragraph (2) and the Secretary's 
     recommendation for any modifications to information 
     technology management within the Department of Veterans 
     Affairs.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Boozman). Pursuant to the rule, the 
gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Buyer) and the gentleman from Texas (Mr. 
Reyes) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Buyer).
  Mr. BUYER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, as chairman of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, I 
rise in strong support of H.R. 4061, the Department of Veterans Affairs 
Information Technology Management Improvement Act. I, along with the 
committee's ranking member, Lane Evans, along with other members of the 
committee, introduced this legislation on October 17 of 2005.
  Over the last several years, the Veterans' Affairs Committee has 
worked extremely hard on this groundbreaking legislation. We believe 
its passage will greatly assist the VA to improve its efforts to 
achieve the one VA mission. The VA has long had a problem with stove-
piped administrations that veterans must deal with as though they are 
separate parts of the government.
  Since coming to Congress, I have witnessed the VA's inability to 
adequately manage its IT funding and IT modernization efforts. In fact, 
the VA's IT modernization efforts go back at least 20 years, to 1985 
when it was the policy of the Veterans Administration to provide 
``better service to the veteran through modern technology.''
  Unfortunately, the Department has annually requested and spent 
billions of dollars without accountability or measurable performance 
outcomes on IT modernization, and America's veterans are still waiting 
for the ``one VA.''
  According to GAO, the VA spent approximately $10 billion over the 
last decade alone for VA IT spending, and this is probably a very 
conservative figure. Historically, the VA has included funding for IT 
in its general administration accounts of each of the Veterans Health 
Administration, Veterans Benefits Administration, and National Cemetery 
Administration.
  What that really means is that the VA has been spending billions of 
dollars on three separate IT infrastructures within the Department. For 
example, the Health Administration, the autonomy is downstream to the 
VISIONS and then on to the hospitals with their own operating systems.
  To take a second example down further is what happened with Katrina 
when they took the medical records from New Orleans and they then 
transferred them within the same VISION, VISION 16, and downloaded the 
medical records at the Houston VA. They had to be reconfigured when 
they were brought to Houston. That is just within a same VISION.
  To make matters worse, these three separate IT infrastructures within 
the VA cannot efficiently and effectively share important information. 
For our veterans this is a significant and unacceptable convenience.
  Ultimately, centralizing the VA IT organizational structure will 
allow the VA to better serve our veterans. The VA absolutely needs to 
modernize its IT, both in hardware and software, and it should be the 
vehicle and tools of efficiency.

                              {time}  1515

  When there is truly One-VA with modern IT support, it will provide a 
seamless transition of our military being treated at the VA hospital as 
he or she move in and out of that system, whether it be back to active 
duty status or to veterans status. We will also improve timely medical 
appointments and reduce waiting time. It will foster better patient 
safety through updated and correct medical data. It will have faster 
and more accurate claims processing and afford timely benefits delivery 
of all VA benefits, such as VA home loans and GI Bill education 
benefits.
  Equally important, the cost of VA's inability to manage its IT 
programs and initiatives has resulted in some significant IT failures: 
as much as $600 million-plus for a decade of VETSNET, the automated 
compensation and pension claims processing system that still has not 
been implemented after 10 years of development efforts; $342 million 
for CoreFLS, the failed financial management system; $300 million for 
the HR Links, the failed automated personnel system; $485 million 
annually to maintain VISTA, VA's 25-year-old medical information 
system.
  In 1996, Congress passed, and President Clinton signed, the National 
Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1996, legislation that 
created the position of chief information officer for Federal agencies. 
The provisions of the bill were later renamed the Clinger-Cohen Act.
  In 2001, 5 years after this mandate, the Department of Veterans 
Affairs became the last Cabinet-level Department to comply with the 
requirements of the Clinger-Cohen Act and appoint a full-time chief 
information officer.
  In 2003, then-Secretary Principi directed VA to centralize its IT 
processes to better align IT management. It did not happen.
  In 2004, the VA hired Gartner Consulting, a Fortune 500 IT 
consultant, to analyze and review its IT infrastructure and processes. 
In testimony before

[[Page 24439]]

the Veterans' Affairs full committee in September 2005, Gartner 
testified that the VA's IT budgets are very fluid, without much 
accountability on how and when funding is spent. Gartner analyzed 
several organizational models, including no change or the status quo to 
help VA resolve its IT issue.
  Two of the models have the greatest potential application to the VA. 
One that the VA advocated is called a ``federated model,'' where 
centralized planning, technology operations, and budgeting/financial 
are controlled by a chief information officer with business 
applications developed and supported by application teams in each 
business line. But it still preserves the stovepipes.
  Then you have what is called the ``centralized model,'' where all VA 
IT is organized into a single entity reporting to a chief information 
officer. Key functional entities reporting directly to the CIO include 
business applications, infrastructure and operations, customer 
relations, enterprise architecture, data and information management, 
security management, and IT finance.
  According to VA's own consultant, the centralized approach provides 
the greatest opportunity to successfully execute the One-VA mission 
objectives. It maximizes asset utilization and achieves economies of 
scale across all of VA by managing the infrastructure through a central 
function; and through common organization, it will more rapidly mature 
the IT investment management processes across the VA's IT program 
portfolio. The bill in front of us is the centralized approach that has 
also been endorsed by Gartner Consulting to the VA.
  Furthermore, Gartner testified that the centralized approach could 
save the VA $345 million annually, or more than $1.7 billion over 5 
years.
  Gartner also estimated that the cost to VA for reorganizing IT will 
be $14 million. Even if the implementation cost is doubled and the 
estimated savings are too optimistic and halved, the return on 
investment will be approximately three to one, and this is from one of 
the leading IT consultants in the world, the very consultant on which 
the Fortune 500 companies rely.
  Despite these findings and recommendations, the VA has now decided to 
adopt a federated approach and they really do not need Congress to act, 
that we are going to do this all on our own. Quite frankly, VA's plan 
looks like the Department wants to carry on, really, business as usual, 
but give it a title. On a bipartisan basis, we find this completely 
unacceptable.
  So, Mr. Speaker, I am also putting the Department on notice.
  My advice to the Under Secretary of the Veterans Health 
Administration, Dr. Perlin, is to cease and desist in his staunch 
efforts to push for this federated model.
  My advice to the Under Secretary of the Veterans Benefits 
Administration, Admiral Cooper, is to stop his efforts to adopt a 
federated approach.
  My advice to the newly designated Under Secretary of the National 
Cemetery Administration, William Turk, is not to proceed with the 
federated approach.
  Earlier this year, the Veterans' Committee recommended that Congress 
withhold $400 million for VA IT because the Department has poorly 
managed its major IT initiative. Furthermore, the Department has not 
held anyone accountable when multimillion dollar projects fail.
  I would like to take this opportunity to thank my distinguished 
colleague and the chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on 
Military Quality of Life and Veterans Affairs (Mr. Walsh) for adopting 
our recommendation and withholding $383 million from the fiscal 2006 
budget.
  If the Department of Veterans Affairs continues down this path of 
disregard for this legislative body, we have no choice. We will 
continue to recommend withholding a portion of VA's IT budget until the 
CIO is allowed to instill a disciplined and accountability approach to 
the VA's IT budget and that it be done on a centralized approach.
  Congress should not tolerate the continued mismanagement of the 
precious veterans resources on failed IT programs within the 
Department. Allow the CIO to do his job.
  Ultimately, this bill will empower the CIO with the authority over 
IT's budgets, equipment, and personnel. This legislation is long 
overdue, and I urge my colleagues to support this important effort.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. REYES. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I fully support H.R. 4061 and encourage my colleagues to 
approve this legislation. I also want to thank our chairman and the 
ranking member for their leadership and the hard work of the staff on 
both sides of the aisle.
  This bill helps the Department of Veterans Affairs construct a 
balanced, responsive, and accountable system to manage information 
technology at the VA.
  This legislation is necessary to overcome a mindset at the VA 
regarding the management of information technology that increasingly is 
defined by clouded management processes and a lack of accountability 
within the three principal administrations.
  In just the last decade, VA has expended hundreds of millions of 
dollars to field information technology systems that were discontinued 
due to misalignment with VA's mission, mismanagement or serious cost 
overruns. Under H.R. 4061, this will change.
  The Department will receive a centralized framework to manage IT 
assets throughout the Department in pursuit of its One-VA initiative. 
Information technology will be managed by a highly qualified VA-wide 
information technology team that will ultimately report to a chief 
information officer, or CIO.
  The CIO will have control of the budget, assets, personnel, and 
systems necessary to achieve success department-wide, but there is an 
express understanding that information technology in VA is a support 
function. It is not a final goal. Measures of effectiveness across the 
administrations will be tracked and should demonstrate that VA has 
become a more effective organization.
  Also under this bill, a deputy CIO will be assigned to each of the 
three administrations. In this capacity, they are the principal 
advocates for the business and mission needs of the respective 
administration at all levels of use, from senior managers to end-users 
throughout the field. This requirement will facilitate innovation and 
fine-tune the design of the IT infrastructure.
  The deputy CIO will be responsible to the Department CIO for IT 
system alignment and related matters, but will otherwise be in control 
of day-to-day IT operations in their respective administration.
  I would like to congratulate again the staffs from each side of the 
aisle for working out this improved IT management system for VA, and I 
am glad to be an original cosponsor of this bill.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. BUYER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from South 
Carolina (Mr. Brown), chairman of the Veterans' Affairs Health 
Subcommittee.
  Mr. BROWN of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for 
yielding and also for his leadership in bringing this bill forward and 
for his leadership as chairman of the Veterans' Committee.
  Mr. Speaker, as a cosponsor of H.R. 4061, I rise in support of the 
Department of Veterans Affairs Information Technology Management 
Improvement Act of 2005.
  This legislation calls for a strategic plan that includes performance 
measures and an integrated enterprise architecture, working to create 
greater accountability within VA.
  Money spent by VA in its modernization efforts has been costly. For 
example, VA spends $485 million annually to maintain VISTA, VA's 25-
year-old medical information system. It does not seem economical to 
spend $485 million each year on out-of-date computer application 
systems in the 21st century.
  Passage of H.R. 4061 would build on the work of the committee over 
the

[[Page 24440]]

past few Congresses in expecting accountability of VA's people and 
resources and for the IT programs of the Department.
  Restructured IT management at VA will have an impact on VA's ability 
to provide services to veterans more quickly and effectively. 
Subsequently, it will help improve the health care of our Nation's 
veterans. As chairman of the Subcommittee on Health, it is my mission 
to ensure our veterans have the quality health care they have earned 
and deserve.
  Mr. REYES. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Evans), our ranking Democratic member of the committee.
  Mr. EVANS. Mr. Speaker, the need for this bill has been growing for 
more than a decade.
  The Department of Veterans Affairs usually does a reasonable job 
managing programs of interest to veterans, but it does not do well in 
managing information technology programs.
  Significant funding was invested in VA information technology 
programs that later failed due mostly to mismanagement. If VA had in 
place the sound management processes required by this bill, many of 
those information technology failures could have likely been avoided.
  This would be better for the taxpayer, and it would be better for the 
mission of VA, and most importantly, it would give us an opportunity to 
thank our veterans who served more than they anticipated in the Armed 
Forces.
  I want to thank Chairman Buyer for keeping our Nation's commitment 
focused on this initiative. The bill language contains the checks and 
balances needed to successfully manage information technology at the 
VA. It will allow us in Congress to track how VA manages its 
information technology assets.
  I cosponsored this legislation, and I encourage my colleagues to vote 
``yes'' in support.
  Mr. REYES. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from 
Florida (Ms. Corrine Brown).
  Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Chairman 
Buyer and Ranking Member Evans for bringing this important bill to the 
attention of the House of Representatives.
  This legislation will empower the chief information officer of the 
Department of Veterans Affairs to control and influence information 
technology in the Department.
  I fully support H.R. 4061 and am very pleased to be an original 
cosponsor.
  This bill helps the Department of Veterans Affairs construct a 
balanced, responsive, and accountable system to manage information 
technology at VA.
  As we have all seen from the emergencies that have recently affected 
this country, it is important for all of the computers to be able to 
communicate with each other in every region. A veteran needs to know 
that he or she will be served when they enter any VA facility.
  Under this bill, we are taking the first steps to make sure this 
happens.
  I encourage my colleagues to approve this legislation.
  Mr. BUYER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio 
(Mr. Turner), a member of the committee.

                              {time}  1530

  Mr. TURNER. Mr. Speaker, I am a cosponsor of H.R. 4061, the 
Department of Veterans Affairs Information Technology Management 
Improvement Act of 2005. This important legislation would provide the 
Chief Information Officer at the Department of Veterans Affairs with 
future authority over information technology budgets, equipment and 
personnel.
  Importantly, this legislation will centralize information technology 
at the Department, increasing the ability of the Department to serve 
veterans by providing information more productively, and improve the 
delivery of health care to Veterans.
  Under this legislation, claims for veterans will be processed more 
speedily, waiting times for medical care will be reduced, all veterans 
benefits will be delivered more quickly, and medical data for veterans 
will be improved through more rapid updating. In short, this 
legislation will not only improve information technology at the 
Department but will make a real difference in improving the delivery of 
health care and other benefits for our Nation's veterans.
  This legislation will allow our veterans to save time in accessing 
the benefits to which they are entitled, improving their experiences at 
the VA and improving their quality of life. Should this legislation 
become law, the Department of Veterans Affairs may improve information 
technology management at the Department and help better serve our 
veterans.
  Mr. REYES. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from 
South Dakota (Ms. Herseth).
  Ms. HERSETH. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak in support of H.R. 
4061, the Department of Veterans Affairs Information Technology 
Management Improvement Act. This bill helps the VA construct a 
balanced, responsive and accountable system to manage information 
technology at the Department of Veterans Affairs.
  The Department Chief Information Officer will be given the control 
and resources necessary to manage information technology department-
wide. Measures of effectiveness across the administrations will be 
tracked and should demonstrate that VA has become a more effective 
organization. The CIO will have control of the budget, assets, 
personnel and systems necessary to achieve this success.
  Also under the bill, as the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Reyes) noted, a 
Deputy CIO will be assigned to each of the three administrations. In 
this capacity, they are the principal advocates for the business and 
mission needs of their respective administrations at all levels of use, 
from senior managers to end-users throughout the field. The Deputy CIO 
will be responsible to the Department CIO for IT system alignment and 
related matters but will otherwise be in control of day-to-day IT 
operations in their respective administration.
  I, too, would like to congratulate Chairman Buyer, Ranking Member 
Evans, their staffs and all Members who worked hard on working out this 
improved IT management system for the VA. I am glad to be a cosponsor 
of this bill which will help our veterans.
  Mr. REYES. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. BUYER. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my good friend, the ranking 
member and Marine, Lane Evans, for his work and cooperation on this 
bipartisan legislation. This is the way the committee is supposed to 
work.
  We have invested almost 6 years of work on this to bring corrections 
to IT systems, and I am glad that we have been able to work together in 
a bipartisan fashion to deliver a product to this floor for which we 
can be proud of.
  I would also like to commend the gentleman from Florida (Mr. 
Bilirakis) and the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Strickland), the chairman 
and ranking members of the Subcommittee on Oversight and 
Investigations, for their hard work in providing the oversight required 
to define these problematic issues and helping to make needed 
legislative changes to address these shortcomings at the Department of 
Veterans Affairs.
  I would also like to reiterate my thanks to the gentleman from New 
York (Mr. Walsh) for his support in bringing accountability to VA's IT 
programs within the appropriations process.
  I would also like to thank the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Reyes), Army 
Vietnam vet, for his work on this and the original cosponsorship, along 
with the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Brown) and the gentlewoman from 
South Dakota (Ms. Herseth).
  Finally, I would also like to thank Art Wu, Len Sistek, Kimo 
Hollingsworth, Ginny Richardson, and Risa Salsburg for their diligence 
and dedication in serving our Nation's veterans on the committee, and 
also the staff directors, Jim Lariviere and Jim Holley, both for the 
majority and the minority.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the Department of 
Veterans

[[Page 24441]]

Affairs Information Technology Management Improvement Act of 2005. This 
is a bill whereby when we come to this body we do not leave our 
experiences behind. We are to learn from the past and to plan for the 
future. We are to modernize Federal governments, to cut through the 
bureaucracy, and to create workable solutions that will become a 
standard that will be leveraged across all departments of the 
government, creating greater efficiencies, responsiveness to people, 
and saving money. That is exactly what this product has done, and it is 
being brought to the floor in a bipartisan fashion, and so I ask all my 
colleagues to support this.
  Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back 
the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Boozman). The question is on the motion 
offered by the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Buyer) that the House 
suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 4061.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds of 
those present have voted in the affirmative.
  Mr. BUYER. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this question will 
be postponed.

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