Mark Takano

We heard that things would be ready for the Forever GI Bill and they are not ready to go.

A passionate educator, a change-maker, and a powerhouse of a woman, that is how the community of Riverside would describe my dear friend, Waudieur ``Woodie'' Rucker-Hughes. As a history teacher at John W. North High School and an…

The passage of the Forever GI Bill was a major step forward for generations of future veterans.

The law does prohibit that.

Can I get your commitment today that you will provide and continue to provide to the OIG full, complete, and prompt access to OAWP records and all other requests made by the OIG?

I am pleased to see that there are many in the majority who share the concerns of the minority about there being adequate whistleblower protection.

I voted for it with a great deal of caution.

I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of S. 899, the Veterans Providing Healthcare Transition Improvement Act, which extends paid sick leave benefits for veteran employees with service-connected…

I want to know from this day forward will you comply with the OIG?

Mr. O'Rourke, you went along with the characterization that official time is union time.

Fear that is pervasive, fear that issues from seeing large numbers of your fellow employees being fired without due process... does create a condition of fear, and does depress morale.

That is not really a great claim to stand on because this law was intended to improve our building.

If there are so many housekeeping aides with incurable poor performance, it is likely that there are some management issues there as well.

They are not the same thing.

[Of] the 1,086 removals during the first 5 months of 2018, the majority of those fired were housekeeping aides...I also find it hard to believe that there are large numbers of housekeeping aides whose performance is so poor that it cannot…

It is not possible to fire your way to excellence.

I am just really concerned that there seems to be no urgency to fill these positions that are critical to oversee a $15 billion project.

I feel a sense of trepidation about the amount of money that we are about to expend on this project.

I have asked the Congress to actually re-fund, to fund again the Office of Technology Assessment.

The VA is publicly owned and is therefore in many ways far more publicly accountable.

We have not only the ability to affect the health care of veterans, but potentially all Americans through what we are trying to do here.

The independence of the IG is absolutely crucial and proper oversight will be extremely important in the years to come

We have a real chance to push issues like who owns medical data and to truly put that data in a portable position for the patient.

Anyone who has been involved in any organization knows that stable leadership is fundamental to the success of that organization.

You can't fire your way to excellence and you can't discipline your way to--you need trained personnel.