We will aggressively pursue relief for whistleblowers in these and other cases where the facts and circumstances support corrective action.

The truth of the matter is that Congress needs whistleblowers within Federal agencies to help identify problems on the ground.

I hope that in the months and years ahead VA will be known as an organization that welcomes and encourages all employees to work to solve problems.

VA does not currently have a tracking system to determine the magnitude of or trends in employee misconduct cases.

I would rather he go back to University of Colorado in Boulder, my alma mater, but if he wants to go serve, I will support him 100 percent.

I am dismayed at the failure of the Department to adequately protect conscientious employees who seek to improve services provided to our veterans.

It takes real courage to put your careers at risk for coming forward and calling attention to problems and concerns.

Congress should enact legislation that codifies accountability for those who retaliate against whistleblowers.

Dear Chairman Coffman

This hearing will focus on the treatment of whistleblowers within the Department of Veterans Affairs, particularly the types and levels of retaliation they experience when reporting problems.

Addressing Continued Whistleblower Retaliation Within VA

I think you are fighting for our Nation's veterans today who have made tremendous sacrifices in defense of this country.

We must ensure that no one is afraid to come forward to report instances of mismanagement or wrongdoing that hinders our veterans' ability to receive care.

I think it's a problem that, in my view, is an overreaction by the Congress of the United States, a regulatory overreaction, in terms of passing Dodd-Frank.

Dodd-Frank was a reaction to that financial crisis, in my view.

It is now time to make some commonsense changes to help our small businesses and community bankers.

The notion of too big to fail--too big to exist, from my point of view.

it's a pretty insidious thing for, essentially, the government to say, we don't like this industry.

I think that the problem--one of the problems I see is that the members of Congress who had their fingerprints all over putting individuals into homes that they couldn't afford--those loans, securitized and misrated dramatically, were the…

What is absolutely clear is that before any money is given to the VA to bail them out of the mess they created in Aurora, VA construction officials responsible for this travesty must be held accountable.

H.R. 593 would increase the authorization cap to help the VA to finally finish the Aurora Medical Center.

I think they need stricter oversight and enforcement.

I think the bill is necessary to direct the office and the VA chief acquisition officer to do what they should have been doing all along.

I would like to thank the panel for your testimony. You are now excused.

I question whether the VA should conduct its own major construction at all.