Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, I think we are all very, very disturbed by what has happened with Denver, and we are also disturbed about the practices of the construction office. But I just wanted to take this opportunity to maybe kind of clarify what has happened in response to try to mitigate the situation. In January, Deputy Secretary Sloan Gibson announced the restructuring of the Office of Construction & Facilities Management, having them report directly to the Deputy Secretary through the Office of Management. The VA also initiated an administrative investigative board in January to find the truth and to document the misconduct on the project. Secretary Gibson has included the VA Office of General Counsel in the review, and the administrative investigative board is expected to complete its review and make recommendations to the Deputy Secretary this month. Additionally, the U.S. Corps of Engineers is conducting a separate review of the VA's Construction office to evaluate the structure and the processes so that changes can be made in the future. I just thought that the Record ought to be set straight that everyone is disgusted with the way that these projects have been handled and that we are taking steps, and the Department is taking steps, to make sure that this bad situation is corrected. I yield back the balance of my time.”