Andre Carson: “my amendment provides additional funds to the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of the Inspector General, and it…”

“my amendment provides additional funds to the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of the Inspector General, and it will reap a manyfold return in cost savings and result in a greatly improved quality of health care for American veterans. The Department of Veterans Affairs is the second largest executive branch agency. Yet this behemoth is monitored by an Office of Inspector General staffed at one of the lowest levels among all 29 statutory Inspector Generals when Inspector General staffing is compared to total agency employment. The VA IG has a staff of 365 nationwide. If the VA office of the IG was staffed at just the average ratio among the 29 statutory Inspectors General, the staff would be 4,000 full-time employees. My amendment, Mr. Chairman, would provide funding for an additional 110 full-time staff on the IG's team and permit an acceleration of the IG's facility assessment program from its current 6-year cycle to a more reasonable 3-year cycle. A migration from the 6-year cycle to the 3-year cycle would enhance the IG's ability to determine the root causes of departmental management inefficiencies. With proactive oversight, the VA Office of the Inspector General can identify tremendous cost savings measures and assure that taxpayers' dollars are put to their best use. In the end, this will provide for smarter management, greater cost savings, and, most importantly, better, more accessible health care for our veterans.”