Frank Mrvan

After months of deliberation, Congress recently came to a consensus and passed the Fiscal Year 2024 budget, which I was proud to support on behalf of the workers and families of northwest Indiana.

American medicine, for reasons that are peculiar at best has decided that it is been a profoundly racist activity, without evidence really for that.

In fact, veterans are benefiting from the VA revolving funds program.

Are veterans being shortchanged by VA revolving funds?

Whistleblowers are unsung heroes of our government that expose corruption, abuse, fraud, and waste.

I also want to commend the work of the subcommittee on whistleblower issues over the last two Congresses under the leadership of my colleague Representative Pappas.

I appreciate you holding this hearing today.

I appreciate the testimony and the answers from our witnesses today. I would like to re-emphasize my support for all that the administration and VA are doing to ensure that we make Buy America a priority.

I hope that Congress can put more of an emphasis on funding these requirements.

The Build America, Buy America Act re-emphasizes the requirement for Federal infrastructure to use domestically produced steel, which I am a huge proponent of.

Relying on foreign products in a time of crisis is a flawed strategy that unfortunately was felt directly by the VA employees and veterans.

President Biden has made investing in our manufacturing base and strengthening our supply chains a priority during his administration.

The importance and impact of Buy America for the Federal Government is something that is felt at a very local level in Indiana.

I am very pleased to see that President Biden has made it a core issue to ensure that we invest in American manufacturing.

The fox is in the hen house when it comes to providing supplies across VA and veteran small businesses are suffering.

As the chairman last Congress of Technology Modernization Subcommittee, and as ranking member of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee this Congress, I have seen how large an impact contracting has on the VA.

I have introduced legislation to create an acquisition review board at the VA this Congress

This particular legislation will allow us to build a structure that we are calling an enterprise program management structure that will be used for both major and non-major programs.

This legislation will provide a structure for those checks and balances.

I am pleased the subcommittee is considering my legislation H.R. 4225, the VA Acquisition Review Board Act of 2023.

Union jobs and union wages lift up all wages throughout every community.

This is the strongest administration for union labor and the middle class, uplifting the middle class that we have seen in history.

If you are in charge of a program but not giving people enough time, do you see how the frustration we all have that we put these forward?

If you cut short the time of the 365 days and the SkillBridge program takes time in order to ramp up, then in essence, you are eliminating a program that is successful.