"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."
"Even with the enactment of the PACT Act, which has provided VA with a broad range of new authorities to aid in recruiting and retaining staff, we continue to hear that VA is experiencing issues."
"Congress provided many new authorities under the Choice Act, the VA Accountability Act and the Mission Act and the PACT Act, but we have not seen any data on the extent of which the VA is using all th..."
"If there is any way legislatively we can work with you to do that, please let us know."
"With more than 400,000 employees nationwide, and the second largest budget in the federal government, VA employees are the lifeblood of the healthcare and benefits that we provide our veterans."
"I am proud to co-sponsor, along with Ranking Member Brownley, of H.R. 1322, the Bipartisan Law Enforcement Officers Equity Act, which will provide equal pay and retirement benefits for all Federal law..."
"I am looking forward to discussing two bills that I have co-sponsored with Ranking Member Takano at our hearing today."
"Creating one management position is not going to fix every issue that VA has had with managing acquisitions, budget, and IT across the Department, but it is a start."
"The Department of Veterans Affairs IT Modernization Improvement Act is a strong first step to introducing a higher level of support and accountability for the VA and for Congress."
"I look forward to collaborating across the aisle, as we successfully accomplished last Congress."