Steve Buyer: “the issue is accountability. The gentleman from New York (Mr. Walsh) touched on it and so did the gentleman from…”

“the issue is accountability. The gentleman from New York (Mr. Walsh) touched on it and so did the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Wamp). The credibility must be rebuilt, and OMB is integral to this process. I have asked Secretary Nicholson to review the leadership of the VHA bureaucracy to ensure that the right people are running it, and also its finances and some within the health network. In particular, I am greatly disappointed and have lost confidence in the leadership and management of the Deputy Under Secretary for Health, for Operations and for Management. In the meantime, Congress will ensure that veterans health care is funded. We will hold VA accountable for its use of these dollars in the performance of its mission. Over the recess, other Committee on Veterans' Affairs members, staff, and I will personally visit VA health care facilities because there is no substitute for boots-on-the-ground examination. {time} 1245 I will specifically visit a polytrauma center in Minneapolis. One of the harshest realities of combat in Iraq and Afghanistan is the number of servicemembers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with loss of limbs and other severe and lasting injuries. With the body armor which we are providing to our soldiers, they can turn that up, and what is happening is it protects the torso, and they are having now loss of limbs and traumatic brain injuries. VA has four regional traumatic brain injury rehabilitation centers.…”