Jack Bergman

I am troubled that we continue to have the same conversations about leadership and policy implementation.

We can and we must do better.

Our veterans deserve better and we collectively must give them our best effort.

However, when I asked the VA if they had a plan to get better, the response was that they were trying. Well, trying is not good enough.

When processing delays result in a veteran being overpaid, VA creates a debt to recover the overpayment.

Representative Bost, former chair and current Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs, also held a hearing last Congress to examine how the Veterans Benefits Administration could effectively prevent…

I have along with Chrissy Houlahan introduced H.R. 3495, the Improve Act, that would expand the Department of Veterans Affairs' suicide prevention programs.

H.R. 3495- the IMPROVE Well-Being for Veterans Act, sponsored by Rep. Jack Bergman. Every day, 22 veterans take their lives.

Our bill, H.R. 3495, the Improve Well-Being for Veterans Act, proposes a grant program for the Department of Veterans Affairs.

I appreciate your holding the hearing open to allow us to employees receive testimony from government witnesses who administer the whistleblower programs.

As I have said before, and it needs to be repeated again, whistleblowers are an important source of information, and they should not be ignored.

Make no mistake. This Committee believes the importance of having people who are brave enough to stand up and blow the whistle on the missteps and misdeeds within the Department.

We all have a responsibility to protect the whistleblowers to create a culture in which everyone is held accountable

I am a proud member of that task force and I echo the chairman's comments about getting more of our colleagues involved.

This is not a simple matter, it is a very complex one that has occurred and built over time and over decades.

If whistleblowers do not have confidence in the system, we are putting patient health and safety at risk.

I believe that it is imperative to receive testimony from these witnesses as soon as possible, while today's testimony is still fresh in the minds of members because whistleblowers deserve it.

As an aviator, I know firsthand how vital it is that all team members at every level of an organization feel empowered to bring problems forward.

Any time we say, 'No timelines,' that means in my mind, what I hear is no sense of urgency.

This is, this is Bureaucracy 101. A large government agency with two separate governing offices, which, as OIG found, creates confusion regarding program roles and office authorities.

Comprised of nearly 4200 Federal law enforcement officers, the Department of Veterans Affairs Police maintain physical security at VA facilities, and ensure patient, visitor, and employee safety.

In either case, a good measure of leadership and organizational health is an agency's response to these challenges.

Congress is at its best when it invites those of different views to share their analysis and opinions.

I demand a recorded vote. The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, further proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Michigan will be postponed. Amendment No. 5 Offered by Mrs. Lee of Nevada The Acting CHAIR…

Now, having said that, those of us who have had the honor to wear the cloth of our Nation know, number one, first and foremost, it is our mission to win the fight, and, number two, is to take care of everyone else after that.