Bill Johnson

I can assure you that the O&I Investigation Subcommittee is not going to lay this down.

I am tired, and am weary of hearing apologies, and broken promises. I want it fixed.

Reforming VA's Flawed Fiduciary System

I am grateful to the brave men and women who have and continue to serve our Country.

I strongly believe that veterans are the segment of society that most deserves our sincere gratitude and assistance.

These frauds take precious program dollars away from service-disabled veterans.

No honest American should stomach fraud in a program designed to help our wounded warriors.

These veterans want to use their talents to lead meaningful lives despite their condition.

I do have one follow-on question. You know, I made the transition from active duty then as a small business owner myself and then into corporate America as an executive.

I submit that when we are potentially wasting or misspending, illegally spending billions that could be targeted elsewhere that indeed we are putting Veterans and their benefits at risk.

May I ask if the minority bill manager has any additional speakers? We do not.

I want to thank my colleagues for their support. May I ask if the minority bill manager has any additional speakers? We do not.

Do you have a time frame to--to resolve that?

Can you explain how employment service staff will provide retraining and VRE applicants' names to the VA?

Just as they served and sacrificed for our country, so, too, must we now serve and care for our veterans when they return home.

We share a common goal of assisting our veterans to reenter the workforce.

I want to welcome everyone to today's hearing titled 'Is It Working: Reviewing VA's Compensated Work Therapy Program.'

This hearing will come to order.

Obviously there is great disagreement with the VA's interpretation of the law. The GAO disagrees.

Your department is supposed to be looking out for veteran-owned businesses. Why is there such reluctance from the department to follow the intent and the spirit of the law as identified by the GAO?

That is not what Title 38 says.

Where in the priority scheme do VOSBs and SDVOSBs fall?

Where do VOSBs and SDVOSBs fall in your current practice of priority within the Veterans Administration for contracting opportunities?

My recommendation is that the BLM and the federal government pass laws that keep the bureaucracy of Washington out of the industry and make all federal lands available to the private sector.

So if Director Pizarchik claims that those numbers were meaningless placeholders, as he has indicated before this Committee, and that they had no basis in fact, why would they need to have an all-day meeting to discuss how to change the…