Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I strongly support increased accountability and whistleblower protection at the Department of Veterans Affairs. And I recognize that S. 1094 represents a compromise approach that was crafted specifically to address severe, long-standing problems at VA hospitals. But a number of S. 1094's provisions concern me. As Vice Ranking Member of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, these concerns would be amplified if these provisions were applied to other contexts or across the federal government in future legislation. A partial list of problematic provisions includes: The bill requires a lower standard of evidence that would allow removal, demotion, and other disciplinary actions even if the majority of evidence is exculpatory. The bill supersedes existing collective bargaining agreements. The bill provides for the clawback and forfeiture of bonuses and pensions under a standard that is broad and susceptible to abuse. The bill denies senior executives of the right to appeal to the Merit Systems Protection Board, which they have under current law. The bill imposes unreasonable timelines on the ability of employees to respond to allegations that may lead to discipline and eliminates the ability of the Merit System Protection Board to mitigate penalties that may have been overly harsh and raise due process concerns. The bill prohibits the use of administrative leave for employees challenging demotions.…”