00:00The gentleman from California is recognized.
00:03Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
00:06I yield myself such time as I may consume.
00:08The gentleman is recognized.
00:10Well, thank you, Mr. Speaker.
00:12Openness and transparency in the budgeting process are crucial to enabling members of
00:19Congress to exercise our constitutional power of the purse, conducting proper oversight,
00:25and ensuring that we are good stewards of the taxpayer's money.
00:29And that's why I have been extremely frustrated by the lack of budget information put forward
00:36by the current administration.
00:38Just this week, the Director of Office of Management and Budget, in a statement that was both insulting
00:46and condescending, said that, quote, it wasn't in our interest, end quote, to release a full
00:53budget plan to the American people.
00:55And yet, we've not heard a peep of objection from my colleagues across the aisle.
01:03Not even a hint that they might rise from their knees after having been browbeaten by this
01:08administration time and time again and stand up for the constitutional prerogatives of the
01:14United States Congress, a co-equal branch of government.
01:17In the context of this bill, which was proposed to demand more budget information, it is confounding.
01:28Nevertheless, here we are.
01:31And to understand why we are considering this bill at this moment, we have to go back to
01:36last Congress and at the end of the Biden administration.
01:39In mid-July 2024, VA informed the committee of expected funding shortfalls for the Veterans
01:47Benefit Administration and the Veterans Health Administration.
01:51At the time, VBA was facing a projected shortfall of $2.9 billion for fiscal year 2024.
01:59And VHA was facing a potential shortfall of $12 billion for fiscal year 2025.
02:06Now, out of abundance of caution and to ensure Veterans Benefits weren't disrupted, Congress
02:14quickly passed H.R. 9468, the Veterans Benefits Continuity and Accountability Supplemental Appropriations
02:22Act, which provided VBA with an additional funding of roughly $2.9 billion.
02:29The bill also included accountability measures that required additional reporting by the Secretary
02:35and an Inspector General review of the circumstances surrounding the projected shortfalls.
02:42A few weeks later, on October 30, 2024, VA notified the committee that it had reviewed its
02:48calculations at the conclusion of 2024, fiscal year 2024, and determined that it would not
02:55have experienced a shortfall at VBA and, in fact, had carryover funding in addition to the
03:01funding provided by the supplemental.
03:03VA also determined at the close of fiscal year 2024 that its projected budget shortfall in
03:10fiscal year 2025 for VHA would not be as significant as originally projected in July.
03:18Its revised estimate for the fiscal year 2025 shortfall, provided on Monday, November 25, 2024,
03:28was $6.6 billion, much less than originally projected.
03:34This was largely because of higher-than-expected carryover and extreme belt tightening at local
03:42VA clinics and hospitals.
03:44However, here is where paths diverge.
03:47In the wake of the passage of HR 9468, both VA's Office of the Inspector General and the Government
03:55Accountability Office conducted and released their respective reports on the circumstances
04:00surrounding these real and projected shortfalls.
04:04These reports, though, have become a bit of an inkblot test, where I and my Democratic colleagues
04:11see an accounting process that could be improved, as all processes can be, my colleagues on the other
04:20side of the aisle see criminal behavior and a malicious intent to deceive Congress and scare veterans.
04:26I encourage the public to read and judge for themselves these reports.
04:33But, in one of the most egregious and politically naked overreactions I have seen in some time,
04:40the chairman sent a letter to the Department of Justice urging the Attorney General to investigate
04:45three former Biden administration officials for criminal wrongdoing in handling last year's budget shortfall.
04:52To say the least, I was shocked by this letter.
04:57We thoroughly addressed VA's budget issues last year, and neither the Inspector General nor GAO
05:04found any evidence of criminal wrongdoing.
05:08None, Mr. Speaker.
05:10So why call on Trump's Attorney General to revisit it?
05:14The answer seems very clear to me.
05:17Political payback.
05:18This was a spurious attempt to tarnish the reputations of officials who led one of the most successful
05:25periods in VA history, marked by high veteran satisfaction, strong performance, and the
05:32largest expansion of veterans' benefits ever by way of the PACT Act.
05:38Rather than hold President Trump and Secretary Collins accountable for the ongoing decline at
05:43VA over the last several months, my colleagues pushed a baseless investigation, a clear distraction
05:50meant to deflect from the damage being done under their watch.
05:56Nevertheless, more information is always better.
06:00As I said, we should demand transparency from whatever administration is in charge.
06:04And while I find the impetus behind this bill to be retaliatory in nature, I do agree with
06:11my majority colleagues that the Trump administration budget formulation and execution process warrants
06:16scrutiny.
06:18Secretary Collins has already broken the law by redirecting funds without congressional approval.
06:26I worry that the trend will continue over the next few years.
06:31So I hope my colleagues will join me in rigorous oversight of the Trump administration's approach
06:37to VA's budget.
06:39There are two other provisions in this bill I would like to discuss very briefly.
06:44This legislation would codify the Veteran Experience Office, or VEO, which was first established
06:50during the Obama administration.
06:52I appreciate that the Senate incorporated changes we suggested to their text that would strengthen
06:59the functions of VEO so that it serves as an office truly focused on improving the Veteran
07:06experience with data-driven approaches.
07:09Additionally, in the Honoring Our Pact Act, Congress authorized VA to utilize critical skills incentives
07:15to attract and retain the workforce it needed to implement the largest expansion of Veterans
07:22Benefits in recent history.
07:24While use of those incentives has been overwhelmingly successful, VA did make some initial missteps
07:32in oversight and utilization of the awards for senior executives.
07:36These missteps were corrected during the last administration, and despite what my colleague says about investigations, the administration
07:46was quite forthcoming and transparent about those missteps.
07:51The legislation, the language in this legislation, would tighten the circumstances under which critical
07:58skills incentives can be used to retain high-level VA employees.
08:03And while I'm generally supportive of this additional oversight to ensure these awards are being used appropriately,
08:10I continue to be concerned with Secretary Collins' ability to recruit and retain the top-level talent we need
08:18for caring for Veterans at VA.
08:21Earlier this month, Secretary Collins celebrated, celebrated that 30,000 VA employees will be departing the agency
08:30by the end of this fiscal year under his tenure.
08:35Can you imagine that, Mr. Speaker?
08:38The head of an organization patting themselves on the back from making their organization so toxic
08:46that nearly 10% of their workforce quits?
08:51This is something to be proud of?
08:53It's unconscionable.
08:54Well, what's worse are the absurd assertions that Veterans won't be negatively affected by such drastic reductions.
09:04There is simply no way that the delivery of Veterans' care and benefits will not be affected by Secretary Collins'
09:10continued efforts to demonize and demoralize VA workforce.
09:15Again, I'm pleased to see that with this bill, my colleagues have finally decided to demand transparency from this administration.
09:26I wait with bated breath for their reaction when the White House simply chooses to ignore it,
09:31as they have repeatedly done with this Congress.
09:33My suspicion is that we'll continue to see my colleagues on the other side of the aisle
09:39hide in fear of their master, but I would love to be proven wrong.
09:45With that, Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
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