During a Senate Veterans Affairs Committee hearing in July, Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) asked John Bartrum Nominee to be Under Secretary for Health at the Department of Veterans Affairs about the Veterans Crisis Line.
00:01Committee, we're going to, we have two senators that are present.
00:05At the end of those questioning, we're going to try to bring this hearing to a conclusion and make the vote at the very end.
00:12We have two votes, one of which has already started, so now it's Senator Horano's time, and you may ask your questions.
00:19Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and welcome to both of you.
00:22I asked the following two initial questions of all nominees before any of the committees on which I sit,
00:27and so I will ask you these questions. We can start with Mr. Bartnum and then Mr. Workman.
00:32Since you became a legal adult, have you ever made unwanted requests for sexual favors
00:37or committed any verbal or physical harassment or assault of a sexual nature?
00:42No.
00:44No.
00:45Mr. Workman?
00:46Have you ever failed, faced discipline, or entered into a settlement related to this kind of conduct?
00:54No.
00:55Mr. Bartnum?
00:57No.
00:57Mr. Workman?
00:58No.
00:58Okay.
01:00For Mr. Bartnum, in April of 2025, VA awarded a five-year contract for certain medical supplies
01:09to Bright Star Innovations, the company you formed and formerly led.
01:16Do you have any sort of ongoing financial stake in this company, in Bright Star?
01:22Mr. No.
01:26So the ethics agreement that you signed in accordance with your nomination to this role
01:33indicated you would not participate personally or substantially in matters involving Bright Star
01:40for one year, beginning with your resignation from the company in January of 2025.
01:45Particularly given your role in other contract-related matters in the department, did you participate
01:54personally or substantially in awarding Bright Star the April 2025 contract?
02:03Mr. No.
02:05I have no knowledge that they even have a contract.
02:09So you can see, by the way, was this contract with Bright Star the first contract that Bright
02:15Star received from the VA?
02:16Mr. When I was at Bright Star, when I ran Bright Star, we had no contracts with the VA.
02:21I'm sorry, can't hear you.
02:22Mr. No.
02:23We had no contracts when I was at Bright Star with the VA.
02:26So as far as I know, it must be their first.
02:28So I think that you can understand why I would ask these questions, because the fact that this
02:35is the very first contract that Bright Star got and you happened to just leave Bright Star
02:40and join the VA, you can see where certain questions like those that I asked would arise.
02:47Again, for you, it's important for any person serving the role of the Undersecretary of Health
02:55to understand that reducing veteran suicide, and you've already been asked by another member
03:02of this committee the importance of paying attention to veteran suicides, which unfortunately
03:07is a continuing challenge.
03:13So it is a priority for many of us in this committee, and we recently had a hearing on the veterans
03:20crisis line, and given this administration's decision to fire VCL staff seemingly without
03:27regard to the impact it would have, can you reassure me that under your purview, there will be
03:36no cuts to staffing or funding, and no reorganizational decisions that limit access to VCL for veterans
03:48and others served by it?
03:51So I can assure you that while suicide has no single cause, it has lots of supporters to
03:59prevent it, like yourself and me and the secretary and the president.
04:03And so we will do what we can to ensure that we continue to support the veterans crisis line and to ensure the veterans have access to the veterans crisis line when
04:14they need it and however they need it.
04:16So was that a yes?
04:18Yes.
04:19Okay.
04:20Because please know that for a lot of young people, the awareness that the hotline or there
04:27were some funding cuts to veterans access to suicide prevention programs is a matter of major concern for them.
04:36Now, when Secretary Collins was before our committee, I asked them with regard to pausing of certain programs, including the veterans' participation in clinical trials.
04:52And if you're a veteran participating in a clinical trial and suddenly those programs or trials are put on pause and with no idea when you're going to be able to access whatever drugs are being provided or access to medical care under the clinical trials,
05:08I asked them, well, what clinical trials, how many veterans are involved in participating in these clinical trials?
05:14He said he would give back to me.
05:16So far, not.
05:17So I'm asking you for this information.
05:19Do you have it?
05:21I don't have the number of veterans who are involved in clinical trials, but I will get back to you with that for the record.
05:28But what I can say is that no clinical trials have been paused and we have exempted from the hiring freeze all folks who work in the clinical research.
05:35Did you say that no clinical trials are on pause?
05:39That's my understanding.
05:40No?
05:42So that would have been good if the secretary has said, oh, by the way, we're done with the pause.
05:46And all of the veterans who are in these trials are getting the services, the medical care, and the medications that they need.
05:54That's your testimony, that they are all resumed in their clinical trials.
05:59Yeah.
05:59My understanding is that we do not have any pause clinical trials due to hiring freezes or exemptions.
06:06We've exempted those individuals.
06:07And then perhaps you could give me the number of veterans who are involved and participating in these clinical trials that are no longer on pause.
06:15Well, in all of the clinical trials, I would like to have that information, Mr. Chairman.
06:20Can you get us that?
06:25We'll get back to you for the record, yes.
06:28Okay.
06:28Let me use this as an opportunity to indicate we're always looking for the VA to be much more prompt.
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