In a House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs markup meeting before the Congressional recess, Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-IL) supported legislation barring the VA from contracting with companies connected to special government employees such as Elon Musk, citing conflict of interest concerns.
00:00I now call up H.R. 3494, the VA Hospital Inventory Management Systems Authorization Act.
00:08The clerk shall report the bill.
00:11H.R. 3494.
00:12Text was circulated in advance and pursuant to committee rules without objection.
00:15The first reading is dispensed with and the bill is now open for amendment at any point.
00:20I now recognize Representative Kiggins for the purposes of offering an amendment in the nature of a substitute.
00:27Thank you, Mr. Chair.
00:28I'm especially grateful that my bill, the VA Hospital...
00:30Do you have an amendment at the desk?
00:31I'm sorry.
00:32Do I have an amendment?
00:34I have an amendment at the desk.
00:35You have an amendment at the desk.
00:36The clerk shall report the amendment.
00:38Amendment in the nature of a substitute to H.R.
00:40I ask unanimous consent that further reading of the amendment in the nature of a substitute be dispensed with
00:44and I ask that it be considered as a base text for the purpose of this markup and without objection so ordered.
00:50I now recognize Representative Kiggins for five minutes to speak in support of the amendment in the nature of a substitute.
00:55Thank you, Mr. Chair.
00:56My amendment in the nature of a substitute would add an offset for the discretionary funding.
01:00This effort at the VA would help maintain and modernize the VA medical facilities, medical equipment,
01:05and continue to provide care for our veterans.
01:07I urge my colleagues to support my amendment in the nature of a substitute and I yield back.
01:11The gentleman yields back.
01:12I now recognize myself in support of the amendment.
01:14This is a common sense, straightforward bill to fix the real problem VA hospitals.
01:19For too long, outdated inventory systems have wasted taxpayer dollars and hindered providers' ability to perform their jobs efficiently and effectively.
01:29When you can't track your resources, you get waste.
01:34Shortages and veterans pay the price.
01:38That's unacceptable.
01:39This bill would force VA to modernize so that we can ensure every dollar is spent responsibly.
01:46Better oversight means better care for veterans and more accountability for taxpayers,
01:51precisely what we should expect from VA.
01:55And I urge my colleagues to support this bill to get that done.
01:59Do any other members wish to comment on the amendment in the nature of a substitute for H.R. 3494?
02:04I've seen none.
02:07Are there any amendments in the nature of a substitute to H.R. 3494?
02:12I now recognize Representative Budzinski to offer an amendment to the amendment in the nature of a substitute.
02:18Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
02:19I have an amendment at the desk.
02:21The clerk shall report the amendment.
02:22Budzinski, amendment number one.
02:23I ask unanimous consent that further reading of the amendment be dispensed with and without objection.
02:28So ordered, the gentle lady is recognized for five minutes to explain her amendment.
02:32Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
02:33The VA's supply chain program is certainly enormous and one that definitely deserves a modern approach.
02:40VA has told us that they plan to restart this program for at least the fifth time.
02:45But as far as I can tell, VA has not done the work needed to make implementation efficient and effective.
02:52My amendment requires VA to conduct thorough analysis and brief the committees of jurisdiction before moving forward with modernization efforts for the supply chain program.
03:04This includes requirements to finalize a supply chain strategy, assess personnel, create a cost estimate and schedule, develop metrics to measure success, and conduct an after action on VA's previous failed attempts at supply chain modernization.
03:20Once these steps are done, VA will be able to move forward with its supply chain modernization effort.
03:26I am certainly not advocating in this situation for status quo.
03:31I want to be clear about that.
03:33And to those that might be thinking that, I pose this question back to them.
03:37What about VA's current state makes you 100% confident that they are prepared to step forward with this?
03:45If they have not looked at past failures, address the impacts of VA's reorganization, or develop success metrics for the modernization effort.
03:55Without an assessment of each of these, we are essentially allowing the VA to throw more money at the problem to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars in the hope that they take the right approach.
04:08I hope I'm not alone in my concern with this logic.
04:12I urge my colleagues to vote aye on my amendment, and I yield back.
04:16The gentlelady yields back, and I recognize myself in opposition to the amendment.
04:19VA has spent years trying and failing to modernize its inventory management system.
04:25This committee has spent hundreds of hours conducting oversight over these past failures,
04:30and it's time that this committee asserted the authorization and authority to stop being a bystander to modernize modernization project.
04:41Last year, the Supreme Court Loper decision made it clear it is Congress's, not agencies, that set the policy.
04:51This amendment would punt that responsibility to VA by requiring reporting that would delay the implementation of this bill.
05:03This amendment would also require reports on topics that have nothing to do with inventory management,
05:10like the Deferred Registration Program and the Voluntary Early Retirement Authority.
05:17I urge my colleagues to reject the amendment and not use reporting as a tool to deflect the committee's responsibility to set policy for VA.
05:27Does any other member wish to comment on the amendment?
05:32Seeing none, the question now occurs on agreeing to the Budzinski amendment and to the amendment in the nature of a substitute.
05:39All those in favor say aye.
05:41Aye.
05:41All those opposed, no.
05:43No.
05:43And it can come in the opinion of the chair that knows, have it, and the amendment is not agreed to.
05:50Request a recall.
05:50A recorded vote having been requested pursuant to committee rules.
05:53This vote will be postponed.
05:56Are there other further amendments to the amendment in the nature of a substitute for H.R. 3494?
06:03I now recognize Representative Ramirez to offer an amendment in the amendment in the nature of a substitute.
06:09Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.
06:10The clerk shall report the amendment.
06:12I ask unanimous consent that further reading of the amendment is dispensed with without objection, so ordered.
06:18The gentlelady is recognized for five minutes to explain the amendment.
06:21Chairman, thank you.
06:24This is an amendment that I have been anxious to present to you in the last hour, as you witnessed a few moments ago.
06:31But this amendment is really important.
06:33It would bar VA from contracting with any company with which a special government employee has a financial interest.
06:41Over the past several months, we have witnessed the rampant corruption of individuals that are involved with DOGE.
06:48These individuals were given access to your sensitive information, veterans,
06:52made reckless decisions across the agency, and put thousands of people at risk.
06:58This kind of rogue behavior is appalling and should concern every American taxpayer and every member of Congress.
07:05While Elon Musk is no longer a special government employee – thank God for that – he was, however, allowed to wreak havoc within the federal government for nearly five entire months.
07:19In a clear conflict of interest, he was allowed to become a special government employee despite building his empire on $38 billion in taxpayer funding through government contracts.
07:33However, my colleagues across the aisle are apparently willfully uninformed to conflicts of interest, possibly because they don't want to draw attention to their own.
07:46Even though they claim to care about accountability and rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse in our government.
07:52The richest man on earth was able to infiltrate our government and still stands to make billions of dollars more as he and his DOGE colleagues dismantled institutions intended to serve the American people.
08:06While some of my colleagues feel comfortable allowing this kind of outright corruption to happen at the expense of our veterans, I will not allow that to happen.
08:14I refuse to be complicit in a scheme that further enriches the 1% at the expense of veterans and taxpayers who are barely making it.
08:23While this guy is trying to figure out what island next he wants to buy.
08:28Let me say this loud and clear.
08:30To Elon Musk and to the rest of the DOGE jesters, VA is not for sale.
08:36Our veterans and their data is not for sale.
08:40It is our responsibility to make sure that Elon Musk, the special government employees he's brought in to destroy the government, and any future special government employees do not have the opportunity to turn the VA into another business they ultimately will run into the ground.
08:58I urge all my colleagues to support my amendment and I passionately yield back.
09:03The gentlelady yields back, and I recognize myself in opposition to the amendment.
09:10Let me be clear.
09:12The amendment is unnecessary and misguided.
09:15There are federal ethics laws, regulations, that prohibit government employees, including special government employees, from using their government position for financial gain.
09:25The idea that VA needs special rules is based on nothing and is a distraction from VA's mission and the work we do here in Congress.
09:34We should focus on the job at hand, delivering for veterans, not chasing false narratives or creating problems that don't exist.
09:43I urge my colleagues to oppose the amendment.
09:46And does any other member wish to comment on the Ramirez amendment?
09:49Somebody did, I guess.
09:56Ranking member.
10:00Mr. Chairman, the assertion that these, the concerns that have been raised by Ms. Ramirez and her amendment, that they emanate from false narratives, use the word false narratives, this is patently untrue.
10:17We have witnessed unprecedented actions by a special government employee in the name of Elon Musk.
10:27And I think clarifying in statute what the ethical obligations are of contractors is very important.
10:37Anyway, that is, I support Ms. Ramirez's amendment and I yield back.
10:45Anyone else seeking recognition?
10:47Seeing none.
10:48The question now occurs on agreeing to Ramirez's amendment to the amendment and nature of a substitute.
10:52All those in favor say aye.
10:54Aye.
10:55As opposed say no.
10:56No.
10:57In the opinion of the chair, the no's have it.
10:59Mr. Chairman, I'd like a recorded vote.
11:03A recorded vote has been requested and pursuant to committee rules, the vote will be postponed.
11:10Without objection, the motion to recon...
11:12Never mind, we jumped one.
11:15Okay, there we are.
11:17Are there any further amendments to the amendment in the nature of a substitute to H.R. 3494?
11:22Seeing none and hearing none, the question, we will go in order to the next bill.
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