Guinta votes to streamline disciplining of bad VA staffers

Congressman Frank Guinta (Courtesy photo)

WASHINGTON - Congressman Frank Guinta, who introduced similar legislation with military veteran Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, voted on Wednesday for the Veterans Accountability First and Appeals Modernization Act to reform disciplinary procedures at the Department of Veterans Affairs. In 2014, CNN broke the story of widespread abuse at the agency, where executives and employees manipulated patient data to hide long wait times for veterans seeking health care.

"The federal bureaucracy is more interested in protecting jobs and benefits for underperforming employees, even convicted criminals, than delivering service to American heroes who laid their lives on the line for this country," said Guinta, NH-1. "There are good workers at the VA, but a corrupt system perpetuates the scandal."

A CNN study showed that over 300,000 veterans may have died before receiving appointments. A Senate investigation directly linked nearly 1,000 deaths to long wait times, while VA employees received superior reviews and performance bonuses. "We owe our veterans our gratitude, as well as determination to clean up rules that trap them in bureaucratic purgatory," said Guinta.

Congress quickly passed the Veterans Access, Choice and Accountability Act providing funding for more doctors, staff and facilities, also allowing veterans to seek private health care options. Additionally, the legislation authorized the VA Secretary to fire or demote senior executives, who may have directed the manipulation.

However, the VA bureaucracy, which enjoys the protection of arcane civil service rules, has resisted reform. According to the House Veterans' Affairs Committee, whose Chairman authored Wednesday's legislation, the VA has fired only 10 employees guilty of misconduct. Wait lists have grown, but the agency is wasting hundreds of millions of dollars on construction cost overruns.

Like Guinta's bipartisan bill, the Veterans Accountability First and Appeals Modernization Act would allow the VA Secretary to fire or demote negligent or underperforming employees more easily. It would allow the Secretary to recoup improper bonuses and reduce executives' pensions in certain cases. The Obama Administration has been fighting such reforms, including the Veterans Choice Car program, which allows veterans to seek private care.

This Congress, Guinta introduced a bill with Rep. Annie Kuster (NH-02) to prevent the President from defunding the Choice program. He introduced another to remove time and distance restrictions. His home state of New Hampshire lacks a full-service VA facility, often requiring vets to visit out-of-state facilities in Vermont and Massachusetts.

An Inspector General report indicated problems at the White River Junction facility in Vermont. "Problems at the VA are ingrained and will take a concerted effort to fix, as well as a President willing to make the changes that our current one promised," said Guinta.