Last week, I was asked by the Democrat-Gazette if I had a response to a recent Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General report, which found that employees at the Little Rock VA Medical Center had been willfully manipulating data in order to make wait times for medical appointments appear shorter than they actually were. This is unfortunately a tactic used by some VA employees nationwide in order to meet performance requirements that trigger bonus pay from the VA.
This is a systemic problem, and the quote that I provided to the Democrat-Gazette touched on that fact, but more importantly it touched on the necessity to remove those bad actors from VA.
Here is my quote, as it was originally submitted to the Democrat-Gazette:
There is a simple solution to this problem, not just here in Little Rock, but throughout the entire VA system. Those who work at VA and do not act in the best interest of our veterans need to be appropriately disciplined for their actions. Ending the pervasive lack of accountability at VA is the reason why I co-sponsored HR1994, the VA Accountability Act of 2015. This legislation would give the VA Secretary the authority to fire corrupt or incompetent employees for cause. Removing bad actors from the system will not just help ensure veterans get timelier access to care, but it will also protect the reputation of the many hardworking employees that embody the core mission of VA by working tirelessly on behalf of our veterans.
That quote was then used in a recent editorial in the Democrat-Gazette titled, "The VA is still the VA." However, in that editorial about the litany of problems at VA, my quote was shortened to this: " 'There is a simple solution to this problem,' to quote French Hill, the congressman from Arkansas' Second District--as if anything in government were ever simple."
In the field of editorializing, it is a common practice to take quotes out of context, but I take strong exception to this misleading application of my quote.
While I do not disagree that government problems are seldom simple, I want to reiterate that I believe the solution to this particular government problem is quite simple. In private business, when individuals hurt the reputation of an entire organization, they are removed from their positions. This is a basic accountability measure and one that I employed during my more than two decades as a manager in the private sector.
Congressional oversight has identified countless situations where VA employees, both managers and rank-and-file, were purposefully failing veterans yet were never fired. The VA Accountability Act authorizes the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to remove these bad actors from the system.
The fact remains the same: Weeding out VA corruption is simple and can be achieved if the VA Accountability Act becomes law and the administration then uses that authority to make VA a place where poorly performing employees can no longer hide behind by an antiquated system that protects those who do not act in the best interest of our veterans.
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U.S. Rep. French Hill represents Arkansas' 2nd District.
Editorial on 03/24/2016