Scott Statement on Opposition to H.R. 4031, the Department of Veterans Affairs Management Accountability Act of 2014

WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Robert C. "Bobby" Scott issued the following statement on his No vote to H.R. 4031, the Department of Veterans Affairs Management Accountability Act of 2014:

"I strongly support accountability at the V.A. The allegations of misconduct and the misrepresentation of data must be fully investigated and those responsible must be held accountable. However, we must not ignore the real problem and that is the unacceptably long wait times at the V.A. Properly recording the wait times will not fix the problem. Adverse medical complications will continue unless we hire more doctors in order to reduce the wait times. H.R. 4031 does nothing to address this problem.

"This bill only allows V.A. leadership to expeditiously fire people who have fraudulently recorded wait times. However, present law already allows V.A. leadership to fire these employees for cause. Instead, this bill dismantles our nation's civil service protections, converting it back into a political patronage system. The protections of our civil service system have been in place for over a century and have been essential in preventing widespread firings without cause motivated by politics. This bill strips civil service protections for many career employees at the V.A., and over time will seriously undermine the operation of government. Converting career officials into at-will employees, who can be fired for political reasons, is a step in the wrong direction.

"Although the bill responds to a temporary political crisis, it does not address the problem of long wait periods for our veterans and only appears to be doing something that can already be done under current law – firing for cause those responsible for the misconduct. Because the bill does not address the underlying issues at the V.A. and has serious long term implications for the civil service system, I voted no."

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