On Thursday, the House Committee on Veteran Affairs held an oversight hearing entitled: “Trials in Transparency: An Analysis of VA Cooperation with Congress in Meeting its Oversight Responsibilities on Behalf of Veterans.” The hearing examined the root causes of inordinate delays in responding to Congressional oversight requests and the inability of the VA to submit Committee hearing testimony in a timely manner. It was revealed that 50 percent of all testimony to the committee was delivered late and over 70 pending requests for information have been ignored and remain unanswered.

Congressman Huelskamp questioned Assistant Secretary for Congressional and Legislative Affairs Joan Mooney regarding her leadership in responding to congressional inquiries. The Congressman is waiting responses to multiple inquires, including a letter ignored now for 52 weeks. Additionally, concerns submitted in writing over 100 days ago concerning the security of sensitive private veteran data remain unanswered.

Following the hearing, Congressman Huelskamp released this statement:
“What I heard at this hearing was more of the same. Empty promise after empty promise and no sense of concern for our veterans. I asked how and why the VA chooses to ignore tough questions. The only answer I got was “I will get back to you.” I am tired of waiting – and more important, so are our veterans. “

Huelskamp continued: “I was further shocked to hear nothing has been done to investigate the known data breaches that have put the personal medical and financial records of 20 million veterans and their dependents at risk. Nearly 100 days ago, our subcommittee received testimony about these enormous data breaches, including those by actors known to be working for foreign countries. Ms. Mooney excused the negligent behavior of the VA by outright lying and stating the committee had been briefed on the topic. The briefing never occurred – and VA’s mission-critical systems and sensitive veteran data continue to be unnecessarily at risk of attack or compromise.”