Roby slams VA for reported $6 billion in waste, fraud, and abuse

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May 14, 2015

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7tQ705Ck34&feature=youtu.be
(Video Above: Rep. Roby discusses the recent report showing $6 billion a year were wasted at the VA)
WASHINGTON — A new report finding the embattled Veterans Affairs system squandered $6 billion each year while veterans waited in illegal lines has renewed Congresswoman Martha Roby’s mission to reform the agency.

“While Secretary McDonald was falsely accusing House Republicans of cutting funding for VA healthcare, his department was responsible for billions in waste, fraud and abuse,” Rep. Roby said.

“While President Obama was threatening to veto our appropriations bill over $1.4 billion in funding, the VA was blowing through four times that annually in misspent funds.”

The report, published by the Washington Post, describes a culture of “lawlessness and chaos” at the VA. Perhaps most notably, “purchase cards” intended for purchases under $3,000 were used to buy billions of dollars of medical supplies without going through the federally-mandated contract process.

“I have been told by senior VA officials in no uncertain terms that problems at systems like the Central Alabama Veterans Health Care System are ‘not about money.’ Today’s report further demonstrates that the rhetoric from the White House and Secretary McDonald was absurd, insulting and shameless.

“They need to spend less time on political posturing and more time correcting the ongoing mismanagement of VA health care systems that is preventing our veterans from receiving timely, quality care.”

Over the last year Roby has been one of the U.S. House’s most outspoken members on the VA scandal, particularly after it came to light that a whistleblower at the Central Alabama Veterans Health Care System (CAVHCS) was met with silence and punishment.

Roby has said she is preparing legislation that would empower the VA Secretary to take over operations when a local VA is chronically underperforming.