WASHINGTON — The Chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee says he is "incredibly disappointed" with the Department of Veterans Affairs.
At issue-- what Rep. Mike Bost (R-Illinois) says was the department's "failure to fully participate" in a hearing on care for veterans with spinal cord injuries.
There are more than 27,000 U. S. military veterans living with spinal cord injuries-- 97% of whom receive care from the Department of Veterans Affairs.
At a June House Veterans Affairs Committee hearing on "The Needs of Spinal Cord Injury and Disorder Veterans,"A Call to Action: Meeting the Needs of the Spinal Cord Injury and Disorders (SCI/D) Veteran Community | Committee Repository | U.S. House of Representatives the VA sent two witnesses, but no one from the VA's Spinal Cord Injury/Disorder System of Care, despite Bost's explicit request.
"The VA should have prioritized having someone here," he said.
Bost last week sent a letter to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs Denis McDonough, expressing his disappointment and noting he was "not surprised."
Bost said this was the third time this calendar year that the VA has failed to provide requested witnesses to House Veterans Affairs Committee hearings.
"That's not fair to the veterans. It's not fair to the taxpayers. What you need to understand is we are the Congress of the United States. You are an agency. Yes, an agency controlled by the Administration, but your budget is ours.' Oversight is ours.' And we have to do our job for the American people," he said.
13News Now reached out to the VA's public affairs department for comment at 10:04 a.m. Monday. At 3:08 pm. they responded: "we’ve received your email, and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible."
At the same House hearing, the VA Inspector General did testify.
He said OIG auditors identified "deficiencies" at 113 of 135 contract exam vendor facilities used by VA spinal cord injury patients.