Oversight Hearing on the Effectiveness and Strategic

Planning of Veterans Employment and

Training Service Program

September 27, 2000

CHAIRMAN TERRY EVERETT

OPENING STATEMENT

The hearing will come to order.

Good morning! This Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee hearing will examine the effectiveness and strategic planning of the Veterans Employment and Training Service Program.

Today’s hearing is a follow-up to this Subcommittee’s hearing last July. As I stated at last summer’s hearing, this is not the first time a Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee has expressed concern about the effectiveness of the Veterans Employment and Training Service. Last year I quoted Mr. Buyer’s 1995 statement, and today I will quote him again. He said at a similar hearing:

“…let me again emphasize, that it is not enough just to say that these programs are in place. There must be a consistent oversight and improvement [emphasis added] for this program to be in the best interests of veterans.”

Well, I do not like to repeat myself, but it appears necessary. VETS has long been on notice about the Committee’s expectations.

GAO will testify today that VETS has made “some” progress and improvements with regard to its strategic and performance plans. Frankly, I would expect greater progress than just “some” since VETS hired an outside contractor at a cost of several hundred thousand dollars to write those plans. However, the plans are only as good as their implementation. I am skeptical about the quality of implementation where an organization is unable to effectively and coherently communicate their mission in a written document without paying a private contractor to do so for them. More importantly, it is useless to implement a plan where, in GAO’s opinion, there is no vision for the future.

The mission of VETS, as stated in their current Strategic Plan, is to “minimize unemployment and underemployment among veterans” VETS’ accomplishment of this objective has been not only inadequate, but woefully inadequate!

The VETS plan has not even articulated how it will integrate with the Workforce Investment Act and Congress passed this Act 2 years ago. It is inconceivable at this date that VETS still does not have a plan to integrate with that Act. Sadly, this void is nothing new, it has been par for the course for the VETS organization.

Therefore, it is my hope that the other witnesses called to this hearing will provide this Committee with more innovative techniques to fill the void VETS leaves. Our veterans and taxpayers deserve much better.

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