Thank you to everyone for attending today’s Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee hearing entitled, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General and Office of Information and Technology Budget Requests for FY 2011. 

Today, we will examine the recently released budget requests for these two vital offices within the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.  The President and Secretary Shinseki have made clear goals of transforming the VA into a 21st Century organization. 

In the President’s Budget for Fiscal Year 2011, the request for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has increased by 10% over the 2010 enacted budget to $125 billion. The surge of new veterans from our nation’s current wars requires a proportional surge in the capacity and capabilities of the VA to properly care for all of our veterans and their families. 

The Office of Information and Technology and the Office of the Inspector General are critical in accomplishing this.  They facilitate the VA’s mission through the use of modern computing infrastructure as well as by identifying waste, fraud and abuse within the VA through internal investigations.  These two offices work closely with this Subcommittee by providing important information regarding urgent challenges facing the VA including full interoperable health records and oversight and investigations into serious allegations within the Department.

The IG has been important to this Subcommittee’s work, providing crucial information concerning VA activities such as the Philadelphia VAMC brachytherapy cases, and improper hiring practices within the VA, to name a few.   Over time, we have seen an increased demand being placed on the IG for inspections and audits, and in order to facilitate Secretary Shinseki’s goals of improved transparency and accountability, we must ensure that the IG is properly resourced and staffed to fulfill its critical role as watchdog of the VA.  

Our first panel will address the Office of the Inspector General’s proposed budget.  The IG’s request shows an increase of $367,000 over FY 2010 levels.  And even though funding for the IG may be increasing, it is important for the VA to remain fiscally responsible.  At the same time, this modest increase is still approximately $11 million less than what the office initially requested for their FY 2011 budget. The Office of Inspector General has a proven track record and for every dollar invested in the IG, we get a return of 38 dollars.

Our second panel will discuss the proposed budget for the Office of Information and Technology.  The budget request remains at the FY 2010 levels.  As more demands are placed on the VA’s IT infrastructure and wide ranging programs call for more technological advances, such as paperless initiatives, the office will, of course need appropriate resources, especially as it works to transform the VA into a 21st Century agency. 

We are very interested to hear the Department’s plan for executing this budget, and ensuring that it will meet the needs of our nation’s heroes. Our veterans have born a tremendous burden on our behalf and we are therefore obliged to ensure they receive the care and opportunities that are commensurate with their selfless service.  Thank you all again for attending today’s hearing, and I look forward to all the testimony being presented today.