Good morning everyone.  When we met a few weeks ago to begin our oversight of how VA intends to implement the new GI Bill, there was considerable discussion about whether VA should develop the new information technology system in-house or hire a contractor for development and possibly some clerical support.  I stated then that I didn’t believe that should be our focus and I still don’t.  Now that VA has made their decision to use SPAWAR for the both the long and short term fix that we need to not second guess this decision but help VA and SPAWAR implement the program.

However, I have some concerns about how VA is organized to manage both the short and long term solutions, based on the briefings given to the staff and what we will see today.  More specifically, the charters for the Executive Committee, the Steering Committee, and the working groups need more definition and I am still unclear about the responsibilities of the senior managers.

Second, while VA has put together a plan to implement the short term solution there is very little definition at this point of the long term effort by VA and SPAWAR.

Third, what are the key functions that the BDN system and what are its limitations?

Finally, the question remains regarding VA’s plans for its education work force.  They have stated before that no one will lose their VA job and that they intend to hire additional temporary staff as part of the short term solution.  I hope to hear more details about that today.