Chairman Mitchell, Ranking member Roe; members of the Subcommittee; thank you for calling this hearing today; thanks also to our witnesses from the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Government Accountability Office, and the private sector from being here today to share their insight and experience on this issue.

I realize that this is not the first time this body has met to discuss the issue of VA procurement, and unfortunately, I do not suffer under the illusion that it will be the last.

Given the scope of the problem, which is literally in the billions of dollars, I think it is clear that this is an issue which requires extraordinary measures to address – certainly well beyond those that have been attempted over the course of the previous decade during which this has been an acknowledged problem. To that end, I appreciate the work the proposal that Ranking Member Buyer has put forward, and I look forward to working with him to advance that idea.

For the most part, we come at the issue of procurement reform from the good governance angle: we want to fulfill our duties as stewards of the taxpayers’ money, and we want the government to effectively deliver the services that it is our democratic responsibility to deliver.

But more importantly, we need to remember that every dollar mismanaged or misspent by the Department of Veterans Affairs is a dollar that will not be spent treating a service-related injury, providing benefits to surviving spouses and children, or ensuring a deceased veteran receives a proper burial.

So I look forward to hearing from our witnesses about any progress that has been made in the area of procurement reform, and with that I yield back my time.