Today, House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Technology Modernization Subcommittee Chairman Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.), delivered the following opening remarks, as prepared, at the start of today’s oversight hearing on VA IT contracting: Good morning. The Subcommittee will come to order. We are here today to discuss the underlying trends that make the Department of Veterans Affairs’ information technology contracting so fraught with problems. To put it simply, the market is concentrating. Spending is going up, and the number of companies receiving the contracts is going down. VA is not unique in this respect. But as one of the largest IT buyers in the federal government, it is a striking example of how the system operates. The system is marked by bureaucracy, regulatory capture, the revolving door, and impunity. What you will not find in this system is much accountability. This is why IT projects, meant to modernize how services are delivered to our veterans, stumble again and again. They are rewarded with change orders that en...