Press Releases

Today, Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wisc.), the Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity, delivered the following opening remarks, as prepared, at the start of the subcommittee’s hearing to examine the effectiveness of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Veterans Readiness and Employment (VR&E) Program:

Good morning.

The Subcommittee will come to order.

I want to thank everyone for being here today to discuss the Veteran Readiness & Employment program, or VR&E.

The purpose of this program is to assist veterans and servicemembers who have service-connected disabilities with the on-the-job training and skills they need in order to obtain meaningful employment or achieve maximum independent living.

When this program is appropriately administered, VR&E is more than just a benefits program; it is also a vital first step for disabled veterans to become more financially independent, give back to their community, and achieve their own American dream.

I am a proud VR&E participant, and I personally know the good that this program can bring to veterans’ lives.

However, VR&E has been at a crossroads for the last two years, and I am concerned that it is heading down the wrong path.

Since 2015, Republicans on this Subcommittee have been concerned about VR&E’s previous IT failures that have cost the government millions of dollars. Other IT failures in VA have cost taxpayers billions. We can’t let VR&E’s latest IT project become one of them.

I recognize that VR&E’s latest IT project, the Readiness Employment System or RES, was launched as a pilot a few months ago, and early reports show that the program has been received well.

This is encouraging news, but as the IG said in our last hearing in September, “VA does have a track record of difficulty in implementing major IT systems. They almost, without fail, take longer, and they take replans.”

I know that VA states they are finally on the right path with the new case management system. However, I am skeptical as this undertaking will now span the terms of four Administrations.

This is frustrating and a disservice to veterans and VA employees who have badly needed this IT system for nearly a decade.

I expect to hear from VA today about RES’s progress, and who will be held accountable if this IT update fails yet again.

I would also like to hear from VA about data tracking, performance, and checks and balances in VR&E.

The PACT Act has led to an amazing increase in participants in VR&E of 29%.

However, we are now seeing increased wait times and an increased burden on counselors with higher caseloads. There must be a better balance of priorities in the program to make sure a veteran gets what they need, while also ensuring that VA is a responsible steward of the taxpayers’ investment. A responsibility that I find VA has a profound and constant inability to perform.

We have heard from one school that a veteran has been attending classes using VR&E for well over a decade and at a cost of over $700,000. Cases like this are the direct result of VA counselors granting waivers for VR&E recipients well over 99% of the time.

In fact, VA told the Committee last month that since Fiscal Year 2020, 39,904 extensions were approved. Just 59 requests for extensions were denied. That’s absurd.

I am looking forward to hearing from VA about the real-life examples that constitute granting a waiver. On paper, bureaucrats may just be completing a check-the-box exercise, instead of completing a thoughtful review of cases.

Additionally, we have heard numerous concerns about long wait times. Sixty-five percent of Regional Offices take over a month for a veteran to meet with a counselor for an initial evaluation.

My friend Ranking Member Levin’s Regional Office in San Diego takes 158 days.

A month is too long; but making a veteran put their life on hold for nearly half a year before even being seen by a counselor is ridiculous and has a negative impact on not only their lives, but their entire families.

I know VA will say that RES will fix this backlog, but it is time to stop putting the blame on a failed IT project and start looking for answers rather than throwing more money at the problem.

If these problems exist in VR&E, they will become a crisis in the future because VA is estimating a 61% increase in veterans receiving monetary benefits from 2023-2026.

Finally, I hope to hear about the steps VA has made to improve the VetSuccess on Campus, or VSOC program and how my bill, H.R. 8648, Modernizing the Veterans On-Campus Experience Act of 2024 would continue to make more improvements.

With that, I now yield to the Ranking Member for his opening remarks.