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S. HRG. 114–755 

NOMINATION OF CHRISTOPHER E. O’CONNOR, 

TO BE ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR CONGRESSIONAL AND LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS, U.S. 

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS 

HEARING 

BEFORE THE

COMMITTEE ON VETERANS’ AFFAIRS 

UNITED STATES SENATE 

ONE HUNDRED FOURTEENTH CONGRESS 

SECOND SESSION 

JUNE 21, 2016 

Printed for the use of the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

( 

Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.fdsys.gov 

(II) 

COMMITTEE ON VETERANS’ AFFAIRS 

JOHNNY ISAKSON, Georgia, Chairman 

JERRY MORAN, Kansas 

JOHN BOOZMAN, Arkansas 

DEAN HELLER, Nevada 

BILL CASSIDY, Louisiana 

MIKE ROUNDS, South Dakota 

THOM TILLIS, North Carolina 

DAN SULLIVAN, Alaska 

RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, Connecticut, Ranking 

Member 

PATTY MURRAY, Washington 

BERNARD SANDERS, (I) Vermont 

SHERROD BROWN, Ohio 

JON TESTER, Montana 

MAZIE K. HIRONO, Hawaii 

JOE MANCHIN III, West Virginia 

TOM BOWMAN, Staff Director 

JOHN KRUSE, Democratic Staff Director 

(III) 

C O N T E N T S 

JUNE 21, 2016 

SENATORS 

Page 

Isakson, Hon. Johnny, Chairman, U.S. Senator from Georgia ............................ 1 

Blumenthal, Hon. Richard, Ranking Member, U.S. Senator from Connecticut ... 1 

Rounds, Hon. Mike, U.S. Senator from South Dakota ......................................... 26 

Manchin, Hon. Joe, III, U.S. Senator from West Virginia ................................... 28 

Cassidy, Hon. Bill, U.S. Senator from Louisiana .................................................. 30 

Boozman, Hon. John, U.S. Senator from Arkansas .............................................. 31 

Sullivan, Hon. Dan, U.S. Senator from Alaska ..................................................... 34 

WITNESSES 

O’Connor, Col. Christopher E., USM (Ret.), Nominee, Assistant Secretary 

for Congressional and Legislative Affairs, U.S. Department of Veterans 

Affairs .................................................................................................................... 2 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 4 

Response to prehearing questions submitted by Hon. Johnny Isakson ....... 5 

Questionnaire for Presidential nominees ....................................................... 7 

Letter from the Office of Government Ethics ................................................. 20 

Letter from the nominee to the Office of General Counsel, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs .............................................................................. 21 

Response to request arising during the hearing by Hon. Dan Sullivan ...... 39 

Response to posthearing questions submitted by Hon. Johnny Isakson ..... 40 

(1) 

NOMINATION OF CHRISTOPHER E. O’CONNOR, 

TO BE ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR CONGRESSIONAL AND LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS, 

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS 

TUESDAY, JUNE 21, 2016 

U.S. SENATE, 

COMMITTEE ON VETERANS’ AFFAIRS, 

Washington, DC. 

The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:35 p.m., in room 

418, Russell Senate Office Building, Hon. Johnny Isakson presiding. 

Present: Senators Isakson, Boozman, Cassidy, Rounds, Sullivan, 

Blumenthal, Brown, Tester, Hirono, and Manchin. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. JOHNNY ISAKSON, CHAIRMAN, 

U.S. SENATOR FROM GEORGIA 

Chairman ISAKSON. I call this hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations—Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee together. We just left 

Foreign Relations. That is why I did that, I guess. 

Welcome. We are glad to have you, Colonel. We will be with you 

in 1 second. We will have opening statements, then we will introduce you accordingly, and I will make an opening statement about 

the same. 

We welcome Colonel O’Connor for being here today. We appreciate his public service to the Veterans Administration and the 

U.S. Military. He has had a distinguished career. We have enjoyed 

working with him at the VA and will enjoy working with him in 

the future, so I am sure this confirmation hearing will go well. 

With that said, I turn to the Ranking Member, Senator 

Blumenthal, for any opening statement he may make. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, 

RANKING MEMBER, U.S. SENATOR FROM CONNECTICUT 

Senator BLUMENTHAL. Just very briefly, Mr. Chairman. 

Col. O’Connor, I want to thank you for your service to our Nation, as well as your wife, Debbie, and your children, Katie and 

Colin. I think they may be here today. Families share in public 

service, as we all know. 

I want to thank you for the work you have done already with my 

office on various issues concerning Connecticut’s Veterans Administration activities, including the West Haven VA Hospital where you 

were very important, assisting us in seeking to make the pedestrian access safer. This work is ongoing and should be completed 

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as quickly as possible. We will be talking more about that as well 

as about other issues over the coming months. 

I thank you again for your service. 

Chairman ISAKSON. Under the rules of the Committee, the testimony of all Presidential nominees appearing before the Committee 

must be taken under oath. 

Colonel, I would ask you to raise your right hand and repeat 

after me. Do you solemnly swear or affirm that the testimony you 

are about to give before the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth; so 

help you, God? 

Colonel O’CONNOR. I do. 

Chairman ISAKSON. Please be seated. 

I would be happy to recognize you for up to 5 minutes for any 

opening statement you would like to make. 

STATEMENT OF COL. CHRISTOPHER E. O’CONNOR, USM (RET.), 

NOMINEE FOR ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR CONGRESSIONAL AND LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF 

VETERANS AFFAIRS 

Colonel O’CONNOR. Thank you very much, Chairman Isakson, 

Ranking Member Blumenthal, distinguished Members of the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs. Thank you for the opportunity to testify before you today and for your consideration of my nomination 

to serve as the Department of Veterans Affairs Assistant Secretary 

for Congressional and Legislative Affairs. I am deeply humbled by 

President Obama’s nomination and the confidence that both he and 

Secretary McDonald have shown in me. 

I would like to recognize my family members that are here with 

me today: my wife, Debbie, who has supported me for 32 years, 

many of those of which I have been deployed, serving my country; 

my daughter, Katie, who has one class left for her degree at University of Mary Washington; and my son, Colin, who is a sophomore at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Their support has been 

invaluable for me. 

I would also like to thank my parents, Bernie and Jane O’Connor. My dad, who is no longer with us, was a World War II veteran 

Marine who served in the Corps and participated in the landings 

at Iwo Jima and Okinawa. I would also like to thank my fatherin-law, Jack Keane, who is a retired Marine and Vietnam veteran. 

Both of them had a tremendous influence on me and taught me a 

great deal about leadership. 

I am proud to say that my oldest son, Brian, who was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps last summer and 

is now going through flight training in NAS Pensacola, is carrying 

on a tradition of military service. 

I was privileged to serve in the Marine Corps for over 30 years. 

During my career as a Marine aviator, I was fortunate to serve 

with young men and women who truly represented the best there 

is about our country. 

While I was in the Marine Corps, I also worked congressional affairs, where I learned firsthand the value of working together with 

Congress to solve problems, to take care of Marines, and create an 

unparalleled partnership. As an air station commander at MCAS 

3 

Miramar in California, I worked very closely with the local congressional delegation on preserving the operational capabilities of the 

air station and taking care of Marines. A congressional delegation’s 

support was essential to accomplishing these important tasks. 

When I was offered the opportunity to work at VA in early 2010 

after I had retired, I quickly accepted it. I publicly want to thank 

former Assistant Secretary Joan Mooney for giving me the chance 

to continue to serve those I have served with. 

Working on, and in support of, veterans issues is the right postmilitary duty for me. It has enabled me to continue to give back, 

to serve not only those I served with but to serve my son’s generation as well. It is a passion for me. It is something that really is 

not about work, it is about service, not about the money but about 

caring, and it is about being part of something much bigger than 

myself. 

That is why I am firmly committed to carrying out the MyVA 

Transformation that Secretary McDonald has outlined for the Department. Placing veterans at the center of everything the Department does is the right thing to do. 

Under Secretary McDonald’s leadership and Congress’s support, 

the Department is changing. It is an irreversible change that is 

destined to make VA the number 1 customer service agency in the 

Federal Government and the employer of choice of veterans and 

health care professionals. It is an honor to be part of that transformational journey, to see the change, and to be part of the 

solution. 

I have been extremely fortunate to work on a daily basis in VA 

with a talented group of individuals in the Office of Government 

Relations, who are dedicated to VA’s mission and care deeply for 

the veterans they serve. I am very appreciative of everything they 

do on a daily basis and for the support they have given me over 

the last 2 years. 

During my tenure in VA’s Office of Government Relations, I have 

tried to ensure that there have been open lines of communications 

between the Department and Congress as we work together on so 

many important issues for veterans. I have increased engagement 

and increased proactive briefings on VA’s initiatives, promoted increased access to senior leaders within the Department, and 

worked to create a collaborative relationship, especially in regards 

to veteran-centric legislation. Working closely together with your 

staffs on legislation such as the Choice Program and Appeals Modernization has demonstrated how important the congressional-VA 

partnership is for producing better results for veterans. 

I firmly respect Congress’s oversight role, and if confirmed, I will 

work tirelessly to improve the Department’s responsiveness to congressional requests for information. I know there have been times 

where we could have done a better job and be more responsive, and 

I promise you I will work to improve our performance. 

In closing, my experience in the Marine Corps working congressional affairs, as a base commander working with the local community and public leaders, and the knowledge I have gained over the 

last 6 years working in VA, have given me the skills and leadership and management experience to be an effective Assistant Secretary for Congressional and Legislative Affairs. 

4 

If confirmed, I look forward to working with you to further enhance the relationships between the Department and Congress so, 

together, we can meet the important needs of our veterans we 

proudly serve. 

Thank you very much for the opportunity to testify before you 

today, and I look forward to your questions. 

[The prepared statement of Christopher E. O’Connor follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF CHRISTOPHER E. O’CONNOR, NOMINEE TO BE ASSISTANT

SECRETARY, CONGRESSIONAL AND LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

CHAIRMAN ISAKSON, RANKING MEMBER BLUMENTHAL, DISTINGUISHED MEMBERS

OF THE COMMITTEE ON VETERANS’ AFFAIRS, Thank you for the opportunity to testify 

before you today and for your consideration of my nomination to serve as the Department of Veterans Affairs Assistant Secretary for Congressional and Legislative 

Affairs. I am deeply humbled by President Obama’s nomination and the confidence 

that both he and Secretary McDonald have shown in me. 

I would like to recognize my family members that are with me today. My wife 

Debbie who has supported me for 32 years, many of those when I have been off 

somewhere else, my daughter Katie, who has one class left at University of Mary 

Washington till graduation, and my son Colin, who is a sophomore at Rensselaer 

Polytechnic Institute. Their support has been invaluable to me. 

I would also like to thank my parents Bernie and Jane O’Connor. My Dad is no 

longer with us. He was a World War II Marine who participated in the landings 

at Iwo Jima and Okinawa. I would also like to thank my father-in-law, Jack Keane, 

who is a Retired Marine and Vietnam Veteran. Both of them had a tremendous influenced on me and taught me a great deal about leadership. I am also proud to 

say that my oldest son Brian, who was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps last summer, and is now going through flight training at NAS Pensacola, 

Florida, is carrying on a tradition of military service. 

I was privileged to serve in the United States Marine Corps for over thirty years. 

During my career I was fortunate to serve with young men and women who truly 

represented the best there is about our Country. While I was in the Marine Corps 

I also worked congressional affairs, and there I learned first-hand the value of working together with Congress to solve problems, to take care of Marines, and create 

an unparalleled partnership. 

When I was offered the opportunity to work at VA in early 2010, I quickly accepted it. I publically want to thank former Assistant Secretary Joan Mooney for giving 

me the chance to continue to serve those I served with. Working on, and in support 

of, Veterans issues was the right post-military duty for me. It has enabled me to 

continue to give back, to serve not only those I served with, but to serve my son’s 

generation as well. This is a passion for me and something that is not about work, 

but about service, not about money, but about caring. It is about being part of something much bigger than yourself. 

That is why I am firmly committed to carrying out the MyVA Transformation that 

Secretary McDonald has outlined for the Department. Placing the Veteran at the 

center of everything the Department does is the right thing to do. Under Secretary 

McDonald’s leadership, and with Congressional support, the Department is changing, and that includes the Office of Government Relations. In accordance with 

MyVA, we reorganized the office in order to be more responsive to you, our customers. We created an Outreach Directorate that is aligned with the Department’s 

five districts that focuses on those Members of Congress who are not members of 

VA’s committees of jurisdiction. The reorganization has improved our interactions 

with those Member offices and helped to provide reliable points of contact for staff 

to turn to for information. MyVA is an irreversible change that is destined to make 

VA the number one customer service agency in the Federal Government and the 

employer of choice of Veterans and health care professionals. It is an honor to be 

part of this transformation journey; to see the change; and to be part of the solution. 

I have been extremely fortunate to work on a daily basis in VA with a group of 

talented individuals in the Office of Congressional and Legislative Affairs who are 

dedicated to VA’s mission, and care deeply for the Veterans they serve. I am very 

appreciative of everything they do on a daily basis, and for the support they have 

given me over the last two years. 

During my tenure in VA’s Office of Congressional and Legislative Affairs, I have 

tried to ensure there have been open lines of communication between the DepartVerDate Mar 15 2010 20:58 Mar 29, 2018 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6621 Z:\ACTIVE\062116N.TXT PAULIN
5 

ment and Congress as we worked together on so many important issues for Veterans. I have increased engagement, promoted increased access to senior leaders, 

and worked to create a collaborative relationship, especially with regards to Veterans centric legislation. Working closely together with your staffs on legislation, 

such as the Choice Program, has demonstrated how important the Congressional— 

VA partnership is for producing better results for Veterans. I firmly respect Congress’ oversight role and if confirmed, will work tirelessly to improve the Department’s responsiveness to Congressional requests for information. I know there have 

been times when we could have been more responsive, and I promise you I will work 

to improve upon our performance and to streamline internal VA processes that contribute to unnecessary delays in getting information to Congress. 

In closing, my experiences in the Marine Corps working congressional affairs, as 

a base commander working with the local community and public leaders, and the 

knowledge I have gained in VA over the last six years, have given me the skills, 

leadership, and management experience to effectively lead the Office of Congressional and Legislative Affairs. 

If confirmed, I look forward to working with you to further enhance the relationship between the Department and Congress, so that together, we can meet the 

needs of the Veterans we proudly serve. Thank you very much for the opportunity 

to testify before you today and I look forward to your questions. 

[The prehearing questions to Christopher E. O’Connor follows:] 

RESPONSE TO PREHEARING QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY HON. JOHNNY ISAKSON TO

CHRISTOPHER E. O’CONNOR, NOMINEE TO BE ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR CONGRESSIONAL AND LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

Question 1. During your time performing the duties of the Assistant Secretary for 

Congressional and Legislative Affairs, what have been the greatest challenges you 

have faced and what steps have you taken to address those challenges? 

Response. The greatest challenge I have faced during the last two years has been 

balancing requirements against available personnel resources. Our office operates at 

an extraordinary pace. Our employees handle a multitude of important issues, with 

varying degrees of priority and sensitivity associated with each of them. To meet 

this challenge, we reorganized the office to balance the available personnel resources 

to focus on both the Members of our committees of jurisdiction and staff and also 

on the other Members of Congress. This reorganization has enabled us to provide 

greater support to Congress. To ensure we are focusing on the most pressing priorities, I meet with the directors each morning to review and reprioritize our work 

efforts for the day. During this meeting we candidly discuss how we are doing and 

where we are having problems and need to focus our attention on or ask for 

assistance. 

One additional challenge we continuously face is receiving timely information 

from a Department with the scope and breadth of issues that are handled by VA. 

In addition to policy and program questions, the office frequently receives questions 

and inquiries related to actions being taken at the facility level. In FY 2015 and 

through mid-year of FY 2016 combined, the Department has provided responses to 

more than 4,400 requests for information, facilitated over 1200 briefings, and prepared witnesses for 117 hearings. 

If confirmed, I will continue to work directly with VA senior leadership to ensure 

Subject Matter Experts within VA Central Office, as well as in the field in the 1700 

points of care across the country, are aware of the importance of providing timely 

information to support Congressional requests for information. 

Question 2. Please describe the system or process used to track incoming requests 

from Members of Congress, for categorizing the relative urgency of various types of 

requests, and for tracking the actions taken to address pending requests. 

Response. Our office uses a proprietary Congressional Knowledge Management 

System (CKMS) to track incoming Congressional requests for information, hearing 

deliverables, and briefing requests. CKMS allows for tracking by sub-unit working 

the item as well as by the Member requesting the information. Background documents, emails and responses can be included with each item. A variety of reports 

can be generated to determine the age pending of Congressional inquiries. The urgency of requests is determined by the individual receiving the request. 

Congressional inquiries come to VA through any of the office’s congressional affairs employees, who are responsible for inputting the information into CKMS, 

tasking it to the appropriate VA organization for response, and following up to ensure the item is responded to. Each employee works closely with their colleagues 

to ensure inquiries are reviewed and prioritized appropriately. 

6 

If confirmed, I would review opportunities to enhance the organization’s ability to 

monitor and track these requests by expanding CKMS or by examining the use of 

an alternative tracking system. 

Question 3. What metrics does VA track to gauge whether Congressional offices 

are receiving timely, appropriate responses to their requests and what timeliness 

goals does VA have for responding to various types of Congressional requests? 

Response. The Department and the office set goals and track metrics for responsiveness, and I also encourage the development of quality relationships between office personnel and the Congressional staff they interact with. These relationships 

are based on our ability to provide timely and accurate information, our ability to 

have productive and proactive conversations, and gather insights and information 

to better inform Department policy and actions. 

The continuous and open dialog that the office had with Congressional staff during the development and improvements made to the draft appeals modernization 

legislation is indicative of the importance of strong relationships and open lines of 

communications. 

While the Department attempts to proactively offer briefings on high-profile topics 

and provide information as quickly as possible, we certainly have significant room 

for improvement, and if confirmed, will continue to work to improve on the office’s 

performance. 

Question 4. What efforts, if any, have been made to compare those timeliness 

goals to the goals or response times for Congressional liaison offices at other agencies or to learn best practices from other agencies? 

Response. VA is unique in its size and scope amongst civilian agencies, and VA’s 

Office of Government Relations (OGR) is responsible for responding to Congress on 

behalf of the entire Department—VHA, VBA, NCA, OALC, HRA, IT, and more. In 

many cases in other Departments and agencies, each branch or division has its own 

Congressional Affairs office that is responsible for a significantly narrower scope of 

activity with Congress. This was the case when I worked in the Marine Corps Legislative Affairs office. 

We can always learn from best practices of other organizations and, if confirmed, 

I look forward to working to identify ways to streamline VA processes. Shortly after 

assuming temporary responsibility for leadership of the office, I sought advice from 

respected and successful former Assistant Secretaries for Legislative Affairs in other 

agencies, and I have tried to incorporate that guidance to improve the office’s performance. One specific idea is working with the Office of General Counsel on establishing a cell to respond to the most complex and sensitive Congressional requests 

for information. 

Question 5. Please provide any metrics reflecting how long it takes to fulfill requests from Congress and the extent to which VA is meeting any established goals 

for timeliness, including a breakout of the various types of requests and types of 

offices (Committee Members, non-Committee Members, Committee staff, etc.) and 

any data or information reflecting timeliness trends over time. 

Response. The metrics by which the Department measures requests vary based 

on the type and complexity of the inquiry and are often guided based on the turnaround timeline that comes in with the request. 

The office’s Metrics and Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) indicates the following targets: 

• Testimony delivered on time 90% of the time. 

• Questions for the Record: completed 30 days after receipt, 85% of the time. 

• Requests for information: Answers to simple questions should be provided within 48 hours, all other questions should be provided within 10 business days, or the 

office notified if more time is needed for the response. 

• Congressional Correspondence: work closely with the Executive Secretary in responding to Congressional letters. The Department does not have a specific time 

goal for responses. 

Currently, metrics show that the Department has provided testimony on time 90% 

of the time so far this fiscal year. However, we have only provided on time responses 

to questions for the record 33% of the time. In this respect, and in others, we have 

significant room for improvement, and if confirmed, I will work to improve performance in these areas and to ensure that no Member’s request is misplaced or delayed 

for an excessive period of time. 

Question 6. What steps do you take to proactively monitor outstanding requests 

and to ensure that the answers provided are responsive to Members’ requests? 

Response. Congressional relations officers work with the VA organization providing the information to initially determine the status of the response. On other 

7 

than routine requests for information, or previously provided or public facing information, the information is reviewed by the congressional relations officer’s director 

and either the Deputy Assistant Secretary or myself before it is transmitted to Congress to ensure it is responsive to the Member or committee staff’s request. I have 

also directed the teams within office to meet regularly with VA organizations to review outstanding requests and go over any items that are of particular focus. Additionally, if confirmed, I will continue to raise directly with senior leaders those 

issues which require urgent attention. 

Question 7. Please describe any steps you have taken to hold accountable employees who are not fulfilling requests in a timely or appropriate manner. 

Response. Responding to requests in a timely manner is a joint effort that requires quick substantive input from the subject matter expert (SME), expedient 

clearance, and then providing the response to the Congressional Relations Officer 

for conveyance to the requesting Committee or Member of Congress. 

Accountability is important, which is why each inquiry and request that comes 

in to the office is assigned an ‘‘owner.’’ This individual is responsible for following 

up with the SME organization to express the urgency with which the requesting entity needs the information. They are responsible for making sure the request is not 

dropped and that it does not slip through the cracks. 

As a leader I believe you need to lay out your expectations for your team so they 

are aware of what you expect from them. At the same time, I believe you need to 

provide feedback, letting the team know when they are performing well or need to 

step up their game. I also firmly believe that you praise individuals in public, and 

offer corrective encouragement in private. In those instances when an employee has 

not met expectations, I will council them, with their supervisor if they are not a direct report, and offer suggestions on how they could have done things differently in 

order to achieve better results. 

[The Committee questionnaire for Presidential nominees follows:] 

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[Letter from the Office of Government Ethics follows:] 


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[Letter to the Office of Government Ethics follows:] 

Chairman ISAKSON. Colonel, which one of your daughters is at 

Mary Washington? 

My son-in-law graduated from Mary Washington. That is a great 

school. 

Ms. O’CONNOR. Thank you. 

Chairman ISAKSON. You are a lot more attractive than he is, too. 

We are glad that you and your entire family are here today, 

Colonel. 

Colonel, I have three or four questions. First and foremost, every 

morning when I wake up regardless of what time it is, and oftentimes it is early, I turn on television as I am doing my exercises 

on the floor. I try to listen to what the news of the day is. Unfortunately, for me, it seems like far too often the Veterans Administration is the first story to hit the airwaves, whether it is the incident 


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with cockroaches in the VA hospital in Chicago, IL, or the hospital 

in Denver, CO, that has the cost overrun, or incidents of that nature. I do not bring this up as a negative, but I bring this up as 

a fact of the matter. 

In your job, if confirmed, will you do everything you can to be 

proactive and make sure this Committee knows in advance to the 

extent possible when something like this is going to hit so we are 

prepared for it? 

Colonel O’CONNOR. I will, sir. I think it is extraordinarily important to be able to share that information before you get to see it 

from the media source and ensure that you are aware of what is 

going on. 

Chairman ISAKSON. Well, sometimes that is not possible, but I 

think most of the time that it is. Unfortunately, it presents a bad 

image of the VA that is an image that is not really meritorious because my experience with the VA has been basically very good. 

There are problems. It is the second largest agency in the Federal Government, and you are going to have problems from time to 

time. But having the Committee in the loop from the beginning is 

a whole lot better in terms of responses we are going to end up 

making from an educated standpoint versus an uneducated 

standpoint. 

You have said in a pre-hearing statement that your goal is to respond to the Committee on simple questions within 48 hours and 

all other questions Congress might ask within 10 business days. 

How well do you think VA actually complies with those deadlines? 

Colonel O’CONNOR. Those are our goals, and I think we do average. I think there is absolutely room for improvement. On those 

that are requests for information that are routine, I think we are 

very good at turning that around and providing the Committee 

with the information that they have asked for. I think as the issues 

get more complex we have a more difficult time of trying to meet 

those time goals. 

Folks in my office, the biggest concern I have is ensuring that 

once we get the request for information that we get it to the respective organization that is going to provide the information and then 

work to ensure all the way through delivery that it is done as 

quickly as possible. 

Chairman ISAKSON. If you are confirmed for this position, what 

will be your most important principal requirement and responsibility? 

Colonel O’CONNOR. My most important—— 

Chairman ISAKSON. In your opinion. 

Colonel O’CONNOR. My most important is open lines of communications. I think that is the most important thing in creating a 

foundation of a good, solid relationship—the ability to have those 

lines of communications, pick up the phone, ask questions, get an 

answer, and not have to wait or have excessive delays. 

Chairman ISAKSON. Basically, that is going to be your responsibility in this position; is that not correct? 

Colonel O’CONNOR. It is, sir. It will be. 

Chairman ISAKSON. Will you work with the Secretary? You were 

complimentary of Secretary McDonald, and I am complimentary of 

23 

the Secretary. I think he is doing a heck of a job and trying awfully 

hard. 

But, some of the problems Secretary McDonald has had have 

been communications of his own. I hope you will work to help ensure we temper some of our communication from time to time so 

we have a little better visual image of the Veterans Administration 

from those quotes that come out, and if you will work on that I 

would appreciate it. 

Colonel O’CONNOR. Yes, sir, I will work on that. 

Chairman ISAKSON. What do you think is the most important 

thing that the Committee could do to improve our relationship with 

the Veterans Administration? 

Colonel O’CONNOR. Well, I know, sir, from where we stand today, 

getting the Veterans First Act Passed is extremely important to 

moving forward with the transformation and to doing more with 

veterans. The Secretary supports that Act. We have worked with 

your staff. And that is going to be a game-changer for veterans. 

Chairman ISAKSON. That was a great answer because that was 

what I was hoping you were going to say. 

Let me just say this Committee voted unanimously to pass out 

the Veterans First Act. Every member, Democrat and Republican 

alike, had a lot to do with that thing. 

I had hoped to get it to the floor under a unanimous consent 

(UC), about a month ago, and then the wheels kind of came off because of other competition. One way or another, we are getting 

ready. In fact, the Ranking Member and I are having a meeting 

later on today which hopefully will help facilitate us moving toward 

being able to do that before the break in July. 

But, after the Attorney General’s declaration that she was not 

going to act on behalf of the Veterans Administration to enforce the 

Veterans Choice Act. The Secretary, much to my chagrin, who yesterday, in an interview with the press, said he was going to take 

up and follow her lead and not depend on the Veterans Choice Act 

either, unless this Committee and this Senate and the Congress of 

the United States passed the Veterans First Act, with the changes 

we have in accountability and especially for senior executive leadership of the VA, we are going to have a VA that has no accountability whatsoever. Would you agree with that? 

Colonel O’CONNOR. Sir, I think when the Secretary evaluated the 

Attorney General’s decision he made the decision internally. He 

firmly believes in accountability and holding these executives accountable. He just does not want to see any action he would take 

under the expedited removal to be reversed because he is fearful 

that the unintended consequences of reversing it would be worse 

than holding somebody accountable under the preexisting 

regulations. 

Chairman ISAKSON. I respect that and do not take issue with 

that except to say that because of the decision of the Attorney General and because of Secretary McDonald’s decision, if we do not act 

quickly and with due diligence to get the Veterans First Act 

passed, we are going to have a difficult time enforcing accountability in the Veterans Administration among senior executive 

management. Would you agree with that? 

24 

Colonel O’CONNOR. I think the culture in the Department is 

changing, sir. I think that the Secretary, where he is leading the 

Department is effecting change. I believe that when he gets up and 

addresses all of his senior executives and talks about accountability, sustainability, and accountability, it is resonating. The 

change is happening. 

I know what is expected of me, and I know what would happen 

if I did not fulfill those expectations. 

Chairman ISAKSON. Well, for the record—and this is not a question; it is just my statement—I appreciate your answer, but if we 

do not have an accountability mechanism that clearly gives the 

Secretary the line of authority and the line of appeal in terms of 

senior management, we are going to have a situation that is less 

than satisfactory as far as I am concerned. It will send the message 

to the public we are doing everything we can to overcome what 

have been some of the shortcomings of the VA in the past few 

months ahead. 

With that said, I will turn to the Ranking Member. 

Senator BLUMENTHAL. Thanks, Mr. Chairman. 

Let me ask you first about the West Haven VA facility. I am told 

that the construction there is underway on an expedited basis. Is 

there a way to accelerate it? 

Colonel O’CONNOR. Right before coming over, I checked on that, 

sir, and folks there are saying that they are going to award the design phase within the next day or so. I do not know whether it is 

approximately a 60-day period there. 

But, you know, when you raised that issue with the Secretary at 

one of the Four Corners Breakfasts, he made sure and directed me 

to get in touch with Veterans Health Administration. He ensured 

the facility understood the concerns you had in regards to that 

crosswalk and the injuries that were sustained by the veteran 

crossing, and to move forward on that as quickly as possible. And 

I believe we are. 

Senator BLUMENTHAL. I appreciate that attention. It is well deserved. There have been a number of injuries over the past years, 

one of them fatal, so I hope that we can continue to discuss how 

to accelerate that timetable that exists now. 

On the issue of accountability, can you tell me what the Attorney 

General said, when she said it, and what the Secretary said and 

when? 

Colonel O’CONNOR. I apologize, sir. I believe the Attorney General’s response was May 31. I am unable to explain her response 

in legal terms. I think the concern was, though, that she felt it was 

not defensible and therefore was not going to defend the appeal. So 

that was the information that the Secretary based his decision on 

and how he would proceed to holding senior executives accountable 

from that point on. 

Senator BLUMENTHAL. Did the Secretary consult his own legal 

counsel? 

Colonel O’CONNOR. I believe so; yes, sir. 

Senator BLUMENTHAL. And did the Attorney General of the 

United States instruct the Secretary as to what he should say or 

do? 

Colonel O’CONNOR. I am not familiar with that, sir. 

25 

Senator BLUMENTHAL. Chairman Isakson asked you about the 

Veterans First Bill. If, in fact, there are constitutional issues and 

defects in the current accountability procedures or provisions, 

adopting the Veterans First Bill is not only essential but also important to take account of those issues, correct? 

Colonel O’CONNOR. Yes. I think one of the discussions the Secretary had with both gentlemen was the concern obviously that the 

accountability also gave flexibility in hiring for medical center directors, and VISN directors, and the importance of being able to attract the right talent to be able to fill those important positions. I 

know the Secretary feels strongly about it and supports the 

provisions. 

Senator BLUMENTHAL. Is the Secretary satisfied that the issues 

that caused him to say he would not enforce the present law have 

been satisfied in the Veterans First Act? 

Colonel O’CONNOR. I am not aware of any objections at this time, 

sir. 

Senator BLUMENTHAL. Has he consulted with the Attorney General of the United States? 

Colonel O’CONNOR. I do not know, sir. 

Senator BLUMENTHAL. I suggest that he should so that we do not 

encounter the same situation again. There is no reason, in my 

view, that any constitutional issue should be raised. Rather than 

waiting for her opinion until after we adopt the measure, I would 

like to be assured that her opinion is that it is, in fact, fully and 

completely constitutional as I believe it is. 

Colonel O’CONNOR. Yes, sir, I will bring that back. 

Senator BLUMENTHAL. On the issue of appeals, as you know better than we do, the reform of the appeals process is certainly a 

high priority goal of the Veterans First legislation. We have supported it, but we are still awaiting a score as I understand it. Is 

that correct? 

Colonel O’CONNOR. I believe CBO still has not issued a formal 

score; although, informally, they have addressed the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee that it is a very low cost. And I know 

later this week Deputy Secretary Gibson is testifying on the counterpart legislation. 

Senator BLUMENTHAL. My understanding is, in fact, that a score 

has been given to the House committee but not yet to us. Is that 

correct? 

Colonel O’CONNOR. I am aware that the House knows that it is 

a very low score. We have not seen any formal documentation. 

Senator BLUMENTHAL. Well, let me suggest as a first order of 

business, even before you are confirmed, that perhaps, I say respectfully, you track down whatever exists on paper or whatever 

number has been informally provided to anyone because the Secretary certainly has made very clear his desire to see the appeals 

process reformed. We cannot do it without a score. 

The Chairman and I have practically berated the appropriate officials to provide a score. And so I think it behooves everyone here 

to have whatever information is available. So I would be grateful 

if you could make that a first order of business. 

Colonel O’CONNOR. Will do, sir. 

Senator BLUEMENTHAL. Thank you. 

26 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Chairman ISAKSON. It is so nice to have a good lawyer as your 

Ranking Member. 

Senator Rounds. 

HON. MIKE ROUNDS, U.S. SENATOR FROM SOUTH DAKOTA 

Senator ROUNDS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Colonel O’Connor, I appreciated the opportunity to visit with you 

earlier in our office, and let me assure you that we want to work 

with you to get the job done for the veterans, and I appreciate your 

sense of how important your job is. 

One of the issues that I think you are going to be challenged 

with is whether or not you have the capabilities within the office, 

as it sits today, to get the job done. I want to share with you where 

we are coming from and then ask your thoughts, and I want you 

to give us your current position. 

I understand that the job of responding to over 4,000 requests a 

year is a daunting task, and I appreciate the efforts of you and 

your office to work with Congress and the American people. 

Can you tell me the specific steps your office takes to follow up 

on outstanding requests once they are logged and tasked out in the 

system? 

For example, my staff submitted one request for information to 

your office on February 23rd. That still has not been answered 

other than to say upon receipt that it had been forwarded to the 

Health Team. 

Another request from earlier this year took 39 days to get a response, and that was only after we specifically followed up to make 

sure your office knew we had not forgotten about it. 

I understand that a majority of requests require you to reach out 

to other directorates in the VA and coordination between the offices 

can be difficult, but I just want to get an idea for the follow-up 

process for those requests once you have tasked them out. 

Colonel O’CONNOR. Once we task them out, they are assigned to 

a team within our organization and to a congressional relations officer who is a member of that team. They are responsible for tracking it to completion. We send it to the respective organization that 

is going to compile the answer. 

The key is to continue the open dialog with that organization on 

the status of that and to provide feedback from the office from 

which the request came so that there will not be any mistake that 

it has been lost in a black hole somewhere. The goal is to continue 

that dialog and ensure that if there are problems associated with 

the—— 

Senator ROUNDS. So let me just—so the goal is 10 days, approximately. So, OK, at the end of 10 days, is there a follow-up within 

the system? Is there an automated system? Is there a process that 

reminds, a tickler file that it is established within the office, that 

brings it back up in front of an individual responsible for getting 

back to a congressional office? 

Colonel O’CONNOR. Each and every week, sir, we compile our 

dashboard that lists the complete array or complete numbers of requests for information but from the respective committees and then 

from other Members of Congress. And we talk and go through that, 

27 

identifying any issues that are causing problems and where if it 

needs more senior personnel involvement. 

We rely on our individuals instead of creating further layers to 

manage their account. Either requests for information, questions 

for the record, hearings, and to manage that effectively, and to 

identify when they have problems with that. 

Senator ROUNDS. So is the expectation then that the office making the request needs to follow up at the end of 10 days in order 

to get a response? 

Colonel O’CONNOR. No. The expectation is that our office is always responsible and needs to be actively pursuing and be 

persistent. 

Senator ROUNDS. Would it be appropriate to have perhaps somewhere within the tickler system where if we do not have it within 

10 days there is at least a follow-up to assure us that we have not 

been lost in the system for an extended period of time? 

Colonel O’CONNOR. Absolutely. And that is the part when the 

Chairman asked me earlier about having—you know, what is the 

most important thing on lines of communications. And that is an 

instance where we have better work to do in that regards when 

there are delays, that we do not just leave somebody sitting and 

wondering, and rather, they at least know we are working it, it has 

not been lost, and no one has been forgotten. 

Senator ROUNDS. Of the more than 4,000 congressional responses 

that you have provided to Congress in the last year, would you 

classify a majority of those as unique, or do you find your office 

consistently responding to the same questions? 

In addition to the briefings you conduct and set up by request, 

is there more the VA could be doing to proactively brief and engage 

with members and their staffs that might, in turn, cut down on the 

heavy request workload? 

With your background in the Marine Corps Legislative Affairs, 

do you ever compare DOD’s model to the VA’s approach? 

Colonel O’CONNOR. I do, and I have tried to implement a lot of 

the things I learned when I worked at Marine Corps Leg Affairs. 

One of the things we have tried to do is increase the number of 

briefings and especially increase the number where we get the subject matter expert together with the individuals asking the question. It eliminates back and forth. 

Senator ROUNDS. Is there a high redundancy on the questions 

that are being asked? 

Colonel O’CONNOR. Not really. 

Senator ROUNDS. Really? 

Colonel O’CONNOR. Not really. Each and every question we get 

is unique to some degree. I wish I could say there would be a cookie-cutter response, but there is not. The members are asking about 

their respective States, their districts, and therefore, we have to 

provide a unique set of information. 

But, in regards to what you said earlier, it is our goal to be more 

proactive, to tell you about what we are doing and not have you 

ask for it. What we try to do is increase the interaction with senior 

leaders. Specifically, Under Secretary for Health Shulkin and Assistant Secretary for Information Technology Council. We want 

28 

them coming over, talking with and committing more than previously to try to keep that flow of information going. 

Senator ROUNDS. Very good. Thank you. 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Chairman ISAKSON. Thank you, Senator Rounds. 

Senator Manchin. 

HON. JOE MANCHIN III, U.S. SENATOR FROM WEST VIRGINIA 

Senator MANCHIN. Thank you. 

Colonel O’Connor, thank you for your service. I know your family 

is proud of your service; they should be. And I am sure you are 

proud of your family. I can tell your daughter she will be so relieved when she takes that last class and everything is over, right? 

Colonel O’CONNOR. Yes. 

Senator MANCHIN. As a father, I understand completely, and I 

know she will do it. 

Let me just say this: your offices, we work with them. It is good 

and everything. 

I am going to follow up on Senator Rounds. In our offices our two 

highest priorities call-wise are VA and social security. I think it is 

in probably all of us, 100 of us. With that, people want—they want 

an answer. 

The only thing I can do is I hold all my caseworkers accountable 

for their cases. So, if they get a case, they get an answer to me 

every week on that case—how many they have pending, how many 

news ones, how many they close—so we are on top of it 

continuously. 

I think what needs to be considered here is that—I can just tell 

you what our staff feels like, and the caseworkers. When we call 

you, you all have been very gracious. You hand it off, and then it 

basically gets in cyberspace or something. 

We are hoping that maybe we will—you know. Sometimes they 

really have to dog it. You have always been good on intervening 

and getting back; I will say that. But if we do not dog it, it does 

not get done. 

Does that make sense? 

Colonel O’CONNOR. No, it does make sense. 

Senator MANCHIN. I am not being critical. I am just telling you 

the facts of life because I know if that is my highest caseload I 

know it is Mike’s, I know it is Bill’s, and I know it is Johnny’s. 

We are all getting—I mean, I love it. We have wonderful States 

and have a lot of veterans, and we are trying to give them the best 

service. So, we get a little bit antsy about this. 

Colonel O’CONNOR. I understand. Our team that has the office 

here in Russell to provide casework support, they handle upwards 

of 25 to 27,000 particular inquiries. Our goal is—— 

Senator MANCHIN. That is what period of time? The 25,000 is 

when? 

Colonel O’CONNOR. On an average yearly basis. 

Senator MANCHIN. Yes. 

Colonel O’CONNOR. Where we try, both our office here in Russell 

and in Rayburn. 

Senator MANCHIN. Sure. 

29 

Colonel O’CONNOR. Now, we understand that constituent casework is—— 

Senator MANCHIN. Let me tell you one thing, if some of us could 

bring our heads of our caseworkers in our States and bring them 

to sit with you. 

Colonel O’CONNOR. We would love to have—— 

Senator MANCHIN. If you have a roundtable sometime, Mr. 

Chairman, if we could bring him in, it would be wonderful. I think 

it would help us understand the mammoth problem that you all 

have and the enormity of your work, but also understand theirs, 

too. 

We ought to do that, Mr. Chairman; if I could request that. Put 

a working group together with you all? 

Chairman ISAKSON. That is an excellent suggestion. I would 

think we have it in the budget to get him up here, and I am sure 

the VA would like more than anything to meet with them. 

Senator MANCHIN. Well, Johnny, on that—just on this Committee here, if we could all bring our caseworkers. 

Colonel O’CONNOR. We would love to support that, sir. 

Senator MANCHIN. OK. Now, to the other question I have. You 

have been working in congressional affairs in VA for the past 6 

years and done a great job. In the past 6 years you have served 

under two secretaries; you have endured crises, like the Phoenix 

wait time scandal, the opiate scandal in Tomah, WI; seen the birth 

and the evolution of the Choice Program, and an awful lot more in 

between. 

So, my question would be: What is the most important lesson you 

have learned in the past 6 years, and what can we do different? 

Colonel O’CONNOR. Well, the most important lesson I think I 

have learned and seen is putting veterans at the center. We oftentimes, as a Department, have not put the veteran first. We have 

maybe put the Department first, put our own employees first. 

Senator MANCHIN. I gotcha. 

Colonel O’CONNOR. And we have never—now under—— 

Senator MANCHIN. That mission has changed under Bob? 

Colonel O’CONNOR. The mission stayed the same. How we are 

doing it is changing. 

Senator MANCHIN. OK. I gotcha. 

Colonel O’CONNOR. That is about putting the veteran first. 

Senator MANCHIN. There was one other. When I was Governor, 

some of the best work that was done in my organization was the 

Department of Veterans Assistance; we had a VA. 

As the Assistant Secretary of Congressional and Legislative Affairs, one of your responsibilities is working with and maintaining 

communication with State governments. How do you think the VA 

at the Federal level can work with a government? 

I mean, our offices, we are U.S. Senate, and we are Congress and 

all that. But I know the Governor’s office and the State offices of 

VA. Do you have liaisons for that, too? 

Colonel O’CONNOR. Yes. That is one of the—when we did a reorganization within the office, the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs 

moved to what was the Office of Congressional and Legislative Affairs and formed the Office of Government Relations. Here now 

under one umbrella office, we have responsibility for interfacing 

30 

with all levels of government—state, tribal governments, and Federal, as well as county and city. So, we have the capability to ensure that the information that we are providing is getting out to 

the entire spectrum of important stakeholders. 

Senator MANCHIN. Well, Colonel, I look forward to voting for you 

and supporting you and helping you in any way we can our mission. 

And, if I can make the formal request to the Chairman on bringing the caseworkers up to have a roundtable, that would be I think 

immensely helpful to both of us. Our staffs would understand it, 

your staffs would understand it, and together we can make a better 

product. OK? 

Colonel O’CONNOR. Yes, sir. I look forward to that. 

Senator MANCHIN. Thank you, sir. Appreciate it. 

Colonel O’CONNOR. Thank you. 

Chairman ISAKSON. Not only do I think it is a good idea, but I 

am going to appoint you and Senator Rounds to co-chair that event. 

And let’s try and do it before the 15th of July because by the 15th 

of July we are going to be scattered for 7 weeks. 

Senator MANCHIN. We will get one—we will get each one of our 

members, you and John and all of us, our caseworkers. We will 

bring them up here. 

Chairman ISAKSON. We will make the Committee room available 

which should be an appropriate room if you will work to get the 

appropriate staff from the VA here present. 

Colonel O’CONNOR. We will. 

Chairman ISAKSON. I will bring the donuts. 

Senator MANCHIN. Colonel, we will want to do that and we will 

set it up. 

Colonel O’CONNOR. Yes, please. 

Chairman ISAKSON. Please tell Senator Rounds that I nominated 

him. You all be sure and let him know. 

Senator Cassidy. 

Senator CASSIDY. Thank you. 

Colonel O’CONNOR. Thank you. 

HON. BILL CASSIDY, U.S. SENATOR FROM LOUISIANA 

Senator CASSIDY. Welcome, sir, and thank you for your life of 

service. I think you kind of addressed the shortcomings and the 

progress that everybody hopes to be made, and I will just point out 

when it comes to questions for the record we have questions for the 

record still pending from October 2015. 

To state what everybody else has, there have been some issues 

as regards timeliness of response. Let me suggest also something 

that I had mentioned when I first got on this Committee, which is 

probably a little bit different than what others would have. 

You have the data—at least I am told you do—that tells us for 

each hospital and each VA clinic the number of outpatient visits 

per provider, the number of no-shows, those people who have visits 

but do not show up, the number of complaints, and the number of 

complaints per employee. You have for those who missed their appointment when is their next scheduled appointment. 

As a physician, I run into providers across the Nation who will 

tell me their story. One told me the story of her mental health clinVerDate Mar 15 2010 20:58 Mar 29, 2018 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00034 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 Z:\ACTIVE\062116N.TXT PAULIN
31 

ic where if the patient was a half an hour late they were rescheduled for weeks later. A mental health clinic. People having a hard 

time keeping it together. 

You know that. I would like to know that. I have asked in the 

past, because the only way we can do meaningful oversight is if we 

have a facility-specific profile of how well it is run. 

You mentioned how they are trying to change the mission to 

where the patient is first and everything revolves around the patient. Unless we know the numbers, we do not know if that is being 

executed. I have no doubt in some hospitals it is high-performing, 

particularly for some departments, and in others not so much. 

Frankly, it may be a doc that told me, listen, my nurse practitioner gave me 6 months that she was leaving, but I could not advertise until after she left, and then it took me 6 months to fill. 

So, a year after I knew she was leaving, we finally filled the position, and that does not include. 

So, if all of a sudden we see a slowdown in number of patients 

seen per provider or per provider team; well, that would invite that 

question. I only know it because a doc stopped me at a meeting and 

asked, let me tell you my VA story. 

So, I guess my plea, which for all of us is for greater timeliness 

in response, both to our requests as well as that of our workers. 

Now I have an additional query: If you can give Sen. Isakson 

data on every facility in Georgia, me, every facility in Louisiana, 

et cetera, and their hospital, clinic, and department-specific statistics, I can compare the mental health facility in New Orleans 

versus the one in Houston or Atlanta. Then, I will feel like I am 

learning something. 

It will be less of a black box where I am not quite sure I know, 

versus, we have looked at the numbers, and we are seeing that you 

are doing better, and over time it is even getting better. 

So, it is not a question there. It is just kind of a request that I 

made to one of your colleagues, and I will just make it again. 

But, again, thank you for your service and thank you for taking 

on this job. 

Colonel O’CONNOR. Thank you, sir. 

Senator CASSIDY. I yield back. 

Chairman ISAKSON. Thank you, Senator Cassidy. 

Senator Boozman. 

HON. JOHN BOOZMAN, U.S. SENATOR FROM ARKANSAS 

Senator BOOZMAN. Thank you. 

There has been a lot of talk—this has just come out—about the 

fast-track firings. Can you tell me—I know we have discussed it already in the Committee. Can you tell me your position on that? 

Colonel O’CONNOR. Insofar as, sir, what the Secretary—when he 

found out about the Attorney General’s decision to not defend the 

position of the expedited removal, he felt that he did not want to 

pursue using that authority because of the unintended consequences of getting it overturned at a later date, and therefore, 

determined the best way to go forward in holding executives accountable within the Department was to use the preexisting accountability authorities that he had. He does not want to see us, 

32 

see the Department, removing anybody only to have the courts 

later reinstate them. 

Senator BOOZMAN. Yes, the problem is that the responsibility of 

the Committee is to hold him and you responsible also. 

Again, I just do not understand the reasoning. We passed a law; 

we both agree with that. Now, the Secretary has decided that because he is concerned about lots of ‘‘what-ifs’’ that he is not going 

to follow the law. Is that correct? 

Colonel O’CONNOR. I believe, sir, that he is—— 

Senator BOOZMAN. But that is the essence of it, isn’t it? 

Colonel O’CONNOR. I think he is reviewing what the Attorney 

General determined and using the Department of Justice decision, 

if you will—— 

Senator BOOZMAN. So, his attitude is that the Attorney General 

trumps Congress passing a law? 

Colonel O’CONNOR. I think his concern, sir, again is using that 

authority only to have it, at some later date, reversed. 

Senator BOOZMAN. I think that is fine, but to me, the chain of 

command or the chain of protocol is he talks to us about that, and 

then, if his concern is valid, then we change the law. But, he does 

not get to decide what laws he is going to enforce. 

Are there any other things that he is concerned about which he 

might not follow because he is concerned about unintended consequences down the road that we do not know about? 

Colonel O’CONNOR. No, sir. 

Senator BOOZMAN. OK. Do you agree with his decision? 

Colonel O’CONNOR. Yes, sir, I do. I think the unintended consequences of reversing—if you are removing somebody from their 

position only at a later date to have them come back, I think—— 

Senator BOOZMAN. Do you agree with the—I understand that, 

and like you say, that is an argument to make. Do you agree that 

he has the authority to simply not follow a law that Congress has 

passed because his concern for unintended consequences? 

Colonel O’CONNOR. I think, sir, in—yes, I believe he does given 

what the Department of Justice determined. 

Senator BOOZMAN. OK. 

Colonel O’CONNOR. Because, sir, he is still holding people accountable. It is just a question of which authority he is doing it 

under. It is not—— 

Senator BOOZMAN. Well, he was quoted as saying the old process 

is fine. So, is it fine, or is he doing something different? I mean, 

that is his quote. 

Colonel O’CONNOR. The old process still enables him to hold people accountable, sir. 

Senator BOOZMAN. So, I guess the question is: You have been 

around a couple years. Why haven’t we been doing that, with the 

old process? 

I think that there is real concern that we have not been doing 

a good job of that. I think that concern has been, you know, again 

from leadership within the VA also. So, if the old process is fine, 

why haven’t we been using that process to do what we need to do? 

Colonel O’CONNOR. I firmly believe, sir, that the Secretary has 

outlined his view of accountability to all of his senior executives. 

33 

We know what is expected of us within the senior executive corps 

and what we need to deliver. 

Senator BOOZMAN. So, can you give me some examples of what 

you are doing to try to hold people accountable that is different? 

Colonel O’CONNOR. Well, I can give examples from within my 

own office in that I think the most important thing, insofar as leadership I learned in the Marine Corps, is to ensure that all your employees understand what is expected of them and how their jobs 

contribute to the overall accomplishment of the mission. 

Along that line, I think as a leader you owe your employees continuous feedback. It is just not done during the midyear performance review or performance appraisal. And, if there are problems, 

you address them with the employee and their supervisor to ensure 

that they understand what they need to do to meet the levels of 

expectation. 

Senator BOOZMAN. With a very distinguished career in the Marine Corps, while doing that, did you occasionally have to fire some 

people? 

Colonel O’CONNOR. We had to do—we had to take actions against 

people. 

Senator BOOZMAN. So, you occasionally had to fire some people. 

Colonel O’CONNOR. We did not have—I am kind of getting uncomfortable talking about specific personnel in a small office, but 

we had to make—— 

Senator BOOZMAN. No, I am talking about in your Marine Corps. 

Colonel O’CONNOR. Oh, in the Marine Corps, yes. 

Senator BOOZMAN. You needed to do that to make the place—you 

did what you said, you know, regarding your Marine Corps leadership, and I agree with that totally, and you—you know, nobody has 

exhibited that more than you have in the sense of your career. 

I guess what we are saying, or what I am saying, is that we need 

to do all those things. At the end of the day, this is like the sixth 

largest—if this were a corporation, this is the sixth largest corporation in the country. At the end of the day, there are people that 

do not work out, and they need to be gotten rid of in a fairly easy 

way. So, again, that is the problem I have. 

I do want to thank you so much for your service and truly respect all that you stand for. 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Chairman ISAKSON. Senator Boozman, I want to thank you for 

your questions. 

Before I get to another Marine, Senator Sullivan, I want to make 

a comment. 

Colonel, you are a good Marine, and I respect the answers that 

you gave to the questions that were just asked because you were 

supporting your boss, and that is what you do in the military and 

in service. But as you can see, this Committee is—from the remarks that I made earlier, the Ranking Member has made, and 

that have been made by other members, this situation in terms of 

accountability has got to be dealt with. 

We are looking for communication between the Secretary and the 

Department and ourselves to make sure we get this Veterans First 

Bill implemented, we have accountability within the Veterans Administration, and nothing is going to stop us as a committee from 

34 

pursuing that until it happens because until we do the VA is going 

to be in jeopardy. 

I will just make that comment. 

Senator Sullivan. 

HON. DAN SULLIVAN, U.S. SENATOR FROM ALASKA 

Senator SULLIVAN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Colonel O’Connor, I appreciate the opportunity to meet with you 

yesterday and thought we had a good discussion. I want to also 

mention that how much I, and I know others, respect your service 

in the Marine Corps and what you did there for three decades. 

I think it is clear what you just said. You know, the Marine 

Corps would not be putting up with not even a minuscule amount 

of what goes on at the VA. People would be fired like that, and you 

know that as well as I do. So there is a frustration level here, and 

I think you are seeing it on the Committee. 

But, you know, as you and I talked about, I mean, I was home 

in Alaska just last weekend and had an opportunity to talk to a 

Vietnam corpsman. He used to work at the VA; served his country 

with the Marines, patched up and probably saved a lot of Marines’ 

lives. This is the first thing he talked to me about—this lack of accountability. Again, he was a VA employee. 

It just goes well beyond the Committee here. I mean, these are 

constituents of mine raising the lack of accountability issue. 

I think it goes to the ultimate issue that we all know needs to 

happen, which is rebuilding the trust between the VA and our 

veterans. 

I really think Senator Boozman’s line of questioning is actually 

a really, really important line of questioning because what the Secretary is doing in my view is starting to lay out a dangerous precedent. Then, to kind of have the Congress say, ‘‘Here is what we are 

going to do,’’ and have him say without even having the law 

challenged—it is one thing to take it all the way and have someone 

challenge it, go to court, and have the court overturn it. But, to just 

say, ‘‘Ah, the Attorney General thinks it is not going to hold water, 

so we are never going to use this law,’’ that is a dangerous precedent without any limiting principle. Any executive can do that on 

anything. 

This administration has been very, very roughshod with the rule 

of law in my view, and this is just another example. I think it is 

a very, very dangerous precedent. 

So, count me as somebody who thinks that is not the discretion 

that the Secretary should have and it is certainly not the discretion 

that the Attorney General should be providing the VA. You need 

to take the law to its max extent, use it, and if it is overturned in 

a court then we should have the discussion. It is very frustrating. 

Let me give you a little bit more context of why it is frustrating 

from the position you are in. If you are going to do something that 

major when you know—meaning you as the VA—know that this 

Committee has been so focused on this accountability issue, then 

you are just going to do it, and the Chairman and the Ranking 

Member read about it, like I did, in ‘‘Stars and Stripes’’ and ‘‘Military Times,’’ that is a failure on the part of the congressional liaiVerDate Mar 15 2010 20:58 Mar 29, 2018 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00038 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 Z:\ACTIVE\062116N.TXT PAULIN
35 

son offices. We should not—if there is a major change in policy, we 

should not be reading about it in the newspaper. 

Do you have any comment on that? 

Colonel O’CONNOR. I think we could have done it differently and 

done it better. 

Senator SULLIVAN. What would you have done differently? 

Colonel O’CONNOR. Given the reaction, we would have hopefully 

addressed the issue to the Committee before it was ever presented 

to the public in any way, shape, or form. 

Senator SULLIVAN. I think that is absolutely what you should 

have done. ‘‘Given the reaction’’ is not the only reason you should 

do that. 

If you are trying to change policy that this Committee and the 

Congress of the United States has passed, and you try to unilaterally change it, and you are going to do that, I think you need to 

come to the Chairman and the Ranking Member and the rest of 

this Committee and thoroughly, thoroughly brief us on why you are 

going to do that before it gets announced in the press and we are 

all blindsided by it and our constituents are reading yet another 

story where it seems like the VA does not take accountability 

seriously. 

Can you commit to doing that if you are confirmed? 

Colonel O’CONNOR. I do confirm we answered a request for information on this. We should have done it differently. I think hindsight being 20/20, if we went back, we would not do it the same 

way. And we are very much aware of the frustration that we created by doing it in that manner. 

Senator SULLIVAN. Mr. Chairman, may I have time for one more 

question? 

Chairman ISAKSON. Certainly. 

Senator SULLIVAN. Another area where I think there has been 

frustration, and I think it is among all members, is the responsiveness of the VA where a lot of offices—I know mine included. We 

make requests, and then we wait, and we wait, and then we are 

always trying to proactively say, ‘‘Hey, any luck on this request?’’ 

‘‘No.’’ ‘‘Any luck on this request?’’ ‘‘No.’’ 

It seems like we are the ones always reaching out, and I think 

that that can be reversed. If you know that there is an interest of 

the Committee Members on requests that we have had, you should 

be proactively reaching out to us and even if you do not have the 

information. ‘‘Hey, we know this is important to you, Mr. Chairman, but we do not have it yet, but we are on it.’’ Right. 

I think that would breed a lot more trust just between the Committee and the VA because just from this Committee’s records, in 

the last couple months, it has taken 3 months for the VA to answer 

a routine question, 49 days for the VA to tell the Committee that 

they do not have a policy requiring doctors performing compensation exams and provide copies of their resumes to the veterans 

being examined if the veteran requests it. 

I have a whole list. I am going to submit them for the record, 

where the Committee was asking questions and it was taking any 

time from 3 to 6 months for the VA to get back. And these are not 

big questions; they are pretty routine questions. 

36 

So, could you commit to, and maybe you can comment on, the 

issue of responsiveness to this Committee? Because, ultimately, it 

is not only our questions of policy, it is questions of cases that involve America’s veterans. 

At the end of the day, we need to get back to making sure our 

veterans have the trust and confidence in the VA, and taking forever to answer questions does not build that trust and confidence. 

Colonel O’CONNOR. Yes, sir, I will commit to doing things differently. As I mentioned earlier, one of the key things from my experience working Marine Corps Leg Affairs was the open lines of 

communications and the way we would interface with congressional 

offices. 

Much like you said, there were often times where we would just 

say, ‘‘We have a problem. We will get back to you.’’ In fact, because 

of our relationships that was good enough, and there were no negative comments, and we were able to—— 

Senator SULLIVAN. But that is not happening right now with the 

VA. 

Colonel O’CONNOR. That is where we want to get to, and that is 

why I still want to do this job. Because I believe getting there is 

extraordinarily important to build better relationships between 

Congress and VA. 

On talking to your staff, we are getting there. The people we are 

hiring, the people who work in the office now understand, and they 

are doing a good job of having that communication. I have empowered them to have those open lines of communications and not to— 

you do not have to run things all the way through chains of command. You have got to be able to interface. 

The key thing that I mentioned and I will reiterate, when we do 

run into problems, we have to alert people we are having problems, 

there are delays, and to give some level—some expectation of when 

somebody can expect something and not just ‘‘We are working on 

it.’’ There has got to be something better and more concrete than 

that. 

Senator SULLIVAN. Well, I think if you do that those would be 

very important reforms that we would all welcome. Thank you. 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Chairman ISAKSON. We will do a second round in case anyone 

wants to ask some more questions, but I want to ask a follow-up 

on what has been said by every Member of the Committee. Do the 

requests that come to the Department from Members of the Committee go to your office first and then you assign them to the appropriate person to respond? 

Colonel O’CONNOR. The majority of them do, yes, sir. 

Chairman ISAKSON. OK. Well, then you can be a catalyst to solve 

the biggest problem that was described so well by Dan Sullivan. 

The minute you get that and you assign it, you should have a rule 

that if it cannot be responded to in 48 hours, which is your desire 

to do so on simple questions, that a call goes from whomever you 

assign it to, to the office of the Member of the Senate, that it is 

going to take longer than 48 hours and to tell them when they can 

expect it. 

If it is a complicated question or one that you normally would 

guarantee a 10-day delivery, which you all do not do, require that 

37 

once you assign it, they pick up the phone and call Senator 

Blumenthal’s office or my office or Senator Sullivan’s, and say, ‘‘I 

cannot do it in 10 days, but I will try to get it by X, and I will call 

you back.’’ 

There is an absence of responsive communication, in my judgment, from the VA to members or to staff members on the staff of 

Members. That leaves this issue bigger than it really is, but it is 

a big issue. I think you can tell from listening to everybody around 

here that a lot of us end up getting caught not knowing the answer 

to questions we ought to already know because you all did not get 

the response to us in a timely fashion. 

So, number 1, if you are confirmed, that is the first thing. If I 

were you, I would institute some system where they respond back 

to you, where you know if members are not getting a response. 

Second, it is obvious from everybody—we did not have a meeting 

before this meeting to say here is what we are going to ask you. 

We did not discuss this amongst ourselves, any of us. Yet, every 

Member that has come in and asked questions, without exception, 

has addressed this issue of accountability, the issue of taking the 

position of Loretta Lynch and the issue that the Secretary has 

taken. 

We are not going to stop until we get a situation set where we 

have an accountability mechanism in the VA that works, holds the 

VA accountable, and makes it happen. I think the Veterans First 

Bill is the bill that does that. 

Whatever the case, when you go back and report to headquarters, what did they talk about or what did they ask you about, 

we talked about two things: 

One, responding to Member requests in a timely fashion and 

creating a mechanism to know how that is happening at the 

Department; and 

Two, and most importantly, to deal with this issue of accountability and the decision the Secretary has made to not follow up, as Loretta Lynch did as well, because for every one of 

us in here that is a nonstarter. It is something that has got 

to be fixed, and the sooner the better, when passing Veterans 

First. 

With that said, I will turn to the Ranking Member if he has a 

question or a comment. 

Senator BLUMENTHAL. Thank you. 

First, just a minor correction to a point made by my colleague 

and friend, Senator Sullivan. Actually, the law has been challenged 

in court in a case called Helman v. Veterans Affairs Administration. 

In the brief submitted by the Department of Justice, as I read 

it, the Department declines to defend the decision of the administrative judge below. It is challenged on the basis that it is an unconstitutional procedure that has been set forth under the statute 

because the final authority is vested in that administrative judge, 

which seems a fairly narrow decision by the Department of Justice, 

but still highly consequential for all the reasons that we have stated here because the Department of Justice declining to defend a 

statute of the United States is a decision of the highest and most 

profound consequence. 

38 

You have heard the consensus here that there is a lot of doubt 

on this Committee about the correctness of that decision. It may be 

well justified, but we have no explanation for it from either the Attorney General of the United States or the Secretary of Veterans 

Affairs. 

I understand that Secretary McDonald is not a lawyer. He is a 

distinguished graduate of West Point. And I think his training is 

in the business area, and certainly he has a lot of accomplishment 

in that area. 

You are not a lawyer unless I am mistaken. So, we are not going 

to hold you to try to explain that decision. 

Where I am going is to say I would like to ask, with the Chairman’s permission, for a formal explanation from the Attorney General of the United States through the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 

of whatever decision has been made and what the reasons for it 

are. 

The Attorney General of the United States, by the way, has a responsibility to obey the Constitution. So, if there is an unconstitutional statute, certainly the issue of enforceability is raised. 

As Attorney General I sometimes faced the decision whether to 

enforce a statute that I had questions about in terms of constitutionality, and generally for me, the standard was, in a sense, unconstitutionality beyond a reasonable doubt in effect. So, I cannot 

even remember a time when I did not enforce a statute, but there 

may well have been. 

My point is that I think the Congress, and particularly this Committee, deserves an explanation, as Senator Sullivan said very correctly, and the Chairman, not just to read about it in the ‘‘Military 

Times’’ or ‘‘Stars and Stripes,’’ but an explanation in writing formally as to what the reasons are for this decision to decline to defend a decision or a statute. 

That may all be a long-winded way of saying—and not blaming 

you because this was a decision above your pay grade, so to speak, 

but—simply that if you could make sure that this Committee is 

provided with such an opinion. 

Colonel O’CONNOR. I will. 

Senator BLUMENTHAL. Thank you. 

Chairman ISAKSON. Senator Sullivan or Senator Boozman have 

you any questions? 

Senator BOOZMAN. The only comment I would make is I think 

that is an excellent suggestion. Certainly, you know, if we need 

to—if you need any help with the rest of the Committee, I think, 

you know, that would be very appropriate. Yet, I really would like 

to know officially what this is all about. 

Also, I thought the summary that Senator Isakson talked about, 

the concerns that we have regarding that issue, and the Member 

requests that Senator Sullivan talked about. Then, problems that 

they have when you are dealing with facilities. They are trying to 

get information and struggling in that regard, too. 

I would really like to see a more proactive approach and a little 

bit less defensive actions in those regards. 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you to the Ranking Member for having a very, very good hearing. 

39 

Chairman ISAKSON. Without objection, the statistics that were 

referred to by Senator Sullivan will be submitted for the record and 

will appear in the record in terms of the responsiveness of the 

Department. 

Senator SULLIVAN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

[The information referred to follows:] 

ISSUES SUBMITTED BY HON. DAN SULLIVAN

VA has not yet responded to post-hearing questions from the Budget hearing in 

February 2016 or a legislative hearing in March 2016. 

– 3 months to answer a routine question about how disability ratings are calculated. (March 10, 2016, request; June 15, 2016, answer) 

– 49 days to tell the Committee that VA does not have a policy requiring doctors performing compensation and pension examinations to provide copies of 

their resumes to veterans being examined if the veteran requests it. (Feb. 3, 

2016, request; March 24, 2016, answer) 

– 160 days to tell the Committee which offices within the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) were writing reports required by the fiscal year 2016 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations bill. By the time the 

Committee’s question was answered, the reports had already been sent to the 

Appropriations Committee. (Jan. 7, 2016, request; June 17, 2016, answer) 

– 42 days to send the Committee a White Paper, written by VHA’s Pharmacy 

Benefits Management Service, on the potential effects on what VHA pays for 

pharmaceuticals because of initiatives on the November ballot in three states. 

(Mar. 30, 2016, request; May 12, 2016, answer) 

Chairman ISAKSON. Also, for the Ranking Member’s edification, 

while he was away, Senator Manchin was involuntarily assigned by 

me, and Senator Rounds, who left early and was assigned by me, 

are going to co-chair a roundtable in this room hopefully before the 

15th of July with the appropriate people at the VA and each of the 

caseworkers in our offices back home, so we get some one-on-one 

dialog back and forth supporting that much-needed communication. 

Senator BLUMENTHAL. I think that is an excellent idea, and as 

usual, the Chairman’s best decisions are made without my being in 

the room. 

Chairman ISAKSON. I would never agree to that, but you clean 

up what I mess up, which I appreciate a lot. 

Senator BLUMENTHAL. I really, very seriously, think it is a great 

idea. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Chairman ISAKSON. This was a tough hearing, and I understand—yes, Senator Sullivan. 

Senator SULLIVAN. Mr. Chairman, I just want to reiterate what 

the Ranking Member said. I think it is really important as a follow-up to this hearing to get a full briefing from senior officials at 

the VA, but probably more important, senior officials at the Justice 

Department. 

This issue of accountability is an enormously important one for 

literally millions of Americans. For us to work through it as a Congress and pass legislation and then have the Attorney General of 

the United States essentially say, ‘‘Sorry, I am not going to enforce 

it because I think it is unconstitutional,’’ we need a heck of a lot 

more of a detailed briefing, very detailed briefing. Again, it should 

have been done well before they started to implement this policy. 

I just want to thank Senator Blumenthal for that good suggestion, and I certainly will be somebody who attends that briefing 

when we get it with the Justice Department. It should be soon. It 

should be real soon. I think they owe it to us. 

40 

Chairman ISAKSON. Well, the Ranking Member and I will make 

that request to DOJ as expeditiously as possible, and we have a 

meeting in an hour where we can begin that process. 

What I was about to say a minute ago is, Colonel, this was a 

tough hearing, and it was a tough hearing because there are some 

tough issues to be dealt with at the Veterans Administration. 

You are going to be—if you are confirmed for this position, 

which, hopefully, we will move expeditiously to get that confirmation moving. So, if you are confirmed for this position, you have got 

a big job and you have a short period of time to fulfill it, about 

seven months. 

We are serious as a heart attach about trying to get to the bottom of this issue in terms of more timely responses, number 1, and 

clear, streamlined accountability in the Veterans Administration, 

and an explanation for the Attorney General’s decision, and the 

subsequent acceptance of the Secretary of the Attorney General’s 

decision, not to enforce the law of the land passed by the Congress 

of the United States and signed by the President of the United 

States. 

With that, it has been a great day. We are delighted to have your 

family here today. 

We will leave the record open for a—— 

Senator BLUMENTHAL. Can I make one quick comment? 

Chairman ISAKSON. Senator Blumenthal. 

Senator BLUMENTHAL. Pardon me, Mr. Chairman. 

It has been a tough hearing, but you have done a really good job 

at this hearing. I look forward, as the Chairman does, to your swift 

confirmation. 

Senator SULLIVAN. Mr. Chairman, I would just add that I agree 

with that. And I certainly plan on voting for Colonel O’Connor, and 

hopefully, we get him in there soon. 

Chairman ISAKSON. Nobody is going to know their job better 

than you by the time you get there; I can promise you that. 

We appreciate your being here. We appreciate your family being 

here. We wish you the best of luck. 

This Committee meeting stands adjourned. 

[Whereupon, at approximately 3:35 p.m., the Committee was adjourned.] 

[The posthearing questions to Colonel O’Connor follows:] 

41 

RESPONSE TO POSTHEARING QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY HON. JOHNNY ISAKSON TO

CHRISTOPHER E. O’CONNOR, NOMINEE TO BE ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR CONGRESSIONAL AND LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

Question 1. In response to pre-hearing questions, you stated that VA’s goal is to 

respond to simple questions from Congress within 48 hours and to all other questions from Congress within 10 business days. 

A. For each of the past 2 years, what percentage of the time did VA meet those 

timeliness goals overall for Congressional requests? 

Response. During the last two years, VA has conducted or provided responses to: 

FY2015 FY2016 

(FYTD–May 31, 2016) 

Hearings ................................................................................................. 79 50 

Delivery of on time testimony ................................................................ 94% 91% (Goal is 90%) 

Briefings ................................................................................................. 782 586 

Requests for Information (RFIs) ............................................................ 2,984 1,879 

Technical Assistance .............................................................................. 348 503 

Questions for the Record (QFRs) ........................................................... 38 Sets (631 Questions) 25 Sets (273 Questions) 

Delivery of on time QFRs ....................................................................... 77% 68% (Goal is 85%) 

Executive Letters .................................................................................... 549 (31 bus. days) 475 (46 bus. days) 

Constituent Casework ............................................................................ 27,853 19,835 

VA’s guidelines indicate that ‘‘simple’’ requests for information (RFIs) are to be 

answered within 48 hours and other questions should be provided an answer within 

10 business days. OGR does not maintain performance metrics against these RFI 

guidelines for the nearly 3,000 inquiries that pass through the office on an annual 

basis. I am evaluating establishing performance metrics for RFIs; however, the 

varying complexity of each RFI makes it difficult to compare responsiveness. I recognize the need to better measure responsiveness, which is why I am working with 

internal organizations to streamline the process by which OGR receives answers to 

RFIs that are taking over 10 business days to complete. 

B. For each of the past 2 years, what percentage of the time did VA meet those 

goals for requests from Members of this Committee? 

Response. During the last two years, VA has conducted or provided responses to 

SVAC for: 

FY2015 FY2016 (FYTD) 

Hearings ................................................................................................. 12 8 

Delivery of on time testimony ................................................................ 100% 100% (Goal is 90%) 

Briefings ................................................................................................. 151 109 

Requests for Information (RFIs) ............................................................ 451 26 

Technical Assistance .............................................................................. 215 393 

Questions for the Record (QFRs) ........................................................... 12 Sets (147 Questions) 8 Sets (62 Questions) 

Delivery of on time QFRs ....................................................................... 58% 75% (Goal is 85%) 

Executive Letters .................................................................................... 29 (27 bus. days) 40 (37 bus. days) 

Constituent Casework ............................................................................ 444 251 

Question 2. At the hearing, you testified that the Office of Government Relations 

generates a weekly report on outstanding requests from Congress. 

A. Currently, how many requests from Members of this Committee have not yet 

been fulfilled? 

Response. Per OGR Workload Dashboard of June 23, 2016, the following SVAC 

items were identified as outstanding: 

SVAC 

Requests for Information .......................... 17 

Technical Assistance on Legislation ......... 6 

Questions for the Record .......................... 3 Sets (112 Questions) 

Executive Letters ....................................... 0 

Briefing Requests ...................................... 5 

Constituent Casework ............................... 30 

B. Of those requests that have not been fulfilled, how many have been pending 

longer than 10 business days? 

42 

Response. Per OGR Workload Dashboard of June 23, 2016, the following SVAC 

items were outstanding longer than 10 business days: 

SVAC 

Requests for Information .......................... 4 

Technical Assistance on Legislation ......... 3 

Questions for the Record .......................... 2 Sets (59 Questions) 

Executive Letters ....................................... 0 

Briefing Requests ...................................... 5 

Constituent Casework ............................... 13 

Question 3. At a House Veterans’ Affairs Committee hearing on June 23, 2016, VA 

expressed regret for lack of timely notification to Congress about VA’s recent decisions to retire VistA and discontinue use of its expedited firing authority for senior 

executives. 

A. Under what circumstances is it VA’s policy to proactively notify Congress about 

significant new information, incidents, policy changes, or other emerging issues? 

Response. While there is no official VA policy directive, it is my intent that Congress always learns of announcements with Congressional interest prior to them 

being made public. To the extent that OGR is made aware of decisions and provided 

information with which to notify appropriate staff, there should be no surprises for 

Members and congressional staff as the Department unveils new initiatives, personnel decisions, incidents, and other key information. 

B. Were those policies followed with respect to the issues mentioned above? If not, 

what factors led to that failure to follow the policy? 

Response. Both of these incidents could have been better coordinated. In the case 

of discontinued use of expedited firing authority, SVAC staff was notified ahead of 

public release, but we failed to notify the remainder of our oversight committees. 

In the case of any VistA-related decisions, this topic was discussed in an SVAC 

hearing and was then incorrectly characterized by the media. Additional pre-coordination would have ensured Congress had been provided more up-to-date information. 

C. What steps can be taken to ensure that Congress is being proactively notified 

of emerging issues in the future? 

Response. OGR will work to do a better job both ensuring the office has visibility 

of emerging issues and coordinating any announcement within the Department to 

ensure that Congress is appropriately notified. If confirmed, I will speak with leaders in the Department to underscore the need for thorough coordination that explicitly addresses the requirement to notify Congress in a timely manner, ahead of any 

public announcement. 

Æ