WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) – chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs – today led the committee in hearing from Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Doug Collins about his vision for VA and how he plans to improve the lives of veterans, their families, survivors and VA staff.

“While the VA is operated by many hard-working and caring staff members, many of whom are veterans themselves, the bureaucracy at the VA has hampered some of the department’s successes,” said Sen. Moran. “The current way of doing business at the VA is not working for every veteran or military family. I hear from Kansas veterans and their loved ones – as well as Kansans who work for the VA in the medical facilities, regional offices and veterans’ cemeteries – about the challenges they are facing. I look forward to hosting you [Secretary Collins] in Kansas sometime in the near future where we will visit with those veterans and VA employees.”

Sen. Moran asked Secretary Collins about the changes underway at VA and the importance of expanding access to life-saving mental health and substance use disorder services, including by allowing more veterans to access these services sooner and closer to home through VA community care partners.  

You can watch Sen. Moran’s questions to Secretary Collins here.

Click HERE to Watch Sen. Moran Opening Remarks

Opening Remarks as Prepared:

Good morning and welcome.

Thank you, Secretary Collins, for testifying before this committee for the first time since your confirmation as the Secretary of Veterans Affairs three months ago.

While the VA is operated by many hardworking and caring staff members – many of whom are veterans themselves – the bureaucracy at the VA has hampered the department’s success.

The current way of doing business at VA is not working for too many veterans and military families.

I hear from Kansas veterans and their loved ones – as well as Kansans working in VA medical facilities, regional offices, and veterans’ cemeteries – about the challenges they are facing.

I look forward to hosting you in Kansas in the coming weeks where we will visit with those veterans and VA employees.

This committee has worked to improve VA services for the millions of men and women around the country who rely on the health care, benefits, and services that VA provides.

Progress has been made.

The MISSION Act made VA care more accessible and enabled veterans, particularly those in rural areas, to receive care closer to home.

The PACT Act expanded health care and benefits to millions of veterans who were exposed to burn pits and other toxins during their military service.

Yet, much more work remains to make this agency – the second largest bureaucracy in the federal government – perform to the level that veterans, their families, and VA staff members deserve.

I believe that we share many of the same priorities, Mr. Secretary, including eliminating waste and reforming VA to better serve our nation’s veterans.

During the last three months, there have been announcements about significant changes across the department, including employee terminations, contract cancellations, and plans for large-scale reductions in force that could see VA return to the top-line workforce numbers in place six years ago.

That has caused understandable concern among veterans and VA staff, as well as many of us around this dais.

Mr. Secretary, I look forward to you addressing those concerns this morning.

The department is at a critical juncture, and I want to hear from you that the changes underway at VA are backed by data, informed by veteran demand, focused on improving outcomes for the men and women VA serves, and will be carried out in close coordination with this Committee as well as with veterans, VA staff, and veterans’ organizations.

As the VA undergoes restructuring, the department must be well-staffed by a quality, accountable workforce and any effort to right-size that workforce must be done carefully and in a manner that treats the men and women who entered public service to care for veterans with gratitude.

I believe that we can work together to achieve lasting, positive changes at VA that best serves our veterans, staff members, survivors and caregivers.

Thank you for being here this morning. With that, I yield to Ranking Member Blumenthal for his opening remarks.

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