“The State of VA”, Remarks by the Hon. Anthony J. Principi

I have now been back with VA as your Secretary for just over a year and I believe that, working together, we have made a difference for the veterans we serve. 

From Alaska to Florida; from California to the Virgin Islands; I have spent a good deal of my time visiting veterans and VA employees throughout America.  I hear your compliments and your complaints, your opinions on what’s right and what’s wrong, your thoughts on what’s good and what’s bad in our Department.

Let me give you an example of what I’ve learned: we have more than 700,000 pending veterans’ benefits claims.  It takes, on an average, more than 225 days to decide those claims. Our veterans and their families are entitled to better service.

We are meeting that challenge by implementing the practical hands-on recommendations of the Claims Processing Task Force.

A Tiger Team, headquartered in Cleveland, has made more than 18,000 decisions for veterans over the age of 70 who have been waiting more than a year for us to act.  18,000 elderly veterans no longer need to wait to find out whether they are eligible for VA benefits.  

And in both January and February of 2002 workers in our regional offices decided record numbers of claims–while maintaining high levels of accuracy.  In both months, we more than doubled the number of claims we decided in the same month in 2001.  

Throughout VA, we see examples of how we are meeting President Lincoln’s challenge to care for those who have borne the battle, and their families, and the challenges we must overcome for future success.

Even as we face our challenges, we should not lose site of the many benefits Veterans Benefits Administration employees provide to veterans.

Today and every working day, VA will guarantee more than 700 home loans for veterans entering the ranks of America‘s homeowners; and will administer the fourth largest life insurance program in the United States, with 2.2 million policies in force having a face value of $22 billion.

This month and every month, more than 2.7 million disabled veterans will receive a disability compensation check from VA.

And this year, almost 400,000 veterans will attend school on the GI bill, and nearly 64,000 disabled veterans will receive vocational rehabilitation training to prepare them for successful civilian lives.

VBA’s dedicated employees make a huge difference in the lives of America‘s 25 million living veterans, efficiently and effectively providing them with the benefits they earned through their service.  No one should forget how many important tasks you do well, unheralded and unsung.  I have not forgotten, and I will not let Congress or the President forget, either.

Nowhere do VA workers touch lives more directly than we do for the veterans who turn to us for their healthcare.

Today, 6.2 million American veterans look to us as their primary health care provider.  Irrefutable evidence that veterans are learning what we already know—VA’s health care is second to none.

In 2001, Harvard University presented our patient safety program the prestigious Innovations in American Government Award.

Our Grand Junction, Colorado Medical Center won the President’s Award for Quality—the highest award given to federal employees and agencies.

And customer satisfaction surveys confirm that the overwhelming majority of our patients are pleased with our care.

Our challenge will be to avoid becoming victims of our own success.  Since 1995, the number of veterans enrolled for VA care has increased by three million, and the number is expected to increase dramatically.

We have made enormous strides in providing more cost-effective care while protecting our hard-earned quality.  But the increasing numbers of veterans turning to us for help, combined with rising costs of healthcare everywhere, present us with ever more difficult challenges.

Simply put, we provide an expanding population of veterans with an increasing array of services on a fixed budget.

We are responding by improving our procurement practices;

By reshaping our legacy infrastructure to meet the needs of the 21^st century;

By increasing cooperation with the military health care system;

By improving our business practices;

And by continuing to look for ways to make our medical practices more cost-effective without sacrificing quality.

Even with all that, you don’t need me to tell you that our medical centers and outpatient clinics are stretched to the breaking point—and that veterans who come to us for care must often wait far too long for an initial appointment.

Our Fiscal Year 2003 budget request is the largest in our history.  The President requested $58 billion for veterans’ benefits and services–$6.1 billion more than 2002.  At a time when increases in discretionary spending for federal agencies average about 2, the President asked for a 7 increase for VA’s discretionary spending, most of which is for health care.  I am proud of this budget, and grateful to the President for his support.  

But we can’t count on appropriations alone.  We must help our own cause by providing more cost effective care and by improving our business practices, especially collections from veterans’ insurance companies.  Everyone at every state in the process must help, from physicians’ documentation, coding through accurate billing.

One thing we will not do—not while I am Secretary–is sacrifice the quality of our care.  It took a long time for you to earn our reputation for quality care and we must all protect it.

Today and every day, approximately 1,800 veterans will go to their final reward.  But we are meeting the challenge of honoring their service and their lives.  In a recent Customer Satisfaction Survey conducted by the University of Michigan Business School, our National Cemetery Administration received a score of 93 out of a possible 100—25 points above the average for both government agencies and private sector businesses.  

All across America, our National Cemeteries are working at peak capacity, yet NCA employees find the time to conduct every burial with the dignity and honor befitting the contributions veterans made to our society.  NCA, too, is making a difference.

Tonight, nearly a quarter of a million American veterans may be homeless, and we are responding to that challenge with the largest integrated network of homeless assistance programs in the country.  57 percent of all homeless veterans have used VA’s health care services at one time.  Our efforts make a real difference in the lives of thousands of homeless veterans—and we will not rest until every veteran has a place of his or her own to call home.

VA has a history of developing stove-piped, non-connected, and incompatible Information Technology systems.  Last year, a core group of VA leaders gave up their weekends to design a department-wide Enterprise Architecture.  Under the leadership of Dr. John Gauss, our CIO, we are implementing their vision of making information about every veteran available anywhere, anytime, to any authorized user at every facility–of VA’s systems freely exchanging information with each other without regard to institutional barriers.

Our limited resources challenge us to ensure we take full advantage of our size and purchasing power and get the best bang for the buck in everything we buy. A procurement task force has identified ways to enhance our ability to leverage our sheer purchasing power; obtain comprehensive information about what we buy; and improve our organizational effectiveness.  We are well on our way to achieving the savings and realizing the increased effectiveness we need to provide veterans with the service they earned.

VA is nothing but hollow shells of bricks and steel without the people who embody our commitment to veterans.

VA is a very diverse organization.  57 percent of VA employees are women; 24 percent are African American; and 12 percent are of other minority groups.  I am absolutely committed to the principles and policies of equal opportunity, and I expect every VA manager to share that commitment. 

I believe that, in general, VA workers are treated with respect and dignity.  But I also know that, regrettably, there are exceptions.  Any discrimination within our Department is unacceptable behavior.

Thirty-seven percent of our VA workforce will be eligible to retire by September 2005—and another 13 percent will be eligible for an early out.  We are responding to that challenge with a Workforce and Succession plan to insure that we have skilled workers and capable leadership throughout VA in the years to come.  The turnover we expect as our older employees retire should create opportunities for all of our employees to compete for promotion into the ranks of our leaders for tomorrow.

New leaders will bring new ideas to our mission.  My leadership team here in Central Office is nearly in place.  On March 14, the Senate held confirmation hearings for our nominees for Under Secretary for Health and for Under Secretary for Benefits: Dr. Bob Roswell and Admiral Dan Cooper.  They are leaders for the 21^st century, and I believe they will be soon confirmed.

Today, VA is strong in nearly every area.  The flame of service burns brightly from Manila to Maine.  But we face great challenges in the years ahead.

We have established a roadmap to improve claims timeliness, but we have not yet actually reduced our backlog. 

While we are increasingly recognized for the quality of our care, we must care for millions of new enrollees within our tight budget constraints.  

We also face the long overdue need to realign our facilities to match veterans’ needs and locations and the practice of 21^st century medicine.

As more of our older veterans pass on, we must continue to serve them and their families at our National Cemeteries.

With our nation at war, we face the challenge of supporting the Department of Defense—and of being prepared for any disaster our nation may face in the future.  No one can know whether, or how, we will be called upon—but I know VA will make America proud.

Just over a year ago, when the President first honored me with leadership of our Department, he talked to me about the responsibilities of public service.  He reminded me that every dollar we spend is a dollar taken from the table and life of an American taxpayer.  We are stewards of those tax dollars.

Our compassion for the veterans we serve is not measured in the number of dollars we spend.  It is measured in the outcomes we achieve.  Taxpayers’ lives are changed for the poorer when they must write checks to the IRS, and we have an obligation to ensure that our stewardship of those dollars produces a reciprocal change for the better in the lives of the veterans we serve.

Every one of us must be held accountable for our actions in the exercise of that stewardship.

Let me conclude with the words of one of my distinguished predecessors, General Omar Bradley.  General Bradley once said: “We are dealing with veterans, not procedures.  With their problems, not ours.”  

Those words of General Bradley’s are the key to success for the Department of Veterans Affairs.  Never forget that we are here to serve America’s veterans.  Some were heroes, some merely did what they were told.  All of them served our country and contributed to the ongoing defense of our liberty.  Each of them was willing to risk their life for our freedom and earned the highest level of our service.

Thank you for everything you have done on behalf of veterans in this past year—and for everything you will do in the years ahead.

God bless you, and above all else, God bless America!

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