{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.rounds.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/rounds-tester-and-moran-introduce-bill-to-increase-oversight-accountability-at-va", "Rounds, Tester and Moran Introduce Bill to Increase Oversight, Accountability at VA", "2023-08-14", "2023", "2023-08", "Republican", "Senate", "SD", "Mike Rounds", "R000605", "www.rounds.senate.gov", "rounds", "https://www.rounds.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON \u2013 U.S. Senator Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), a member of the Senate Veterans\u2019 Affairs Committee, teamed up with Chairman Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and Ranking Member Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) to introduce the Leadership, Engagement, Accountability, and Development (LEAD) Act of 2023. This bipartisan legislation would work to improve the Department of Veterans Affairs\u2019 (VA) ability to identify wrongdoing and hold leadership and employees accountable.\n\nThe senators\u2019 comprehensive legislation would reform VA\u2019s oversight and accountability processes and tools to improve the Department\u2019s ability to take action against VA leaders and employees who have engaged in misconduct. It would also require Department leaders at all levels to take more proactive oversight efforts to root out bad actors and empower rank-and-file employees to hold leadership accountable. These reforms would help prevent wrongdoing and leadership failures, which would increase patient safety and the quality of services, care and benefits at VA facilities across the country.\n\n\u201cOur nation\u2019s veterans have made incredible sacrifices so that we can be free,\u201d said Rounds. \u201cWe have a responsibility to provide them with health care and other benefits after their service is complete, and it is crucial that VA employees at all levels charged with delivering that care are held to a high standard. The LEAD Act would improve the Department\u2019s ability to hold bad actors accountable and protect whistleblowers, while increasing patient safety at VA facilities. I am pleased to join Chairman Tester and Ranking Member Moran in introducing this bipartisan legislation to make certain that the VA has the tools it needs to conduct proper oversight and retain employees who are dedicated to providing quality care and services to our veterans.\u201d\n\n\u201cBad actors at VA will not be tolerated\u2014period,\u201d said Tester. \u201cOur bipartisan bill will overhaul VA\u2019s oversight tools to root out and prevent misconduct at the Department, ensuring we have the very best leaders and employees serving the men and women who risked their lives for this country.\u201d\n\n\u201cInstilling accountability at the VA is key to ensuring veterans receive the care and benefits they deserve and attracting the best and brightest to VA\u2019s workforce,\u201d said Moran. \u201cEarlier this year, I introduced the bipartisan, bicameral Restore Department of Veterans Affairs Accountability Act. The LEAD Act complements that legislation and would provide the VA with additional tools to improve oversight, outcomes and the delivery of services to veterans and their families. I look forward to working with my colleagues to pass both bills in the Senate. When bad actors and poor performing employees are appropriately held accountable and the right oversight mechanisms are in place, veterans and hardworking VA employees \u2013 who make up the vast majority of the workforce \u2013 will all benefit.\u201d\n\nThe LEAD Act\u2019s provisions draw on the findings of dozens of VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) and Government Accountability Office (GAO) reports and years of Congressional hearings and oversight work documenting recurring gaps in VA\u2019s oversight. It specifically would put into law the findings of GAO\u2019s recent review of VA\u2019s Office of Medical Inspector, establishing accountability mechanisms to improve oversight of VA health care.\n\nAmong its many provisions, the LEAD Act would:\n\nRequire VA to establish a unified system with clear standards and training for proposing and processing accountability actions, including terminations, demotions and suspensions, against VA employees who have engaged in misconduct.\n\nEstablish one single office in the Veterans Health Administration\u2019s (VHA) that would consolidate all of VHA\u2019s oversight, patient safety, care quality and accountability functions to cut red tape and make clear who\u2019s in charge of oversight in these areas.\n\nCreate a group of traveling VA medical staff to cover long-term absences on a temporary basis amidst ongoing investigations or during planned extended leave to make certain there\u2019s no disruption in veterans\u2019 access to care.\n\nMandate VA report to Congress on the lessons learned from implementing the VA Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act of 2017.\n\nRequire local and regional VHA leaders to regularly conduct in-person oversight visits of facilities.\n\n\u201cOur nation\u2019s veterans have risked their lives to protect our way of life,\u201d said National Commander of The American Legion Vincent James \u201cJim\u201d Troiola. \u201cVeterans deserve the best care from an accountable Department of Veterans Affairs. The American Legion proudly supports the LEAD Act, which will provide sustained accountability to ensure the VA is delivering the quality care veterans deserve.\u201d\n\nClick HERE for full bill text.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T00:30:18Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.rounds.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/rounds-tester-and-moran-introduce-bill-to-increase-oversight-accountability-at-va"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.151875989511609, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}