WASHINGTON – On Tuesday, Rep. Martha Roby of Alabama’s second congressional district took to the House floor to urge her colleagues to vote for an amendment to an appropriations bill that would forbid bonuses for Department of Veterans Affairs executives while more than 800,000 veterans await the bureaucracy to resolve disability claims. Roby sponsored the amendment along with Keith Rothfus (R-PA), Scott Tipton (R-CO) and Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA).
“Each case represents a person who has served his or her country,” Roby said. “Each case represents a veteran who may have earned a benefit but is currently being denied that benefit because of bureaucratic delay. An award of a bonus should be a special recognition of success and accomplishment – not a right or a routine payment. Restricting the ability to award bonuses until that backlog is cleared is a commonsense good government policy, and I am pleased to support my colleague’s amendment. It is a strong step in that direction.”
According to a release from Roby’s office, a 2011 audit of the VA revealed the agency paid out $2.8 million to senior executives that fiscal year and $2.3 million in 2012.
The amendment to H.R. 2216, the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill of 2014 passed 421-4 in the House of Representatives. However, the future of the amendment as a part of this bill becoming law remains uncertain as parties in the Senate and the House are still at an impasse over budget legislation.
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