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Amata takes part in VA Oversight Hearing on whistleblower protection

 Congresswoman Amata and others in virtual committee meeting
Source: Media release from Cong. Uifaatali Amata's office

Washington, D.C. — Congresswoman Uifa’atali Amata took part in a Wednesday hearing focused on whistleblower protections. The oversight hearing of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee’s Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations examined whistleblower policies at the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (VA).

 “We want to ensure the VA has in place real, workable protections for whistleblowers, proper accountability in such cases, and measurable improvement from the past,” said Congresswoman Amata. “Putting Veterans first and demanding accountability are a theme of my recent efforts in the Committee including bipartisan accountability reform bills I’ve helped introduce recently.”

Last month, Congresswoman Amata joined Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-New York) in introducing two bipartisan VA oversight accountability bills: The Strengthening Oversight for Veterans Act (H.R. 2428), and the VA Police Improvement and Accountability Act (H.R. 2429).

This hearing focused on the procedures of the VA’s Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection. This office was itself a reform, created in 2017, to handle VA whistleblower reports. However, there were initial failures followed by changes and an appointment by President Trump of an Assistant Secretary tasked to improve the performance of the office. The Subcommittee is examining the progress since, and the content of a report identifying those failures and areas of need for improvement.