::::::::
Statement of Rep. Lane Evans in Response to VA IG Report On Issues Related to the Loss of VA Information Involving the Identities of Million of VeteransThere was a series of failures in this tragic event:ambiguous or non-existent policy governing access,transporting and use of data with personal identifiers; departmental indifference to five years of warnings from its own Inspector General and the Government Acccountability Office regarding its information technology deficiencies;in my view,the most egregious-utterly dysfunctional leadership, a total communications breakdown and an alarming lack of urgency within the department in reporting a serious-by-all-measures data breach up the line.
When the employee from whom the data is stolen reports it to VA managers and law enforcement within an hour,yet higher-ups, in a disastrous sequence of bungles and indifference take one week to elevate it seven floors in the same building and another week to walk it a few steps over to the Secretary-not to mention an additional six days to inform Congress and the public-then it becomes clear there was and is within VA a bigger crisis than even the theft of such a massive amount of data.
The Secretary testified before our Committee that he is "mad as hell" about the data breach .He should be.His actions in light of these IG findings will tell us if those words were deeply felt or simply meant to engender sympathy under intense presure.His next steps must include a serious and detailed review of why his managers and advisors botched it and failed to report the matter to him. He must also follow up with bold and decisive administrative action.His failure to do so would compound his agency's gross failures in this matter.I am pleased to see that the Secretary has indicated to the IG his intentions to convene four separate administrative investigations in this regard.
For you that don't know this Lane has to step down do to illness. We Veterans will miss him. To bad other Democrats are not like him.
