GARDEN CITY, NY – U.S. Representative Kathleen Rice, a member of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, released the following statement today regarding this week’s reports that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) paid more than $142 billion in bonuses to executives and employees in 2014. Statement from Representative Kathleen Rice: “As we celebrated Veterans Day this week, we also learned that the VA paid out more than $142 million in ‘performance-based’ bonuses to executives and employe...
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WASHINGTON – U.S. Representative Kathleen Rice, a member of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, today called on the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to approve Nassau Community College’s proposal to host a VetSuccess on Campus (VSOC) counselor, who would offer a range of services to veterans, servicemembers and dependents seeking help with their educational, employment, or adjustment goals. In a letter to VA Secretary Robert McDonald, co-signed by all five members of the Long Island del...
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WASHINGTON – U.S. Representative Kathleen Rice today announced that two local organizations have been awarded nearly $300,000 in federal grant funds to help homeless veterans on Long Island find jobs and sustainable housing. Easter Seals New York, Inc. will receive $150,000 and United Veterans Beacon House, Inc. will receive $145,000 through the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Homeless Veterans’ Reintegration Program (HVRP). HVRP grants are awarded to various state and local organizations to su...
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By Lisa Rein The Washington Post The payments couldn’t help but catch the attention of the top procurement official at the Department of Veterans Affairs. Employees in the purchasing department of a VA hospital in the Bronx had used government purchase cards like credit cards at least 2,000 times to buy prosthetic legs and arms for veterans. Each time they swiped the cards, it was for $24,999. That was precisely one dollar below VA’s charging limit for purchase cards. When word reached Congress...
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WASHINGTON – U.S. Representative Kathleen Rice announced today that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Inspector General has agreed to investigate allegations of abuse of purchase cards at a VA health care facility in the Bronx. Rice, a member of the House Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, called for the investigation during a May subcommittee hearing on allegations of waste, fraud and abuse in VA’s Purchase Card Program, which allows certain VA emplo...
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WNYC By Sean Carlson The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is investigating the potential abuse of charge cards at a VA hospital in the Bronx. Lawmakers are asking to see records of $50 million worth of purchases made by a supervisor at the James J. Peters VA Medical Center. The VA says records of those purchases were destroyed by Sandy. Rep. Kathleen Rice of Long Island, who called for the investigation, said that's too convenient. "Everyone knows how devastating Superstorm Sandy was, but it...
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WASHINGTON – U.S. Representative Kathleen Rice’s first legislation passed in the House today with unanimous bipartisan support. H.R. 1382, the Boosting Rates of American Veteran Employment (BRAVE) Act, which Rice introduced in March, passed by a vote of 404-0. The legislation authorizes the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, when awarding VA contracts, to give preference to companies that have high concentrations of full-time veteran employees, which will reward contractors that actively hire vetera...
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By Tom Brune Newsday WASHINGTON - Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-Garden City) Monday passed her first bill as a member of Congress, a measure that would allow the Department of Veterans Affairs to give preference in awarding contracts to companies with high concentrations of veteran employees. The bill, supported by veterans groups and both parties, passed by a vote of 404-0. Now Rice must find someone to introduce her bill in the Senate, where it must be passed or die. An aide said Rice is working on fi...
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By Cristina Marcos The Hill The House approved a package of legislation on Monday to enhance federal assistance programs for veterans. One of the bills, passed 404-0, would authorize the Secretary of Veterans' Affairs (VA) to give preference to entities that employ veterans on a full-time basis when awarding federal procurement contracts. The measure's sponsor, Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-N.Y.), said it would provide an incentive for companies to employ veterans returning from wars in Iraq or Afghanis...
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By Matthew Daly Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Department of Veterans Affairs is improperly spending at least $5 billion a year for medical care and supplies being purchased in violation of required practices for competitive bidding and written contracts, a senior VA official said Thursday. "Gross mismanagement" by senior agency leaders has wasted billions of dollars and made a "mockery" of federal laws regarding purchasing of goods and services, said Jan Frye, deputy assistant secretar...
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