Issa: Biden VA Protecting Failing Employees at the Expense of America’s Veterans

“The VA must deliver its best, fire its worst”

On February 15, Congressman Darrell Issa (CA-48) and Congressman Mike Bost (IL-12), Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, sent a letter to the Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough to emphasize Congress’ intent to allow swift removal of VA employees that fail in their job assignments. The letter follows a recent Merit System Protection Board action to gut Congressional reforms specifically designed to allow the removal non-performing VA employees. Today, Congressman Issa and Chairman Bost made the following statements:

“After dozens of veterans died waiting for care and secret lists harmed veteran health, Congress passed reforms that empowered the VA to dismiss its worst employees and hold others accountable when they could not or would not complete their duties,” said Rep. Issa. “The Biden Administration, however, has undone these accountability measures and instead fights for a return to the unthinkable old system that allowed failing bureaucrats to remain on the job. Chairman Bost and I will ensure that the laws enacted by Congress to protect the nation’s veterans won’t be ignored and accountability will be restored.”

Issa specifically mentioned that the VA’s refusal to dismiss failing employees is a fundamental failing of its core obligations to veterans. He added that the department is ignoring clear federal law and Congressional intent.

“When the President signed the bipartisan VA Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act in 2017, it gave VA the authority to remove employees for poor performance or misconduct to ensure veterans receive the best services. This law applies to most VA employees, including hybrid ones,” said Chairman Bost. “However, the MSPB’s recent decision to prohibit VA from firing hybrid employees is in clear violation of the law and reduces accountability at the Department. We need answers. The Secretary has a responsibility to guarantee that the VA workforce is top notch and if they’re not, he needs the tools to fix it. Right now, the MSPB’s decision is standing in the way of that.”

“Once again the Merit System Protection Board (MSPB) has clearly ignored the letter and spirit of the Department of Veterans Affairs Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act of 2017 and has instead sided with unaccountable VA bureaucrats over veterans,” said Darin Selnick, Senior Advisor for Concerned Veterans of America. “This hurts veterans, their faith in VA, and good VA employees who are stuck working with co-workers who deserve to be fired due to their poor performance and malfeasance. Congress should investigate this pattern of MSPB obstruction and decide if the MSPB itself needs reform legislation so that in the future it will carry out the will of Congress.”

The full text of the letter can be viewed HERE.

Congressman Issa Hosts Listening Session with Farmers, Ranchers, and Agriculture Leaders as Congress Reauthorizes Nation’s Farm Bill

Calls for regional stakeholder input to deliver to drafting Congressional committee

On March 6, Congressman Darrell Issa hosted a Farm Bill Listening Session with farmers, ranchers, and members of the Riverside County and San Diego County Farm Bureaus to discuss issues that farmers and the entire agriculture industry of the 48^th district face – and how to develop lasting solutions that are overdue at the national level.

The session included a robust dialogue among the growers of avocados, potted and fresh-cut flowers, berries and oranges, as well as cattle ranchers. The session and conversations between participants and Congressman Issa specifically focused on comprehensive water usage and storage, along with the high cost of scarce water resources to California farmers. The continuing review of federal land management policy and environmental regulations was also a significant topic, including the ways this hinders effective and efficient cattle grazing. Finally, others detailed the importance of research and innovation toward developing better farm technologies – and how that can be done in the face of oppressive California regulations.

After the session, Congressman Issa made the following statement:

“This year’s reauthorization of the Farm Bill provides an ideal opportunity to ensure the continued success of California farmers and agriculture. For 80 years this consensus legislation has sought to keep food prices fair for farmers and consumers, ensure an adequate food supply, and protect and sustain America’s vital natural resources. As times have changed, so have the needs of our farmers, ranchers, and the entire ag community, and their voices are going to be heard loud and clear as we finalize this year’s Farm Bill.”

Rep. Issa specifically noted that the listening session was held so he can deliver the area’s unique needs to the House Agriculture Committee as it works to update the Farm Bill. All stakeholders of the 48th District are encouraged to submit input to Congressman Issa for transmission to the Committee by March 27.

Issa Slams State Department Funding of European Group that Developed ‘Enemies List’ of Conservative Media

On March 7, Congressman Darrell Issa sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken calling for a comprehensive inquiry into federal grants and congressional appropriations awarded by the State Department to the Global Disinformation Index – a Europe-based organization that maintains an exclusion list of conservative media sites to target for “disinformation.”

The list included established media outlets including the Washington Examiner, Real Clear Politics, the Federalist, Newsmax, Breitbart, the Daily Wire, One America News, and the New York Post.

Following the release of the letter, Congressman Issa made the following statement:

“The weaponization by the federal government of the term ‘disinformation’ for the purposes of silencing and censoring free speech must stop. The Department of State’s flagrant disregard in this case is a clear violation of Congressional intent, the principles of our democracy and the inherent rights of all Americans. It is imperative that the Department of State undertake a prompt and comprehensive inquiry into any grants, authorities, and policies that may be improperly and illegally used to curtail the free expression of conservative and domestic media.”

Read the full letter HERE.

Issa: Biden’s Biggest Lies About Afghanistan

Were Finally Exposed Today

On March 8, Congressman Darrell Issa (CA-48) issued the following statements following the first hearing of the House Foreign Affairs Committee: “During and After the Fall of Kabul: Examining the Administration’s Emergency Evacuation from Afghanistan.”

Rep. Issa, a Senior Member of the committee, led direct questioning of the witnesses.

“We proved today that President Biden and his Administration deliberately and repeatedly mislead the nation about the number of Americans they abandoned in Afghanistan – and continued to lie even after provided the facts about their betrayal of our citizens.”

“This truth was a long time coming – a full 18 months since the fall of Kabul – and we still have work to do if we are going to hold this administration accountable. They have never come close to making this right.”

“The witnesses today included American heroes who served this country in combat and then once again by standing up a global relief effort after President Biden stood down and abandoned his fellow citizens. What we heard in their testimony today was an eyewitness account that devastates the spin, the myths, and the excuses this Administration is still using.”

Issa: China is Stealing America’s Intellectual Property

While Benefitting From America’s Laws

On March 9, Congressman Darrell Issa, Chairman of the House Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet, held the subcommittee’s first hearing of the 118th Congress entitled, “Intellectual Property and Strategic Competition with China: Part I”, to combat the constant and threatening Chinese intellectual property theft.

“Today, there is no greater threat to America’s economy, America’s research and development, and America’s national security than the Chinese government’s quest to achieve superiority over our country by any means necessary – both legal and illegal,” said Rep. Issa. “To put it simply: China is stealing what is ours while at the same time availing themselves of the legal and regulatory protections – and ownership of intellectual property – that America created in the name of respect for the rule of law.”

Rep. Issa also made specific mention that the Chinese government continues to devote enormous resources and direct funding to acquire control of U.S. companies and their assets not to run them or monetize them – but instead to strip away the American technology and American intellectual property in essential industries and repurpose them for China’s global advantage.

He also pledged that today’s hearing would be – due to the seriousness of the threat – “The first of many.”

Issa Leads Renewed Effort to Ban U.S. Courts from Enforcing Trademarks Stolen by Cuba’s Regime

Congressman joining with House colleague Rep. Wasserman Schultz,

Sen. Rubio and Sen. Menendez in the Senate

On March 10, Congressman Darrell Issa (CA-48), Chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet, along with Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-25), U.S. Senators Bob Menendez (N.J.), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Marco Rubio (FL), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee for the Western Hemisphere, have reintroduced the bicameral, bipartisan No Stolen Trademarks Honored in America Act. This legislation would prohibit U.S. courts and executive branch agencies from recognizing, enforcing, or otherwise validating any assertion of rights by an individual of a trademark that was used in connection with a business or assets that were confiscated by the Cuban regime, unless the original owner of the trademark expressly consented to the transfer of the trademark.

“This legislation is about more than one circumstance. It is the righting of a historical wrong and clear acknowledgement of the inherent value of intellectual property and the inviolable ownership of one’s ideas and creations,” said Rep. Issa. “This legislation makes a technical correction to our law, but one that will ensure that the protections of our laws apply to all parties claiming U.S. rights to confiscated Cuban trademarks – regardless of nationality.”

“We are obligated to protect American companies who have been victimized by intellectual property theft and fraud, especially at the hands of adversarial foreign governments,” said Rep. Wasserman Schultz. “This legislation prohibits U.S. courts and executive branch agencies from validating an assertion of trademark rights in connection with a business or assets confiscated by the Cuban government. I hope my colleagues on both sides of the aisle will join us in reaffirming that the United States will not tolerate trademarks being held hostage.”
“Any confiscation or seizure of assets by the Cuban regime is and will always be a criminal act that should not be rewarded by the U.S. government,” said Sen. Menendez. “This legislation would codify into law longstanding U.S. policy of supporting rightful owners of stolen property by guaranteeing that American courts and the executive branch only recognize the rights of those whose trademarks were illegally taken by the Cuban government.”

“There is bipartisan support to protect Americans who had property stolen by the Cuban regime. For years, the Cuban dictatorship has benefited from the confiscation of property. We must ensure that federal agencies and U.S. courts will not recognize, or validate any trademark rights that were illegally stolen from the rightful owners by the Cuban regime,” said Sen. Rubio

The No Stolen Trademarks Honored in America Act would prohibit the use of a trademark when the individual asserting trademark rights knew or had reason to know at the time of acquisition that the trademark was the same or substantially similar to the trademark or name used in connection with a U.S. business or asset confiscated by the Cuban government.

The full text of the bill can be found HERE.

Darrell Issa is the Representative of California’s 48th Congressional District. The District encompasses the central and eastern parts of San Diego County and a portion of Riverside County, including the communities of Fallbrook, Valley Center, Ramona, Escondido, Santee, Lakeside, Poway, Temecula, Murrieta, and the mountain and desert areas of the San Diego-Imperial County line. Issa served as the Chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform from 2011-2015.