WASHINGTON — Did the Department of Veterans Affairs overspend — and waste taxpayer dollars — last summer when it paid $5 million for two training conferences in Orlando, Fla.?
WASHINGTON — Did the Department of Veterans Affairs overspend — and waste taxpayer dollars — last summer when it paid $5 million for two training conferences in Orlando, Fla.?
That’s the question at the center of two ongoing investigations into the taxpayer-funded conferences, which one U.S. House lawmaker said bore “eerie similarities” to a scandalous 2010 conference near Las Vegas that infuriated Congress this spring and cost the jobs of several high-ranking officials at the General Services Administration.
Though the weeklong Orlando conferences in 2011 didn’t feature clowns, mind readers or a $75,000 team-building exercise — as was the case in Las Vegas — the VA allegedly spent $52,000 of the $5 million to produce a short parody of the movie “Patton,” complete with a professional actor.
The 18-minute satire of the movie’s iconic opening — a “blood-and-guts” Patton speech in front of a massive American flag — was just one expense that caught the attention of U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., who chairs a House oversight committee and is heading a congressional inquiry into the VA conferences.
In an Aug. 13 letter to VA Secretary Eric Shinseki, Issa asked why the VA paid an outside contractor for the Patton parody — when the agency had videographers on staff — and whether the agency wasted money by spending $84,000 for items such as highlighters and hand sanitizers.
The conferences “bear eerie similarities to the now-infamous 2010 General Services (GSA) conference in Las Vegas,” wrote Issa, who gave the VA a deadline of Aug. 27 to turn over reams of documents related to the conferences, including receipts and the names of all the VA organizers.
Of particular concern to congressional investigators, as well as the VA’s inspector general, is whether conference organizers broke federal rules by accepting gifts from hotels when deciding where to hold the two conferences last summer — a decision that ultimately went to the Orlando World Center Marriott, the area’s largest convention hotel.
Calls to Doug Ridge, general manager of the World Center, were not returned Tuesday.
In his letter, Issa suggested that some VA officials “may have received improper gifts,” including show tickets, limousine service and helicopter rides.
In a statement, the VA said it is “cooperating fully” with investigators and has “remove(d) purchasing authority of any employees in the work unit under investigation.” It said Shinseki has ordered “an outside independent review of all training policies and procedures and the execution of all training conferences” and ethics training for conference planners.
According to the Federal Times, which first reported the story, about 1,800 people attended the training sessions for human-resources personnel at a cost of $2,734 per person.
Working parallel to Issa on Congress’ investigation is the VA Office of Inspector General, which handles internal allegations of waste, fraud and abuse.
The office launched its inquiry in April and is expected to issue a report next month. IG spokeswoman Joanne Moffett said that, although the conferences themselves were for “legitimate training purposes,” investigators “have uncovered questionable activities, and we have notified both the secretary and Congress of these issues.”