American veterans. We will hear the opening statements. I will remind you to pause two to three seconds before spe speaking, so the microphone picks up your words and so you can pause when answering questions so we capture your complete response. Thank you very much, ms. Barnes, you are recognized for five minutes. Ms. Barnes, you may have to unmute. I think were having trouble hearing you. Proceed, ms. Barnes. I think you just unmuted okay. Members of the subcommittee and task force, thank you for inviting me here to today to discuss Sexual Harassment at the department of Veterans Affairs. 2016 survey by the protection board estimated that 22 of va employees experienced some form of Sexual Harassment in the workplace. Va has several methods to address such Sexual Harassment complaints, but we found that the agency was falling short in a number of areas including one, the complaint structure, the [inaudible] and three [inaudible] to va employees. I will discuss issues with the complaint structure. The vas eeo Organization Structure doesnt adhere to a key directive from the equal Employment Opportunity commission. The same official may not oversee personnel functions and eeo functions. However the eeo director has oversight responsibility for both of these. In order to maintain the integrity of the eeo investigative and Decision Making processes and avoid a conflict of interest or the appearance of one, the director states that those eeo functions must be kept separate from the agencys personnel function. Our report recommends that va realign its director position to adhere to the directive. They didnt concur with the recommendation. The second problem with the eeo Program Managers, those that interface with employees about the program as va facilities. Va Officials Say full time eeo Program Managers should report to the orm instead of the director of the local facility in order to prevent real or perceived conflicts of interest. However, two of the three administrations are not structured this way. Our report recommends the va complete these realignments and va has plans for these realignments that stretch into 2024. The third problem relates to the Harassment Prevention Program which va has four years and cited in its policy. It is intended to prevent and address harassment including Sexual Harassment yet neither the policy directive or implementation handbook has been approved by va leadership and distributed to employees. We found that vas failure to approve and distribute these documents has contributed to inconsistent implementation and a lack of awareness about the program. Our report recommends that va finalize these documents. Let me turn to the second area of concern, Information Collection incidents of Sexual Harassment and actions taken. I will talk about what va knows about the extent of harassment. Va relies on complaint data to understand the Sexual Harassment at the agency, but these data are incomplete. Va has data on complaints that are made through the harassment correction Prevention Program or through the eeo process but not all complaints where observations of Sexual Harassment made to managers. Currently theres no requirement for managers to report this information through the orm. In addition, va does not use additional available information that could inform its efforts to address sexual harass, such as, surveys, would suggest that many employees do not file formal complaints when they experience Sexual Harassment. Our reports recommend that va requires managers to report all Sexual Harassment complaints to orm and va said it would implement a new system by the end of september 2021. Now, turning to what va knows about corrective actions taken to address Sexual Harassment. Va does not have a comprehensive to make sure that corrective actions such as disciplines that are decided upon the Sexual Harassment complaints are actually carried out. Theres an insurance process in place for eeo complaints but not for complaints resolved by managers or through hpp. Our report recommends that va ensures that corrective actions are implemented and the va told us they will require this by the end of september 2021. The third and final problematic area i would like to discuss today is the provision of information to va employees. Va has overarching Sexual Harassment policy regarding prohibiting and addressing Sexual Harassment of employees that is provided to all of the employees. Va and its three administrations also have additional policies to support it. However, some are not consistent with the overarching policy and some have outdated or missing information. Our report recommends that the va completes these actions and the policies across all of its administrations. In conclusion, an agencys ability to prevent and address workplace Sexual Harassment is important to ensuring that employees are healthy and safe. By implementing our reports recommendations, va has the opportunity to better protect, prevent, and address Sexual Harassment and protect its employees. Thank you. This concludes my statement. I would be happy to respond to any questions. Thank you very much, ms. Barnes for your statement. I would now like to recognize ms. Elam for five minutes. Members of the subcommittee and Women Veterans task force, thank you for inviting me to provide testimony today on the issue of Sexual Harassment within the depth of Veterans Affairs department of Veterans Affairs. As an Organization Made up of women, disabled veterans, va members rely on the va Healthcare System to meet their unique Service Related healthcare and rehabilitative needs. While data shows that veterans are satisfied with their care, certain groups of veterans including women and lgbtq veterans report they continue to experience gender or Sexual Harassment seeking va medical care. These persistent reports of harassment were last year found 25 of Women Veterans surveyed reported inappropriate and or unwanted comments or behavior by male veterans while seeking va healthcare. This is compared to a National Survey finding where only 5 of nonveteran women respond ents reported Sexual Harassment in a private sector healthcare setting. This disparity cannot be ignored and begs the question, why are reports of harassment so much higher in va . What is the impact on those being harassed, and what can be done to address this issue . According to the va study, Women Veterans who reported harassment were less likely to report feeling welcome at the va and more likely to report feeling unsafe and delaying or missing their care. 62 of the study respondents [inaudible]. 80 reported combat or lifetime exposure to trauma. The consequences of delaying or missing care could be devastating for our veterans who need specialized Mental Health services, treating ptsd due to Wartime Service or sexual trauma. given that sexualharassment, we made a persistent problem in the military it is not unexpected that we would see this behavior continued. In both the military, women have not always been recognized and appreciated for their contributions in military service. We continue to hear reports from Women Veterans that use v. A. Care about a general lack of regard from their male peers. One woman veteran noted you get the feeling you shouldnt be here, not as much as a man, and that your status doesnt matter. Organizations can play an Important Role in changing v. A. Healthcare and about to say we are all in will do our part to help make vha a south, welcoming harassment free environment for all v. A. Staff and veterans. Our leadership continues to champion this effort. Our National Commander shared a video message across social platforms to raise awareness about harassment and called on us to do our part in being respectful and welcoming to fellow veterans. In a recent dav article, National Adjutant also dedicated his column to this important issue. Saying none of us should be willing to stand by while a fellow veteran regardless of gender faces any type of threat, harassment or disrespect. Respect must begin with each and every one of us. While we stand up to stop rest but now, its commendable come we cant rely solely on words. We need action. We recommend leadership develop comprehensive campaign with the strategy for affecting change at all levels of the department and a policy that take some responsibility and equips staff trained to ensure implementation of the plan systemwide. As a first up we suggest all leadership make an honored assessment in their facility and partner with veterans, encourage recommend solutions to identify problems. For women and minority veterans, harassment is not just an annoyance but detrimental to their Overall Health and wellbeing here for these races we appreciate the committee attention to this issue and efforts to find Viable Solutions to end this unacceptable behavior. Mr. Chairman, that concludes my remarks and im happy to answer any questions you may have. Thank you both for your testimony and will begin the questioning portion of this panel and i will begin by recognizing myself for five minutes. I want to thank our gao and dav witnesses for being with us today and for your comments. Im hopeful you both were here for the first panel and heard the comments from deputy secretary powers and him wonder if i could get your comments on her testimony, specifically to the point of the fda is moving in the right direction and if so if theyre moving quickly enough to address some of the concerns that you both have . Im happy to go right ahead. Take a stab at that question. Certainly we appreciate v. A. s efforts that seem to be underway, but like the committee come like the subcommittee has mentioned, number two, we certainly have concerns about the length of time that is taking them to get a policy in place and i think the Ranking Member put it nicely, that there is two different issues. One is the harassment issue within v. A. From an h. R. , an employee issue, but also the issue with veteran on better harassment where we get continued reports especially from Women Veterans and minority veterans. We want to see v. A. Move expeditiously to address both of these issues at the same time. They have issued a declaration that they want to stand up to stop harassment now and they listed a number of points they want what you think would satisfy everyone, but we want to see whether those actions we want the community to be involved in those solutions to really get at this problem. While we appreciate the work that they started, we want to make sure that they work on getting a plan together to work on this. And we also thanks for your comments. Go ahead. We also appreciate the work that v. A. Has done, that they have started, and we do commend those efforts. But there are certain efforts such as finalizing the policy, especially with respect to the Harassment Convention program, making sure their social policy is consistent across all of their administrations, things like that that we think should be done pretty quickly as well as looking again at the alignment of, the structural issue that they have. This is one where the have been notified several times about an eeoc as he received a program deficiency notice about this in february and i know they said they would reach out and consider what they need to do along those lines. But i have a number of things they can move out on in the shortterm fashion pretty quickly. Appreciate the comments. I want to thank you as well for the gao report on todays hearing topic. Examine many important aspects of sexual rest of policies and procedures and provide the committee with very helpful information and hope you will convey that to all of the staff that was involved in the report. And beyond that, ms. Barnes, i would like to dive a little deeper into the question of the equal Employment Opportunity leadership, and we raised this with the v. A. Witnesses. Your testimony stated we should realign its el directive is to adhere, adhere to eeocs directives. It seems v. A. Says this is an sector of Human Resources in charge doesnt handle sexualharassment under the equal work on a daily basis so theres no problem. But can you elaborate more on whether vas response makes sense to this question . Sure. This is just want to point out one that eeoc is a federal Government Agency that oversees eeo matters, and this directive structural alignment issue is eeoc directive. And the problem is that when you had the same agency official, even if they are not saying they are personally responsible but they are responsible for executing and advising on Personnel Matters and actions, if the same person thats going to be managing and advising and overseeing eeo complaint process, theres still that appearance or potential conflict of interest there. These functions need to be separated, because the eeo program processes ought to scrutinize and challenge the motivations, the impact of the personal decisions. And with the eeoc already pointing out these several times to the v. A. , and eeoc has also agreed to work to provide Technical Assistance, we just think that the v. A. Should get in line with the eeoc directive. Thank you what skin for your comments. My time is up so with that i would like to turn things over to general bergman for five minutes. Thank you, mr. Chairman, and again before i start, as one of the original request is of the report, i want to commend and think gao for your efforts and what you provided for us. Because i know it doesnt have all the answers but its certainly going along way towards getting as to ask the right questions. Ms. Barnes, we cant can go bad forth on, you know, where should offices be placed for maximum effectiveness. According to the report gao spoke with the eeoc about its concern that the misalignment of the eeo director position in v. A. Does it eeoc have a recommendation as to exactly where v. A. Should place the ee oh director . R anderson is the eeoc does not have a specific recommendation but theyre willing to provide Technical Assistance to the v. A. To help them work through this structural issue. And that Technical Assistance or that meeting was supposed to have occurred but we had to finish our work so we dont know what the status of that we dont know if it happened. When youre providing Technical Assistance, sometimes you can be a facilitator, not really have any expertise or understand, you just want to create the conversation. You could be a subject Matter Expert that potentially could help you, help you help v. A. To establish a plan of action. Seems like the waters still a bit muddy there as what do the different entities believe is the correct place for this eeo director position within the v. A. Does gao have an independent recommendation on where v. A. Should place the office . We dont. Our advice is they work with eeoc, take them up on that Technical Advice and work through that to make sure they can overcome the structural issues. It might be interesting, i believe, mr. Chairman, for the committee to know even though we deal with Veterans Affairs here, it is a a Bureaucratic Agency f the federal government for us to see a list of where these offices are placed within the other agencies, whether its a dol, dod, whatever happens to be to give us comparison but in the end we need to get working we need to get a place where it will be part of solutions, not potentially ending the conflict of interest or part of problems inhibiting growth or inhibiting advancement. V. A. Was not in compliance, ms. Barnes, still for you, please get v. A. Was not in compliance with the eeoc guidance. Did gao ask the eeoc whether there were other federal agencies out of compliance and whether cure notices were issued to those agencies . We didnt ask about the other federal agencies outside of the scope but im sure that something either the v. A. Or eeoc can talk about it, kind of a model to help them decide where to place this position. I guess to get it might be helpful for the committee to know if you are in the existing, any existing data within gao reflect other agencies because you try to build a historical model to go forward with our recommendations or what we might hope for the v. A. To do. Ms. Ilem, that 2016 mspb survey found that v. A. Employees reported that 29 of sexualharassment that they experienced was at the hands of the customer member of the public, which in this case that means the veterans you represent. Additionally, 25 of female veteran patients reported inappropriate or unwanted comment from other veterans. Would you please expound of what dav has done and what it is doing to educate its members on their role in making v. A. A more welcoming place . Thank you for the question. As i said my testimony dav takes the issue very seriously, and from our leadership on down we want to make sure that we are conveying the message that this is a problem and it needs to be corrected and its going to take all of us to Work Together to do it. In talking with many of our members, most cant believe that this happens and they are appalled at the behavior. We have talked about what do you do when you see inappropriate behavior. Either reported to someone at the v. A. Or intervene yourself. But dont just stand by and let someone be harassed. Its really going to take all of us to help each other, and the same thing, if another veteran sees a veteran, another veteran harassing a v. A. Employee, the same goes. So were trying to make sure that people are aware of this. And for the veterans that are harassed, it impacts them tremendously, that they are not going to come back to the v. A. To get the care that they really need, which could be detrimental. I hate to cut you short but im about a over white tiger couldnt just ask one very question . This is kind of a yes or no question for ms. Ilem. Does dav staff at the national and local level receive training on how to assist members to do with sexualharassment . Does training exist for dav members . Well, we do have our no speed we have certain training regarding Sexual Harassment, but we are looking to v. A. To partner with v. A. At v. A. Facilities to be involved in the trading that they were talking about, which is doing the train. Thank you. Mr. Chairman, thank you and i yield of expert thanks for your question and also your constructive point about what happens in other agencies with that role, and i would love to take a look at that with you. With that id like to turn over things over to ms. Brownley for five minutes. Thank you, mr. Chairman. First question for me is to ms. Barnes, and ms. Barnes, i appreciate your report. There were several things that were very surprising to me in reading the report, but the one thing that jumped out the most for me is around the reporting peace, and the fact that there is no requirement or mandate that these harassment cases are reported. You said that the v. A. Has accepted that and is going to start collecting that data in 2021. I cant remember cant remember what month you said that they would comply in 2021. But to me this just seems like something that the v. A. Could turn on tomorrow. I dont know what it requires other than saying you will report these cases. Is it more complicated than that . Can you speak to that . Yeah, sure. V. A. Has a process, or several processes i should point out. They have the eeo process, harassment prevention process of an sexualharassment complaints that come into managers. Its that last bucket that we are talking about in our report. Theres no requirement. They dont have a centralized Information System where the report. Not only where the report where they can even see if actions were taken, corrective actions that were taken to address the sexualharassment. What they responded to us is they are developing Case Management system and requiring all of their managers to report these actions but that will not be in place from what they told us until september of next year, 2021. So, i mean, to me it doesnt seem complicated. It just sort of, to me it says tomorrow we will direct managers to collect this data. I mean, is that possible for them to do pgh yes. That is possible for them to do. They do it in the number of different ways and because they dont have a centralized way to report it and to track it, they just dont know, you know, fully what is reported throughout the agency. I could give you additional examples like vha has a spreadsheet they use. Vba has some different procedural changes that they use, so its kind of just jointed throughout. So they really need that centralized tracking system. Thank you. Ms. Ilem, i wanted to ask you, the v. A. Folks are saying vsos were part of the process of their development of their harassment prevention strategies. Can you confirm that that is the case and that you are involved and other dav is were involved and have opportunities to make suggestions . Well, i think weve had some opportunities to let v. A. Know that there are issues, you know, where we can all Work Together and partner. But what we would like, we are not having a reach out at our Service Organization level at each of the facilities. We all have chapters that are willing to work with v. A. At those facilities to try make us changes. I think thats really the missing link right now. V. A. Does say on the declaration that they should partner with vsos to stop harassment, but what does that, we want to see specifics are met. There needs to be bringing folks together to really talk about this issue, whether thats town hall meeting, bringing folks into focus groups within their facility. To really determine where other problem spots within the facility, what do they see, and help come up with solutions. Thank you. Im pretty sure it was in your report, it mightve been in another testimony, i should say, not report, but that the 25 of women report harassment at v. A. Facilities but at nonv. A. Facilities the number falls. To me that another glaring statistic. Im frustrated by the fact that everybody has different data. They dont seem to jive. You know, you dont see trends in the data the way i think that you would like to, at least in my opinion. I have run out of time, but i am dash of what the culture is in v. A. That fosters this kind of prevalence within an organization. I think well just have to pursue that at a later point but i thank you for your testimony and your presence here today. And i will yield back, mr. Chairman. Thank you. I went to recognize mr. Bost for five minutes. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Ms. Barnes, in the last panel and ensure you would when asked why it was going to take until 2024 to put the about the gaos second recommendation given with the eeo Program Manager realignment at vha. Do you think it really has to take until 2024 to fulfill this request, or do you think it could be done quicker . Yeah, we asked the same question and we certainly share your concern in terms about the length of time it is taking. In terms of whether it can be done quickly, v. A. Said remaining 133 Program Managers and start working through that much quicker. I just feel that it should be done a lot quicker him an issue that is as important as this. Ms. Ilem, in your testimony you wrote a few suggestions that Women Veterans made to improve the v. A. V. A. Has mentioned they are taking positive steps to make Women Veterans feel welcome at v. A. , which is included [inaudible] we lost it paused. Im sorry, i didnt hear the question. You froze. Okay. The question, heard from any of us knows of any Sexual Harassment that has happened at the facilities since weve been working on this . Harassment at the Veterans Benefits assistance . Yes. I have not heard of, you know, reports within vba. How about v. A. . Are you talking about over all hearing yes. Since weve been going through this process, has your group continue to these concerns and, of the new cases . Yes. You know, we do, we have continued, continued complaints that we hear from veterans and we have our seminars and we talk occasionally we get Women Veterans who calling to talk about the issue. Something thats happened. So this has been ongoing for some time. Is it more patient on patient . Those are generally the reports we get from Women Veterans, that theres certain congregations of veterans at certain facilities where it might be the atrium, it might be outside, it might be in the lunch room are waiting area where they said they experienced this and thats why we really called on leadership in those facilities to look and have people go out and sit and observe to see whats happening. And this is kind of a rough question to ask what but im go go down this path because, do you find that when it is patient on patient it is an older generation that is stepping down this path . I dont know necessarily that, you know, just an older generation. I think it happens in in a vary of places with younger veterans as well. From what we have heard from women and talking with them. Thank you both, and ive got a little bit of time left i will yield back. Thank you. Thank you, mr. Bost. With that i would recognize mr. Cisneros for five minutes. Thank you, mr. Chairman. In vas testimony they state that v. A. Continues to emphasize Customer Service is one of the das overreaching priorities. However, vsos have consistently raised the concern of clerks and readers asking Women Veterans if they are there for the husbands appointment, contributing to the culture of Women Veterans feeling underserved and less than. Ms. Ilem, would you speak to the issue are you hearing from your veterans on issues around the culture of Customers Service at the v. A. . Do you agree with the v. A. Statement . To be fair to v. A. , i think they have done a lot to improve Customer Service over all in general, from what we have seen. But this is again a persistent problem we hear from Women Veterans when their name is being called mr. Ohr when they approach someone for assistance and they are asked are you asking for your husband to come here, such as not having that recognition they feel, youre a veteran and that makes them feel that they are not understood in a place where the system is supposed to be made for them, for veterans. Is a Customer Service training we need to continue to work on an order to change that . I think making sure that Customer Service at all levels from the upfront greater to the volunteer, helping someone will help but also just making sure that the training and really providing information about the role of women in the military today and their service. Highlighting what to do and so theres an aniston i think in general of how v. A. Employees at all levels understand and recognize Women Veterans. Thank you. Ms. Barnes, gao found to be as mandatory employee turned programs did not adequately inform employees about how to identify and address Sexual Harassment. In previous administrations they work and labormanagement partnership designed to training on this issue and other issues as well. When you speak to the value of labormanagement partnerships that the value it would bring to the v. A. If they engage other v. A. Unions to work on this training . Yeah, sure. The value it would bring to the v. A. , hopefully they could identify where there were continued gaps. They could find out what employees needed, what supervisors needed and fill in any gaps or voice in the training. One of the things we talk about in a report about training is v. A. Has training but it was providing some details, providing specific modules that really got in the details of how to recognize, how to report Sexual Harassment. Its one of the things we focus on as well as the Harassment Prevention Programs which was lacking a lot of the overarching training materials. Ms. Barnes, also in the geo report there was mention the need for Bystander Intervention to teach employees how to recognize potential problematic behaviors and how to empower them to take action as success in the equal Employment Opportunity commission report. Ms. Barnes, you elaborate on the board of Bystander Intervention . Yes because one thing the board study, we cite 22 those who those who have been Sexual Harassment but there was a number of 33 of those who had observed Sexual Harassment. What the bystander training would do would help with those for observing this behavior, recognize implications there, reported to the appropriate officials so that it could be addressed appropriately. Has the being of the when the government where this training has been held and its worked and you have seen results . Our review focus on the v. A. , so i cant speak to the other departments in the government and how they are training, if they are successful. Its they proving proven training, right . You would not recommend unless youve seen results or the been published results of that this Bystander Intervention has worked. It is a necessary training to help, you know, with reporting and addressing sexual harassmen harassment. With that i yield back. Thank you. Thank you. I will now recognize ms. Kuster for five minutes. Thank you very much, and i appreciate the opportunity to speak with you this afternoon. I wanted to ask a question of you, ms. Barnes. I said only the frustration i feel that after eight years in congress we are still having this conversation about the v. A. , and i cant help but feel that this is partly due to the leadership at the top of this country not having the respect for members of the military, but most important for women serving our country. This type of implicit bias that runs throughout come use a persistent, pervasive throughout the v. A. Is in some ways just exhausting. Those people that served our country. They put their lives on the line and the least we could do, and general bergman said, its respect. I want to thank thank you, ms. , and your colleagues for your incredible diligence and thoroughness in this report. As we look at your recommendations and v. A. s plans to address them im curious was there issues that we have not discussed that concern you the most, at this point in this hearing . Well, we certainly have addressed a lot of the issues. Some of the timing, the fact weve been talking about certainly with respect to issuing policies for the Harassment Prevention Program, i think also makes me the overarching policy are persistent threat with all of the administration, things like that have been done precluded. I know we can talk about the timing of it so that is something that we also are looking at. I think some of the longerterm plans, when a particular, i noticed this question a few minutes ago in terms of the eeo Program Manager alignment. I think what is key there is they have done with one of the administrations, one of the process, vba is in process but vha, they have told us they did see whether it was necessary to do and theyre going to wait for the other one is done so that was key to point out, tied a ton and why things are taking so long. If you dont agree that it needs to be done, then you will not start in the midtogether i just want to point out a few of those and to emphasize that. That sounds like dragging their feet or the dont understand the extent of the problem, or they just fail the difficulty of respecting our women in military and the respect that our Women Veterans ms. Ilem, thanks so much for your testimony as well. Its an important reminder to protect the patients and workforce alike from Sexual Violence and harassment. Could you, on cases in which veterans in the going to work for the v. A. . Unconcerned situations can arise where veterans who have experienced harassment and violence during their Service Careers can be read traumatize harassment they encounter in their v. A. Workplace. Very good point. I think in some of the research that v. A. Has done they have outlined that issue of retraumatization. Whether that an employee or again just the patient, going to care that they desperately need, maybe for ptsd, related to Sexual Assault, again, experiencing that harassment, is so detrimental, and so that is a piece that is so frustrating that were still dealing with this issue and the impact on the people that what an effect this has. People dont realize how the impact someone when they go home. So we might expect that harassment. A turnaround, go back to the car, called and said i make my appointment. No one knows what happened to them as a whether the situations that are created as they been read traumatize a Something Like that happen. I can certainly say here in New Hampshire from the meetings that ive had with Women Veterans, and by the way, this type of harassment can happen to male veterans as well. We know that. We know Sexual Assault in a military impact men, but the women i spoken to here in New Hampshire have talked about how they simply do not seek care because our Womens Health clinic was on the sixth floor, and they would, it was abusive for them to step onto an elevator. They would be assaulted in the elevator. And so we were working with the administrators of hospitals to move the clinic to the first floor and have a separate entrance. We had done that in White River Junction at the hospital there, and its been highly successful. They literally needed a separate entrance so that they were in a waiting room mix gender where they suffered through harassment they were not assaulted on the elevator. They were not harassed throughout the visit but they could come in separate entrance, separate staff, be treated with respect and a think thats a role i would recommend for the v. A. So again, mr. Chair, i very much appreciate the opportunity with you today. I miss the v. A. Committee but as chair of the Bipartisan Task force to in Sexual Violence, this is discouraging. I really thank you for putting your shoulder to the wheel, ms. Brownley for her role for chairing the womens task force and to all of you on the panel for the work that you do. Thank you and i yield back. Thank you very much. I just have one quick question for ms. Ilem, if you are still with us. In your testimony you describe some particular challenges for lgbtq veterans and you noted a 2013 study by v. A. Identifying barriers to care for lgbtq veterans that included concern about the overall culture of vha prime when if you could comment further on how this impacts v. A. s ability to address Sexual Harassment . I think its just, it just shows another subpopulation of veterans who have made about jenna harassment at v. A. And i think the important piece is it has to be acknowledged, like the experience the deputy secretary spoke about, the veterans excrete office. They have done something related to Women Veterans. I think they also need to do that for other to really look at what is their experience, what is there typical experience when they go to v. A. And beneficial to them in terms of what do they value most in terms of going to get the care from the eighth but at same time what that experience is actually like for them so they can address any issues. Listening to veterans and doing focus groups, that was a new thing we saw and appreciated that v. A. Did. Thank you for that. Ms. Brownley, did you have an additional question . Just one, another one quick one for ms. Barnes. Weve heard from women employees at the v. A. That they of and discouraged from reporting harassment by male patients because of a reference for male veterans service. Im wondering if you heard from employees and if youre from employees regarding this issue while you have talked to employees in conducting your studies . Can you comment on that . We did not specifically about that in our study because of our focus on employees. But you interviewed employees, right . Yeah. And did you interview more women than men employees . Or it was just a random sampling . It was a random sampling and whistles of those that were in charge of administering the program. Also in charge of administering the program. Such is not employees working at the v. A. Who might be victims of Sexual Harassment . Right, thats correct. Okay. I yield back. Thank you. Anything further from any Committee Members . General bergman, any closing comments . Without i want to think of witnesses again for the testimony today, their knowledge come personal expenses and perspective are critical to this conversation moving forward and without a doubt both sides of the author strongly addressing Sexual Harassment at v. A. Must be a high priority. I look for it closely working with Ranking Member bergman and chairman takano, Task Force Chairwoman brown and all measurable site both sides of the aisle of our committee and others as we continue to conduct oversight, monitor developments and press for improvements. Congress clearly has role to play and chairwoman brownley and Ranking Member murray but i plan to introduce legislation that would require vha limit gaos recordation in a timelier fashion and hope we can Work Together on this and other important issues pertaining to Sexual Harassment. With that on or before five legislative days to provide an extended remarks and any extremist materials. The hearing is now adjourned. The use senate meets at 4 00 eastern day to consider William Scott hardy for District Court judge for western pennsylvania. They will vote on confirmation at 5 30 p. M. Eastern. Off the floor Senate Republicans are working on a new covid19 relief package. Details are still being negotiated and will be looking for reaction today on the floor. Meanwhile the senate will consider several nominations this week including the new federal Housing Administration commission. Watch live Senate Coverage on cspan2. Memorial services for congressman john lewis continue today. His casket is that at the u. S. Capitol. The civil rights leader will lie in state outside the capitals east front due to social distancing guidelines. A live continuous stream will be available at cspan. Org. President trump was asked if he is going to attend the john lewis commemorations in washington. As hes leaving today for north carolina. To visit a biotechnology plant working on part of the potential covid19 vaccine. Thank you very much. Stock market is doing very well. The economy is doing very well. I think were going to have some tremendous numbers over the next number of months. A lot of things are happening. I just had a meeting on vaccines and therapeutics and it was a great meeting. We had a lot of our wonderful doctors and researchers with me. I think the meeting went really well. We are doing well on vaccines. What doing well on therapeutics,