Washington, DC – On April 27, 2006, the Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Committee, the Honorable Steve Buyer, initiated a bipartisan preliminary inquiry into contracts the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has awarded to QTC Management, Inc., and the role of former Secretary of Veterans Affairs Anthony J. Principi, in QTC and any of its contracts with VA. The Committee’s Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations conducted the preliminary inquiry.

During the course of the inquiry, the Subcommittee interviewed 24 witnesses, including the former Secretary and key VA employees, and reviewed 85 documents relating to the QTC contracts, and to the former Secretary. Also, as part of the inquiry, the VA’s Office of Inspector General (IG) conducted a technical review of the QTC contracts awarded on February 23, 1998 and May 1, 2003. The review by the IG’s General Counsel concluded that:

The documentation in the contract files indicates that the award and the administration of the contracts were in the best interest of VA. The files evidence good acquisition planning, that both procurements met the requirements for full and open competition, the technical evaluations were complete and thorough, and that the specific performance measures identified in the contracts have been effectively implemented and monitored. There is no evidence in the files to suggest any involvement or influence by former Secretary Anthony Principi in the award or administration of the 2003 contract.

The bipartisan inquiry by the Subcommittee did not find evidence of conflict of interest or improper influence by the former Secretary in VA’s contracts with QTC for compensation and pension medical examinations.