Davis was famous for "softballing" questions at these hearings. It was almost as if they had coordinated the Q&A in advance.  Could they have hired his wife as the go-between at ICG consultants?  ICG should release its client list now!

According to the Committee website, there were no hearings on Walter Reed in the Congresses of 107, 108, or 109. That's since 2001. No hearings on the relocation planned under BRAC and its effect on Walter Reed, no hearings on the veterans there, and no hearings on the spike in admissions during the Iraq War, despite the findings from 2004 and Office of Inspector General Reports.  There was a hearing on BRAC that included Walter Reed but it focused on traffic caused by BRAC. There were hearings on whether Gulf War Syndrome really existed.

Maybe I'm a nerd, but I listened to 3 hours of these hearing on CSPAN. They were rebroadcast in the evening of the day of the hearing.

When he was given his turn to spead Davis sounded OH SO MAD about all this! He did everything he could to sound angry by saying things like "We've asked you about these things over the last few years and you always say the problem is being fixed and yet here we are with nothing done." This is a paraphrase, of course. It would be worth while to get the actual transcript or take part of the CSPAN recording. This should be juxtaposed to the fact that there were no hearings on the subject if what Andrea is saying is correct.

If anyone has any political smarts at all they will record Davis's words from the hearing and then include a voice-over afterward saying that Davis held no hearings on this for X number of years, if indeed that is true. This would be a very effective political ad.

There is a wealth of material which can be used against Davis in ads for the next election. Gathering of data and research needs to be getting done NOW so the Democrats will be ready with an effective campaign in 2008.

Maybe Tom's propensity for throwing "softball" questions has something to do with the fact that he and Jim Webb used to coach Little League basball together and Tom got confused about the fact that Little League kids, being more adult than pro. politicians, aren't afraid of "hardball" so they think softball is for the GOP sissy's who are afriad of a little man like Bush who only goes as far as T-ball ?

Just a silly thought.

It shouldn't be hard for anyone who actually knows what they are doing (not me) to obtain a transcript of the hearings. Maybe Jim Webb's ofc. (constituent services) could do a fast search. Or, I'd give 100:1 odds that Andy Hurst knows how to do that and could get to the transcript in a heartbeat.

  T.C.

I am now officially a John Edwards volunteer (but my work is on hold until after the 2007 elections) so I've expanded my closing as follows:

  Honored to be a Jim Webb and John Edwards Democrat.

 

I saw a catv news interview where the primary figure who generated the breaking news to the media (WP), a head-injured soldier's spouse, was directed by an military officier after repeated denials for assistance from hospital ataff, to speak with Tom Davis.  One of his staffer, it was said, helped bring to light this story.

I'll try to find more on this interview if there is interest. 

Salon did this story in 2004, so it didn't really "break," so much as get more play. Salon is considered unfriendly to Bush, and gets lumped in with progressive media and so isn't as widely read by conservatives as the Post is. I think the POst just gave the story "legs."

I would be less surprised if it was actually Oversight & Reform Committee staff, rather than Davis staff. They have been chomping at the bit to do some actual work for the past 12 years and have been leaking stories on Tom and his ilk with more courage since the writing was on the wall about the change in majority party, a year or two before the 2006 elections.

The Post authors credited the story to families and staffers, some who did not want to be identified.  I can't find it any more, but I read somewhere the papers said a family member who went for help to her Congressman went to the paper when she got help but saw so many others others languishing.

According to Congressional Quarterly March 7th, Constituents appealed to Davis for help in 2004 and 2005. This may be the constituent who got the story going in 2006:

At the committee's March 5 hearing at Walter Reed, Annette L. McLeod testified that only after calling Davis' office in 2006 did she make progress in getting proper care for her husband, Army National Guard Spec. Wendell W. McLeod Jr., who was injured while deployed in Iraq.

But Davis says he never pressed other committees or Republican leaders for legislation or new money to address problems his staff had identified.

Some quotes from the article:

"Senior Republicans who knew about problems at Walter Reed Army Medical Center while their party controlled Congress insist they did all they could to prod the Pentagon to fix them.

But C.W. Bill Young, R-Fla., former chairman of the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee, said he stopped short of going public with the hospital's problems to avoid embarrassing the Army while it was fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Young and Thomas M. Davis III, R-Va., the former chairman of the House Government Reform Committee, both acknowledged in interviews that they were aware of patient care problems at Walter Reed long before The Washington Post exposed them two weeks ago."

"Davis, the former chairman of the committee with responsibility for oversight of government programs, said his options also were limited. He said his committee staff first learned in 2004 about problems with wounded soldiers' health care while investigating their pay problems."

"Davis said he directed the Government Accountability Office to conduct several studies, "some of them coming from complaints from veterans that were stationed" at Walter Reed.

Davis' committee staff aides fielded calls and attempted to help wounded soldiers and their families who called with complaints about pay and health care problems. At the committee's March 5 hearing at Walter Reed, Annette L. McLeod testified that only after calling Davis' office in 2006 did she make progress in getting proper care for her husband, Army National Guard Spec. Wendell W. McLeod Jr., who was injured while deployed in Iraq.

But Davis says he never pressed other committees or Republican leaders for legislation or new money to address problems his staff had identified."

In sum here we have the House Government Reform Committee afraid to "embarrass" the administration. I think the key word here would is afraid. They were probably also afraid for their jobs I would imagine.

As with most dysfunctional families, to the Republicans  how things look is paramount, no matter who gets hurt. The bottom line is that looking good was more important than supporting the troops.

Read the UffPo article here:

http://public.cq.com...

was probably so busy having Ed Schrock look in the bunkrooms and in the staterooms for gay people that he didn't have time for this.

so admitting it didn't work would make him look bad.

So many things don't come out about the background on things. I never knew privatizing Walter Reed was Davis' idea. Who woulda thought it? ;-)

...(Davis)"We are not appropriators. . . . I don't know what else we could have done," Davis said. "If generals don't go around and look at the barracks, how do you legislate that?"

Democrats Also Aware
Democrats said they did all they could while in the minority.

John P. Murtha of Pennsylvania, who was the ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee, said he sought appropriations to address problems he found during visits to military hospitals. For example, he obtained money for air conditioners for the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany and modern stretchers for a Baghdad field hospital.

Murtha focused blame for the Walter Reed scandal on the Bush administration and said the Pentagon discouraged patients from talking to lawmakers in both parties.

"My impression is that the military was constrained, even intimidated, from telling me and other congressional members about the real problems and the real needs," Murtha said.

Democrat Henry A. Waxman of California, who now chairs the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, defended how his predecessor as chairman had handled the problems at Walter Reed.

"It isn't that Chairman Davis didn't ask them to account for it," Waxman said. "I don't think the problem is in our committee. The problem is in the Department of Defense."

John F. Tierney, D-Mass., the chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on National Security and Foreign Affairs, made a point to praise Davis and former subcommittee Chairman Christopher Shays, R-Conn., at the March 5 hearing at Walter Reed. "I want to thank those members for their leadership so far," Tierney said.

Army officials are scheduled to testify Thursday about Walter Reed before the House Armed Services Committee, while administration officials will appear before the Veterans' Affairs Committee, capping appearances at five congressional hearings this week.

Waxman asked for hearing on contracting out and Davis refused.  Davis took campaign contributions from the contractor as the award was granted.
Davis had been instrumental in assuring the checks on federal contracts were vastly reduced or eliminated by spearheading two new programs, "Share in Savings," and "Federal Acquisition Regulations." He had oversight expert Angela Styles fired and replaced with Abramoff crony David Safarian.  His constituents complained about their treatment at Walter Reed and he admitted he didn't take action because he didn't want to embarrass Bush.  How much more responsibility could he have?
Davis gloated about how much influence he had when it suited him during his bid for re-election. When something crooked or unpopular happened, like the Iraq War, the Foley scandal, the Jack Abramoff scandal, now the Walter Reed scandal, all of a sudden he is out of the loop. He can't have it both ways.

Davis - All talk - no oversight!

What did they know [everything] and when did they know it? 2004 according to Congressional Quarterly.

IAP's PAC donated to Tom Davis last March, just in time for the Walter Reed contract to finalize!
Also to Curt Weldon (PA) and Bill Young (FLA), all incumbent Republicans.

The IAP PAC also to BIPAC/MAC, a PAC that donated to Davis and other candidates.

IAP owner Doyle McBride gave the NRCC $10,000 in the last 6 months.

IAP CEO also Louis Berg donated in 2006.

If he's happy then....DC residents should hate him, if he's sad, then Red NRA Virginians who he's counting on for future elections should be informed.