Honoring All Veterans Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2806 To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish a mission statement of the Department of Veterans Affairs. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 22, 2021 Miss RICE of New York (for herself, Mr. STIVERS, Mr. SUOZZI, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. ZELDIN, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. PETERS, Ms. NORTON, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. KIM of New Jersey, Mrs. BUSTOS, Mr. MOULTON, Mr. KEATING, Ms. LOIS FRANKEL of Florida, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Ms. HOULAHAN, Ms. UNDERWOOD, Mr. LAMB, Ms. TITUS, Mr. ALLRED, Mr. MORELLE, Ms. BROWNLEY, Mrs. HAYES, and Ms. JAYAPAL) introduced the following bill; which was re- ferred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish a mission statement of the Department of Veterans Affairs. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Honoring All Veterans 4 Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:00 Apr 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2806.IH H2806 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2806 IH SEC. 2. MISSION STATEMENT OF DEPARTMENT OF VET- 1 ERANS AFFAIRS. 2 (a) REQUIRED MISSION STATEMENT.—Section 301 3 of title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at 4 the end the following new subsection: 5 ‘‘(d) The mission statement of the Department shall 6 be as follows: ‘To fulfill President Lincoln’s promise to 7 care for those ‘‘who shall have borne the battle’’ and for 8 their families, caregivers, and survivors.’.’’. 9 (b) NOTIFICATION.—Not later than 30 days after the 10 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Vet- 11 erans Affairs shall— 12 (1) publish in the Federal Register and on the 13 internet website of the Department of Veterans Af- 14 fairs a notification explaining the mission statement 15 of the Department as specified in subsection (d) of 16 section 301 of title 38, United States Code, as added 17 by subsection (a) of this section; and 18 (2) update each internet website of the Depart- 19 ment of Veterans Affairs and other electronic ref- 20 erences that use a previous mission statement. 21 (c) GUIDANCE.—Not later than 30 days after the 22 date of the enactment of the this Act, the Secretary shall 23 develop and issue guidance to all elements of the Depart- 24 ment regarding the mission statement of the Department 25 as specified in subsection (d) of section 301 of title 38, 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:00 Apr 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2806.IH H2806 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2806 IH United States Code, as added by subsection (a) of this 1 section. The guidance shall include the following: 2 (1) A notification explaining the mission state- 3 ment. 4 (2) Instructions and a timeline for updating all 5 previous mission statement references at each such 6 element. 7 (3) A method to monitor and evaluate the com- 8 pliance by facilities of the Department with the 9 guidance, including a reporting mechanism for such 10 facilities to report back to the Secretary on the 11 progress made in updating all non-electronic mission 12 statement references. 13 (4) Any other information that the Secretary 14 determines necessary to ensure timely compliance 15 with the guidance. 16 (d) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 17 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit 18 to Congress a report containing a review and assessment 19 of the progress of each element of the Department in com- 20 plying with the guidance under subsection (c), including— 21 (1) any reasons explaining why an element of 22 the Department has failed to implement the guid- 23 ance; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:00 Apr 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2806.IH H2806 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2806 IH (2) a plan to address any such failure to imple- 1 ment the guidance and ensure that each element of 2 the Department fully implements and complies with 3 the guidance. 4 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:00 Apr 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2806.IH H2806 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS