Federal

Ensuring Access to VA INFO Act of 2023

Source: Congress.gov · 650 words in original text

What This Bill Does

This bill requires the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to answer questions from members of two congressional committees within 45 business days of receiving them. If the Secretary cannot meet this deadline, the Secretary must notify the asking member before the deadline expires with an explanation and new timeline.

Who It Affects

The Secretary of Veterans Affairs and members of the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs and the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs. Other federal agencies may also be affected if the Secretary requests their help answering questions.

Key Provisions

• The Secretary of Veterans Affairs must provide answers to questions submitted by members of the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs or House Committee on Veterans' Affairs within 45 business days after receiving the question. (Sec. 2(a)) • If the Secretary cannot meet the 45 business day deadline, the Secretary must notify the member before that deadline with a justification, estimated completion date and description of steps needed to answer. (Sec. 2(b)) • Heads of other federal agencies must provide assistance to the Secretary in a timely manner when the Secretary requests help to meet the 45 business day deadline. (Sec. 2(c))

What Changes

The Secretary of Veterans Affairs becomes subject to a 45 business day response requirement for questions from these congressional committees. Currently, no specific timeline exists in the bill text for such responses.

Important Definitions

None defined in bill text.

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 572 To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to provide answers to questions submitted for the record to the Secretary by members of the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Representatives within 45 business days, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 28, 2023 Mr. TILLIS (for himself, Mr. MORAN, Mr. BOOZMAN, Mr. CASSIDY, Mr. ROUNDS, Mr. SULLIVAN, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. CRAMER, and Mr. TUBERVILLE) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and re- ferred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to provide an- swers to questions submitted for the record to the Sec- retary by members of the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Representatives within 45 business days, and for other purposes. 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 ‘‘Ensuring Access to 4 Department of Veterans Affairs Information Necessary 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:25 Mar 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S572.IS S572 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 572 IS for Oversight Act of 2023’’ or the ‘‘Ensuring Access to 1 VA INFO Act of 2023’’. 2 SEC. 2. PERIOD FOR SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS 3 TO RESPOND TO QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY 4 MEMBERS OF CERTAIN CONGRESSIONAL 5 COMMITTEES. 6 (a) REQUIREMENT.—To the maximum extent prac- 7 ticable, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall provide an 8 answer to a question submitted for the record to the Sec- 9 retary by a member of the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 10 of the Senate or the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of 11 the House of Representatives on or before the date that 12 is 45 business days after the date on which the Secretary 13 receives the question. 14 (b) DELAYED RESPONSES.— 15 (1) NOTICE REQUIRED.—If the Secretary an- 16 ticipates being unable to provide an answer to a 17 question described in subsection (a) that was sub- 18 mitted to the Secretary by a member described in 19 such subsection by the date specified in such sub- 20 section, the Secretary shall, before such date, submit 21 to the member notice that the Secretary anticipates 22 being unable to provide the answer by such date. 23 (2) CONTENTS.—Notice submitted under para- 24 graph (1) shall include the following: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:25 Mar 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S572.IS S572 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 572 IS (A) A justification for the inability of the 1 Secretary to meet the deadline set forth in sub- 2 section (a). 3 (B) An estimate of when an answer will be 4 provided by the Secretary to the question sub- 5 mitted. 6 (C) A description of the steps the Sec- 7 retary needs to take in order to provide the an- 8 swer to the question submitted. 9 (c) ASSISTANCE FROM OTHER AGENCIES.—In any 10 case in which the Secretary determines that the Secretary 11 requires the assistance of the head of another Federal 12 agency in order to provide an answer to a question de- 13 scribed in subsection (a) by the date specified in such sub- 14 section and the Secretary requests such assistance from 15 such head of another Federal agency, such head of an- 16 other Federal agency shall provide the assistance re- 17 quested in a timely manner. 18 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:25 Mar 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S572.IS S572 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS

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