Reducing High Risk to Veterans and Veterans Services Act

IIB 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4477 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES NOVEMBER 13, 2019 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs AN ACT To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to submit to Congress a plan to address certain high risk areas identi- fied by the Comptroller General of the United States regarding the Department of Veterans Affairs in the 2019 High-Risk List of the Government Accountability Office, and for other purposes. VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:38 Nov 13, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H4477.RFS H4477 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 HR 4477 RFS 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 ‘‘Reducing High Risk 4 to Veterans and Veterans Services Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. REPORT AND PLANNED ACTIONS OF THE SEC- 6 RETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS TO ADDRESS 7 CERTAIN HIGH-RISK AREAS OF THE DEPART- 8 MENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 9 (a) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than 180 days 10 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 11 of Veterans Affairs, in consultation with the Comptroller 12 General of the United States, shall submit to the Commit- 13 tees on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and House of Rep- 14 resentatives a report outlining the plan the Secretary has 15 developed and the actions the Secretary has taken to ad- 16 dress the areas of concern identified by the Comptroller 17 General for the Department of Veterans Affairs in the 18 2019 High-Risk List of the Government Accountability 19 Office (GAO–19–157SP) regarding— 20 (1) acquisition management; and 21 (2) managing risks and improving health care. 22 (b) ELEMENTS.—The report under subsection (a) 23 shall include each of the following: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:38 Nov 13, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4477.RFS H4477 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 HR 4477 RFS (1) Root causes of the areas of concern de- 1 scribed in paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (a). 2 (2) Corrective actions and specific steps to ad- 3 dress each root cause, including— 4 (A) the progress of the Secretary in imple- 5 menting those actions and steps; and 6 (B) timelines and milestones the Secretary 7 determines feasible to complete each corrective 8 action. 9 (3) Resources the Secretary determines are nec- 10 essary to implement corrective actions, including— 11 (A) funding; 12 (B) stakeholders; 13 (C) technology; and 14 (D) senior officials responsible for imple- 15 menting the corrective actions and reporting re- 16 sults. 17 (4) Metrics for assessing progress in addressing 18 the areas of concern described in paragraphs (1) and 19 (2) of subsection (a). 20 (5) Key outcomes that demonstrate progress in 21 addressing the areas of concern described in para- 22 graphs (1) and (2) of subsection (a). 23 (6) Obstacles to implementation of the plan 24 that the Secretary identifies. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:38 Nov 13, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4477.RFS H4477 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 HR 4477 RFS (7) Recommendations of the Secretary regard- 1 ing legislation or funding the Secretary determines 2 necessary to implement the plan. 3 (8) Any other information the Secretary deter- 4 mines is relevant to understanding the progress of 5 the Department toward the removal of the areas of 6 concern from the High Risk List. 7 (c) ANNUAL UPDATES.— 8 (1) UPDATE REQUIRED.—Not less than once 9 each year during the implementation period under 10 paragraph (2), the Secretary shall submit to Con- 11 gress an update regarding implementation of each 12 element of the plan under subsection (b). 13 (2) IMPLEMENTATION PERIOD.—The implemen- 14 tation period described in this paragraph begins on 15 the date on which the Secretary submits the report 16 required under subsection (a) and ends on the ear- 17 lier of the following dates: 18 (A) The date on which the Comptroller 19 General removes the last area of concern for 20 the Department from the most recent High- 21 Risk List of the Government Accountability Of- 22 fice. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:38 Nov 13, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4477.RFS H4477 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 HR 4477 RFS (B) The date that is 8 years after the date 1 on which the Secretary submits the plan re- 2 quired under subsection (a). 3 SEC. 3. ANNUAL REPORT BY SECRETARY OF VETERANS AF- 4 FAIRS ON IMPLEMENTATION OF PRIORITY 5 RECOMMENDATIONS OF COMPTROLLER GEN- 6 ERAL OF THE UNITED STATES PERTAINING 7 TO DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 8 (a) ANNUAL REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than 9 270 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, and 10 not less than once during each of the subsequent 3 years, 11 the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall submit to the Com- 12 mittees on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and House of 13 Representatives and to the Comptroller General of the 14 United States a report on the implementation of priority 15 recommendations of the Comptroller General that pertain 16 to the Department of Veterans Affairs. 17 (b) CONTENTS.—Each report submitted under sub- 18 section (a) shall include, for the period covered by the re- 19 port, the following: 20 (1) The progress of the Secretary in imple- 21 menting all open priority recommendations of the 22 Comptroller General for the Department of Veterans 23 Affairs. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:38 Nov 13, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4477.RFS H4477 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 HR 4477 RFS (2) An explanation for each instance where the 1 Secretary has decided not to implement, or has not 2 fully implemented, an open priority recommendation 3 of the Comptroller General for the Department. 4 (3) A summary of the corrective actions taken 5 and remaining steps the Secretary plans to take to 6 implement open priority recommendations of the 7 Comptroller General. 8 (c) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT CERTAIN RE- 9 QUIRED REPORTS OR WRITTEN STATEMENTS.—The re- 10 port under this section shall not be construed to supplant 11 any report or written statement required under section 12 720 of title 31, United States Code. 13 Passed the House of Representatives November 12, 2019. Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, Clerk. VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:38 Nov 13, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4477.RFS H4477 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS