PAVE Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 5525 To amend title 38 and title 5, United States Code, to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and other officials of the Department of Veterans Affairs to receive health care from the Department, and for other pur- poses. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES DECEMBER 19, 2019 Mr. RICE of South Carolina introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To amend title 38 and title 5, United States Code, to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and other officials of the Department of Veterans Affairs to receive health care from the Department, 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 ‘‘Providing Account- 4 ability for Veterans Affairs Executives Act of 2019’’ or 5 ‘‘PAVE Act of 2019’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:38 Dec 29, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5525.IH H5525 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 5525 IH SEC. 2. HEALTH CARE FOR OFFICIALS OF THE DEPART- 1 MENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1710 of title 38, United 3 States Code, is amended— 4 (1) in subsection (a)(3)— 5 (A) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ before ‘‘In’’; 6 (B) by inserting ‘‘or in the case of an offi- 7 cial of the Department listed in subparagraph 8 (B),’’ before ‘‘the Secretary’’; and 9 (C) by adding at the end the following new 10 subparagraph: 11 ‘‘(B) As a condition of office and employment, 12 and for the duration of such term of office or em- 13 ployment, each of the following officials of the De- 14 partment may not receive any hospital care or med- 15 ical services (other than emergency medical services) 16 except under this section: 17 ‘‘(i) The Secretary. 18 ‘‘(ii) The Deputy Secretary. 19 ‘‘(iii) The Under Secretary for Health. 20 ‘‘(iv) The Under Secretary for Benefits. 21 ‘‘(v) The Under Secretary for Memorial 22 Affairs. 23 ‘‘(vi) Each Assistant Secretary, includ- 24 ing— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:38 Dec 29, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5525.IH H5525 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 5525 IH ‘‘(I) the Assistant Secretary for Man- 1 agement; 2 ‘‘(II) the Assistant Secretary for 3 Human Resources and Administration; 4 ‘‘(III) the Assistant Secretary for 5 Public and Intergovernmental Affairs; and 6 ‘‘(IV) the Assistant Secretary for Op- 7 erations, Security, and Preparedness. 8 ‘‘(vii) Each Deputy Assistant Secretary. 9 ‘‘(viii) The Chief Financial Officer. 10 ‘‘(ix) The Chief Information Officer. 11 ‘‘(x) The General Counsel. 12 ‘‘(xi) The Inspector General. 13 ‘‘(xii) The Director of Construction and 14 Facilities Management. 15 ‘‘(xiii) The Chief of Staff. 16 ‘‘(xiv) The Chairman of the Board of Vet- 17 erans’ Appeals. 18 ‘‘(xv) The Vice Chairman of the Board of 19 Veterans’ Appeals.’’; 20 (2) in subsection (f), by inserting ‘‘or official of 21 the Department’’ after ‘‘veteran’’ each place it ap- 22 pears; and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:38 Dec 29, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5525.IH H5525 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 5525 IH (3) in subsection (g), by inserting ‘‘or official of 1 the Department’’ after ‘‘veteran’’ each place it ap- 2 pears. 3 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 4 (1) TITLE 38.—Section 1705(a) of title 38, 5 United States Code, is amended— 6 (A) by inserting ‘‘and officials of the De- 7 partment’’ after ‘‘veterans’’; and 8 (B) in paragraph (8) by inserting ‘‘and of- 9 ficials of the Department’’ after ‘‘veterans’’. 10 (2) TITLE 5.—Section 8901(1) of title 5, 11 United States Code, is amended in the matter fol- 12 lowing subparagraph (J)— 13 (A) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of clause 14 (iii); 15 (B) by adding ‘‘or’’ after the semicolon at 16 the end of clause (iv); and 17 (C) by adding at the end the following new 18 clause: 19 ‘‘(v) an official of the Department of Vet- 20 erans Affairs listed in section 1710(a)(3)(B) of 21 title 38;’’. 22 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:38 Dec 29, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H5525.IH H5525 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS