VA FOIA Reform Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7163 To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to reduce the backlog of requests for information made to the Department of Veterans Affairs pursuant to section 552 of title 5, United States Code, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 11, 2020 Mr. CISNEROS (for himself and Mr. ROSE of New York) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to reduce the backlog of requests for information made to the Depart- ment of Veterans Affairs pursuant to section 552 of title 5, United States Code, 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 ‘‘VA FOIA Reform Act 4 of 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. REDUCTION OF BACKLOG OF CERTAIN REQUESTS 6 FOR INFORMATION. 7 (a) REDUCTION OF BACKLOGS.— 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:13 Jun 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7163.IH H7163 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7163 IH (1) FOIA.—By not later than three years after 1 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 2 of Veterans Affairs shall reduce the backlog of 3 FOIA requests by 75 percent. 4 (2) OFFICE OF SPECIAL COUNSEL.—By not 5 later than three years after the date of the enact- 6 ment of this Act, the Secretary shall reduce the 7 backlog of Special Counsel requests by 75 percent. 8 (b) PROACTIVE DISCLOSURES.—On an ongoing basis, 9 the Secretary shall determine the documents, records, and 10 information of the Department of Veterans Affairs that 11 are the types of documents, records, and information of 12 the Department that the Secretary determines are fre- 13 quently requested and provided pursuant to section 552 14 of title 5, United States Code. The Secretary shall regu- 15 larly make such documents, records, and information pub- 16 licly available, including by publishing such documents, 17 records, and information on the internet website of the 18 Department. 19 (c) COMPLIANCE ASSESSMENT.—The Secretary shall 20 request the Director of the Office of Government Informa- 21 tion Services of the National Archives and Records Admin- 22 istration to conduct an assessment of the compliance by 23 the Department of Veterans Affairs with section 552 of 24 title 5, United States Code. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:13 Jun 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7163.IH H7163 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7163 IH (d) REPORTS.— 1 (1) INITIAL REPORT.—Not later than 180 days 2 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec- 3 retary shall submit to the Committees on Veterans’ 4 Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Sen- 5 ate a report on implementing subsections (a) and 6 (b). The report shall include the following: 7 (A) A plan for such implementation. 8 (B) An analysis of the root causes of the 9 backlog of FOIA requests and the backlog of 10 Special Counsel requests. 11 (C) A plan to improve and acquire tech- 12 nology, including with respect to searching 13 email and other electronic information, and the 14 timelines for such improvement, to ensure that 15 the information technology of the Department 16 of Veterans Affairs is capable of carrying out 17 such plan. 18 (D) Identification of efficient procedures, 19 policies, and systems of the Department that 20 could be developed to allow employees of the 21 Department responsible for replying to requests 22 under section 552 of title 5, United States 23 Code, to search and review documents rather 24 than other employees of the Department. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:13 Jun 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7163.IH H7163 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7163 IH (E) Identification of the documents and in- 1 formation that will be made publicly available 2 under subsection (b) and identification of the 3 10 most frequently requested types of docu- 4 ments, records, or information. 5 (F) Recommendations with respect to any 6 additional resources or legislative action the 7 Secretary determines necessary for such imple- 8 mentation. 9 (2) ANNUAL REPORTS.—During the three-year 10 period following the date of the enactment of this 11 Act, the Secretary shall submit to the Committees 12 on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Representatives 13 and the Senate annual reports on implementing sub- 14 sections (a) and (b). 15 (3) PUBLICATION.—The Secretary shall make 16 publicly available on the internet website of the De- 17 partment the reports under paragraphs (1) and (2) 18 by not later than 30 days after the date on which 19 the Secretary submits the reports to the Committees 20 on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Representatives 21 and the Senate. 22 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 23 (1) The term ‘‘backlog of FOIA requests’’ 24 means the number of requests, as reported by the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:35 Jun 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7163.IH H7163 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 7163 IH Secretary of Veterans Affairs to the Attorney Gen- 1 eral in the Annual FOIA Report for Fiscal Year 2 2019, made by individuals to the Secretary pursuant 3 to section 552 of title 5, United States Code, for 4 documents or information that the Secretary has not 5 fulfilled or provided a response to the individual. 6 (2) The term ‘‘backlog of Special Counsel re- 7 quests’’ means the number of requests, as deter- 8 mined by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs by not 9 later than 90 days after the date of the enactment 10 of this Act, made by the Special Counsel to the Sec- 11 retary pursuant to chapter 12 of part II of title 5, 12 United States Code, for documents or information 13 that the Secretary has not fulfilled or provided a re- 14 sponse to the Office of Special Counsel. 15 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:13 Jun 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H7163.IH H7163 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS