Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General Training Act of 2023

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2733 To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to require the employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs to receive training developed by the Inspector General of the Department on reporting wrongdoing to, responding to requests from, and cooperating with the Office of Inspector General of the Department, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 20, 2023 Ms. UNDERWOOD (for herself, Mr. WOMACK, Mr. PAPPAS, and Mr. JOYCE of Ohio) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to require the employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs to re- ceive training developed by the Inspector General of the Department on reporting wrongdoing to, responding to requests from, and cooperating with the Office of Inspec- tor General of 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:45 Apr 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2733.IH H2733 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 2733 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Department of Vet- 2 erans Affairs Office of Inspector General Training Act of 3 2023’’. 4 SEC. 2. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS EMPLOYEE 5 TRAINING REGARDING OFFICE OF INSPEC- 6 TOR GENERAL. 7 (a) TRAINING.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 8 shall require each employee of the Department of Veterans 9 Affairs who begins employment with the Department on 10 or after the date of the enactment of this Act to receive 11 training that the Inspector General of the Department 12 shall develop on the reporting of wrongdoing to, respond- 13 ing to requests from, and cooperating with the Office of 14 Inspector General of the Department. 15 (b) TIMING OF TRAINING.—In carrying out sub- 16 section (a), the Secretary shall require each employee of 17 the Department covered under such subsection to undergo 18 the training required by such subsection not later than 19 one year after the date on which the employee begins em- 20 ployment with the Department. 21 (c) ELEMENTS.—Training developed and required 22 under subsection (a) shall include the following: 23 (1) Definition of the role, responsibilities, and 24 legal authority of the Inspector General of the De- 25 partment and the duties of employees of the Depart- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:45 Apr 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2733.IH H2733 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 2733 IH ment for engaging with the Office of Inspector Gen- 1 eral. 2 (2) Identification of the circumstances and 3 mechanisms for reporting fraud, waste, abuse, and 4 other wrongdoing to the Inspector General, including 5 making confidential complaints to the Inspector 6 General. 7 (3) Identification of the prohibitions and rem- 8 edies that help to protect employees of the Depart- 9 ment from retaliation when reporting wrongdoing to 10 the Inspector General. 11 (4) Recognition of opportunities to engage with 12 staff of the Office of Inspector General to improve 13 programs, operations, and services of the Depart- 14 ment. 15 (d) DESIGN AND UPDATE.—The Inspector General of 16 the Department shall design, and update as the Inspector 17 General considers appropriate, the training developed and 18 required by subsection (a). 19 (e) SYSTEM.—The Secretary shall provide, via the 20 talent management system of the Department, or suc- 21 cessor system, the training developed and required under 22 subsection (a). 23 (f) RELATION TO CERTAIN TRAINING.—The Sec- 24 retary shall ensure that training developed and required 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:45 Apr 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2733.IH H2733 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 2733 IH under subsection (a) is separate and distinct from training 1 provided under section 733 of title 38, United States 2 Code. 3 (g) NOTICE TO EMPLOYEES.—The Secretary shall 4 ensure that the Inspector General is afforded the oppor- 5 tunity, not less frequently than twice each year and more 6 frequently if the Inspector General considers appropriate 7 under extraordinary circumstances, to use the electronic 8 mail system of the Department to notify all authorized 9 users of such system of the following: 10 (1) The roles and responsibilities of the employ- 11 ees of the Department when engaging with the Of- 12 fice of Inspector General. 13 (2) The availability of training provided under 14 subsection (a). 15 (3) How to access training provided under sub- 16 section (a). 17 (4) Information about how to contact the Office 18 of Inspector General, including a link to any 19 website-based reporting form of the Office. 20 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:45 Apr 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2733.IH H2733 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB