[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3808 Introduced in House (IH)]

103d CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 3808

To amend title 38, United States Code, to ensure that the Secretary of 
Veterans Affairs has the necessary authority and flexibility to provide 
     staffing levels for the Veterans Health Administration of the 
Department of Veterans Affairs as necessary to meet the responsibility 
   of the United States to provide health care services to eligible 
veterans and to permit implementation of national health care reform by 
                            the Department.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 8, 1994

Mr. Montgomery introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend title 38, United States Code, to ensure that the Secretary of 
Veterans Affairs has the necessary authority and flexibility to provide 
     staffing levels for the Veterans Health Administration of the 
Department of Veterans Affairs as necessary to meet the responsibility 
   of the United States to provide health care services to eligible 
veterans and to permit implementation of national health care reform by 
                            the Department.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    The Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) Under proposals for national health care reform, the 
        Department of Veterans Affairs would be required to enroll 
        veterans and to provide health care on a competitive basis with 
        other, private health care providers.
            (2) In order to be able to implement changes contemplated 
        by proposals for national health care reform, the Secretary of 
        Veterans Affairs must have flexibility to restructure and 
        reform the Veterans Health Administration as necessary without 
        further, artificial constraints on either full-time equivalent 
        employee (FTEE) positions levels or on the ability of the 
        Department to contract for needed health related services, when 
        appropriate.
            (3) The Office of Management and Budget, as part of an 
        announced plan to require a reduction over five years of 
        252,000 FTEE positions in the executive branch, proposes to 
        require substantial annual reductions of FTEE positions for 
        five years in personnel of the Veterans Health Administration, 
        a reduction in personnel which would severely impede the 
        ability of the Department of Veterans Affairs to implement 
        national health care reform.

SEC. 2. EMPLOYMENT LEVEL IN VETERANS HEALTH ADMINISTRATION.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 7 of title 38, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following new section:
``Sec. 713. Full-time equivalent employees: limitation on reduction
    ``(a) During the five-year period beginning on October 1, 1994, no 
reduction may be made in the number of full-time equivalent employees 
in the Veterans Health Administration other than as specifically 
required by law or by the availability of funds. During that period, 
the personnel of the Veterans Health Administration shall be managed on 
the basis of the needs of eligible veterans and the availability of 
funds.
    ``(b) No law may be construed as suspending or modifying this 
section unless such law specifically refers to or amends this 
section.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections at the beginning of 
such chapter is amended by adding at the end the following new item:

``713. Full-time equivalent employees: limitation on reduction.''.

SEC. 3. ENHANCED AUTHORITY TO CONTRACT FOR NECESSARY SERVICES.

    Section 8110(c) of title 38, United States Code, is amended by 
striking out paragraph (7) and inserting in lieu thereof the following:
    ``(7) Paragraphs (1) through (6) shall not be in effect during 
fiscal years 1995 through 1999.
    ``(8) During the period covered by paragraph (7), whenever an 
activity at a Department health-care facility is converted from 
performance by Federal employees to performance by employees of a 
contractor of the Government, the Secretary shall--
            ``(A) require in the contract for the performance of such 
        activity that the contractor, in hiring employees for the 
        performance of the contract, give priority to former employees 
        of the Department who have been displaced by the award of the 
        contract; and
            ``(B) provide to such former employees of the Department 
        all possible assistance in obtaining other Federal employment 
        or entrance into job training and retraining programs.
    ``(9) The Secretary shall include in the Secretary's annual report 
to Congress under section 529 of this title, for each fiscal year 
covered by paragraph (7), a report on the use during the year covered 
by the report of contracting-out authority made available by reason of 
paragraph (7). The Secretary shall include in each such report a 
description of each use of such authority, together with the rationale 
for the use of such authority and the effect of the use of such 
authority on patient care and on employees of the Department.''.

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