[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6435 Received in Senate (RDS)]

<DOC>
114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6435


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            December 8, 2016

                                Received

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT


 
 To authorize the Directors of Veterans Integrated Service Networks of 
    the Department of Veterans Affairs to enter into contracts with 
appropriate civilian accreditation entities or appropriate health care 
evaluation entities to investigate medical centers of the Department of 
                           Veterans Affairs.

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

SECTION 1. AUTHORITY OF DIRECTORS OF VETERANS INTEGRATED SERVICE 
              NETWORKS TO INVESTIGATE MEDICAL CENTERS OF THE DEPARTMENT 
              OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.

    (a) In General.--The Director of a Veterans Integrated Service 
Network of the Department of Veterans Affairs may contract with an 
appropriate entity specializing in civilian accreditation or health 
care evaluation to investigate any medical center within such Network 
to assess and report deficiencies of the facilities at such medical 
center.
    (b) Coordination.--Before entering into any contract under 
subsection (a), the Director of a Veterans Integrated Service Network 
shall notify the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, the Inspector General 
of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Comptroller General of 
the United States for purposes of coordinating any investigation 
conducted pursuant to such contract with any other investigations or 
accreditations that may be ongoing.
    (c) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section may be 
construed--
            (1) to prevent the Office of the Inspector General of the 
        Department of Veterans Affairs from conducting any review, 
        audit, evaluation, or inspection regarding a topic for which a 
        review is conducted under subsection (a); or
            (2) to modify the requirement that employees of the 
        Department assist with any review, audit, evaluation, or 
        inspection conducted by the Office of the Inspector General of 
        the Department.

            Passed the House of Representatives December 7, 2016.

            Attest:

                                                 KAREN L. HAAS,

                                                                 Clerk.