[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3535 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3535

  To amend title 38, United States Code, to prohibit the Secretary of 
 Veterans Affairs from employing any individual who has been convicted 
 of a felony and medical personnel who have had their medical licenses 
      or credentials revoked or suspended, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            December 8, 2016

   Mr. Flake introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
             referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend title 38, United States Code, to prohibit the Secretary of 
 Veterans Affairs from employing any individual who has been convicted 
 of a felony and medical personnel who have had their medical licenses 
      or credentials revoked or suspended, and for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Clean Up the Department of Veterans 
Affairs Act of 2016''.

SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON EMPLOYMENT BY SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS OF 
              INDIVIDUALS CONVICTED OF FELONIES AND MEDICAL PERSONNEL 
              WHO HAVE HAD THEIR MEDICAL LICENSES OR CREDENTIALS 
              REVOKED OR SUSPENDED.

    (a) Individuals Convicted of Felonies.--Section 709 of title 38, 
United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new 
subsection:
    ``(d)(1) The Secretary may not employ, transfer, or hire in any 
position at the Department any person who has been convicted of a State 
or Federal criminal offense described in paragraph (2) for which the 
minimum term of imprisonment is more than 1 year.
    ``(2) The criminal offenses described in this paragraph are as 
follows:
            ``(A) A sex offense (as defined in section 111 of the Sex 
        Offender Registration and Notification Act (42 U.S.C. 16911)).
            ``(B) An offense involving the sale or distribution of a 
        controlled substance (as defined in section 102 of the 
        Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802)).
            ``(C) Fraud.
            ``(D) Theft.
            ``(E) Assault.
            ``(F) Battery.
            ``(G) A crime of violence (as defined in section 16 of 
        title 18).
            ``(H) An offense involving the use of a firearm (as defined 
        in section 921 of title 18) or other deadly weapon.
            ``(I) An offense under section 2113 of title 18 or similar 
        State statute.
            ``(J) Kidnapping.
            ``(K) Such other offenses as the Secretary considers 
        inappropriate for employment at the Department.
    ``(3) Before hiring any individual for a position at the 
Department, the Secretary shall conduct a background check to determine 
whether the individual has been convicted of any offenses listed in 
paragraph (2).''.
    (b) Individuals Who Have Had Medical Licenses or Credentials 
Revoked or Suspended.--Section 7402 of such title is amended by adding 
at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(h)(1) The Secretary may not employ, transfer, or hire any 
individual in a position listed in section 7401(1) of this title who 
has had a license or credential relating to such position revoked or 
suspended.
    ``(2) Before hiring any individual for a position listed in section 
7401(1) of this title, the Secretary shall conduct a background check 
to determine whether the individual has had a license or credential 
relating to such position revoked or suspended in any State.''.
    (c) Termination of Current Employees.--As soon as practicable after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans 
Affairs shall begin the process of terminating the employment of each 
individual employed by the Secretary in violation of section 709(d) or 
section 7402(h) of title 38, United States Code, as added by 
subsections (a) and (b), respectively.
    (d) Relation to Other Provisions of Law.--
            (1) In general.--Any provision of title 5, United States 
        Code, or subchapter V of chapter 74 of title 38, United States 
        Code, otherwise applicable to the termination of an employee 
        under subsection (c) of this section, section 709(d) of title 
        38, United States Code, as added by subsection (a) of this 
        section, or section 7402(h) of such title, as added by 
        subsection (b) of this section, shall apply to the termination, 
        except to the extent such provision of title 5, United States 
        Code, or subchapter V of chapter 74 of title 38, United States 
        Code, conflicts with, and is superseded by, subsection (c) of 
        this section, section 709(d) of title 38, United States Code, 
        or section 7402(h) of such title.
            (2) Merit system principles.--The Secretary shall carry out 
        any termination described in paragraph (1) in a manner 
        consistent with the merit system principles set forth in 
        section 2301(b) of title 5, United States Code.
            (3) Rule of construction.--Subsection (c) of this section, 
        section 709(d) of title 38, United States Code, as added by 
        subsection (a) of this section, and section 7402(h) of such 
        title, as added by subsection (b) of this section shall not be 
        construed to deprive or waive for any individual any employment 
        protection or due process requirement in effect on the day 
        before the date of the enactment of this Act, except as 
        provided in paragraph (1) of this subsection.
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