[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4477 Referred in Senate (RFS)]
<DOC>
116th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 4477
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
November 13, 2019
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to submit to Congress a
plan to address certain high risk areas identified by the Comptroller
General of the United States regarding the Department of Veterans
Affairs in the 2019 High-Risk List of the Government Accountability
Office, 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 ``Reducing High Risk to Veterans and
Veterans Services Act''.
SEC. 2. REPORT AND PLANNED ACTIONS OF THE SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS
TO ADDRESS CERTAIN HIGH-RISK AREAS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF
VETERANS AFFAIRS.
(a) Report Required.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, in
consultation with the Comptroller General of the United States, shall
submit to the Committees on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and House
of Representatives a report outlining the plan the Secretary has
developed and the actions the Secretary has taken to address the areas
of concern identified by the Comptroller General for the Department of
Veterans Affairs in the 2019 High-Risk List of the Government
Accountability Office (GAO-19-157SP) regarding--
(1) acquisition management; and
(2) managing risks and improving health care.
(b) Elements.--The report under subsection (a) shall include each
of the following:
(1) Root causes of the areas of concern described in
paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (a).
(2) Corrective actions and specific steps to address each
root cause, including--
(A) the progress of the Secretary in implementing
those actions and steps; and
(B) timelines and milestones the Secretary
determines feasible to complete each corrective action.
(3) Resources the Secretary determines are necessary to
implement corrective actions, including--
(A) funding;
(B) stakeholders;
(C) technology; and
(D) senior officials responsible for implementing
the corrective actions and reporting results.
(4) Metrics for assessing progress in addressing the areas
of concern described in paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection
(a).
(5) Key outcomes that demonstrate progress in addressing
the areas of concern described in paragraphs (1) and (2) of
subsection (a).
(6) Obstacles to implementation of the plan that the
Secretary identifies.
(7) Recommendations of the Secretary regarding legislation
or funding the Secretary determines necessary to implement the
plan.
(8) Any other information the Secretary determines is
relevant to understanding the progress of the Department toward
the removal of the areas of concern from the High Risk List.
(c) Annual Updates.--
(1) Update required.--Not less than once each year during
the implementation period under paragraph (2), the Secretary
shall submit to Congress an update regarding implementation of
each element of the plan under subsection (b).
(2) Implementation period.--The implementation period
described in this paragraph begins on the date on which the
Secretary submits the report required under subsection (a) and
ends on the earlier of the following dates:
(A) The date on which the Comptroller General
removes the last area of concern for the Department
from the most recent High-Risk List of the Government
Accountability Office.
(B) The date that is 8 years after the date on
which the Secretary submits the plan required under
subsection (a).
SEC. 3. ANNUAL REPORT BY SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS ON
IMPLEMENTATION OF PRIORITY RECOMMENDATIONS OF COMPTROLLER
GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES PERTAINING TO DEPARTMENT OF
VETERANS AFFAIRS.
(a) Annual Report Required.--Not later than 270 days after the date
of the enactment of this Act, and not less than once during each of the
subsequent 3 years, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall submit to
the Committees on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and House of
Representatives and to the Comptroller General of the United States a
report on the implementation of priority recommendations of the
Comptroller General that pertain to the Department of Veterans Affairs.
(b) Contents.--Each report submitted under subsection (a) shall
include, for the period covered by the report, the following:
(1) The progress of the Secretary in implementing all open
priority recommendations of the Comptroller General for the
Department of Veterans Affairs.
(2) An explanation for each instance where the Secretary
has decided not to implement, or has not fully implemented, an
open priority recommendation of the Comptroller General for the
Department.
(3) A summary of the corrective actions taken and remaining
steps the Secretary plans to take to implement open priority
recommendations of the Comptroller General.
(c) Supplement Not Supplant Certain Required Reports or Written
Statements.--The report under this section shall not be construed to
supplant any report or written statement required under section 720 of
title 31, United States Code.
Passed the House of Representatives November 12, 2019.
Attest:
CHERYL L. JOHNSON,
Clerk.