[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6589 Referred in Senate (RFS)]

<DOC>
116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6589


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 23, 2020

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT


 
 To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to develop and submit to 
 Congress a plan to address the material weakness of the Department of 
               Veterans Affairs, 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 ``Department of Veterans Affairs Chief 
Financial Officer Authority and Collaboration Act of 2020''.

SEC. 2. PLANS FOR ADDRESSING MATERIAL WEAKNESSES AND PROVIDING 
              SUFFICIENT AUTHORITY TO CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER OF 
              DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.

    Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this 
Act, and annually thereafter for each of the three subsequent years, 
the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, acting through the Chief Financial 
Officer of the Department of Veterans Affairs, shall submit to the 
appropriate congressional committees--
            (1) an action plan, including steps, related timelines, 
        costs, progress, status of implementation, and any updates for 
        fully addressing the material weaknesses of the Department 
        discussed in the Management's Discussion and Analysis section 
        of the financial statements of the Department submitted to 
        Congress under section 3515 of title 31, United States Code for 
        the year preceding the year during which the report is 
        submitted; and
            (2) a plan outlining the steps the Secretary plans to take 
        to address the recommendations of auditors related to entity-
        level internal controls and to provide sufficient authority to 
        the Chief Financial Officer of the Department to carry out the 
        requirements of section 902 of title 31, United States Code.

SEC. 3. CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER ATTESTATION.

    Concurrent with the submittal to Congress of the President's budget 
request under section 1105 of title 31, United States Code, for fiscal 
year 2022 and each of the next three subsequent fiscal years, the Chief 
Financial Officer of the Department of Veterans affairs shall submit to 
the appropriate congressional committees each of the following:
            (1) A certification of the responsibility of the Chief 
        Financial Officer for internal financial controls of the 
        Department.
            (2) An attestation that the Chief Financial Officer has 
        collaborated sufficiently with the subordinate chief financial 
        officers of the Department to be confident in the financial 
        projections included the budget request and supporting 
        materials.

SEC. 4. CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER RESPONSIBILITY FOR SUBORDINATE CHIEF 
              FINANCIAL OFFICERS.

    (a) In General.--In accordance with the responsibilities of the 
Chief Financial Officer of the Department of Veterans Affairs for the 
recruitment, selection, and training of personnel to carry out agency 
financial management functions pursuant to section 902(a)(5)(C) of 
title 31, United States Code, the Chief Financial Officer or the 
designee of the Chief Financial Officer within the Office of Management 
of the Department shall--
            (1) participate in the interview and selection panels of 
        all subordinate chief financial officers; and
            (2) give input into the performance plans and performance 
        evaluations of all subordinate chief financial officers.
    (b) Termination.--The requirements under subsection (a) shall 
terminate on the date that is five years after the date of the 
enactment of this Act.

SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) The term ``appropriate congressional committees'' means 
        the Committees on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and the House 
        of Representatives and the Committees on Appropriations of the 
        Senate and the House of Representatives.
            (2) The term ``subordinate chief financial officer''--
                    (A) includes--
                            (i) the chief financial officer of the 
                        Veterans Health Administration, the chief 
                        financial officer of the Office of Community 
                        Care within the Veterans Health Administration, 
                        and all chief financial officers of Veterans 
                        Integrated Service Networks within the Veterans 
                        Health Administration;
                            (ii) the chief financial officer of the 
                        Veterans Benefits Administration and all chief 
                        financial officers of organizational 
                        subdivisions representing business lines within 
                        the Veterans Benefits Administration;
                            (iii) the chief financial officer of the 
                        National Cemetery Administration; and
                            (iv) the chief financial officer of the 
                        Office of Information and Technology; and
                    (B) does not include the Inspector General.

            Passed the House of Representatives September 22, 2020.

            Attest:

                                             CHERYL L. JOHNSON,

                                                                 Clerk.