118 S572 IS: Ensuring Access to Department of Veterans Affairs Information Necessary for Oversight Act of 2023 U.S. Senate 2023-02-28 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.

II118th CONGRESS1st SessionS. 572IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATESFebruary 28, 2023Mr. Tillis (for himself, Mr. Moran, Mr. Boozman, Mr. Cassidy, Mr. Rounds, Mr. Sullivan, Mrs. Blackburn, Mr. Cramer, and Mr. Tuberville) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' AffairsA BILLTo require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to provide answers to questions submitted for the record to the Secretary by members of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the House of Representatives within 45 business days, and for other purposes.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Ensuring Access to Department of Veterans Affairs Information Necessary for Oversight Act of 2023 or the Ensuring Access to VA INFO Act of 2023.

2.

Period for Secretary of Veterans Affairs to respond to questions submitted by members of certain congressional committees

(a)

Requirement

To the maximum extent practicable, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall provide an answer to a question submitted for the record to the Secretary by a member of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate or the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the House of Representatives on or before the date that is 45 business days after the date on which the Secretary receives the question.(b)

Delayed responses

(1)

Notice required

If the Secretary anticipates being unable to provide an answer to a question described in subsection (a) that was submitted to the Secretary by a member described in such subsection by the date specified in such subsection, the Secretary shall, before such date, submit to the member notice that the Secretary anticipates being unable to provide the answer by such date.(2)

Contents

Notice submitted under paragraph (1) shall include the following:(A)A justification for the inability of the Secretary to meet the deadline set forth in subsection (a).(B)An estimate of when an answer will be provided by the Secretary to the question submitted.(C)A description of the steps the Secretary needs to take in order to provide the answer to the question submitted.(c)

Assistance from other agencies

In any case in which the Secretary determines that the Secretary requires the assistance of the head of another Federal agency in order to provide an answer to a question described in subsection (a) by the date specified in such subsection and the Secretary requests such assistance from such head of another Federal agency, such head of another Federal agency shall provide the assistance requested in a timely manner.