[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8052 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 8052

   To amend title 38, United States Code, to require that a sterile 
 processing technician of the Veterans Health Administration holds an 
    appropriate professional certification, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 24, 2026

   Mrs. Kiggans of Virginia introduced the following bill; which was 
             referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend title 38, United States Code, to require that a sterile 
 processing technician of the Veterans Health Administration holds an 
    appropriate professional certification, 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 ``Veteran Infection Prevention Act''.

SEC. 2. PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENT FOR STERILE PROCESSING 
              TECHNICIANS OF THE VETERANS HEALTH ADMINISTRATION.

    (a) Requirement.--Section 7402(b) of title 38, United States Code, 
is amended--
            (1) by redesignating paragraph (14) as (15); and
            (2) by inserting after paragraph (13) the following new 
        paragraph:
    ``(14) Sterile Processing Technician.--To be eligible to be 
appointed to a sterile processing technician position (except for such 
a position that the Secretary determines is entry level), a person must 
be certified as a sterile processing technician by an accredited 
institution engaged in providing sterile processing technician training 
not later than two years after such an appointment.''.
    (b) Current Employees.--
            (1) Applicability.--The amendment made by subsection (a) 
        shall apply to a covered employee two years after the date of 
        the enactment of this Act.
            (2) Employee incentive scholarship program.--
                    (A) Requirement.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
                shall award to a covered employee a scholarship under 
                subchapter VI of chapter 76 of title 38, United States 
                Code, for certification described in of section 
                7402(b)(14) of such title, as amended by subsection 
                (a).
                    (B) Period of obligated service.--Notwithstanding 
                section 7672(e) of such title, the period of obligated 
                service of a covered employee awarded a scholarship 
                pursuant to subparagraph (A) shall be a period of two 
                years beginning on the day that the covered employee 
                receives such certification.
            (3) Covered employee defined.--In this subsection, the term 
        ``covered employee'' means a person--
                    (A) occupying a sterile processing technician 
                position in the Veterans Health Administration on the 
                date of the enactment of this Act; and
                    (B) who, on such date, is not certified as a 
                sterile processing technician by an accredited 
                institution engaged in providing sterile processing 
                technician training.
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