[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 94 (Thursday, June 7, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Page S3361]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 2511. Mr. INHOFE (for himself and Mrs. Shaheen) submitted an 
amendment intended to be proposed to amendment SA 2282 submitted by Mr. 
Inhofe (for himself and Mr. McCain) and intended to be proposed to the 
bill H.R. 5515, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2019 for 
military activities of the Department of Defense, for military 
construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy, 
to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for 
other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

       At the end of subtitle F of title X, add the following:

     SEC. 1066. PLANS TO IMPROVE MEDICAL FACILITIES OF THE 
                   DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.

       (a) Plans Required.--
       (1) Plans of directors of medical facilities.--
       (A) In general.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall 
     require each director of a medical facility of the Department 
     of Veterans Affairs to submit to the director of the Veterans 
     Integrated Service Network that covers the facility, not 
     later than 90 days after the date the Secretary establishes 
     standards for quality under section 1703C of title 38, United 
     States Code, a plan to improve such facility in such a 
     fashion as would result in the facility meeting all of the 
     applicable standards for quality established under that 
     section.
       (B) Applicability.--The requirement in subparagraph (A) 
     shall only apply to directors of facilities that do not meet 
     the standards for quality established under section 1703C of 
     title 38, United States Code.
       (2) Plans of directors of veterans integrated service 
     networks.--The Secretary shall require each director of a 
     Veterans Integrated Service Network to submit to the 
     Secretary, not later than 60 days after receiving all of the 
     plans under paragraph (1), a plan, based on the plans 
     received under paragraph (1), to improve the facilities 
     within the Veterans Integrated Service Network in such a 
     fashion that would improve the ability of all facilities 
     within the network to meet the applicable standards for 
     quality established under section 1703C of title 38, United 
     States Code.
       (3) Remediation of service lines.--The Secretary shall 
     ensure that each plan submitted under this subsection 
     includes a plan for remediation of service lines under 
     section 1706A(a) of title 38, United States Code, if 
     applicable.
       (b) Regular Reports.--
       (1) In general.--The Secretary shall ensure that, for 
     inclusion in the first strategic plan submitted under section 
     7330C(b) of title 38, United States Code, after the Secretary 
     has received all of the reports required under subsection 
     (a), and not less frequently than once every four years 
     thereafter, each director of a Veterans Integrated Service 
     Network in which a medical facility of the Department is not 
     meeting all of the applicable standards for quality 
     established under section 1703C of such title, submits to the 
     Secretary a report on the actions taken by the director to 
     meet such standards for quality.
       (2) Use of reports.--The reports submitted under paragraph 
     (1) shall be used to develop the strategic plan required by 
     section 7330C(b) of title 38, United States Code.
       (c) Sense of Congress on Use of Authorities To Investigate 
     Medical Centers of the Department of Veterans Affairs.--It is 
     the sense of Congress that the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
     should make full use of the authorities provided by section 2 
     of the Enhancing Veteran Care Act (Public Law 115-95; 38 
     U.S.C. 1701 note).
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