[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 37 (Tuesday, February 25, 2020)]
[House]
[Pages H1179-H1180]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     VA REPORTING TRANSPARENCY ACT

  Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 4613) to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to 
establish and maintain a website of the Department that allows the 
public to obtain electronic copies of certain legislatively requested 
reports of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes, 
as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 4613

       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 ``VA Reporting Transparency 
     Act''.

     SEC. 2. REQUIRING PUBLIC ACCESS THROUGH DEPARTMENT OF 
                   VETERANS AFFAIRS WEBSITE TO LEGISLATIVELY 
                   REQUESTED REPORTS OF THE DEPARTMENT.

       (a) Requirement To Allow Access Online.--
       (1) In general.--Not later than one year after the date of 
     enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall establish and 
     maintain a website of the Department that allows the public 
     to obtain electronic copies of all legislatively requested 
     reports required to be submitted after the date of the 
     enactment of this Act.
       (2) Existing resources.--To the extent possible, the 
     Secretary shall carry out paragraph (1) by using existing 
     online resources administered by the Secretary.
       (b) Content and Function.--The Secretary shall ensure that 
     the website includes the following:
       (1) With respect to each legislatively requested report, 
     each of the following:
       (A) A citation to the statute requiring the report.
       (B) An electronic copy of the report, including any 
     transmittal letter associated with the report, that is 
     platform independent and available to the public without 
     restrictions, including restrictions that would impede the 
     reuse of the information in the report. Where practicable, 
     the report shall be in an open format.
       (C) The ability to retrieve a report, to the extent 
     practicable, through searches based on each, and any 
     combination, of the following:
       (i) The title of the report.
       (ii) The date of publication.
       (iii) Any congressional committee or subcommittee receiving 
     the report.
       (iv) The Act of Congress or conference report that requests 
     the report.
       (v) Subject tags.
       (vi) A unique alphanumeric identifier for the report that 
     is consistent across report editions.
       (vii) Any serial number, Superintendent of Documents 
     number, or other identification number for the report.
       (viii) Key words.
       (ix) Full text search.
       (x) Any other information the Secretary determines 
     appropriate.
       (D) The date on which the report was required to be 
     submitted to the website.
       (E) The date on which the report was submitted to the 
     website.
       (F) To the extent practicable, a permanent means of 
     accessing the report electronically.
       (2) A means for bulk download of all legislatively 
     requested reports.
       (3) A means for downloading individual reports as the 
     result of a search.
       (4) In tabular form, a list of all legislatively requested 
     reports that can be searched, sorted, and downloaded by--
       (A) reports submitted within the required time;
       (B) reports submitted after the date on which such reports 
     were required to be submitted; and
       (C) reports not submitted.
       (c) Deadline.--The Secretary shall ensure that information 
     required to be published on the website under this Act with 
     respect to a legislatively requested report submitted after 
     the period under subsection (a)(1) is published not earlier 
     than 30 days after the report is submitted and not later than 
     45 days after the report is submitted.
       (d) Notice on Website of Withheld Reports.--If, at the time 
     a requirement or request for a legislatively requested report 
     is made pursuant to an Act of Congress or a conference 
     report, Congress includes in such Act or conference report, 
     as the case may be, specific language exempting the report 
     from publication on a website under this section, the 
     Secretary shall publish on such website the title of the 
     report and notice that Congress exempted the report from 
     publication.
       (e) Free Access.--The Secretary may not charge a fee, 
     require registration, or impose any other limitation in 
     exchange for access to the website.

     SEC. 3. RELATIONSHIP TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT.

       (a) In General.--Nothing in this Act shall be construed 
     to--
       (1) require the disclosure of information, records, or 
     reports that are exempt from public disclosure under section 
     552 of title 5, United States Code; or
       (2) impose any affirmative duty on the Secretary to review 
     legislatively requested reports submitted for publication to 
     the website for the purpose of identifying and redacting such 
     information or records.
       (b) Redaction of Information.--The Secretary may redact 
     information required to be disclosed under this Act if the 
     information would be properly withheld from disclosure under 
     section 552 of title 5, United States Code, and shall--
       (1) redact information required to be disclosed under this 
     Act if disclosure of such information is prohibited by law;
       (2) redact only such information properly withheld under 
     this subsection from the submission of information or from 
     any legislatively requested report submitted under this Act;
       (3) identify where any such redaction is made in the 
     submission or report; and
       (4) identify the exemption under which each such redaction 
     is made.

     SEC. 4. REPORTS REQUIRED.

       (a) Recurring Reports That the Secretary Recommends 
     Discontinuing.--The Secretary shall submit to Congress a 
     report regarding recurring legislatively requested reports 
     that the Secretary recommends discontinuing not later than--
       (1) 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act; 
     and
       (2) two years after the date of the enactment of this Act.
       (b) Compliance of VA Website With Federal Statutes, 
     Regulations, Rules, and Guidance.--Not later than 180 days 
     after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 
     shall submit to Congress a report regarding the compliance of 
     the website of the Department with Federal statutes, 
     regulations, rules, and guidance regarding transparency for 
     and access by the public and Congress, including requirements 
     for links and information subject to section 552 of title 5, 
     United States Code, and the Inspector General Act of 1978 
     (Public Law 95-452).

     SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.

       In this Act:
       (1) Legislatively requested report.--The term 
     ``legislatively requested report'' means a report to be 
     submitted by the Secretary to either house of Congress or any 
     committee of Congress or subcommittee thereof pursuant to--
       (A) an Act of Congress enacted not more than eight years 
     before the date of the enactment of this Act; or
       (B) a conference report adopted not more than eight years 
     before the date of the enactment of this Act.
       (2) Open format.--The term ``open format'' means a file 
     format for storing digital data based on an underlying open 
     standard that--
       (A) is not encumbered by any restrictions that would impede 
     reuse; and
       (B) is based on an underlying open data standard that is 
     maintained by a standards organization.
       (3) Department.--The term ``Department'' means the 
     Department of Veterans Affairs.
       (4) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
     of Veterans Affairs.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Takano) and the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. David P. 
Roe) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California.


                             General Leave

  Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and 
to insert extraneous material on H.R. 4613, as amended.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from California?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 4613, as amended, 
which would require the posting of congressionally mandated reports of 
the Department of Veterans Affairs on the Department's public website. 
The VA Reporting Transparency Act, introduced by Representatives Rose 
and Cisneros, will ensure easy public access to these reports.
  Surprisingly, the Department of Veterans Affairs does not currently 
provide public access to many of its reports that are mandated by 
Congress. Rather than place its reports on its website, VA will often 
only transmit its reports to a few congressional committees, such as 
the House and Senate Committees on Veterans' Affairs. By contrast, the 
VA Office of Inspector General posts its reports online within 3 days 
of completion.
  This legislation would allow veterans and the public to access these 
reports online, which contain critical information about agency 
activities and the effectiveness of services.
  It would also improve accountability. For example, in 2019, VA 
provided reports to Congress on the activity of the Office of 
Accountability and Whistleblower Protection and on veterans being the 
target of Social Security fraud.
  Americans should know what actions the VA should be taking to protect 
VA whistleblowers and what VA has done to prevent the fraudulent use of 
veterans' Social Security numbers. These

[[Page H1180]]

reports contain valuable information that should be made available to 
the public.
  Madam Speaker, the bill is supported by the American Legion, Veterans 
of Foreign Wars, and Disabled American Veterans. I urge all of my 
colleagues to support H.R. 4613, as amended, and I reserve the balance 
of my time.
  Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such 
time as I may consume.
  Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 4613, as amended, the 
VA Reporting Transparency Act. This bill would require the Department 
of Veterans Affairs to make all of VA's congressionally mandated 
reports available on the Department's website.
  During the committee markup on this bill, I registered my concern 
that this bill had not gone through regular order. Congress has not, to 
my knowledge, required any other Federal agency to publish 
congressionally mandated reports.
  The concept of making congressionally mandated reports available is 
not, on its face, objectionable. However, we cannot always see the 
downstream consequences of a policy.
  When the committee holds legislative hearings, we get an outside 
perspective on legislation from important stakeholders and can identify 
problems or potential enhancements that may not be readily apparent to 
lawmakers.
  Madam Speaker, I would like to reiterate that our committee's work--
and, by extension, our Nation's veterans--benefits from regular order, 
and I urge our committee to return to it.
  That said, I thank the chairman for supporting an amendment I offered 
during the markup of this bill to address three concerns I had:
  First, my amendment clarified that the requirement for VA to post 
reports would apply prospectively in order to avoid requiring VA to 
publish past reports.
  Second, my amendment gave Congress 30 days to review the report 
before VA publishes it on the website. The Government Accountability 
Office gives us such a courtesy to review, and I believe the same 
courtesy is appropriate here.
  Finally, my amendment clarified that Congress can, at the time of 
mandating the report, exempt it from publication. I was concerned that, 
as written, it was unclear when a report could be withheld, and I 
wanted the Congress mandating the report to make that decision.
  With those changes, I believe the bill will result in a more 
transparent and publicly accessible VA. I encourage my colleagues to 
join me in supporting it, as amended, and I reserve the balance of my 
time.
  Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from 
New York (Mr. Rose), my good friend and member of the Veterans' Affairs 
Committee, and also a member of the Oversight and Investigations 
Subcommittee and author of H.R. 4613.
  Mr. ROSE of New York. Madam Speaker, I thank Chairman Takano for his 
extraordinary leadership and this opportunity, and I thank the 
gentleman from Tennessee, Ranking Member Roe, for always putting 
veterans first.
  I rise today in support of H.R. 4613, the VA Reporting Transparency 
Act.
  As my fellow veterans know, the VA is unparalleled in its commitment 
to serving our veterans, and that goes from our nurses to our physician 
assistants, our doctors, our VA police officers, and many other folks, 
veterans, themselves, who spend each and every day working at the VA. 
That certainly holds true for the VA in my district, New York's 11th 
Congressional District.
  But for the largest integrated healthcare system in the United States 
and for an agency that holds the lives of our Nation's heroes in their 
hands, we must ensure accountability. Let's be very clear: There is no 
accountability without transparency.
  When Congress mandates that the VA produce reports on the staffing 
levels of their nurses or how the VA prevents fraud, waste, and abuse 
or how the Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection truly 
keeps our VA employees safe, this information is useless if it is not 
made available to the general public in an accessible manner.

  It is valuable to the nearly 9 million veterans enrolled in VA 
healthcare, and it is valuable to every American who wants to make sure 
that their tax dollars are being used for the best possible care that 
our veterans deserve.
  That is exactly why I introduced this bill, the VA Reporting 
Transparency Act, which requires that the VA have public access to the 
legislatively requested reports that they produce. This access must be 
free, without any registration or limitations required, and the report 
must be posted no later than 45 days after it is submitted.
  This is a no-brainer. It is common sense. It is an opportunity for 
the VA to set a precedent that other Federal departments will follow.
  We made a promise to our soldiers that, when they came home, we would 
be there for them. This bill is a perfect case in point for how we can 
do just that.
  Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my colleagues on the House 
Veterans' Affairs Committee, Congressman Gil Cisneros from California 
and Congressman Greg Steube, a fellow Army vet, for their support of 
this legislation, and I urge my colleagues to support it.
  Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such 
time as I may consume.
  You heard the old saying that the best disinfectant in the world is 
sunshine, and I could not agree more with that. I appreciate my 
colleague, Congressman Rose from New York, for bringing this 
legislation forward. I think it will allow everyone to see the reports 
that we see in a timely fashion.
  I strongly encourage my colleagues to support it, and I yield back 
the balance of my time.
  Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to join me in 
passing H.R. 4613, as amended, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Takano) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 4613, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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