[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 126 (Wednesday, July 23, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4681-S4682]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 3001. Mr. BLUMENTHAL submitted an amendment intended to be 
proposed by him to the bill H.R. 3944, making appropriations for 
military construction, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and related 
agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2026, and for other 
purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

        At the appropriate place in title II of division A, insert 
     the following:

     SEC. 2__. LIMITATION ON ACCESS TO VETERAN AND DEPARTMENT 
                   INFORMATION, SYSTEMS, AND DATA.

       (a) Limitations.--
       (1) In general.--Subchapter III of chapter 57 of title 38, 
     United States Code, is amended by adding at the end of the 
     following new section:

     ``Sec. 5729. Limitations on access to certain information, 
       systems, and data

       ``(a) In General.--The Secretary may not allow any 
     individual to use, exercise administrative control over, or 
     otherwise access any Department information technology 
     system, health or benefits data repository, contracting 
     information, financial system, record system, or other 
     relevant system, or any data from any such system, unless--
       ``(1) such individual is an officer, employee, or 
     contractor of the Department; and
       ``(2) in the case of an individual not described in 
     paragraph (1)--
       ``(A) such individual holds a security clearance at the 
     appropriate level with respect to such system or data and 
     such clearance was granted pursuant to the procedures 
     established under section 801 of the National Security Act of 
     1947 (50 U.S.C. 3161);

[[Page S4682]]

       ``(B) such individual's access to such system or data, or 
     use thereof, does not constitute a violation of section 208 
     of title 18 (determined after the application of subsection 
     (b));
       ``(C) such individual is not a special Government employee 
     (as defined in section 202 of title 18);
       ``(D) such individual's current continuous service in the 
     civil service (as that term is defined in section 2101 of 
     title 5) as of the date of such access is for a period of not 
     less than one year;
       ``(E) such individual has completed any required training 
     or compliance procedures with respect to privacy laws, 
     cybersecurity regulations, national security regulations, and 
     best practices; and
       ``(F) has signed a written ethics agreement with either the 
     senior career Designated Agency Ethics Official of the 
     Department, or the most senior career official within the 
     Office of Government Ethics.
       ``(b) Treatment of Individuals Who Are Not Officers or 
     Employees of Executive Branch of Federal Government.--(1) Any 
     individual who accesses any system or data described in 
     subsection (a) who is not otherwise an officer or employee of 
     the executive branch of the Federal Government shall be 
     treated as an employee of the executive branch of the United 
     States Government for purposes of section 208 of title 18.
       ``(2) For purposes of such section 208, exercise of 
     administrative control or stopping, canceling, adjusting, 
     holding, rejecting, changing, or otherwise impacting any 
     payment or data in any Department system, data repository, or 
     other similar location, shall be considered personal and 
     substantial participation as a Government officer or employee 
     in a particular matter.
       ``(c) Definition of Other Relevant System.--In this 
     section, the term `other relevant system' means any data, 
     system, connection, database, repository, or any other 
     tangible thing of the Department that stores information of 
     the Department, veterans, surviving spouses, caregivers, or 
     other recipients of health care or benefits under laws 
     administered by the Secretary, including health data, 
     personally identifiable information, protected health 
     information, burial data information, contract data, the 
     Corporate Data Warehouse of the Department, data regarding 
     benefits provided to veterans, financial transaction and bank 
     information, Department of Veterans Affairs Integrated 
     Enterprise Workflow Solution system and data, payroll 
     information, research and development data, and data that is 
     part of the Million Veteran Program.''.
       (2) Clerical amendment.--The table of sections at the 
     beginning of chapter 57 of such title is amended by inserting 
     after section 5728 the following new section:

``5729. Limitations on access to certain information, systems, and 
              data.''.
       (b) Deletion of Improperly Obtained Data.--In any action 
     brought against the Department of Veterans Affairs or a 
     recipient agency or other recipient in a court of competent 
     jurisdiction for a violation of subsection (b) or (e) of 
     section 552a of title 5, United States Code, the court may 
     order the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, the recipient 
     agency, or other recipient to delete records improperly 
     disclosed or maintained in a system of records in violation 
     of the rules and regulations set out pursuant to such 
     section.
       (c) Removal of Connections.--Not later than 15 days after 
     the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 
     Veterans Affairs shall remove any information technology 
     connection between the Department and any entity not in 
     compliance with the provisions of this section or section 
     5729 of title 38, United States Code, as added by subsection 
     (a).
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