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II
116TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
S. 3458
To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to submit to Congress a plan
to address certain high risk areas identified by the Comptroller General
of the United States regarding the Department of Veterans Affairs
in the 2019 High-Risk List of the Government Accountability Office,
and for other purposes.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
MARCH 12, 2020
Mrs. SHAHEEN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs
A BILL
To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to submit to
Congress a plan to address certain high risk areas identi-
fied by the Comptroller General of the United States
regarding the Department of Veterans Affairs in the
2019 High-Risk List of the Government Accountability
Office, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
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This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Reducing High Risk
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to Veterans and Veterans Services Act of 2020’’.
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•S 3458 IS
SEC. 2. REPORT AND PLANNED ACTIONS OF THE SEC-
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RETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS TO ADDRESS
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CERTAIN HIGH-RISK AREAS OF THE DEPART-
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MENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.
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(a) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than 180 days
5
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary
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of Veterans Affairs, in consultation with the Comptroller
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General of the United States, shall submit to the Com-
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mittee on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and the Com-
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mittee on Veterans Affairs of the House of Representa-
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tives a report outlining the plan the Secretary has devel-
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oped and the actions the Secretary has taken to address
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the areas of concern identified by the Comptroller General
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for the Department of Veterans Affairs in the 2019 High-
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Risk List of the Government Accountability Office (GAO–
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19–157SP) regarding—
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(1) acquisition management; and
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(2) managing risks and improving health care.
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(b) ELEMENTS.—The report under subsection (a)
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shall include each of the following:
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(1) Root causes of the areas of concern de-
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scribed in paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (a).
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(2) Corrective actions and specific steps to ad-
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dress each root cause, including—
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(A) the progress of the Secretary in imple-
25
menting those actions and steps; and
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•S 3458 IS
(B) timelines and milestones the Secretary
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determines feasible to complete each corrective
2
action.
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(3) Resources the Secretary determines are nec-
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essary to implement corrective actions, including—
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(A) funding;
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(B) stakeholders;
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(C) technology; and
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(D) senior officials responsible for imple-
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menting the corrective actions and reporting re-
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sults.
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(4) Metrics for assessing progress in addressing
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the areas of concern described in paragraphs (1) and
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(2) of subsection (a).
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(5) Key outcomes that demonstrate progress in
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addressing the areas of concern described in para-
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graphs (1) and (2) of subsection (a).
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(6) Obstacles to implementation of the plan
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that the Secretary identifies.
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(7) Recommendations of the Secretary regard-
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ing legislation or funding the Secretary determines
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necessary to implement the plan.
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(8) Any other information the Secretary deter-
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mines is relevant to understanding the progress of
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•S 3458 IS
the Department toward the removal of the areas of
1
concern from the High Risk List.
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(c) ANNUAL UPDATES.—
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(1) UPDATE REQUIRED.—Not less than once
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each year during the implementation period under
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paragraph (2), the Secretary shall submit to Con-
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gress an update regarding implementation of each
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element of the plan under subsection (b).
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(2) IMPLEMENTATION PERIOD.—The implemen-
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tation period described in this paragraph begins on
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the date on which the Secretary submits the report
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required under subsection (a) and ends on the ear-
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lier of the following dates:
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(A) The date on which the Comptroller
14
General removes the last area of concern for
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the Department from the most recent High-
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Risk List of the Government Accountability Of-
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fice.
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(B) The date that is 8 years after the date
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on which the Secretary submits the plan re-
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quired under subsection (a).
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•S 3458 IS
SEC. 3. ANNUAL REPORT BY SECRETARY OF VETERANS AF-
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FAIRS ON IMPLEMENTATION OF PRIORITY
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RECOMMENDATIONS OF COMPTROLLER GEN-
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ERAL OF THE UNITED STATES PERTAINING
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TO DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.
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(a) ANNUAL REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than
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270 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, and
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not less than once during each of the subsequent three
8
years, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall submit to
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the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and the
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Committee on Veterans Affairs of the House of Represent-
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atives and to the Comptroller General of the United States
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a report on the implementation of priority recommenda-
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tions of the Comptroller General that pertain to the De-
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partment of Veterans Affairs.
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(b) CONTENTS.—Each report submitted under sub-
16
section (a) shall include, for the period covered by the re-
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port, the following:
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(1) The progress of the Secretary in imple-
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menting all open priority recommendations of the
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Comptroller General for the Department of Veterans
21
Affairs.
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(2) An explanation for each instance where the
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Secretary has decided not to implement, or has not
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fully implemented, an open priority recommendation
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of the Comptroller General for the Department.
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(3) A summary of the corrective actions taken
1
and remaining steps the Secretary plans to take to
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implement open priority recommendations of the
3
Comptroller General.
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(c) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT CERTAIN RE-
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QUIRED REPORTS OR WRITTEN STATEMENTS.—The re-
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port under this section shall not be construed to supplant
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any report or written statement required under section
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720 of title 31, United States Code.
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Æ
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