To amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to notify Congress of conferences sponsored by the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes.

Summary: Requires the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) to submit quarterly to the congressional veterans committees an accounting of the costs of each conference, meeting, or other similar forum sponsored or co-sponsored by the VA that is: (1) attended by at least 50 individuals, including at least 1 VA employee; and (3) estimated to cost the VA at least $20,000.

Deems the submission of information by the Secretary to the veterans committees in response to a request by the chairman or ranking member of such committee or one of its subcommittees as: (1) a covered federal disclosure to a House of Congress; and (2) a permitted disclosure under regulations promulgated under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, including a permitted disclosure for oversight activities authorized by law.

Directs the Secretary of Labor to establish and maintain a website for the public disclosure of information concerning the employment by federal contractors of: (1) disabled veterans, (2) veterans who served on active duty during a war or in a campaign for which a campaign badge has been authorized, (3) veterans who participated in a military operation for which a service medal was awarded, and (4) recently separated veterans.

SECTION 1. QUARTERLY REPORTS TO CONGRESS ON CONFERENCES SPONSORED BY 
              THE DEPARTMENT.

    (a) In General.--Subchapter I of chapter 5 of title 38, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new section:
``Sec. 517. Quarterly reports to Congress on conferences sponsored by 
              the Department
    ``(a) Quarterly Reports Required.--Not later than 30 days after the 
end of each fiscal quarter, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee 
on Veterans' Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Committee 
on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate a report on covered conferences.
    ``(b) Matters Included.--Each report under subsection (a) shall 
include the following:
            ``(1) An accounting of the final costs to the Department of 
        each covered conference occurring during the fiscal quarter 
        preceding the date on which the report is submitted, including 
        the costs related to--
                    ``(A) transportation and parking;
                    ``(B) per diem payments;
                    ``(C) lodging;
                    ``(D) rental of halls, auditoriums, or other 
                spaces;
                    ``(E) rental of equipment;
                    ``(F) refreshments;
                    ``(G) entertainment;
                    ``(H) contractors; and
                    ``(I) brochures or other printed media.
            ``(2) The total estimated costs to the Department for 
        covered conferences occurring during the fiscal quarter in 
        which the report is submitted.
    ``(c) Covered Conference Defined.--In this section, the term 
`covered conference' means a conference, meeting, or other similar 
forum that is sponsored or co-sponsored by the Department of Veterans 
Affairs and is--
            ``(1) attended by 50 or more individuals, including one or 
        more employees of the Department; or
            ``(2) estimated to cost the Department at least $20,000.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections at the beginning of 
such chapter is amended by adding after the item relating to section 
516 the following:

``517. Quarterly reports to Congress on conferences sponsored by the 
                            Department.''.

SEC. 2. SUBMISSION OF CERTAIN INFORMATION BY THE SECRETARY OF VETERANS 
              AFFAIRS.

    (a) In General.--Subchapter II of chapter 5 of title 38, United 
States Code, is amended by inserting after section 529 the following 
new section:
``Sec. 529A. Submission of certain information by the Secretary to 
              Congress
    ``(a) In General.--The submission of information by the Secretary 
to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the House of Representatives 
or the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate in response to a 
request for such information made by a covered member of the committee 
shall be deemed to be--
            ``(1) a covered disclosure under section 552a(b)(9) of 
        title 5; and
            ``(2) a permitted disclosure under regulations promulgated 
        under section 264(c) of the Health Insurance Portability and 
        Accountability Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-191), including a 
        permitted disclosure for oversight activities authorized by law 
        as described in section 164.512(d) of title 45, Code of Federal 
        Regulations.
    ``(b) Submission to Chairman.--With respect to a request for 
information described in subsection (a) made by a covered member of the 
committee who is not the chairman, the Secretary shall also submit such 
information to the chairman of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of 
the House of Representatives or the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of 
the Senate, as the case may be.
    ``(c) Covered Member of the Committee.--In this section, the term 
`covered member of the committee' means the following:
            ``(1) The chairman or ranking member of the Committee on 
        Veterans' Affairs of the House of Representatives or the 
        Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate.
            ``(2) A chairman or ranking member of a subcommittee of the 
        Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the House of Representatives 
        or the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate.
            ``(3) The designee of a chairman or ranking member 
        described in paragraph (1) or (2).''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--The table of sections at the beginning 
of such chapter is amended by inserting after the item relating to 
section 529 the following new item:

``529A. Submission of certain information by the Secretary to 
                            Congress.''.

SEC. 3. PUBLICATION OF DATA ON EMPLOYMENT OF CERTAIN VETERANS BY 
              FEDERAL CONTRACTORS.

    Section 4212(d) of title 38, United States Code, is amended by 
adding at the end the following new paragraph:
    ``(3) The Secretary of Labor shall establish and maintain an 
Internet website on which the Secretary shall publicly disclose the 
information reported to the Secretary of Labor by contractors under 
paragraph (1).''.

            Passed the House of Representatives October 11, 2011.

            Attest:

                                                 KAREN L. HAAS,

                                                                 Clerk.