II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 524 

To establish the Department of Veterans Affairs Advisory Committee on 

Tribal and Indian Affairs, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 14, 2019 

Mr. TESTER (for himself, Mr. SULLIVAN, Mr. UDALL, and Ms. MURKOWSKI) 

introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 

Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To establish the Department of Veterans Affairs Advisory 

Committee on Tribal and Indian Affairs, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Department of Vet5 erans Affairs Tribal Advisory Committee Act of 2019’’. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
2 

•S 524 IS

1 SEC. 2. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS ADVISORY 

2 COMMITTEE ON TRIBAL AND INDIAN AF3 FAIRS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter III of chapter 5 of 

5 title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

6 end the following new section: 

7 ‘‘§ 547. Advisory Committee on Tribal and Indian Af8 fairs 

9 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—(1) The Secretary shall es10 tablish an advisory committee to provide advice and guid11 ance to the Secretary on matters relating to Indian tribes, 

12 tribal organizations, and Native American veterans. 

13 ‘‘(2) The advisory committee established under para14 graph (1) shall be known as the ‘Advisory Committee on 

15 Tribal and Indian Affairs’ (in this section referred to as 

16 the ‘Committee’). 

17 ‘‘(3) The Committee shall facilitate, but not supplant, 

18 government-to-government consultation between the De19 partment and Indian tribes or tribal organizations. 

20 ‘‘(4) The Secretary shall consult with Indian tribes 

21 or tribal organizations in developing a charter for the 

22 Committee. 

23 ‘‘(b) MEMBERSHIP.—(1) The Committee shall be 

24 composed of 15 voting members selected by the Secretary 

25 from among individuals nominated by Indian tribes or 

26 tribal organizations for purposes of this section. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
3 

•S 524 IS

1 ‘‘(2) In selecting members under paragraph (1), the 

2 Secretary shall ensure that— 

3 ‘‘(A) each of the 12 service areas of the Indian 

4 Health Service is represented in the membership of 

5 the Committee; and 

6 ‘‘(B) not fewer than half of the members are 

7 veterans, unless the Secretary determines that an in8 sufficient number of qualified veterans were nomi9 nated under paragraph (1). 

10 ‘‘(3) No member of the Committee may be an em11 ployee of the Federal Government. 

12 ‘‘(c) TERMS; VACANCIES.—(1) A member of the 

13 Committee shall be appointed for a term of two years. 

14 ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall fill a vacancy in the Com15 mittee in the same manner as the original appointment 

16 within 180 days. 

17 ‘‘(d) MEETINGS.—(1) The Committee shall meet in18 person with the Secretary, or the Secretary’s designee, not 

19 less frequently than twice each year and hold monthly con20 ference calls as necessary. 

21 ‘‘(2)(A) Representatives of relevant Federal agencies 

22 may attend meetings of the Committee and provide infor23 mation to the Committee. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
4 

•S 524 IS

1 ‘‘(B) On representative of the Office of Tribal Gov2 ernment Relations of the Department shall attend at each 

3 meeting of the Committee. 

4 ‘‘(C) Representatives attending meetings under this 

5 paragraph shall not be considered voting members of the 

6 Committee. 

7 ‘‘(e) SUBCOMMITTEES.—(1) The Committee may es8 tablish subcommittees. 

9 ‘‘(2) The Secretary may, in consultation with the 

10 Committee, appoint a member to a subcommittee estab11 lished under paragraph (1) who is not a member of the 

12 Committee. 

13 ‘‘(3) Such subcommittees may enhance the function 

14 of the Committee, but may not supersede the authority 

15 of the Committee or provide direct advice or work products 

16 to the Department. 

17 ‘‘(f) DUTIES.—The duties of the Committee are as 

18 follows: 

19 ‘‘(1) To advise the Secretary on ways the De20 partment can improve the programs and services of 

21 the Department to better serve Native American vet22 erans. 

23 ‘‘(2) To identify for the Department evolving 

24 issues of relevance to Indian tribes, tribal organizaVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:45 Feb 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S524.IS S524

kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
5 

•S 524 IS

1 tions, and Native American veterans relating to pro2 grams and services of the Department. 

3 ‘‘(3) To propose clarifications, recommenda4 tions, and solutions to address issues raised at trib5 al, regional, and national levels, especially regarding 

6 the Annual Tribal Consultation Report. 

7 ‘‘(4) To provide a forum for Indian tribes, trib8 al organizations, and the Department to discuss 

9 issues and proposals for changes to Department reg10 ulations, policies, and procedures. 

11 ‘‘(5) To identify priorities and provide advice on 

12 appropriate strategies for tribal consultation on 

13 issues at the tribal, regional, or national levels. 

14 ‘‘(6) To ensure that pertinent issues are 

15 brought to the attention of Indian tribes and tribal 

16 organizations in a timely manner, so that tribal 

17 feedback can be obtained. 

18 ‘‘(7) To encourage the Secretary to work with 

19 other Federal agencies and Congress so that Native 

20 American veterans are not denied the full benefit of 

21 their status as both Native Americans and veterans. 

22 ‘‘(8) To highlight contributions of Native Amer23 ican veterans in the Armed Forces. 

24 ‘‘(9) To update the consultation policy of the 

25 Department on tribal matters. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
6 

•S 524 IS

1 ‘‘(g) REPORTS.—(1) Not less frequently than once 

2 each year, the Committee shall submit to the Secretary 

3 and the appropriate committees of Congress such rec4 ommendations as the Committee may have for legislative 

5 or administrative action for the upcoming year. 

6 ‘‘(2) Not later than 90 days after the date on which 

7 the Secretary receives a recommendation under paragraph 

8 (1), the Secretary shall submit to the appropriate commit9 tees of Congress a written response to the recommenda10 tion. 

11 ‘‘(3) Not less frequently than once every two years, 

12 the Committee shall submit to the Secretary and the ap13 propriate committees of Congress a report describing the 

14 activities of the Committee during the previous two years. 

15 ‘‘(4) The Secretary shall make publicly available on 

16 an Internet website of the Department— 

17 ‘‘(A) each recommendation the Secretary re18 ceives under paragraph (1); 

19 ‘‘(B) each response the Secretary submits under 

20 paragraph (2); and 

21 ‘‘(C) each report the Secretary receives under 

22 paragraph (3). 

23 ‘‘(h) COMMITTEE PERSONNEL MATTERS.—Each 

24 member of the Committee shall be compensated at a rate 

25 equal to the daily equivalent of the annual rate of basic 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
7 

•S 524 IS

1 pay prescribed for level IV of the Executive Schedule 

2 under section 5315 of title 5 for each day (including travel 

3 time) during which such member is engaged in the per4 formance of duties of the Committee. 

5 ‘‘(i) FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ACT EXEMP6 TION.—Section 14 of the Federal Advisory Committee Act 

7 (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply to the Committee. 

8 ‘‘(j) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

9 ‘‘(1) The term ‘appropriate committees of Con10 gress’ means— 

11 ‘‘(A) the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

12 and the Committee on Indian Affairs of the 

13 Senate; and 

14 ‘‘(B) the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

15 of the House of Representatives. 

16 ‘‘(2) The term ‘Indian tribe’ has the meaning 

17 given such term in section 4 of the Indian Self-De18 termination and Education Assistance Act (25 

19 U.S.C. 5304). 

20 ‘‘(3) The term ‘Native American veteran’ has 

21 the meaning given such term in section 3765 of this 

22 title. 

23 ‘‘(4) The term ‘tribal organization’ has the 

24 meaning given such term in section 3765 of this title 

25 and includes an Urban Indian organization (as deVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:45 Feb 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S524.IS S524

kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
8 

•S 524 IS

1 fined in section 4 of the Indian Health Care Im2 provement Act (25 U.S.C. 1603)).’’. 

3 (b) DEADLINE FOR ESTABLISHMENT.—The Sec4 retary of Veterans Affairs shall establish the advisory com5 mittee required by section 547 of title 38, United States 

6 Code, as added by subsection (a), not later than 180 days 

7 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

8 (c) DEADLINE FOR INITIAL APPOINTMENTS.—Not 

9 later than 90 days after the date on which the Secretary 

10 establishes the advisory committee required by such sec11 tion, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall appoint mem12 bers under subsection (b)(1) of such section. 

13 (d) INITIAL MEETING.—Not later than 90 days after 

14 the date on which the Secretary establishes the advisory 

15 committee required by such section, such advisory com16 mittee shall hold its first meeting. 

17 (e) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

18 at the beginning of chapter 5 of such title is amended by 

19 inserting after the item relating to section 546 the fol20 lowing new item: 

‘‘547. Advisory Committee on Tribal and Indian Affairs.’’. 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS