IB 

Union Calendar No. 167 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1804 

[Report No. 113–227] 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Veterans 

Affairs to submit to Congress semiannual reports on the cost of foreign 

travel made by employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 26, 2013 

Mr. HUELSKAMP introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

SEPTEMBER 25, 2013 

Reported with amendments, committed to the Committee of the Whole House 

on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on April 26, 2013] 


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A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to submit to Congress semiannual reports on the cost of foreign travel made by 

employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs. 


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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 ‘‘Veterans Accountability 

5 Act of 2013’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SEMIANNUAL REPORTS TO CONGRESS ON COST OF 

7 CERTAIN TRAVEL. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter I of chapter 5 of title 

9 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end 

10 the following new section: 

11 ‘‘§ 518. Semiannual reports to Congress on cost of cer12 tain travel 

13 ‘‘(a) SEMIANNUAL REPORTS.—Not later than June 30, 

14 2014, and not later than 60 days after each 180-day period 

15 thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on 

16 Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Representatives and the 

17 Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate a semiannual 

18 report on covered travel made during the 180-day period 

19 covered by the report. 

20 ‘‘(b) MATTERS INCLUDED.—Each report under sub21 section (a) shall include the following: 

22 ‘‘(1) With respect to each instance of covered 

23 travel made during the period covered by the report— 

24 ‘‘(A) the purpose of such travel; 

25 ‘‘(B) the destination; 


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1 ‘‘(C) the name and title of each employee 

2 included on such travel; 

3 ‘‘(D) the duration of such travel; 

4 ‘‘(E) the total cost to the Department of 

5 such travel; and 

6 ‘‘(F) with respect to covered travel described 

7 in subsection (d)(2), the identity of the person or 

8 entity that paid or reimbursed for such travel. 

9 ‘‘(2) The final costs to the Department with re10 spect to all covered travel made during the period cov11 ered by the report, including costs relating to— 

12 ‘‘(A) transportation, including fares for 

13 travel by air, rail, bus, ferry, cruise ship, taxi, 

14 mass transit, or other mode of transportation; 

15 ‘‘(B) expenses or reimbursements relating to 

16 operating and maintaining a car, including the 

17 costs of fuel and mileage; 

18 ‘‘(C) passport and visa fees; 

19 ‘‘(D) lodging; 

20 ‘‘(E) per diem payments; 

21 ‘‘(F) baggage charges; 

22 ‘‘(G) computer rental fees; 

23 ‘‘(H) rental of halls, auditoriums, or other 

24 spaces; 

25 ‘‘(I) entertainment; 


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1 ‘‘(J) contractors; 

2 ‘‘(K) registration fees; and 

3 ‘‘(L) promotional items. 

4 ‘‘(c) DUPLICATIVE INFORMATION.—Each report under 

5 subsection (a) shall include the information described in 

6 subsection (b) regardless of whether such information is also 

7 included in a report under section 517 of this title. 

8 ‘‘(d) COVERED TRAVEL DEFINED.—In this section, the 

9 term ‘covered travel’ means travel made by an employee of 

10 the Department of Veterans Affairs, including an employee 

11 who is stationed in a foreign country, on official business 

12 to any of the following locations: 

13 ‘‘(1) If the Department or other element of the 

14 Federal Government pays for such travel, a location 

15 outside of— 

16 ‘‘(A) the several States; 

17 ‘‘(B) the District of Columbia; 

18 ‘‘(C) a territory, commonwealth, or posses19 sion of the United States; 

20 ‘‘(D) Indian lands (as defined in section 

21 4(4) of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (25 

22 U.S.C. 2703(4))); or 

23 ‘‘(E) the territorial waters of the United 

24 States. 


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1 ‘‘(2) If any person or entity other than the Fed2 eral Government pays (or reimburses) for such travel, 

3 any location, regardless of whether the location is in4 side or outside of the United States.’’. 

5 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections at 

6 the beginning of such chapter is amended by adding after 

7 the item relating to section 517 the following new item: 

‘‘518. Semiannual reports to Congress on cost of certain travel.’’. 

8 SEC. 3. REPORT OF INFECTIOUS DISEASE AT MEDICAL FA9 CILITIES OF DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AF10 FAIRS. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 7311 of title 38, United 

12 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following 

13 new subsection: 

14 ‘‘(f)(1) The Secretary shall report to the appropriate 

15 entity each case of a notifiable infectious disease or condi16 tion that is diagnosed at a medical facility of the Depart17 ment of Veterans Affairs in accordance with the laws of the 

18 State in which the facility is located. 

19 ‘‘(2) In addition to reporting each case of a notifiable 

20 infectious disease or condition at a medical facility of the 

21 Department pursuant to paragraph (1), the Secretary shall 

22 report each such case that is classified as a health-care-asso23 ciated infection sentinel event to the accrediting organiza24 tion of such facility. 


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1 ‘‘(3)(A) If the Secretary fails to report a case of a 

2 notifiable infectious disease or condition at a medical facil3 ity of the Department in accordance with State law pursu4 ant to paragraph (1), the Secretary shall— 

5 ‘‘(i) take any remedial action required under the 

6 laws of the State to correct such failure; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) if the Secretary does not correct such fail8 ure pursuant to clause (i), pay to the State an 

9 amount equal to the amount that a medical facility 

10 not owned by the Federal Government that is located 

11 in the same State would pay as a penalty to such 

12 State for such failure. 

13 ‘‘(B) The State may file a civil action against the Sec14 retary in the United States district court for the district 

15 in which the medical facility is located to recover from the 

16 United States the amount described in subparagraph 

17 (A)(ii). 

18 ‘‘(C) A civil action under subparagraph (B) may not 

19 be commenced later than two years after the cause of action 

20 accrues. 

21 ‘‘(4)(A) In any case in which the Inspector General 

22 of the Department suspects that a director of a Veterans 

23 Integrated Service Network has failed to comply with an 

24 applicable provision of this subsection, the Inspector Gen25 eral shall conduct an investigation to determine whether 


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1 such director failed to comply with an applicable provision 

2 of this section. 

3 ‘‘(B) If the Inspector General determines under sub4 paragraph (A) that a director has failed to comply with 

5 a provision of this subsection, the Secretary shall suspend 

6 such director for such period as the Secretary considers ap7 propriate under subchapter I or subchapter II of chapter 

8 75 of title 5, as the case may be. In addition to such suspen9 sion, the Secretary may impose such other administrative 

10 disciplinary action on the director as the Secretary con11 siders appropriate and for which the Secretary is otherwise 

12 authorized. 

13 ‘‘(5) The Secretary shall— 

14 ‘‘(A) maintain records of each notifiable infec15 tious disease or condition reported pursuant to para16 graph (1); and 

17 ‘‘(B) submit to the Committees on Veterans’ Af18 fairs of the House of Representatives and the Senate 

19 a notification of each such notifiable infectious dis20 ease or condition. 

21 ‘‘(6) In this subsection, the term ‘notifiable infectious 

22 disease or condition’ means any infectious disease or condi23 tion that is— 

24 ‘‘(A) on the list of nationally notifiable diseases 

25 or conditions published by the Council of State and 


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1 Territorial Epidemiologists and the Centers for Dis2 ease Control and Prevention; or 

3 ‘‘(B) covered by a provision of law of a State 

4 that requires the reporting of infectious diseases or 

5 conditions.’’. 

6 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The reporting requirement 

7 under section 7311(f) of title 38, United States Code, as 

8 added by subsection (a), shall apply with respect to a case 

9 of a notifiable infectious disease or condition diagnosed at 

10 a medical facility of the Department of Veterans Affairs on 

11 or after the date that is 60 days after the date of the enact12 ment of this Act. 

13 SEC. 4. PROHIBITION OF VISUAL RECORDING WITHOUT IN14 FORMED CONSENT. 

15 Section 7331 of title 38, United States Code, is amend16 ed— 

17 (1) by striking ‘‘The Secretary, upon’’ and in18 serting ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, upon’’; 

19 and 

20 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub21 section: 

22 ‘‘(b) VISUAL RECORDING.—(1) The Secretary shall 

23 prescribe regulations establishing procedures to ensure that, 

24 except as provided by paragraph (2), any visual recording 

25 made by the Secretary of a patient during the course of 


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1 furnishing care under this title is carried out only with the 

2 full and informed consent of the patient or, in appropriate 

3 cases, a representative thereof. 

4 ‘‘(2) The Secretary may waive the requirement for in5 formed consent under paragraph (1) with respect to the vis6 ual recording of a patient if such recording is made— 

7 ‘‘(A) pursuant to a determination by a physi8 cian or psychologist that such recording is medically 

9 necessary or necessary for the safety of the patient; 

10 ‘‘(B) pursuant to a warrant or order of a court 

11 of competent jurisdiction; or 

12 ‘‘(C) in a public setting where a person would 

13 not have a reasonable expectation to privacy, such as 

14 a waiting room or hallway, and such recording is for 

15 general security purposes not particularized to the 

16 patient. 

17 ‘‘(3) In this subsection, the term ‘visual recording’ 

18 means the recording or transmission of images or video, but 

19 does not include— 

20 ‘‘(A) medical imaging, including such imaging 

21 produced by radiographic procedures, nuclear medi22 cine, endoscopy, ultrasound, or other similar proce23 dures; or 

24 ‘‘(B) images, video, and other clinical informa25 tion transmitted for the purposes of providing treatVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:40 Sep 26, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1804.RH H1804

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1 ment through telehealth and telemedicine tech2 nologies.’’. 

Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘A bill to amend title 

38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to submit to Congress semiannual reports 

on the cost of certain travel made by employees of the 

Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes.’’. 


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Union Calendar No. 167 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1804 

[Report No. 113–227] 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to direct 

of Veterans Affairs. eign travel made by employees of the Department Congress semiannual reports on the cost of forthe Secretary of Veterans Affairs to submit to 

SEPTEMBER 25, 2013 

Reported with amendments, committed to the Committee 

dered to be printed of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and orVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:40 Sep 26, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6651 Sfmt 6651 E:\BILLS\H1804.RH H1804

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