II 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 2072 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 10, 2014 

Received 

AN ACT 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the 

accountability of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to 

the Inspector General of the Department of Veterans 

Affairs. 

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


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Demanding Account3 ability for Veterans Act of 2014’’. 

4 SEC. 2. SCORING OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS. 

5 The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of 

6 complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, 

7 shall be determined by reference to the latest statement 

8 titled ‘‘Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation’’ for this 

9 Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional Record 

10 by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, pro11 vided that such statement has been submitted prior to the 

12 vote on passage. 

13 SEC. 3. ACCOUNTABILITY OF SECRETARY OF VETERANS AF14 FAIRS TO INSPECTOR GENERAL OF THE DE15 PARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 7 of title 38, United 

17 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol18 lowing new section: 

19 ‘‘§ 712. Accountability of Secretary to Inspector Gen20 eral 

21 ‘‘(a) LIST OF MANAGERS.—(1) If the Inspector Gen22 eral of the Department of Veterans Affairs determines 

23 that the Secretary has not appropriately responded with 

24 significant progress to a covered report by the date speci25 fied in the action plan of the Secretary developed in re26 sponse to such covered report— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the Inspector General shall notify the 

2 Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and 

3 House of Representatives and the Secretary of such 

4 failure to appropriately respond; and 

5 ‘‘(B) not later than 15 days after such notifica6 tion, the Secretary shall submit to the Inspector 

7 General a list of the names of each responsible man8 ager and the matter in the action plan for which the 

9 manager is responsible. 

10 ‘‘(2) The Inspector General may not make public the 

11 names of responsible managers submitted under para12 graph (1)(B). 

13 ‘‘(b) PERFORMANCE OF RESPONSIBLE MANAGERS.— 

14 (1) The Secretary shall— 

15 ‘‘(A) promptly notify each responsible manager 

16 of a covered issue by not later than seven days after 

17 the date on which the Secretary submits to the In18 spector General the name of the manager under sub19 section (a)(1)(B); 

20 ‘‘(B) direct such manager to resolve such issue; 

21 and 

22 ‘‘(C) provide such manager with appropriate 

23 counseling and a mitigation plan with respect to re24 solving such issue. 


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1 ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall ensure that any performance 

2 review of a responsible manager includes an evaluation of 

3 whether the manager took appropriate actions during the 

4 period covered by the review to respond to the covered 

5 issue for which a request was made under subsection (a). 

6 ‘‘(3) The Secretary may not pay to a responsible 

7 manager any bonus or award, including a performance 

8 award under section 5384 of title 5 if the covered issue 

9 for which a request was made under subsection (a) is un10 resolved. 

11 ‘‘(c) ROLE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL.—Any authority 

12 of the Inspector General provided under this section is in 

13 addition to any responsibility or authority provided to the 

14 Inspector General in the Inspector General Act of 1978 

15 (5 U.S.C. App.). 

16 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

17 ‘‘(1) The term ‘covered issue’ means, with re18 spect to a responsible manager, an issue described in 

19 a covered report for which the manager is or was re20 sponsible. 

21 ‘‘(2) The term ‘covered report’ means a report 

22 by the Inspector General of the Department of Vet23 erans Affairs that recommends actions to the Sec24 retary of Veterans Affairs (or other official or emVerDate Sep 11 2014 17:53 Dec 17, 2014 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2072.RDS H2072

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1 ployee of the Department) to address an issue in the 

2 Department with respect to public health or safety. 

3 ‘‘(3) The term ‘responsible manager’ means an 

4 individual who— 

5 ‘‘(A) is an employee of the Department; 

6 ‘‘(B) is or was responsible for an issue in7 cluded in a covered report; and 

8 ‘‘(C) in being so responsible, is or was em9 ployed in a management position, regardless of 

10 whether the employee is in the competitive civil 

11 service, Senior Executive Service, or other type 

12 of civil service.’’. 

13 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

14 at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting 

15 after the item relating to section 711 the following new 

16 item: 

‘‘712. Accountability of Secretary to Inspector General.’’. 

17 SEC. 4. SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS CONTRACT AU18 THORITY FOR TRANSFER OF VETERANS NON19 DEPARTMENT MEDICAL FOSTER HOMES. 

20 (a) AUTHORITY.—Section 1720 of title 38, United 

21 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol22 lowing new subsection: 

23 ‘‘(h)(1) During the three-year period beginning on 

24 October 1, 2014, at the request of a veteran for whom 

25 the Secretary is required to provide nursing home care 


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1 under section 1710A of this title, the Secretary may trans2 fer the veteran to a medical foster home that meets De3 partment standards, at the expense of the United States, 

4 pursuant to a contract or agreement entered into between 

5 the Secretary and the medical foster home for such pur6 pose. A veteran who is transferred to a medical foster 

7 home under this subsection shall agree, as a condition of 

8 such transfer, to accept home health services furnished by 

9 the Secretary under section 1717 of this title. 

10 ‘‘(2) For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘med11 ical foster home’ means a home designed to provide non12 institutional, long-term, supportive care for veterans who 

13 are unable to live independently and prefer a family set14 ting.’’. 

15 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Subsection (h) of title 38, 

16 United States Code, as added by subsection (a), shall take 

17 effect on October 1, 2014. 

18 SEC. 5. CONDITIONS ON THE AWARD OF PER DIEM PAY19 MENTS BY THE SECRETARY OF VETERANS 

20 AFFAIRS FOR THE PROVISION OF HOUSING 

21 OR SERVICES TO HOMELESS VETERANS. 

22 (a) CONDITION.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (1) of section 

24 2012(c) of title 38, United States Code, is amended 

25 to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), a per diem 

2 payment may not be provided under this section to a grant 

3 recipient or eligible entity unless the entity submits to the 

4 Secretary an annual certification, approved or verified by 

5 the authority having jurisdiction or a qualified third party, 

6 as determined by the Secretary, that the facility where the 

7 entity provides housing or services for homeless veterans 

8 using grant funds is in compliance with codes relevant to 

9 the operations and level of care provided, including appli10 cable provisions of the most recently published version of 

11 the Life Safety Code or International Building Code and 

12 International Fire Code (or such versions of such codes 

13 that have been adopted as State or local codes by the juris14 diction in which the facility is located), licensing require15 ments, fire and safety requirements, and any other re16 quirements in the jurisdiction in which the facility is lo17 cated regarding the condition of the facility and the oper18 ation of the entity providing such supportive housing or 

19 services. For purposes of this paragraph, if a facility 

20 where a grant recipient or eligible entity provides housing 

21 or services for homeless veterans using grant funds is lo22 cated in a jurisdiction without relevant code requirements, 

23 the Secretary shall determine code and inspection require24 ments to be applied to the facility.’’. 


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1 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made 

2 by paragraph (1) shall apply with respect to an ap3 plication for a per diem payment under section 2012 

4 of title 38, United States Code, submitted on or 

5 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

6 (b) ANNUAL REPORT.—Section 2065(b) of title 38, 

7 United States Code, is amended— 

8 (1) by redesignating paragraph (6) as para9 graph (7); and 

10 (2) by inserting after paragraph (5) the fol11 lowing new paragraph (6): 

12 ‘‘(6) The Secretary’s evaluation of the safety 

13 and accessibility of facilities used to provide pro14 grams established by grant recipients or eligible enti15 ties under sections 2011 and 2012 of this title, in16 cluding the number of such grant recipients or eligi17 ble entities who have submitted a certification under 

18 section 2012(c)(1).’’. 

19 (c) TREATMENT OF CURRENT RECIPIENTS.—In the 

20 case of the recipient of a per diem payment under section 

21 2012 of title 38, United States Code, that receives such 

22 a payment during the year in which this Act is enacted, 

23 the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall require the recipi24 ent to submit the certification required under section 

25 2012(c)(1) of such title, as amended by subsection (a)(1), 


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1 by not later than two years after the date of the enactment 

2 of this Act. If the recipient fails to submit such certifi3 cation by such date, the Secretary may not make any addi4 tional per diem payments to the recipient under such sec5 tion 2012 until the recipient submits such certification. 

6 SEC. 6. EXTENSION OF LOAN GUARANTY FEE FOR CERTAIN 

7 SUBSEQUENT LOANS. 

8 (a) EXTENSION.—Section 3729(b)(2) of title 38, 

9 United States Code, is amended— 

10 (1) in subparagraph (A)— 

11 (A) in clause (iii), by striking ‘‘October 1, 

12 2017’’ and inserting ‘‘October 1, 2018’’; and 

13 (B) in clause (iv), by striking ‘‘October 1, 

14 2017’’ and inserting ‘‘October 1, 2018’’; 

15 (2) in subparagraph (C)— 

16 (A) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘October 1, 

17 2017’’ and inserting ‘‘October 1, 2018’’; and 

18 (B) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘October 1, 

19 2017’’ and inserting ‘‘October 1, 2018’’; and 

20 (3) in subparagraph (D)— 

21 (A) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘October 1, 

22 2017’’ and inserting ‘‘October 1, 2018’’; and 

23 (B) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘October 1, 

24 2017’’ and inserting ‘‘October 1, 2018’’. 


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1 SEC. 7. EXTENSION OF AUTHORITY OF SECRETARY OF VET2 ERANS AFFAIRS TO OBTAIN CERTAIN INFOR3 MATION FROM THE SECRETARY OF THE 

4 TREASURY OR THE COMMISSIONER OF SO5 CIAL SECURITY. 

6 Section 5317 of title 38, United States Code, is 

7 amended by striking ‘‘September 30, 2016’’ and inserting 

8 ‘‘May 31, 2017’’. 

Passed the House of Representatives June 9, 2014. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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