IC 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 12 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 26, 2017 

Referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

AN ACT 

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

accountability of employees of the Department of Veterans 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, 

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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Increasing the Depart3 ment of Veterans Affairs Accountability to Veterans Act 

4 of 2017’’. 

5 SEC. 2. ACCOUNTABILITY OF LEADERS FOR MANAGING 

6 THE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 

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

8 States Code, is amended by inserting after section 709 the 

9 following new section: 

10 ‘‘§ 710. Annual performance plan for political ap11 pointees 

12 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall conduct an 

13 annual performance plan for each political appointee of 

14 the Department that is similar to the annual performance 

15 plan conducted for an employee of the Department who 

16 is appointed as a career appointee (as that term is defined 

17 in section 3132(a)(4) of title 5) within the Senior Execu18 tive Service at the Department. 

19 ‘‘(b) ELEMENTS OF PLAN.—Each annual perform20 ance plan conducted under subsection (a) with respect to 

21 a political appointee of the Department shall include, to 

22 the extent applicable, an assessment of whether the ap23 pointee is meeting the following goals: 

24 ‘‘(1) Recruiting, selecting, and retaining well25 qualified individuals for employment at the Depart26 ment. 

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1 ‘‘(2) Engaging and motivating employees. 

2 ‘‘(3) Training and developing employees and 

3 preparing those employees for future leadership roles 

4 within the Department. 

5 ‘‘(4) Holding each employee of the Department 

6 that is a manager accountable for addressing issues 

7 relating to performance, in particular issues relating 

8 to the performance of employees that report to the 

9 manager.’’. 

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

11 at the beginning of chapter 7 of such title is further 

12 amended by inserting after the item relating to section 

13 709 the following new item: 

‘‘710. Annual performance plan for political appointees.’’. 

14 SEC. 3. ACCOUNTABILITY OF SUPERVISORS AT DEPART15 MENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS FOR HIRING 

16 WELL-QUALIFIED PEOPLE. 

17 (a) ASSESSMENT DURING PROBATIONARY PERIOD.— 

18 (1) DETERMINATION REQUIRED.—With respect 

19 to any employee of the Department of Veterans Af20 fairs who is required to serve a probationary period 

21 in a position in the Department, the Secretary of 

22 Veterans Affairs shall require the supervisor of such 

23 employee to determine, during the 30-day period 

24 ending on the date on which the probationary period 

25 ends, whether the employee— 

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1 (A) has demonstrated successful perform2 ance; and 

3 (B) should continue past the probationary 

4 period. 

5 (2) LIMITATION ON EMPLOYMENT AFTER PRO6 BATIONARY PERIOD.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

8 subparagraph (B), no employee of the Depart9 ment serving a probationary period as described 

10 in paragraph (1) may complete that proba11 tionary period unless and until the supervisor of 

12 the employee, or another supervisor capable of 

13 making the requisite determination, has made 

14 an affirmative determination under such para15 graph. 

16 (B) PROBATIONARY PERIOD DEEMED COM17 PLETED.— 

18 (i) NO DETERMINATION.—If no deter19 mination under paragraph (1) is made 

20 with respect to an employee before the end 

21 of the 60-day period following the end of 

22 the 30-day period specified in such para23 graph, the employee shall be deemed to 

24 have completed the probationary period of 

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1 the employee effective as of the end of that 

2 60-day period. 

3 (ii) RETROACTIVE EFFECT OF DETER4 MINATION.—If an affirmative determina5 tion under paragraph (1) is made with re6 spect to an employee after the end of the 

7 30-day period specified in such paragraph, 

8 the employee shall be deemed to have com9 pleted the probationary period of the em10 ployee effective as of the end of that 30- 

11 day period. 

12 (3) NOTIFICATION TO CONGRESS REGARDING

13 DETERMINATIONS.—Not less frequently than month14 ly, the Secretary shall notify the Committee on Vet15 erans’ Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on 

16 Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Representatives 

17 regarding— 

18 (A) each instance during such month in 

19 which a supervisor did not make a determina20 tion required under paragraph (1) during the 

21 period required in such paragraph; and 

22 (B) each such instance included in a pre23 vious notification under this paragraph for 

24 which the supervisor still has not made such a 

25 determination. 

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1 (b) SUPERVISORS.—With respect to any employee of 

2 the Department who is serving a probationary period in 

3 a supervisory position at the Department, successful per4 formance under subsection (a) shall include demonstrating 

5 management competencies in addition to the technical 

6 skills required for such position. 

7 (c) PERFORMANCE PLAN.—Each annual perform8 ance plan conducted for a supervisor of an employee serv9 ing a probationary period shall hold the supervisor ac10 countable for— 

11 (1) providing regular feedback to such employee 

12 during such period before making a determination 

13 under subsection (a) regarding the probationary sta14 tus of such employee; and 

15 (2) making a timely determination under sub16 section (a) regarding the probationary status of such 

17 employee. 

18 (d) SUPERVISOR DEFINED.—In this section, the term 

19 ‘‘supervisor’’ has the meaning given such term in section 

20 7103(a) of title 5, United States Code. 

21 SEC. 4. ACCOUNTABILITY OF MANAGERS FOR ADDRESSING 

22 PERFORMANCE OF EMPLOYEES. 

23 The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall ensure that, 

24 as a part of the annual performance plan of an employee 

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1 of the Department of Veterans Affairs who is a manager, 

2 the manager is evaluated on the following: 

3 (1) Taking action to address poor performance 

4 and misconduct among the employees that report to 

5 the manager. 

6 (2) Taking steps to improve or sustain high lev7 els of employee engagement. 

8 SEC. 5. WRITTEN OPINION ON CERTAIN EMPLOYMENT RE9 STRICTIONS AFTER TERMINATING EMPLOY10 MENT WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS 

11 AFFAIRS. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter I of chapter 7 of title 

13 38, United States Code, is further amended by adding at 

14 the end the following new section: 

15 ‘‘§ 717. Written opinion on certain employment re16 strictions after terminating employment 

17 with the Department 

18 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Before terminating employment 

19 with the Department, any official of the Department who 

20 has participated personally and substantially during the 

21 one-year period ending on the date of the termination in 

22 an acquisition by the Department that exceeds 

23 $10,000,000 shall obtain a written opinion from an appro24 priate ethics counselor at the Department regarding any 

25 restrictions on activities that the official may undertake 

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1 on behalf of a covered contractor during the two-year pe2 riod beginning on the date on which the official terminates 

3 such employment. 

4 ‘‘(b) COVERED CONTRACTOR DEFINED.—In this sec5 tion, the term ‘covered contractor’ means a contractor car6 rying out a contract entered into with the Department, 

7 including pursuant to a subcontract.’’. 

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

9 at the beginning of chapter 7 of such title is further 

10 amended by inserting after the item relating to section 

11 715 the following new item: 

‘‘717. Written opinion on certain employment restrictions after leaving the Department.’’. 

12 SEC. 6. REQUIREMENT FOR CONTRACTORS OF THE DE13 PARTMENT EMPLOYING CERTAIN RECENTLY 

14 SEPARATED DEPARTMENT EMPLOYEES. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 81 of 

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

17 end the following new section: 

18 ‘‘§ 8129. Requirement for contractors employing cer19 tain recently separated Department em20 ployees 

21 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A covered contractor may not 

22 knowingly provide compensation to an individual described 

23 in subsection (b) during the two-year period beginning on 

24 the date on which the individual terminates employment 

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1 with the Department unless the covered contractor deter2 mines that the individual— 

3 ‘‘(1) has obtained the written opinion required 

4 under section 717(a) of this title; or 

5 ‘‘(2) has requested such written opinion not 

6 later than 30 days before receiving compensation 

7 from the covered contractor. 

8 ‘‘(b) INDIVIDUAL DESCRIBED.—An individual de9 scribed in this subsection is any official of the Department 

10 who participated personally and substantially during the 

11 one-year period ending on the date of the termination indi12 vidual’s employment with the Department in an acquisi13 tion by the Department that exceeds $10,000,000. 

14 ‘‘(c) COVERED CONTRACTOR DEFINED.—In this sec15 tion, the term ‘covered contractor’ means a contractor car16 rying out a contract entered into with the Department, 

17 including pursuant to a subcontract.’’. 

18 (b) APPLICATION.—The requirement under section 

19 8129(a) of title 38, United States Code, as added by sub20 section (a), shall apply with respect to any entity that en21 ters into a contract with the Department on or after the 

22 date of the enactment of this Act. 

23 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

24 at the beginning of chapter 81 of such title is amended 

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1 by inserting after the item relating to section 8128 the 

2 following new item: 

‘‘8129. Requirement for contractors employing certain recently separated Department employees.’’. 

Passed the Senate May 25, 2017. 

Attest: JULIE E. ADAMS, 

Secretary.