IB 

Union Calendar No. 374 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 2250 

[Report No. 117–492] 

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

information technology projects and investments of the Department of 

Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 26, 2021 

Mr. ROSENDALE (for himself, Mr. MRVAN, and Mr. BANKS) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

SEPTEMBER 26, 2022 

Additional sponsors: Mr. HERN, Mr. DELGADO, and Ms. MALLIOTAKIS

SEPTEMBER 26, 2022 

Reported with an amendment, 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 March 26, 2021] 


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A BILL 

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

management of information technology projects and investments of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and 

for other purposes. 


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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 ‘‘Department of Veterans 

5 Affairs Information Technology Reform Act of 2021’’. 

6 SEC. 2. MANAGEMENT OF MAJOR INFORMATION TECH7 NOLOGY PROJECTS. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 81 of title 38, United 

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

10 new subchapter: 

11 ‘‘SUBCHAPTER VI—INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY 

12 PROJECTS AND ACTIVITIES 

13 ‘‘§ 8171. Definitions 

14 ‘‘In this subchapter: 

15 ‘‘(1) The term ‘appropriate congressional com16 mittees’ means— 

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

18 and the Subcommittee on Military Construction, 

19 Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies of the 

20 Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; and 

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

22 and the Subcommittee on Military Construction, 

23 Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies of the 

24 Committee on Appropriations of the House of 

25 Representatives. 


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1 ‘‘(2) The term ‘information technology’ has the 

2 meaning given that term in section 11101 of title 40. 

3 ‘‘(3) The term ‘information technology project’ 

4 means a project or program of the Department (in5 cluding a project or program of any element of the 

6 Department) for, or including, the acquisition or im7 plementation of information technology. In cases 

8 where the Secretary transmits to the Director of the 

9 Office of Management and Budget information re10 garding information technology investments, which 

11 may consist of individual or multiple projects, such 

12 term refers to an individual project or program or a 

13 grouping of multiple projects or programs resulting 

14 in the acquisition or implementation of discrete infor15 mation technology. 

16 ‘‘(4) The term ‘life cycle costs’ means all direct 

17 and indirect costs to acquire, implement, operate, and 

18 maintain information technology, including with re19 spect to costs of any element of the Department. 

20 ‘‘(5) The term ‘major information technology 

21 project’ means an information technology project if— 

22 ‘‘(A) the project is designated by the Sec23 retary, the Chief Information Officer of the De24 partment, or the Director of the Office of Man25 agement and Budget as a major information 


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1 technology investment, as defined in section 

2 11302 of title 40; or 

3 ‘‘(B) the dollar value of the project is esti4 mated by the Secretary to exceed $500,000,000 

5 (as adjusted for inflation pursuant to section 

6 1908 of title 41) for the total life cycle costs of 

7 the project. 

8 ‘‘(6) The term ‘business owner’ means, with re9 spect to an information technology project, the pro10 gram manager, project manager, or other supervisory 

11 official of the Department responsible for the project. 

12 ‘‘§ 8172. Management of major information technology 

13 projects 

14 ‘‘(a) COST, SCHEDULE, AND PERFORMANCE INFORMA15 TION.—(1) The Secretary may not obligate or expend funds 

16 for any major information technology project that begins 

17 after the date of the enactment of the Department of Vet18 erans Affairs Information Technology Reform Act of 2021 

19 unless the Secretary, acting through the Chief Information 

20 Officer of the Department, submits to the appropriate con21 gressional committees a report containing information on 

22 the cost, schedule, and performance of such project, as gen23 erated by the business owner of the project. 


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1 ‘‘(2) Each report submitted under paragraph (1) for 

2 a project shall include, with respect to such project, the fol3 lowing: 

4 ‘‘(A) An estimate of acquisition costs, implemen5 tation costs, and life cycle costs. 

6 ‘‘(B) An intended implementation schedule indi7 cating significant milestones, initial operating capa8 bility, and full operating capability or completion. 

9 ‘‘(C) Key business, functional, and performance 

10 objectives. 

11 ‘‘(b) BASELINE.—(1) The Secretary shall use the infor12 mation on the cost, schedule, and performance of a major 

13 information technology project included in the report under 

14 subsection (a) as the baseline against which changes or 

15 variances are measured during the life cycle of such project. 

16 ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall— 

17 ‘‘(A) annually update the baseline of a major in18 formation technology project pursuant to subsection 

19 (c); and 

20 ‘‘(B) include such updated baseline in the docu21 ments providing detailed information on the budget 

22 for the Department that the Secretary submits to 

23 Congress in conjunction with the President’s budget 

24 submission pursuant to section 1105 of title 31. 


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1 ‘‘(c) CHANGES AND VARIANCES.—(1) Not later than 60 

2 days after the date on which the Secretary identifies a 

3 change or variance described in paragraph (2) in the cost, 

4 schedule, or performance of a major information technology 

5 project, the Secretary, acting through the Chief Information 

6 Officer, shall submit to the appropriate congressional com7 mittees a notification of such change or variance, including 

8 a description and explanation for such change or variance. 

9 ‘‘(2) A change or variance in the cost, schedule, or per10 formance of a major information technology project de11 scribed in this paragraph is— 

12 ‘‘(A) with respect to the acquisition, implementa13 tion, or life cycle cost of the project, or development 

14 increment therein, a change or variance that is 10 

15 percent or greater compared to the baseline; 

16 ‘‘(B) with respect to the schedule for a develop17 ment increment or for achieving a significant mile18 stone, initial operating capability, or full operating 

19 capability, or for the final completion of the project, 

20 a change or variance that is 180 days or greater com21 pared to the baseline; or 

22 ‘‘(C) with respect to the performance, an in23 stance where a key business, functional, or perform24 ance objective is not attained, or is not anticipated to 

25 be attained, in whole or in part. 


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1 ‘‘(d) MANAGEMENT.—The Secretary shall ensure that 

2 each major information technology project is managed by 

3 an interdisciplinary team consisting of the following: 

4 ‘‘(1) A project manager who is— 

5 ‘‘(A) certified in project management at 

6 level three by the Department, the Federal Acqui7 sition Institute pursuant to section 1201 of title 

8 41, or the Department of Defense pursuant to 

9 section 1701a of title 10, or who holds an equiva10 lent certification by a private sector project 

11 management certification organization, as deter12 mined appropriate by the Secretary; and 

13 ‘‘(B) an employee of the Office of Informa14 tion and Technology of the Department or an 

15 employee of an element of the Department at 

16 which the project originates. 

17 ‘‘(2) A functional lead who is an employee of the 

18 element of the Department at which the project origi19 nates. 

20 ‘‘(3) A technical lead who is an employee of the 

21 Office of Information and Technology of the Depart22 ment. 

23 ‘‘(4) A contracting officer. 


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1 ‘‘(5) Sufficient other project management, func2 tional, technical, and procurement personnel as the 

3 Secretary determines appropriate. 

4 ‘‘§ 8173. Information technology activities of the Fi5 nancial Services Center 

6 ‘‘(a) MANAGEMENT.—Consistent with sections 11302 

7 and 11319 of title 40— 

8 ‘‘(1) the Chief Information Officer of the Depart9 ment shall— 

10 ‘‘(A) exercise authority over the manage11 ment, governance, and oversight processes relat12 ing to existing or proposed information tech13 nology of the Financial Services Center of the 

14 Department, or such successor office; and 

15 ‘‘(B) supervise the information technology 

16 employees and contractors of the Financial Serv17 ices Center; and 

18 ‘‘(2) the Director of the Financial Services Cen19 ter of the Department, or the head of such successor 

20 office, may not enter into a contract or other agree21 ment for information technology or information tech22 nology services unless the contract or other agreement 

23 has been reviewed and approved by the Chief Infor24 mation Officer. 


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1 ‘‘(b) OVERSIGHT.—The Chief Information Officer shall 

2 have oversight and operational authority over all informa3 tion security practices of the Financial Services Center of 

4 the Department. 

5 ‘‘§ 8174. Submission of annual reviews of information 

6 technology 

7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through the 

8 Chief Information Officer of the Department, shall submit 

9 to the appropriate congressional committees each annual re10 view of the information technology portfolio of the Depart11 ment conducted pursuant to section 11319(d)(3) of title 40. 

12 ‘‘(b) FIRST SUBMISSION.—The first annual review 

13 submitted under subsection (a) shall include a copy of each 

14 previous annual review conducted under section 

15 11319(d)(3) of title 40. 

16 ‘‘§ 8175. Information technology matters to be in17 cluded in budget justification materials 

18 for the Department 

19 ‘‘(a) LIST OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY PROJECTS

20 IN EFFECT.—The Secretary shall ensure that whenever the 

21 budget justification materials are submitted to Congress in 

22 support of the Department budget for a fiscal year (as sub23 mitted with the budget of the President for such fiscal year 

24 under section 1105(a) of title 31), such budget justification 

25 materials include a list of every information technology 


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1 project currently in effect at the Department (including not 

2 only congressional projects and subprojects as determined 

3 by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget 

4 or the Secretary). 

5 ‘‘(b) PRIORITIZED LIST OF UNFUNDED PROJECTS.— 

6 (1) In addition to the list included in the budget justifica7 tion materials required by subsection (a), the Secretary 

8 shall ensure that the budget justification materials described 

9 in such subsection also include summary descriptions and 

10 a prioritized list, in rank order, of every information tech11 nology project of the Department, proposed or intended to 

12 be proposed for the following one, two, or three fiscal years, 

13 that is unfunded as of the time of the inclusion of the list 

14 under this paragraph. 

15 ‘‘(2) In producing the list required by paragraph (1), 

16 the Secretary shall— 

17 ‘‘(A) ensure such list represents a ranking of all 

18 proposed information technology projects that reflects 

19 the needs of all elements of the Department; 

20 ‘‘(B) produce one unified list for the entire De21 partment demonstrating how the various proposed in22 formation technology projects of each of the elements 

23 of the Department rank in priority with the informa24 tion technology projects of the other elements of the 

25 Department; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) ensure that the list— 

2 ‘‘(i) does not disaggregate and rank infor3 mation technology projects based on element of 

4 the Department; and 

5 ‘‘(ii) does identify the element of the De6 partment requesting the information technology 

7 project. 

8 ‘‘(3)(A) In producing each list under paragraph (1), 

9 the Secretary shall prioritize and rank each information 

10 technology project based on an assessment of each of the fol11 lowing factors: 

12 ‘‘(i) Degree of collaboration between business 

13 owners and the Chief Information Officer with respect 

14 to joint functional-technical planning, requirements, 

15 and management. 

16 ‘‘(ii) Operational or efficiency benefits to em17 ployees of the Department created or produced by the 

18 information technology project. 

19 ‘‘(iii) The life cycle cost of the information tech20 nology project. 

21 ‘‘(iv) The cost savings or cost avoidance yielded 

22 by the information technology project. 

23 ‘‘(v) Time to completion of the information tech24 nology project. 


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1 ‘‘(vi) The difficulty of the information technology 

2 project, the likelihood the information technology 

3 project will be completed, or the risks associated with 

4 undertaking the information technology project. 

5 ‘‘(vii) Tangible benefits to veterans created or 

6 produced by the information technology project. 

7 ‘‘(viii) Such other factors as the Secretary con8 siders appropriate. 

9 ‘‘(B) The Secretary shall ensure that each list produced 

10 under paragraph (1) includes, for each information tech11 nology project included in the list, a brief description of 

12 the findings of the Secretary with respect to each assessment 

13 carried out by the Secretary for each factor for the informa14 tion technology project under subparagraph (A). 

15 ‘‘(c) PROJECTED FUNDING NEEDS.—(1) In addition 

16 to the matters included under subsections (a) and (b), the 

17 Secretary shall ensure that the budget justification mate18 rials described in subsection (a) also include a projection 

19 of the one-year, two-year, and three-year funding needs of 

20 the Department for information technology, disaggregated 

21 by portfolio and product line of the Department that re22 quires the funding. 

23 ‘‘(2) In addition to the projections under paragraph 

24 (1), the Secretary shall include a description of the fol25 lowing, with respect to each of the periods set forth in such 


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1 paragraph, disaggregated by major business line of the De2 partment: 

3 ‘‘(A) The information technology infrastructure 

4 and equipment requirements. 

5 ‘‘(B) The funding required for development. 

6 ‘‘(C) The funding required for operations and 

7 maintenance. 

8 ‘‘(D) The funding required by cybersecurity. 

9 ‘‘(E) Such other categories of the information 

10 technology needs of the Department as the Secretary 

11 considers relevant and important.’’. 

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

13 the beginning of such chapter is amended by adding at the 

14 end the following: 

‘‘SUBCHAPTER VI—INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY PROJECTS AND ACTIVITIES

‘‘8171. Definitions. 

‘‘8172. Management of major information technology projects. 

‘‘8173. Information technology activities of the Financial Services Center. 

‘‘8174. Submission of annual reviews of information technology. 

‘‘8175. Information technology matters to be included in budget justification materials for the Department.’’. 

15 (c) APPLICATION; REPORT.— 

16 (1) CURRENT AND NEW PROJECTS.—Except as 

17 specifically provided in subsection (a) of section 8172 

18 of title 38, United States Code, as added by subsection 

19 (a) of this section, such section 8172 shall apply with 

20 respect to major information technology projects that 

21 begin before, on, or after the date of the enactment of 

22 this Act. 


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1 (2) REPORT ON CURRENT PROJECTS.— 

2 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days 

3 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

4 Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall submit to the 

5 appropriate congressional committees a report 

6 on each major information technology project 

7 that the Secretary is carrying out as of the date 

8 of the report. 

9 (B) CONTENTS.—The report submitted 

10 under subparagraph (A) shall contain, with re11 spect to each project described in such subpara12 graph, information on the cost, schedule, and 

13 performance of the project as described in sub14 section (a) of section 8172 of such title, as so 

15 added. 

16 (3) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection, the terms 

17 ‘‘appropriate congressional committees’’ and ‘‘major 

18 information technology project’’ have the meanings 

19 given those terms in section 8171 of title 38, United 

20 States Code, as added by subsection (a) of this section. 

21 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE OF REQUIREMENT FOR

22 PROJECTS IN BUDGET JUSTIFICATION MATERIALS.—Sub23 section (c) of section 8175 of such title, as added by sub24 section (a) of this section, shall take effect on the first MonVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:49 Sep 26, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00015 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2250.RH H2250

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1 day in the second January beginning after the date of the 

2 enactment of this Act. 

3 SEC. 3. REPORT ON INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY DASH4 BOARD INFORMATION. 

5 (a) REPORT.—Not later than 90 days after the date 

6 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Af7 fairs, acting through the Chief Information Officer of the 

8 Department of Veterans Affairs, shall submit to the appro9 priate congressional committees a report containing— 

10 (1) an explanation of the ratings, rankings, and 

11 risk categorizations used by the Chief Information Of12 ficer pursuant to subparagraph (C) of section 

13 11302(c)(3) of title 40, United States Code, with re14 spect to the information technology dashboard of the 

15 Office of Management and Budget developed under 

16 such section; and 

17 (2) copies of supporting or explanatory informa18 tion provided by the Chief Information Officer to the 

19 Office of Management and Budget with respect to sub20 missions by the Chief Information Officer to the infor21 mation technology dashboard for the fiscal year in 

22 which the report is submitted (other than information 

23 not otherwise made public pursuant to such section). 

24 (b) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES DE25 FINED.—In section, the term ‘‘appropriate congressional 


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1 committees’’ has the meaning given such term in section 

2 8171 of title 38, United States Code, as added by section 

3 2. 


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Union Calendar No. 374 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 2250 

[Report No. 117–492] 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve 

Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes. projects and investments of the Department of the management of information technology 

SEPTEMBER 26, 2022 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Comand ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 


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