I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7163 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to reduce the backlog of requests 

for information made to the Department of Veterans Affairs pursuant 

to section 552 of title 5, United States Code, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 11, 2020 

Mr. CISNEROS (for himself and Mr. ROSE of New York) introduced the 

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

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to reduce the 

backlog of requests for information made to the Department of Veterans Affairs pursuant to section 552 of 

title 5, United States Code, 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 ‘‘VA FOIA Reform Act 

5 of 2020’’. 

6 SEC. 2. REDUCTION OF BACKLOG OF CERTAIN REQUESTS 

7 FOR INFORMATION. 

8 (a) REDUCTION OF BACKLOGS.— 


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1 (1) FOIA.—By not later than three years after 

2 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

3 of Veterans Affairs shall reduce the backlog of 

4 FOIA requests by 75 percent. 

5 (2) OFFICE OF SPECIAL COUNSEL.—By not 

6 later than three years after the date of the enact7 ment of this Act, the Secretary shall reduce the 

8 backlog of Special Counsel requests by 75 percent. 

9 (b) PROACTIVE DISCLOSURES.—On an ongoing basis, 

10 the Secretary shall determine the documents, records, and 

11 information of the Department of Veterans Affairs that 

12 are the types of documents, records, and information of 

13 the Department that the Secretary determines are fre14 quently requested and provided pursuant to section 552 

15 of title 5, United States Code. The Secretary shall regu16 larly make such documents, records, and information pub17 licly available, including by publishing such documents, 

18 records, and information on the internet website of the 

19 Department. 

20 (c) COMPLIANCE ASSESSMENT.—The Secretary shall 

21 request the Director of the Office of Government Informa22 tion Services of the National Archives and Records Admin23 istration to conduct an assessment of the compliance by 

24 the Department of Veterans Affairs with section 552 of 

25 title 5, United States Code. 


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1 (d) REPORTS.— 

2 (1) INITIAL REPORT.—Not later than 180 days 

3 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec4 retary shall submit to the Committees on Veterans’ 

5 Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Sen6 ate a report on implementing subsections (a) and 

7 (b). The report shall include the following: 

8 (A) A plan for such implementation. 

9 (B) An analysis of the root causes of the 

10 backlog of FOIA requests and the backlog of 

11 Special Counsel requests. 

12 (C) A plan to improve and acquire tech13 nology, including with respect to searching 

14 email and other electronic information, and the 

15 timelines for such improvement, to ensure that 

16 the information technology of the Department 

17 of Veterans Affairs is capable of carrying out 

18 such plan. 

19 (D) Identification of efficient procedures, 

20 policies, and systems of the Department that 

21 could be developed to allow employees of the 

22 Department responsible for replying to requests 

23 under section 552 of title 5, United States 

24 Code, to search and review documents rather 

25 than other employees of the Department. 


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1 (E) Identification of the documents and in2 formation that will be made publicly available 

3 under subsection (b) and identification of the 

4 10 most frequently requested types of docu5 ments, records, or information. 

6 (F) Recommendations with respect to any 

7 additional resources or legislative action the 

8 Secretary determines necessary for such imple9 mentation. 

10 (2) ANNUAL REPORTS.—During the three-year 

11 period following the date of the enactment of this 

12 Act, the Secretary shall submit to the Committees 

13 on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Representatives 

14 and the Senate annual reports on implementing sub15 sections (a) and (b). 

16 (3) PUBLICATION.—The Secretary shall make 

17 publicly available on the internet website of the De18 partment the reports under paragraphs (1) and (2) 

19 by not later than 30 days after the date on which 

20 the Secretary submits the reports to the Committees 

21 on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Representatives 

22 and the Senate. 

23 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

24 (1) The term ‘‘backlog of FOIA requests’’ 

25 means the number of requests, as reported by the 


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1 Secretary of Veterans Affairs to the Attorney Gen2 eral in the Annual FOIA Report for Fiscal Year 

3 2019, made by individuals to the Secretary pursuant 

4 to section 552 of title 5, United States Code, for 

5 documents or information that the Secretary has not 

6 fulfilled or provided a response to the individual. 

7 (2) The term ‘‘backlog of Special Counsel re8 quests’’ means the number of requests, as deter9 mined by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs by not 

10 later than 90 days after the date of the enactment 

11 of this Act, made by the Special Counsel to the Sec12 retary pursuant to chapter 12 of part II of title 5, 

13 United States Code, for documents or information 

14 that the Secretary has not fulfilled or provided a re15 sponse to the Office of Special Counsel. 

Æ 


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