II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2431 

To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to require the employees of 

the Department of Veterans Affairs to receive training developed by 

the Inspector General of the Department on reporting wrongdoing to, 

responding to requests from, and cooperating with the Office of Inspector 

General, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 22, 2021 

Ms. HASSAN (for herself and Mr. BOOZMAN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to require the 

employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs to receive training developed by the Inspector General of the 

Department on reporting wrongdoing to, responding to 

requests from, and cooperating with the Office of Inspector General, 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 ‘‘Department of Vet5 erans Affairs Office of Inspector General Training Act of 

6 2021’’. 


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•S 2431 IS

1 SEC. 2. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS EMPLOYEE 

2 TRAINING REGARDING OFFICE OF INSPEC3 TOR GENERAL. 

4 (a) TRAINING.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 

5 shall require each employee of the Department of Veterans 

6 Affairs to receive training that the Inspector General of 

7 the Department shall develop on the reporting of wrong8 doing to, responding to requests from, and cooperating 

9 with the Office of Inspector General. 

10 (b) EMPLOYEES.—In carrying out subsection (a), the 

11 Secretary shall require— 

12 (1) each employee of the Department who was 

13 employed by the Department on the day before the 

14 date of the enactment of this Act undergo the train15 ing required by subsection (a) not later than one 

16 year after the date of the enactment of this Act; and 

17 (2) each employee of the Department who be18 gins employment with the Department on or after 

19 the date of the enactment of this Act undergo the 

20 training required by subsection (a) not later than 

21 one year after the date on which the employment be22 gins. 

23 (c) ELEMENTS.—Training developed and required 

24 under subsection (a) shall include the following: 

25 (1) Definition of the role, responsibilities, and 

26 legal authority of the Inspector General of the DeVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:52 Jul 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2431.IS S2431

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•S 2431 IS

1 partment and the duties of employees of the Depart2 ment for engaging with the Office of the Inspector 

3 General. 

4 (2) Identification of the circumstances and 

5 mechanisms for reporting fraud, waste, abuse, and 

6 other wrongdoing to the Inspector General, including 

7 making confidential complaints to the Inspector 

8 General. 

9 (3) Identification of the prohibitions and rem10 edies that help to protect Department employees 

11 from retaliation when reporting wrongdoing to the 

12 Inspector General. 

13 (4) Recognition of opportunities to engage with 

14 staff of the Office of the Inspector General to im15 prove Department programs, operations, and serv16 ices. 

17 (d) DESIGN AND UPDATE.—The Inspector General of 

18 the Department shall design, and update as the Inspector 

19 General considers appropriate, the training developed and 

20 required by subsection (a). 

21 (e) SYSTEM.—The Secretary shall provide, via the 

22 talent management system of the Department, or suc23 cessor system, the training developed and required under 

24 subsection (a). 


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1 (f) RELATION TO CERTAIN TRAINING.—The Sec2 retary shall ensure that training developed and required 

3 under subsection (a) is separate and distinct from training 

4 provided under section 733 of title 38, United States 

5 Code. 

6 (g) NOTICE TO EMPLOYEES.—The Secretary shall 

7 ensure that the Inspector General is afforded the oppor8 tunity, not less frequently than twice each year and as 

9 frequently as the Inspector General considers appropriate 

10 under extraordinary circumstances, to use the electronic 

11 mail system of the Department to notify all authorized 

12 users of such system of the following: 

13 (1) The roles and responsibilities of the employ14 ees of the Department when engaging with the Of15 fice of the Inspector General. 

16 (2) The availability of training provided under 

17 subsection (a). 

18 (3) How to access training provided under sub19 section (a). 

20 (4) Information about how to contact the Office 

21 of the Inspector General, including a link to any 

22 website-based reporting form of the Office. 

Æ 


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