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Union Calendar No. 522 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6531 

[Report No. 118–624] 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to develop a training program 

for certain senior executives and supervisors employed by the Department 

of Veterans Affairs. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 30, 2023 

Mr. PAPPAS (for himself and Mr. VAN ORDEN) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

AUGUST 9, 2024 

Additional sponsors: Mr. TAKANO, Mrs. CHERFILUS-MCCORMICK, Ms. 

BROWNLEY, Mr. LANDSMAN, Mr. DELUZIO, Mrs. RAMIREZ, Mr. MRVAN, 

Mr. LEVIN, Mr. MCGARVEY, and Ms. BUDZINSKI

AUGUST 9, 2024 

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 November 30, 2023] 


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A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to develop a 

training program for certain senior executives and supervisors employed by the Department of Veterans Affairs. 


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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 ‘‘Training Responsible 

5 And Informed National VA Employees Act’’ or the ‘‘TRAIN 

6 VA Employees Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. TRAINING PROGRAM FOR CERTAIN SENIOR EXECU8 TIVES AND SUPERVISORS. 

9 (a) PROGRAM REQUIRED.—Not later than one year 

10 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

11 of Veterans Affairs shall— 

12 (1) implement a mandatory training program 

13 for all covered employees; 

14 (2) annually evaluate such training; and 

15 (3) regularly update the curriculum for such 

16 program to ensure that such curriculum— 

17 (A) covers areas of critical importance to 

18 success as a supervisor and leader in the Depart19 ment of Veterans Affairs; and 

20 (B) is based on industry standards for su21 pervisory competencies and needs identified 

22 through evaluations under paragraph (2). 

23 (b) CONSULTATION.—In developing the training re24 quired under subsection (a), the Secretary shall consult with 

25 the heads of at least three other Federal departments and 


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1 agencies, including the Department of Defense, to gather in2 formation about how such departments and agencies ap3 proach management training. 

4 (c) CURRENT EMPLOYEES.—Any individual who as of 

5 the date of the enactment of this Act is an covered employee 

6 shall be required, as a condition of continued employment 

7 at the Department of Veterans Affairs, to complete the 

8 training program developed under subsection (a) by not 

9 later than 18 months after the date of the enactment of this 

10 Act. 

11 (d) REFRESHER TRAINING.—The Secretary shall de12 velop a refresher training program for the program required 

13 under subsection (a), and each covered employee shall be 

14 required, as a condition of continued employment at the 

15 Department of Veterans Affairs, to complete such refresher 

16 training once every two years. 

17 (e) DESIGN OF TRAINING.—The training program re18 quired under subsection (a) shall be designed using prin19 ciples of adult learning and industry standard instruc20 tional design. To the extent practicable, the training shall— 

21 (1) be instructor-based; and 

22 (2) focus on— 

23 (A) developing and discussing relevant per24 formance goals and objectives with the employees 

25 they supervise; 


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1 (B) communicating and discussing employ2 ees’ progress relative to performance goals and 

3 objectives, and conducting performance apprais4 als; 

5 (C) mentoring and motivating employees 

6 and improving employee engagement, perform7 ance, and productivity; 

8 (D) effectively managing employees with 

9 unacceptable performance, including training to 

10 understand the disciplinary options and proce11 dures available to the supervisor; 

12 (E) prohibited personnel practices, employee 

13 rights, and the procedures and processes used to 

14 enforce employee rights; 

15 (F) effectively using the probationary pe16 riod to examine whether an employee has dem17 onstrated successful performance or conduct to 

18 continue past the probationary period; 

19 (G) addressing reports of a hostile work en20 vironment, retaliation, or harassment of, or by, 

21 another supervisor or employee; 

22 (H) collaborating with human resources em23 ployees to recruit, select, appraise, and reward 

24 employees to build a workforce based on organiVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:11 Aug 10, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H6531.RH H6531

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1 zational goals, budget considerations, and staff2 ing needs; and 

3 (I) carrying out the duties or responsibil4 ities of a supervisor. 

5 (f) REPORT.—Not later than one year after the date 

6 on which the Secretary implements the training program 

7 under subsection (a), and annually thereafter, the Secretary 

8 shall submit to the Committees on Veterans Affairs of the 

9 Senate and House of Representatives a report on the rate 

10 at which covered employees completed such training pro11 gram during the year preceding the date of each such report. 

12 (g) COVERED EMPLOYEE DEFINED.—In this section, 

13 the term ‘‘covered employee’’ means an employee of the De14 partment of Veterans Affairs who is— 

15 (1) a supervisor (as defined in section 7103(a) of 

16 title 5, United States Code); or 

17 (2) a covered individual under section 713 of 

18 title 38, United States Code. 

19 SEC. 3. MODIFICATION OF CERTAIN HOUSING LOAN FEES. 

20 The loan fee table in section 3729(b)(2) of title 38, 

21 United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘November 15, 

22 2031’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘December 4, 

23 2031’’. 


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Union Calendar No. 522 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6531 

[Report No. 118–624] 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to dement of Veterans Affairs. ecutives and supervisors employed by the Depart- velop a training program for certain senior exAUGUST 9, 2024 

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


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS