I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 6874 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to implement a system or process 

to actively monitor the veteran self-service and data transmission functions of the main internet website of the Department of Veterans Affairs 

for certain adverse events, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 19, 2023 

Mr. ROSENDALE (for himself and Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas) introduced the 

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

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to implement 

a system or process to actively monitor the veteran selfservice and data transmission functions of the main 

internet website of the Department of Veterans Affairs 

for certain adverse events, 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 Watching over Electronic Benefits Act’’ or 

6 the ‘‘VA WEB Act’’. 

2 

•HR 6874 IH

1 SEC. 2. SYSTEM OR PROCESS TO ACTIVELY MONITOR CER2 TAIN FUNCTIONS OF THE COVERED WEBSITE 

3 FOR ADVERSE EVENTS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 

5 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Vet6 erans Affairs shall develop and implement a system or 

7 process to actively monitor certain functions of the covered 

8 website, including covered features and any underlying 

9 interface or system, for adverse events. The Secretary may 

10 use the authority under section 701(a) of the Sergeant 

11 First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Ad12 dress Comprehensive Toxics Act of 2022 (Public Law 

13 117–168; 38 U.S.C. 324 note) to carry out this sub14 section. 

15 (b) SYSTEM OR PROCESS REQUIREMENTS.—The Sec16 retary shall ensure that the system or process developed 

17 under subsection (a) is designed to monitor, and log and 

18 store data, with respect to— 

19 (1) the volume of traffic to the covered website; 

20 (2) the number of submissions made using a 

21 covered feature; 

22 (3) software updates or other modifications to 

23 a covered feature or underlying interface or system; 

24 (4) needs, deficiencies, or obsolescence of a cov25 ered feature or underlying interface or system; 

26 (5) adverse events, including— 

3 

•HR 6874 IH

1 (A) the date and time of any such adverse 

2 event; 

3 (B) the number of users of the covered 

4 website who were affected by the adverse event; 

5 (C) the number of submissions affected by 

6 the adverse event; and 

7 (D) any factor related to an underlying 

8 interface or system that caused or contributed 

9 to the adverse event; and 

10 (6) any other factors, as determined by the Sec11 retary. 

12 (c) NOTICE AND REPORT REGARDING CERTAIN AD13 VERSE EVENTS.— 

14 (1) NOTICE.—In the case of any significant ad15 verse event affecting the covered website, not later 

16 than 30 days after the date of such event, the Sec17 retary shall submit to the Committees on Veterans’ 

18 Affairs of the Senate and House of Representatives 

19 notice of the event, including a description of the 

20 event. 

21 (2) REPORT.—Not later than 30 days after re22 ceiving a request from the Chair of the Committee 

23 on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate or the Chair of 

24 the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of 

25 Representatives for a report about an adverse event, 

4 

•HR 6874 IH

1 including a significant adverse event, the Secretary 

2 shall submit to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs 

3 of the Senate and the House of Representatives a 

4 report on the adverse event covered by the request. 

5 Each such report shall include— 

6 (A) a description of the adverse event; 

7 (B) the date and time when the adverse 

8 event began and ended; 

9 (C) the number of users of the covered 

10 website who were affected; 

11 (D) the number of submissions made using 

12 a covered feature that were affected; and 

13 (E) a description of any underlying inter14 face or system that was affected. 

15 (3) SUNSET.—The requirements under this 

16 subsection shall expire on the date that is seven 

17 years after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

18 (d) REPORT REGARDING EXERCISE OF CERTAIN AU19 THORITY.—If the Secretary exercises authority under sec20 tion 701(a) of the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson 

21 Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics 

22 Act of 2022 (Public Law 117–168; 38 U.S.C. 324 note) 

23 to carry out subsection (a), not later than 30 days after 

24 the date on which the Secretary first exercises such au25 thority for such purpose, the Secretary shall submit to the 

5 

•HR 6874 IH

1 Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and the 

2 House of Representatives and the Committees on Appro3 priations of the Senate and the House of Representatives 

4 a report about the exercise of such authority. Such report 

5 shall include— 

6 (1) the cost of implementing the system or 

7 process developed under subsection (a); 

8 (2) a description of any modernization or re9 placement of an underlying interface or system nec10 essary to implement the system or process; 

11 (3) an identification of any ways in which the 

12 covered website and any underlying interface or sys13 tem is susceptible to any adverse event; and 

14 (4) a description of how the Secretary plans to 

15 eliminate or mitigate, to the extent possible, any 

16 such susceptibility. 

17 (e) TESTING STRATEGY.—Not later than one year 

18 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Assistant 

19 Secretary for Information and Technology of the Depart20 ment of Veterans Affairs shall submit to the Committees 

21 on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and the House of Rep22 resentatives a strategy to reduce the occurrence of adverse 

23 events by improving testing for each modification or soft24 ware update to a covered feature or underlying system or 

25 interface. 

6 

•HR 6874 IH

1 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

2 (1) The term ‘‘adverse event’’ means, with re3 spect to the covered website, including covered fea4 tures— 

5 (A) a failure to properly receive or process 

6 a submission; 

7 (B) a system outage; 

8 (C) an error in an underlying interface or 

9 system that prevents the transmission of data; 

10 (D) a deficiency in information storage ca11 pacity; 

12 (E) a loss of data; 

13 (F) a presentation of incorrect informa14 tion; 

15 (G) an error regarding a status notifica16 tion; or 

17 (H) any similar event that affects a func18 tion of the covered website, as determined by 

19 the Secretary. 

20 (2) The term ‘‘covered feature’’ means any fea21 ture or function of the covered website for use in the 

22 facilitation of the application, maintenance, or re23 ceipt of benefits under the laws administered by the 

24 Secretary. 

7 

•HR 6874 IH

1 (3) The term ‘‘covered website’’ means the 

2 main internet website of the Department of Veterans 

3 Affairs. 

4 (4) The term ‘‘significant adverse event’’, with 

5 respect to the covered website, including covered fea6 tures, means an adverse event that affects 1,000 or 

7 more users of, or submissions to, the covered 

8 website. 

9 (5) The term ‘‘underlying interface or system’’ 

10 means— 

11 (A) any information technology system 

12 that transmits data through, or accepts data 

13 from, a covered feature; or 

14 (B) any mechanism through which any 

15 such information technology system connects 

16 and interacts with the covered website. 

Æ