I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 6531 

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 

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. 

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 

6 ‘‘TRAIN VA Employees Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. TRAINING PROGRAM FOR CERTAIN SENIOR EXECU2 TIVES AND SUPERVISORS. 

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

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

5 of Veterans Affairs shall develop a training program for 

6 all covered employees. Such training shall be mandatory 

7 for all such covered employees and for any individual who 

8 is hired to be such an covered employee. 

9 (b) CONSULTATION.—In developing the training re10 quired under subsection (a), the Secretary shall consult 

11 with the heads of at least three other Federal departments 

12 and agencies, including the Department of Defense, to 

13 gather information about how such departments and agen14 cies approach management training. 

15 (c) CURRENT EMPLOYEES.—Any individual who as 

16 of the date of the enactment of this Act is an covered em17 ployee shall be required, as a condition of continued em18 ployment at the Department of Veterans Affairs, to com19 plete the training program developed under subsection (a) 

20 by not later than 18 months after the date of the enact21 ment of this Act. 

22 (d) REFRESHER TRAINING.—The Secretary shall de23 velop a refresher training program for the program re24 quired under subsection (a), and each covered employee 

25 shall be required, as a condition of continued employment 


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1 at the Department of Veterans Affairs, to complete such 

2 refresher training once every two years. 

3 (e) DESIGN OF TRAINING.—The training program re4 quired under subsection (a) shall be designed using prin5 ciples of adult learning and industry standard instruc6 tional design. To the extent practicable, the training 

7 shall— 

8 (1) be instructor-based and provided in-person; 

9 and 

10 (2) focus on— 

11 (A) developing and discussing relevant per12 formance goals and objectives with the employ13 ees they supervise; 

14 (B) communicating and discussing employ15 ees’ progress relative to performance goals and 

16 objectives, and conducting performance apprais17 als; 

18 (C) mentoring and motivating employees 

19 and improving employee engagement, perform20 ance, and productivity; 

21 (D) effectively managing employees with 

22 unacceptable performance, including training to 

23 understand the disciplinary options and proce24 dures available to the supervisor; 


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1 (E) prohibited personnel practices, em2 ployee rights, and the procedures and processes 

3 used to enforce employee rights; 

4 (F) effectively using the probationary pe5 riod to examine whether an employee has dem6 onstrated successful performance or conduct to 

7 continue past the probationary period; 

8 (G) addressing reports of a hostile work 

9 environment, retaliation, or harassment of, or 

10 by, another supervisor or employee; 

11 (H) collaborating with human resources 

12 employees to recruit, select, appraise, and re13 ward employees to build a workforce based on 

14 organizational goals, budget considerations, and 

15 staffing needs; and 

16 (I) carrying out the duties or responsibil17 ities of a supervisor. 

18 (f) COVERED EMPLOYEE DEFINED.—In this section, 

19 the term ‘‘covered employee’’ means an employee of the 

20 Department of Veterans Affairs who is— 

21 (1) a supervisor (as defined in section 7103(a) 

22 of title 5, United States Code); or 

23 (2) a covered individual under section 713 of 

24 title 38, United States Code. 

Æ 


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