I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8919 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to consolidate and upgrade the 

mail management systems of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 9, 2020 

Mr. CUNNINGHAM introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to consolidate 

and upgrade the mail management systems of the Department of Veterans Affairs, 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 ‘‘Ensuring Vastly Im5 proved Performance (eVIP) for Mail Service for our Vet6 erans Act’’ or the ‘‘eVIP Mail Service for Veterans Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. MAIL STRATEGY AND MODERNIZATION. 

8 (a) DEVELOP STRATEGY.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

2 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec3 retary of Veterans Affairs shall develop a strategy to 

4 improve the printing and mailing operations of the 

5 Department of Veterans Affairs. 

6 (2) EXCLUSION.—The strategy described in 

7 paragraph (1) does not apply to the mailing of pre8 scription and over-the-counter drugs. 

9 (b) STRATEGY GOALS.—The Secretary shall include 

10 in the strategy under subsection (a) plans for improving 

11 the printing and mailing operations of the Department, 

12 including plans for the following: 

13 (1) Consolidate the printing and mailing oper14 ations of the Department— 

15 (A) such that the operations are performed 

16 at not more than four locations, except that the 

17 Veterans Health Administration and the Vet18 erans Benefits Administration are each pri19 marily serviced by not more than two of the lo20 cations; 

21 (B) to enable production cost efficiencies; 

22 and 

23 (C) to improve the timeliness of sending 

24 mail. 


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1 (2) Ensure each of the locations described in 

2 paragraph (1)(A) has the capacity to offset service 

3 disruptions at another such location, and enable the 

4 exchange of mail volume between such locations for 

5 purposes of such offsetting and for balancing the 

6 mail volume for which each such location is respon7 sible. 

8 (3) Update the printing and mailing practices 

9 of the Department to decrease mailing costs, includ10 ing increasing the use of automation discounts of11 fered by the United States Postal Service. 

12 (4) Improve the accuracy of mail data main13 tained by the Department. 

14 (5) Improve the tracking of mail within the De15 partment. 

16 (6) Perform house holding on a more consistent 

17 basis. 

18 (7) Set Departmentwide standards, including 

19 minimum requirements and target goals, for appro20 priate mail data metrics. 

21 (8) Improve the accuracy of address informa22 tion held by the Department for persons to whom 

23 the Department sends mail. 


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1 (c) PILOT PROGRAM.—The Secretary may carry out 

2 a pilot program to test the feasibility and efficacy of the 

3 strategy developed under subsection (a). 

4 (d) IMPLEMENTATION.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

6 after the Secretary has developed the strategy under 

7 subsection (a), the Secretary shall implement the 

8 strategy except as provided in paragraphs (2) and 

9 (3). 

10 (2) CONSOLIDATION.—Subject to paragraph 

11 (3), not later than 24 months after the Secretary 

12 has developed the strategy under subsection (a) the 

13 Secretary shall implement the strategy with respect 

14 to the goals described in paragraphs (1) and (2) of 

15 subsection (b). 

16 (3) EXTENSION IN CASE OF PILOT PROGRAM.— 

17 If the Secretary carries out a pilot program under 

18 subsection (c), not later than 36 months after the 

19 Secretary has developed the strategy under sub20 section (a) the Secretary shall implement the strat21 egy. 

22 (e) REPORT.— 

23 (1) CONTENTS.—Not later than the date de24 scribed in paragraph (2), the Secretary shall submit 


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1 to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of the Sen2 ate and the House of Representatives a report on— 

3 (A) the effect of the strategy developed 

4 under subsection (a), as implemented, on the 

5 reliability and timeliness of correspondence be6 tween the Department and veterans and their 

7 dependants; 

8 (B) the cost savings resulting from the im9 plementation of the strategy; 

10 (C) the improvements implemented under 

11 the strategy to the hardware and software used 

12 for printing and mailing operations of the De13 partment, including any such improvements 

14 that will be implemented; and 

15 (D) whether the Department is processing 

16 a significant volume of mail correspondence vol17 umes outside of the locations described in sub18 section (b)(1)(A). 

19 (2) TIMING.—The date described in this para20 graph is— 

21 (A) two years after the date of the enact22 ment of this Act; or 

23 (B) if the Secretary carries out a pilot pro24 gram under subsection (c), three years after the 

25 date of the enactment of this Act. 


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1 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

2 (1) The term ‘‘house holding’’ means consoli3 dating into a single piece of mail all mail that is sent 

4 on the same day from the same location to the same 

5 intended recipient at one address. 

6 (2) The term ‘‘mail data’’ means metrics relat7 ing to printing and mailing operations, including the 

8 quantity of mail, costs, and address errors. 

9 (3) The term ‘‘printing and mailing operations’’ 

10 means the processes, personnel, facilities, and mate11 rials and other resources involved in the production, 

12 handling, and transmission of electronic and physical 

13 mail, and the management thereof. 

Æ 


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