I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8860 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to make certain improvements in 

the laws relating to whistleblower protection at the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 3, 2020 

Mr. PAPPAS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to make certain 

improvements in the laws relating to whistleblower protection at 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 ‘‘Strengthening VA 

5 Whistleblower Protection Act of 2020’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. INDEPENDENCE OF OFFICE OF ACCOUNTABILITY 

2 AND WHISTLEBLOWER PROTECTION FROM 

3 GENERAL COUNSEL. 

4 Subsection (e) of section 323 of title 38, United 

5 States Code, is amended— 

6 (1) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ before ‘‘The Office’’; and 

7 (2) by adding at the end the following new 

8 paragraphs: 

9 ‘‘(2) The General Counsel of the Department shall 

10 establish an Office of General Counsel for the Office of 

11 Accountability and Whistleblower Protection. Such Office, 

12 and the employees of such Office, shall be independent of 

13 the Office of the General Counsel of the Department. 

14 ‘‘(3) The General Counsel of the Department, or any 

15 employee of the Office of the General Counsel of the De16 partment, may not directly or indirectly provide any rec17 ommendation, advisory opinion, or authoritative decision 

18 for any matter relevant to a whistleblower case under the 

19 jurisdiction of the Office and the Assistant Secretary. 

20 ‘‘(4) No employee of the Office of the General Coun21 sel of the Department may be detailed, reassigned, or oth22 erwise employed by the Office of Accountability and Whis23 tleblower Protection before the date that is two years after 

24 the date on which such employee ceases to be an employee 

25 of the Office of the General Counsel of the Department.’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND GUIDANCE FOR WHIS2 TLEBLOWERS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 7 of 

4 such title is amended by adding at the end the following 

5 new section: 

6 ‘‘§ 734. Technical assistance for whistleblowers 

7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Assistant Secretary for Ac8 countability and Whistleblower Protection shall— 

9 ‘‘(1) make all reasonable efforts to— 

10 ‘‘(A) guide, advise, and assist a whistle11 blower regarding a whistleblower’s rights and 

12 the abilities and authorities of different entities 

13 that assist or respond to whistleblowers; 

14 ‘‘(B) obtain all evidence necessary to sub15 stantiate the complaint of the whistleblower of 

16 any alleged— 

17 ‘‘(i) violation of any law, rule, or regu18 lation; 

19 ‘‘(ii) gross mismanagement; 

20 ‘‘(iii) waste of funds; 

21 ‘‘(iv) abuse of authority; 

22 ‘‘(v) specific danger to public health 

23 or safety; or 

24 ‘‘(vi) censorship related to research, 

25 analysis, or technical information; and 


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1 ‘‘(2) provide for an optional alternative dispute 

2 resolution program, which shall include attempts to 

3 mediate resolutions or find reassignments for De4 partment employees involved in whistleblower allega5 tions. 

6 ‘‘(b) SHARING OF RECORDS.—As part of the assist7 ance provided under this section, the Assistant Secretary 

8 shall make all reasonable efforts to obtain and share rel9 evant records to the claimant that the claimant adequately 

10 identifies to the Secretary. 

11 ‘‘(c) WHISTLEBLOWER DEFINED.—In this section, 

12 the term ‘whistleblower’ has the meaning given such term 

13 in section 323(h) of this title.’’. 

14 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

15 at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting 

16 after the item section 733 the following new item: 

‘‘734. Technical assistance for whistleblowers.’’. 

17 SEC. 4. EXPANSION OF WHISTLEBLOWER PROTECTIONS. 

18 (a) CLARIFICATION OF PROHIBITED PERSONNEL AC19 TION.—Section 731(c)(3) of title 38, United States Code, 

20 is amended by inserting ‘‘making a referral to boards of 

21 licensure’’ after ‘‘negative peer review’’. 

22 (b) FUNCTION OF OFFICE OF ACCOUNTABILITY AND

23 WHISTLEBLOWER PROTECTION.—Section 323 of such 

24 title, as amended by section 2, is further amended— 


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1 (1) in subsection (c)(1), by adding at the end 

2 the following new subparagraph: 

3 ‘‘(J) Without affecting other statutory rights or 

4 remedies, issuing binding decisions for temporary re5 lief when a Department employee demonstrates, by 

6 a preponderance of the evidence, that a prohibited 

7 personnel action was a contributing factor with re8 spect to alleged retaliation against a Department 

9 employee by a Department supervisor.’’; and 

10 (2) in subsection (g), by adding at the end the 

11 following new paragraph: 

12 ‘‘(5) The term ‘prohibited personnel action’ has 

13 the meaning given such term in section 731(c) of 

14 this title.’’. 

15 (c) ANTI-RETALIATION PROTECTION FOR SENIOR

16 EXECUTIVES.—Subsection (e) of section 714 of such title, 

17 as amended by subsection (c), is further amended by add18 ing at the end the following new paragraph: 

19 ‘‘(4) Notwithstanding subsection (h)(1)(A), for pur20 poses of this subsection, the term ‘covered individual’ in21 cludes an individual occupying a senior executive position 

22 (as defined in section 713(d) of this title).’’. 

23 SEC. 5. REQUIREMENT FOR REGULATIONS. 

24 Not later than one year after the date of the enact25 ment of this Act, the Assistant Secretary for AccountVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:21 Dec 15, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8860.IH H8860

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1 ability and Whistleblower Protection of the Department 

2 of Veterans Affairs shall issue regulations to carry out all 

3 activities under section 323 of title 38, United States 

4 Code, as amended by this Act. 

Æ 


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