I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2464 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the accountability of 

the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to the Inspector General of the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 20, 2015 

Mr. BENISHEK (for himself and Ms. SINEMA) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the 

accountability of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to 

the Inspector General of 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 ‘‘Demanding Account5 ability for Veterans Act of 2015’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ACCOUNTABILITY OF SECRETARY OF VETERANS AF2 FAIRS TO INSPECTOR GENERAL OF THE DE3 PARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 7 of title 38, United 

5 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol6 lowing new section: 

7 ‘‘§ 712. Accountability of Secretary to Inspector Gen8 eral 

9 ‘‘(a) SUBMISSION OF REPORTS.—(1) At the same 

10 time as the Inspector General of the Department submits 

11 to the Secretary a report, the Inspector General shall sub12 mit to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate 

13 and House of Representatives a copy of such report. 

14 ‘‘(2) In carrying out paragraph (1), the Inspector 

15 General shall include— 

16 ‘‘(A) with respect to each report submitted, an 

17 explanation of any changes to the report rec18 ommended by the Secretary during the period in 

19 which the Inspector General was preparing the re20 port; and 

21 ‘‘(B) with respect to each covered report, a list 

22 of the names of each responsible manager. 

23 ‘‘(3) The Inspector General may not make public the 

24 names of responsible managers submitted under para25 graph (2)(B). 


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1 ‘‘(b) PERFORMANCE OF RESPONSIBLE MANAGERS.— 

2 (1) The Secretary shall— 

3 ‘‘(A) promptly notify each responsible manager 

4 of a covered issue by not later than seven days after 

5 the date on which the Inspector General submits a 

6 covered report to the Secretary; 

7 ‘‘(B) direct such manager to resolve such issue; 

8 and 

9 ‘‘(C) provide such manager with appropriate 

10 counseling and a mitigation plan with respect to re11 solving such issue. 

12 ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall ensure that any performance 

13 review of a responsible manager includes an evaluation of 

14 whether the manager took appropriate actions during the 

15 period covered by the review to respond to a covered issue. 

16 ‘‘(3) The Secretary may not pay to a responsible 

17 manager any bonus or award under chapter 45 or 53 of 

18 title 5 or any other bonus or award authorized under such 

19 title or this title if a covered issue is unresolved. 

20 ‘‘(c) ROLE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL.—Any authority 

21 of the Inspector General provided under this section is in 

22 addition to any responsibility or authority provided to the 

23 Inspector General in the Inspector General Act of 1978 

24 (5 U.S.C. App.). 

25 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 ‘‘(1) The term ‘covered issue’ means, with re2 spect to a responsible manager, an issue described in 

3 a covered report for which the manager is or was re4 sponsible. 

5 ‘‘(2) The term ‘covered report’ means a report 

6 by the Inspector General of the Department of Vet7 erans Affairs that recommends actions to the Sec8 retary of Veterans Affairs (or other official or em9 ployee of the Department) to address an issue in the 

10 Department with respect to public health or safety. 

11 ‘‘(3) The term ‘responsible manager’ means an 

12 individual who— 

13 ‘‘(A) is an employee of the Department; 

14 ‘‘(B) is or was responsible for an issue in15 cluded in a covered report; and 

16 ‘‘(C) in being so responsible, is or was em17 ployed in a management position, regardless of 

18 whether the employee is in the competitive civil 

19 service, Senior Executive Service, or other type 

20 of civil service.’’. 

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

22 at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting 

23 after the item relating to section 711 the following new 

24 item: 

‘‘712. Accountability of Secretary to Inspector General.’’. 

Æ 


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