I 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6638 

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

the Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 8, 2022 

Mr. MANN (for himself and Mr. BOST) introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, and in addition to the 

Committee on Appropriations, for a period to be subsequently determined 

by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 

within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

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

improvements to the Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection 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. MODIFICATIONS AND IMPROVEMENTS TO OF4 FICE OF ACCOUNTABILITY AND WHISTLE5 BLOWER PROTECTION. 

6 Section 323 of title 38, United States Code, is 

7 amended— 


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1 (1) in subsection (c)— 

2 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

3 (i) by striking subparagraphs (A) and 

4 (B); 

5 (ii) by redesignating subparagraphs 

6 (C) through (G) as subparagraphs (A) 

7 through (E), respectively; 

8 (iii) in each of subparagraphs (A) and 

9 (B), as so redesignated, by inserting ‘‘and 

10 allegations of whistleblower retaliation’’ 

11 after ‘‘disclosures’’; 

12 (iv) in subparagraph (B), as so redes13 ignated— 

14 (I) by striking ‘‘subparagraph 

15 (C)’’ and inserting ‘‘subparagraph 

16 (A)’’; and 

17 (II) by striking ‘‘the Office of the 

18 Medical Inspector’’ and all that fol19 lows through the period at the end 

20 and inserting ‘‘the Office of Special 

21 Counsel.’’; and 

22 (v) by striking subparagraphs (H) and 

23 (I); and 

24 (B) in paragraph (2)— 


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1 (i) by striking ‘‘a toll-free telephone 

2 number and Internet’’ and inserting ‘‘an 

3 internet’’; and 

4 (ii) by inserting ‘‘and allegations of 

5 whistleblower retaliation’’ after ‘‘disclo6 sures’’; 

7 (2) by striking subsection (f) and inserting the 

8 following new subsection (f): 

9 ‘‘(f) REPORTS.—(1) Not later than 90 days after the 

10 last day of each fiscal year, the Assistant Secretary shall 

11 submit to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the Sen12 ate and the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the House 

13 of Representatives a report on the activities of the Office 

14 during that fiscal year. 

15 ‘‘(2) Each report submitted under paragraph (1) 

16 shall include, for the fiscal year covered by the report, the 

17 following: 

18 ‘‘(A) A full and substantive analysis of the ac19 tivities of the Office, including such statistical infor20 mation as the Assistant Secretary considers appro21 priate. 

22 ‘‘(B) Identification of any issues reported to the 

23 Secretary under subsection (c)(1)(G), including such 

24 data as the Assistant Secretary considers relevant to 


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1 such issues and any trends the Assistant Secretary 

2 may have identified with respect to such issues. 

3 ‘‘(C) Identification of such concerns as the As4 sistant Secretary may have regarding the size, staff5 ing, and resources of the Office and such rec6 ommendations as the Assistant Secretary may have 

7 for legislative or administrative action to address 

8 such concerns. 

9 ‘‘(D) Such recommendations as the Assistant 

10 Secretary may have for legislative or administrative 

11 action to improve— 

12 ‘‘(i) the process by which concerns are re13 ported to the Office; and 

14 ‘‘(ii) the protection of whistleblowers with15 in the Department. 

16 ‘‘(E) Such other matters as the Assistant Sec17 retary considers appropriate regarding the functions 

18 of the Office or other matters relating to the Of19 fice.’’; 

20 (3) by redesignating subsection (g) as sub21 section (j); 

22 (4) by inserting after subsection (f) the fol23 lowing new subsections: 

24 ‘‘(g) TRANSFER AUTHORITY.—(1) As the Secretary 

25 determines appropriate, of the amounts made available for 


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1 the Department for any of fiscal years 2022 through 

2 2026, the Secretary may transfer to the Office of Special 

3 Counsel not more than $5,000,000, to be available for the 

4 purpose of addressing whistleblower and retaliation 

5 claims, if the Comptroller General of the Office of Special 

6 Counsel enters into an agreement with the Secretary 

7 under which the Comptroller General agrees to ensure 

8 that amounts transferred under this paragraph will only 

9 be used— 

10 ‘‘(A) to address whistleblower and retaliation 

11 claims involving the Department; and 

12 ‘‘(B) to supplement and not to supplant 

13 amounts otherwise made available to the Office of 

14 Special Counsel. 

15 ‘‘(2) Not later than 90 days after the last day of any 

16 fiscal year for which the Secretary transfers funds under 

17 this subsection, the Special Counsel shall submit to the 

18 Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and House 

19 of Representatives a report on the use of the funds trans20 ferred under this subsection during such fiscal year. Each 

21 such report shall include, for the fiscal year covered by 

22 the report— 

23 ‘‘(A) the total amount transferred and an ac24 counting of the expenditure of such funds demVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:39 Feb 09, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6638.IH H6638

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1 onstrating that such funds were used only to address 

2 complaints related to the Department; 

3 ‘‘(B) the number of whistleblower complaints 

4 received by the Office of Special Counsel involving 

5 the Department; 

6 ‘‘(C) the number of retaliation complaints re7 ceived by the Office of Special Counsel involving the 

8 Department; 

9 ‘‘(D) the number of whistleblower complaints 

10 investigated by the Office of Special Counsel involv11 ing the Department; 

12 ‘‘(E) the number of retaliation complaints 

13 closed by the Office of Special Counsel involving the 

14 Department and disposition of each such complaint, 

15 including— 

16 ‘‘(i) whether each such complaint was set17 tled, closed without a finding of retaliation, or 

18 received another disposition; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) for each such complaint that was set20 tled, the amount of the settlement; and 

21 ‘‘(F) data regarding the amount of time it took 

22 the Office of Special Counsel to close whistleblower 

23 and retaliation claims involving the Department, in24 cluding a distribution of the closed cases by type. 

25 ‘‘(h) TRAINING.—The Assistant Secretary shall— 


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1 ‘‘(1) provide training on whistleblower protec2 tion and related issues and make such training avail3 able to employees of the Department; and 

4 ‘‘(2) disseminate training materials and infor5 mation to employees on whistleblower rights, whistle6 blower disclosures, and allegations of whistleblower 

7 retaliation, including any materials created pursuant 

8 to section 733 of this title. 

9 ‘‘(i) AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION.—The Assistant 

10 Secretary shall make publicly available on an appropriate 

11 website of the Department the following information: 

12 ‘‘(1) Templates that can be used to submit 

13 proper and complete whistleblower and retaliation 

14 claims. 

15 ‘‘(2) The standard operating procedures of the 

16 Office and any applicable regulations. 

17 ‘‘(3) Each report submitted under subsection 

18 (f).’’; and 

19 (5) in subsection (j), as so redesignated— 

20 (A) by striking paragraph (1); 

21 (B) by redesignating paragraphs (2) and 

22 (3) as paragraphs (1) and (2), respectively; and 

23 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

24 paragraph: 


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1 ‘‘(3) The term ‘whistleblower retaliation’ means 

2 the taking or failure to take, or the threat to take 

3 or not to take, by a supervisory employee (as such 

4 term is defined in section 7103(a) of title 5), of a 

5 personnel action because of a whistleblower disclo6 sure.’’. 

7 SEC. 2. PILOT PROGRAM ON COUNSELING FOR WHISTLE8 BLOWERS. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Assistant Secretary of Vet10 erans Affairs for Accountability and Whistleblower Protec11 tion shall carry out two-year pilot program under which 

12 the Assistant Secretary shall offer counseling to a Depart13 ment of Veterans Affairs whistleblower regarding the rel14 evant laws and policies that affect the whistleblower, the 

15 whistleblower’s disclosure, and any allegation of whistle16 blower retaliation. 

17 (b) IMPLEMENTATION.—The Assistant Secretary 

18 shall begin implementing the pilot program required under 

19 this section by not later than one year after the date of 

20 the enactment of this Act. 

21 (c) REPORT.—Upon the conclusion of the pilot pro22 gram, the Assistant Secretary shall submit to Congress 

23 a report on the program, which shall include the number 

24 of employees who received counseling under the program, 

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1 gram, and such other matters as the Assistant Secretary 

2 determines relevant. 

Æ 


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