I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7158 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish a mission statement 

of the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 16, 2018 

Miss RICE of New York (for herself, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mrs. 

BUSTOS, Mr. CORREA, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Ms. ESTY of Connecticut, Ms. 

ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. MOULTON, and Mr. MAST) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish a mission 

statement 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 ‘‘Honoring All Veterans 

5 Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. MISSION STATEMENT OF DEPARTMENT OF VET2 ERANS AFFAIRS. 

3 (a) REQUIRED MISSION STATEMENT.—Section 301 

4 of title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at 

5 the end the following new subsection: 

6 ‘‘(d) The mission statement of the Department shall 

7 be as follows: ‘To fulfill President Lincoln’s promise to 

8 care for those ‘‘who shall have borne the battle’’ and for 

9 their families, caregivers, and survivors.’.’’. 

10 (b) NOTIFICATION.—Not later than 30 days after the 

11 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Vet12 erans Affairs shall— 

13 (1) publish in the Federal Register and on the 

14 internet website of the Department of Veterans Af15 fairs a notification explaining the mission statement 

16 of the Department as specified in subsection (d) of 

17 section 301 of title 38, United States Code, as added 

18 by subsection (a) of this section; and 

19 (2) update each internet website of the Depart20 ment of Veterans Affairs and other electronic ref21 erences that use a previous mission statement. 

22 (c) GUIDANCE.—Not later than 30 days after the 

23 date of the enactment of the this Act, the Secretary shall 

24 develop and issue guidance to all elements of the Depart25 ment regarding the mission statement of the Department 

26 as specified in subsection (d) of section 301 of title 38, 


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1 United States Code, as added by subsection (a) of this 

2 section. The guidance shall include the following: 

3 (1) A notification explaining the mission state4 ment. 

5 (2) Instructions and a timeline for updating all 

6 previous mission statement references at each such 

7 element. 

8 (3) A method to monitor and evaluate the com9 pliance by facilities of the Department with the 

10 guidance, including a reporting mechanism for such 

11 facilities to report back to the Secretary on the 

12 progress made in updating all non-electronic mission 

13 statement references. 

14 (4) Any other information that the Secretary 

15 determines necessary to ensure timely compliance 

16 with the guidance. 

17 (d) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 

18 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit 

19 to Congress a report containing a review and assessment 

20 of the progress of each element of the Department in com21 plying with the guidance under subsection (c), including— 

22 (1) any reasons explaining why an element of 

23 the Department has failed to implement the guid24 ance; and 


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1 (2) a plan to address any such failure to imple2 ment the guidance and ensure that each element of 

3 the Department fully implements and complies with 

4 the guidance. 

Æ 


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