II 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3535 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to prohibit the Secretary of Veterans 

Affairs from employing any individual who has been convicted of a 

felony and medical personnel who have had their medical licenses or 

credentials revoked or suspended, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 8, 2016 

Mr. FLAKE introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to prohibit the Secretary of Veterans Affairs from employing any individual 

who has been convicted of a felony and medical personnel 

who have had their medical licenses or credentials revoked or suspended, 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 ‘‘Clean Up the Depart5 ment of Veterans Affairs Act of 2016’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON EMPLOYMENT BY SECRETARY OF 

2 VETERANS AFFAIRS OF INDIVIDUALS CON3 VICTED OF FELONIES AND MEDICAL PER4 SONNEL WHO HAVE HAD THEIR MEDICAL LI5 CENSES OR CREDENTIALS REVOKED OR SUS6 PENDED. 

7 (a) INDIVIDUALS CONVICTED OF FELONIES.—Sec8 tion 709 of title 38, United States Code, is amended by 

9 adding at the end the following new subsection: 

10 ‘‘(d)(1) The Secretary may not employ, transfer, or 

11 hire in any position at the Department any person who 

12 has been convicted of a State or Federal criminal offense 

13 described in paragraph (2) for which the minimum term 

14 of imprisonment is more than 1 year. 

15 ‘‘(2) The criminal offenses described in this para16 graph are as follows: 

17 ‘‘(A) A sex offense (as defined in section 111 

18 of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification 

19 Act (42 U.S.C. 16911)). 

20 ‘‘(B) An offense involving the sale or distribu21 tion of a controlled substance (as defined in section 

22 102 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 

23 802)). 

24 ‘‘(C) Fraud. 

25 ‘‘(D) Theft. 

26 ‘‘(E) Assault. 


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1 ‘‘(F) Battery. 

2 ‘‘(G) A crime of violence (as defined in section 

3 16 of title 18). 

4 ‘‘(H) An offense involving the use of a firearm 

5 (as defined in section 921 of title 18) or other dead6 ly weapon. 

7 ‘‘(I) An offense under section 2113 of title 18 

8 or similar State statute. 

9 ‘‘(J) Kidnapping. 

10 ‘‘(K) Such other offenses as the Secretary con11 siders inappropriate for employment at the Depart12 ment. 

13 ‘‘(3) Before hiring any individual for a position at 

14 the Department, the Secretary shall conduct a background 

15 check to determine whether the individual has been con16 victed of any offenses listed in paragraph (2).’’. 

17 (b) INDIVIDUALS WHO HAVE HAD MEDICAL LI18 CENSES OR CREDENTIALS REVOKED OR SUSPENDED.— 

19 Section 7402 of such title is amended by adding at the 

20 end the following new subsection: 

21 ‘‘(h)(1) The Secretary may not employ, transfer, or 

22 hire any individual in a position listed in section 7401(1) 

23 of this title who has had a license or credential relating 

24 to such position revoked or suspended. 


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1 ‘‘(2) Before hiring any individual for a position listed 

2 in section 7401(1) of this title, the Secretary shall conduct 

3 a background check to determine whether the individual 

4 has had a license or credential relating to such position 

5 revoked or suspended in any State.’’. 

6 (c) TERMINATION OF CURRENT EMPLOYEES.—As 

7 soon as practicable after the date of the enactment of this 

8 Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall begin the proc9 ess of terminating the employment of each individual em10 ployed by the Secretary in violation of section 709(d) or 

11 section 7402(h) of title 38, United States Code, as added 

12 by subsections (a) and (b), respectively. 

13 (d) RELATION TO OTHER PROVISIONS OF LAW.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Any provision of title 5, 

15 United States Code, or subchapter V of chapter 74 

16 of title 38, United States Code, otherwise applicable 

17 to the termination of an employee under subsection 

18 (c) of this section, section 709(d) of title 38, United 

19 States Code, as added by subsection (a) of this sec20 tion, or section 7402(h) of such title, as added by 

21 subsection (b) of this section, shall apply to the ter22 mination, except to the extent such provision of title 

23 5, United States Code, or subchapter V of chapter 

24 74 of title 38, United States Code, conflicts with, 

25 and is superseded by, subsection (c) of this section, 


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1 section 709(d) of title 38, United States Code, or 

2 section 7402(h) of such title. 

3 (2) MERIT SYSTEM PRINCIPLES.—The Sec4 retary shall carry out any termination described in 

5 paragraph (1) in a manner consistent with the merit 

6 system principles set forth in section 2301(b) of title 

7 5, United States Code. 

8 (3) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Subsection (c) 

9 of this section, section 709(d) of title 38, United 

10 States Code, as added by subsection (a) of this sec11 tion, and section 7402(h) of such title, as added by 

12 subsection (b) of this section shall not be construed 

13 to deprive or waive for any individual any employ14 ment protection or due process requirement in effect 

15 on the day before the date of the enactment of this 

16 Act, except as provided in paragraph (1) of this sub17 section. 

Æ 


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