II 

Calendar No. 240 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 627 

[Report No. 114–148] 

To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to revoke bonuses paid to 

employees involved in electronic wait list manipulations, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 3, 2015 

Ms. AYOTTE (for herself, Mrs. MCCASKILL, Mr. MORAN, Mr. FLAKE, Ms. 

KLOBUCHAR, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. THUNE, Mr. CRAPO, Mr. TOOMEY, and 

Mr. CASSIDY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

SEPTEMBER 28, 2015 

Reported by Mr. ISAKSON, with an amendment and an amendment to the title 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to revoke bonuses paid to employees involved in electronic wait list 

manipulations, 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, 

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1 SECTION 1. RETURN OF BONUSES AWARDED TO EMPLOY2 EES OF DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS 

3 FOR PERFORMANCE THEY MISREPRE4 SENTED. 

5 (a) INVESTIGATIONS.—Not later than 180 days after 

6 the date on which the Inspector General of the Depart7 ment of Veterans Affairs submits to Congress a report de8 scribed in subsection (b), the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 

9 shall identify each employee of the Department of Vet10 erans Affairs who— 

11 (1) during any of fiscal years 2011 through 

12 2014— 

13 (A) contributed to the purposeful omission 

14 of the name of one or more veterans waiting for 

15 health care from an electronic wait list for a 

16 medical facility of the Department identified by 

17 the Inspector General in such report; or 

18 (B) was the supervisor of an employee of 

19 the Department, or was a supervisor of that su20 pervisor, at any level, who contributed to a pur21 poseful omission as described in subparagraph 

22 (A) and knew, or reasonably should have 

23 known, that the employee contributed to such 

24 purposeful omission; and 

25 (2) received a bonus in part because of such 

26 omission. 

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1 (b) REPORTS DESCRIBED.—A report described in 

2 this subsection is a report that— 

3 (1) was submitted to Congress by the Inspector 

4 General; 

5 (2) is based on investigations carried out by the 

6 Inspector General in calendar year 2014; and 

7 (3) identifies medical facilities of the Depart8 ment at which scheduling practices in use, or for9 merly in use, did not comply with scheduling policies 

10 and procedures of the Department. 

11 (c) IDENTIFICATION.—The Secretary shall identify 

12 employees contributing to an omission described in sub13 section (a)(1) without regard to whether the employee 

14 knowingly contributed to such omission or contributed to 

15 such omission for the purpose of receiving a bonus. 

16 (d) REPAYMENT.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—For each employee identified 

18 under subsection (a) who received a bonus as de19 scribed in such subsection, the Secretary shall, after 

20 notice and an opportunity for a hearing, issue an 

21 order directing the employee to repay the amount of 

22 such bonus. 

23 (2) HEARINGS.—A hearing under this sub24 section shall be conducted in accordance with regula25 tions relating to hearings promulgated by the Secmstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

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1 retary under chapter 75 of title 5, United States 

2 Code. 

3 (3) APPEAL.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—An employee against 

5 whom an order is issued under paragraph (1) 

6 may appeal to the Merit Systems Protection 

7 Board under section 7701 of title 5, United 

8 States Code. 

9 (B) SCOPE OF REVIEW.—A review of an 

10 appeal by the Merit Systems Protection Board 

11 under subparagraph (A) shall be based on the 

12 record established through the appellant’s hear13 ing conducted under paragraph (2). 

14 (C) STANDARD OF REVIEW.—The Merit 

15 Systems Protection Board shall set aside an 

16 order issued under paragraph (1) if the issuing 

17 of the order was clearly erroneous or the result 

18 of a denial of procedural due process. 

19 SECTION 1. PROHIBITION ON AWARD OF BONUSES TO EM20 PLOYEES SUBJECT OF ADVERSE FINDINGS. 

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

22 Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new 

23 section: 

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1 ‘‘§ 714. Prohibition on award of bonuses to employees 

2 subject of adverse findings 

3 ‘‘(a) PROHIBITION.—(1) Notwithstanding any other 

4 provision of law, in a case in which the Secretary makes 

5 an adverse finding relating to an employee of the Depart6 ment, the Secretary may not award a bonus to such em7 ployee until the earlier of— 

8 ‘‘(A) the date that is five years after the end of 

9 the fiscal year in which the adverse finding was 

10 made; or 

11 ‘‘(B) the date that the finding is found to have 

12 been made in error. 

13 ‘‘(2) The Secretary may base an adverse finding under 

14 paragraph (1) on an investigation by, determination of, or 

15 information provided by the Inspector General of the De16 partment or another senior ethics official of the Department 

17 or the Comptroller General of the United States in connec18 tion with the carrying out by such official of an activity, 

19 authority, or function under a provision of law other than 

20 this section. 

21 ‘‘(b) PREVIOUSLY AWARDED BONUSES.—If the Sec22 retary makes an adverse finding relating to an employee 

23 under subsection (a), the Secretary, after notice and an op24 portunity for a hearing, shall issue an order directing the 

25 employee to repay the amount of any bonus awarded to the 

26 employee during the year during which the adverse finding 

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1 is made, unless such finding is found to have been made 

2 in error. 

3 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

4 ‘‘(1) The term ‘adverse finding’ relating to an 

5 employee means a determination that the conduct of 

6 the employee— 

7 ‘‘(A) violated a policy of the Department for 

8 which the employee may be removed or sus9 pended; or 

10 ‘‘(B) violated a law for which the employee 

11 may be imprisoned for more than 1 year. 

12 ‘‘(2) The term ‘bonus’ means any bonus or cash 

13 award, including— 

14 ‘‘(A) an award under chapter 45 of title 5; 

15 ‘‘(B) an award under section 5384 of such 

16 title; and 

17 ‘‘(C) a retention bonus under section 5754 

18 of such title.’’. 

19 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections at 

20 the beginning of such chapter is amended by adding at the 

21 end the following new item: 

‘‘714. Prohibition on award of bonuses to employees subject of adverse findings.’’. 

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1 SEC. 2. RETENTION OF RECORDS OF REPRIMANDS AND AD2 MONISHMENTS RECEIVED BY EMPLOYEES OF 

3 THE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 

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

5 Code, as amended by section 1, is further amended by add6 ing at the end the following new section: 

7 ‘‘§ 715. Record of reprimands and admonishments 

8 ‘‘If any employee of the Department receives a rep9 rimand or admonishment, the Secretary shall retain a copy 

10 of such reprimand or admonishment in the permanent 

11 record of the employee as long as the employee is employed 

12 by the Department.’’. 

13 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections at 

14 the beginning of such chapter, as amended by section 1, is 

15 further amended by adding at the end the following new 

16 item: 

‘‘715. Record of reprimands and admonishments.’’. 

Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘A bill to prohibit the 

Secretary of Veterans Affairs from awarding bonuses to 

employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs with respect to whom an adverse finding has been made by the 

Secretary, and for other purposes.’’. 

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Calendar No. 240 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 627 

[Report No. 114–148] 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to reposes. tronic wait list manipulations, and for other pur- voke bonuses paid to employees involved in elecSEPTEMBER 28, 2015 

Reported with an amendment and an amendment to the 

title 

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