IIB 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2302 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 12, 2011 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

AN ACT 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to notify Congress of conferences sponsored by 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. QUARTERLY REPORTS TO CONGRESS ON CON2 FERENCES SPONSORED BY THE DEPART3 MENT. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter I of chapter 5 of title 

5 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end 

6 the following new section: 

7 ‘‘§ 517. Quarterly reports to Congress on conferences 

8 sponsored by the Department 

9 ‘‘(a) QUARTERLY REPORTS REQUIRED.—Not later 

10 than 30 days after the end of each fiscal quarter, the Sec11 retary shall submit to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

12 of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 

13 Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate a report on covered con14 ferences. 

15 ‘‘(b) MATTERS INCLUDED.—Each report under sub16 section (a) shall include the following: 

17 ‘‘(1) An accounting of the final costs to the De18 partment of each covered conference occurring dur19 ing the fiscal quarter preceding the date on which 

20 the report is submitted, including the costs related 

21 to— 

22 ‘‘(A) transportation and parking; 

23 ‘‘(B) per diem payments; 

24 ‘‘(C) lodging; 

25 ‘‘(D) rental of halls, auditoriums, or other 

26 spaces; 


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1 ‘‘(E) rental of equipment; 

2 ‘‘(F) refreshments; 

3 ‘‘(G) entertainment; 

4 ‘‘(H) contractors; and 

5 ‘‘(I) brochures or other printed media. 

6 ‘‘(2) The total estimated costs to the Depart7 ment for covered conferences occurring during the 

8 fiscal quarter in which the report is submitted. 

9 ‘‘(c) COVERED CONFERENCE DEFINED.—In this sec10 tion, the term ‘covered conference’ means a conference, 

11 meeting, or other similar forum that is sponsored or co12 sponsored by the Department of Veterans Affairs and is— 

13 ‘‘(1) attended by 50 or more individuals, includ14 ing one or more employees of the Department; or 

15 ‘‘(2) estimated to cost the Department at least 

16 $20,000.’’. 

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

18 at the beginning of such chapter is amended by adding 

19 after the item relating to section 516 the following: 

‘‘517. Quarterly reports to Congress on conferences sponsored by the Department.’’. 

20 SEC. 2. SUBMISSION OF CERTAIN INFORMATION BY THE 

21 SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 5 of title 

23 38, United States Code, is amended by inserting after sec24 tion 529 the following new section: 


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1 ‘‘§ 529A. Submission of certain information by the 

2 Secretary to Congress 

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The submission of information 

4 by the Secretary to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

5 of the House of Representatives or the Committee on Vet6 erans’ Affairs of the Senate in response to a request for 

7 such information made by a covered member of the com8 mittee shall be deemed to be— 

9 ‘‘(1) a covered disclosure under section 

10 552a(b)(9) of title 5; and 

11 ‘‘(2) a permitted disclosure under regulations 

12 promulgated under section 264(c) of the Health In13 surance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 

14 (Public Law 104–191), including a permitted disclo15 sure for oversight activities authorized by law as de16 scribed in section 164.512(d) of title 45, Code of 

17 Federal Regulations. 

18 ‘‘(b) SUBMISSION TO CHAIRMAN.—With respect to a 

19 request for information described in subsection (a) made 

20 by a covered member of the committee who is not the 

21 chairman, the Secretary shall also submit such informa22 tion to the chairman of the Committee on Veterans’ Af23 fairs of the House of Representatives or the Committee 

24 on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate, as the case may be. 


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1 ‘‘(c) COVERED MEMBER OF THE COMMITTEE.—In 

2 this section, the term ‘covered member of the committee’ 

3 means the following: 

4 ‘‘(1) The chairman or ranking member of the 

5 Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of 

6 Representatives or the Committee on Veterans’ Af7 fairs of the Senate. 

8 ‘‘(2) A chairman or ranking member of a sub9 committee of the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of 

10 the House of Representatives or the Committee on 

11 Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate. 

12 ‘‘(3) The designee of a chairman or ranking 

13 member described in paragraph (1) or (2).’’. 

14 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sec15 tions at the beginning of such chapter is amended by in16 serting after the item relating to section 529 the following 

17 new item: 

‘‘529A. Submission of certain information by the Secretary to Congress.’’. 

18 SEC. 3. PUBLICATION OF DATA ON EMPLOYMENT OF CER19 TAIN VETERANS BY FEDERAL CONTRACTORS. 

20 Section 4212(d) of title 38, United States Code, is 

21 amended by adding at the end the following new para22 graph: 

23 ‘‘(3) The Secretary of Labor shall establish and 

24 maintain an Internet website on which the Secretary shall 


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1 publicly disclose the information reported to the Secretary 

2 of Labor by contractors under paragraph (1).’’. 

Passed the House of Representatives October 11, 

2011. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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