IIB 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4477 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
NOVEMBER 13, 2019 
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 
AN ACT 
To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to submit to 
Congress a plan to address certain high risk areas identi-
fied by the Comptroller General of the United States 
regarding the Department of Veterans Affairs in the 
2019 High-Risk List of the Government Accountability 
Office, and for other purposes. 
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Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Reducing High Risk 
to Veterans and Veterans Services Act’’. 
SEC. 2. REPORT AND PLANNED ACTIONS OF THE SEC-
RETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS TO ADDRESS 
CERTAIN HIGH-RISK AREAS OF THE DEPART-
MENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 
(a) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than 180 days 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 
of Veterans Affairs, in consultation with the Comptroller 
General of the United States, shall submit to the Commit-
tees on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and House of Rep-
resentatives a report outlining the plan the Secretary has 
developed and the actions the Secretary has taken to ad-
dress the areas of concern identified by the Comptroller 
General for the Department of Veterans Affairs in the 
2019 High-Risk List of the Government Accountability 
Office (GAO–19–157SP) regarding— 
(1) acquisition management; and 
(2) managing risks and improving health care. 
(b) ELEMENTS.—The report under subsection (a) 
shall include each of the following: 
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(1) Root causes of the areas of concern de-
scribed in paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (a). 
(2) Corrective actions and specific steps to ad-
dress each root cause, including— 
(A) the progress of the Secretary in imple-
menting those actions and steps; and 
(B) timelines and milestones the Secretary 
determines feasible to complete each corrective 
action. 
(3) Resources the Secretary determines are nec-
essary to implement corrective actions, including— 
(A) funding; 
(B) stakeholders; 
(C) technology; and 
(D) senior officials responsible for imple-
menting the corrective actions and reporting re-
sults. 
(4) Metrics for assessing progress in addressing 
the areas of concern described in paragraphs (1) and 
(2) of subsection (a). 
(5) Key outcomes that demonstrate progress in 
addressing the areas of concern described in para-
graphs (1) and (2) of subsection (a). 
(6) Obstacles to implementation of the plan 
that the Secretary identifies. 
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(7) Recommendations of the Secretary regard-
ing legislation or funding the Secretary determines 
necessary to implement the plan. 
(8) Any other information the Secretary deter-
mines is relevant to understanding the progress of 
the Department toward the removal of the areas of 
concern from the High Risk List. 
(c) ANNUAL UPDATES.— 
(1) UPDATE REQUIRED.—Not less than once 
each year during the implementation period under 
paragraph (2), the Secretary shall submit to Con-
gress an update regarding implementation of each 
element of the plan under subsection (b). 
(2) IMPLEMENTATION PERIOD.—The implemen-
tation period described in this paragraph begins on 
the date on which the Secretary submits the report 
required under subsection (a) and ends on the ear-
lier of the following dates: 
(A) The date on which the Comptroller 
General removes the last area of concern for 
the Department from the most recent High- 
Risk List of the Government Accountability Of-
fice. 
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(B) The date that is 8 years after the date 
on which the Secretary submits the plan re-
quired under subsection (a). 
SEC. 3. ANNUAL REPORT BY SECRETARY OF VETERANS AF-
FAIRS ON IMPLEMENTATION OF PRIORITY 
RECOMMENDATIONS OF COMPTROLLER GEN-
ERAL OF THE UNITED STATES PERTAINING 
TO DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 
(a) ANNUAL REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than 
270 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, and 
not less than once during each of the subsequent 3 years, 
the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall submit to the Com-
mittees on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and House of 
Representatives and to the Comptroller General of the 
United States a report on the implementation of priority 
recommendations of the Comptroller General that pertain 
to the Department of Veterans Affairs. 
(b) CONTENTS.—Each report submitted under sub-
section (a) shall include, for the period covered by the re-
port, the following: 
(1) The progress of the Secretary in imple-
menting all open priority recommendations of the 
Comptroller General for the Department of Veterans 
Affairs. 
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(2) An explanation for each instance where the 
Secretary has decided not to implement, or has not 
fully implemented, an open priority recommendation 
of the Comptroller General for the Department. 
(3) A summary of the corrective actions taken 
and remaining steps the Secretary plans to take to 
implement open priority recommendations of the 
Comptroller General. 
(c) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT CERTAIN RE-
QUIRED REPORTS OR WRITTEN STATEMENTS.—The re-
port under this section shall not be construed to supplant 
any report or written statement required under section 
720 of title 31, United States Code. 
Passed the House of Representatives November 12, 
2019. 
Attest: 
CHERYL L. JOHNSON, 
Clerk. 
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