I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5721 
To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve research conducted within 
the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 25, 2021 
Mr. TAKANO (for himself and Mr. BOST) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 
A BILL 
To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve research 
conducted within the Department of Veterans Affairs, 
and for other purposes. 
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 ‘‘VA Infrastructure 
Powers Exceptional Research Act of 2021’’ or the 
‘‘VIPER Act of 2021’’. 
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‘‘(b) PURPOSES.—The function of the Office is to 
serve veterans through a full spectrum of research (includ-
ing pre-clinical, clinical, and health systems science), tech-
nology transfer, and application. 
‘‘(c) CHIEF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT OFFI-
CER.—The head of the Office is the Chief Research and 
Development Officer. 
‘‘(d) ORGANIZATION AND PERSONNEL.—The Office 
shall be organized in such manner, and its personnel shall 
perform such duties and have such titles, as the Secretary 
may prescribe. 
‘‘§ 7382. Research personnel 
‘‘(a) WAIVER OF INTERGOVERNMENTAL PERSONNEL 
ACT MOBILITY PROGRAM LIMITS.—The Secretary may 
waive the limit on the period and number of assignments 
required under section 3372(a) of title 5 with respect to 
an individual who performs research for the Department 
under the mobility program under subchapter VI of chap-
ter 33 of such title (commonly referred to as the ‘Intergov-
ernmental Personnel Act Mobility Program’). 
‘‘(b) OUTSIDE EARNED INCOME FOR RESEARCH FOR 
THE DEPARTMENT.—(1) Compensation from a nonprofit 
corporation established under subchapter IV of this chap-
ter, or a university affiliated with the Department, may 
be paid, without regard to section 209 of title 18, to an 
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employee described in paragraph (2), for research con-
ducted pursuant to section 7303 of this title if— 
‘‘(A) the research has been approved in accord-
ance with procedures prescribed by the Under Sec-
retary for Health; 
‘‘(B) the employee conducts research under the 
supervision of personnel of the Department; and 
‘‘(C) the Secretary agreed to the terms of such 
compensation in writing. 
‘‘(2) An employee described in this subsection is an 
employee who has an appointment within the Department, 
whether with or without compensation, and without regard 
to the source of such compensation.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 
at the beginning of such chapter is amended by adding 
at the end the following: 
‘‘SUBCHAPTER V—RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT 
‘‘7381. Office of Research and Development. 
‘‘7382. Research personnel.’’. 
(c) SERVICE OF INCUMBENT.—The individual serving 
as the Chief Research and Development Officer of the Of-
fice of Research and Development as of the date of the 
enactment of this Act may continue to serve as such Chief 
Research and Development Officer commencing as of that 
date, without further appointment. 
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SEC. 4. EXPANSION OF HIRING AUTHORITIES FOR CERTAIN 
CLASSES OF RESEARCH OCCUPATIONS. 
Section 7401(3) of title 38, United States Code, is 
amended 
by 
inserting 
‘‘statisticians, 
economists, 
informaticists, data scientists, and’’ after ‘‘blind rehabili-
tation outpatient specialists,’’. 
SEC. 5. OTHER TRANSACTION AUTHORITY. 
(a) AUTHORITY.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
may enter into transactions (other than contracts, cooper-
ative agreements, and grants) with nontraditional contrac-
tors to carry out extramural basic or applied research. 
(b) REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary may enter into 
a transaction under subsection (a) to carry out extramural 
basic or applied research if each of the following criteria 
are met: 
(1) The research is not duplicative of other re-
search being conducted by the Department of Vet-
erans Affairs under another program or through a 
contract, cooperative agreement, or grant. 
(2) The senior procurement executive has deter-
mined that entering into the transaction to carry out 
the research is appropriate. 
(3) The transaction will not exceed $5,000,000 
(including all options), unless the senior procure-
ment executive determines that exceeding such 
amount is appropriate. 
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(4) Not less than 33 percent of the total cost 
of the research (regardless of the percentage of such 
total cost for which the transaction is funding) is 
paid for, or provided through nonmonetary contribu-
tions, by sources other than the Federal Govern-
ment, unless the senior procurement executive deter-
mines that— 
(A) meeting such threshold for non-Fed-
eral sources of funding or contributions is not 
possible; and 
(B) carrying out the research without 
meeting such threshold is in the public interest. 
(c) PROVISION OF INFORMATION.— 
(1) CONGRESS.— 
(A) NOTIFICATION.—Not later than 30 
days after the date on which the Secretary en-
ters into a transaction under this section, the 
Secretary shall notify the appropriate congres-
sional committees of such transaction, including 
a copy of each determination made under sub-
section (b). 
(B) BY REQUEST.—Upon the request of an 
appropriate congressional committee, the Sec-
retary shall submit to the appropriate congres-
sional committees a copy of a transaction under 
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this section or performance or financial infor-
mation relating to such transaction. 
(2) COMPTROLLER GENERAL OF THE UNITED 
STATES.—With respect to transactions entered into 
under this section, the Secretary shall ensure that, 
upon request, the Comptroller General of the United 
States may examine records of any party to the 
transaction or any entity that participates in the 
performance of the transaction if such records are 
generated in the performance of the transaction or 
are directly related to the transaction. 
(d) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall prescribe 
regulations to carry out this section. 
(e) TERMINATION.—The authority to enter into 
transactions under this section shall terminate on the date 
that is three years after the date of the enactment of this 
Act. 
(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com-
mittees’’ means the following: 
(A) The Committees on Veterans’ Affairs 
of the House of Representatives and the Sen-
ate. 
(B) The Subcommittees on Military Con-
struction, Veterans’ Affairs, and Related Agen-
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