IIB 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6589 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
SEPTEMBER 23, 2020 
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 
AN ACT 
To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to develop and 
submit to Congress a plan to address the material weak-
ness of 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, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Department of Vet-
erans Affairs Chief Financial Officer Authority and Col-
laboration Act of 2020’’. 
SEC. 2. PLANS FOR ADDRESSING MATERIAL WEAKNESSES 
AND PROVIDING SUFFICIENT AUTHORITY TO 
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER OF DEPARTMENT 
OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 
Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act, and annually thereafter for each of the 
three subsequent years, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, 
acting through the Chief Financial Officer of the Depart-
ment of Veterans Affairs, shall submit to the appropriate 
congressional committees— 
(1) an action plan, including steps, related 
timelines, costs, progress, status of implementation, 
and any updates for fully addressing the material 
weaknesses of the Department discussed in the Man-
agement’s Discussion and Analysis section of the fi-
nancial statements of the Department submitted to 
Congress under section 3515 of title 31, United 
States Code for the year preceding the year during 
which the report is submitted; and 
(2) a plan outlining the steps the Secretary 
plans to take to address the recommendations of 
auditors related to entity-level internal controls and 
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to provide sufficient authority to the Chief Financial 
Officer of the Department to carry out the require-
ments of section 902 of title 31, United States Code. 
SEC. 3. CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER ATTESTATION. 
Concurrent with the submittal to Congress of the 
President’s budget request under section 1105 of title 31, 
United States Code, for fiscal year 2022 and each of the 
next three subsequent fiscal years, the Chief Financial Of-
ficer of the Department of Veterans affairs shall submit 
to the appropriate congressional committees each of the 
following: 
(1) A certification of the responsibility of the 
Chief Financial Officer for internal financial controls 
of the Department. 
(2) An attestation that the Chief Financial Of-
ficer has collaborated sufficiently with the subordi-
nate chief financial officers of the Department to be 
confident in the financial projections included the 
budget request and supporting materials. 
SEC. 4. CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER RESPONSIBILITY FOR 
SUBORDINATE CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICERS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—In accordance with the respon-
sibilities of the Chief Financial Officer of the Department 
of Veterans Affairs for the recruitment, selection, and 
training of personnel to carry out agency financial man-
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agement functions pursuant to section 902(a)(5)(C) of 
title 31, United States Code, the Chief Financial Officer 
or the designee of the Chief Financial Officer within the 
Office of Management of the Department shall— 
(1) participate in the interview and selection 
panels of all subordinate chief financial officers; and 
(2) give input into the performance plans and 
performance evaluations of all subordinate chief fi-
nancial officers. 
(b) TERMINATION.—The requirements under sub-
section (a) shall terminate on the date that is five years 
after the date of the enactment of this Act. 
SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com-
mittees’’ means the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs 
of the Senate and the House of Representatives and 
the Committees on Appropriations of the Senate and 
the House of Representatives. 
(2) The term ‘‘subordinate chief financial offi-
cer’’— 
(A) includes— 
(i) the chief financial officer of the 
Veterans Health Administration, the chief 
financial officer of the Office of Commu-
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nity Care within the Veterans Health Ad-
ministration, and all chief financial officers 
of Veterans Integrated Service Networks 
within the Veterans Health Administra-
tion; 
(ii) the chief financial officer of the 
Veterans Benefits Administration and all 
chief financial officers of organizational 
subdivisions representing business lines 
within the Veterans Benefits Administra-
tion; 
(iii) the chief financial officer of the 
National Cemetery Administration; and 
(iv) the chief financial officer of the 
Office of Information and Technology; and 
(B) does not include the Inspector General. 
Passed the House of Representatives September 22, 
2020. 
Attest: 
CHERYL L. JOHNSON, 
Clerk. 
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