I
103D CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 3808
To amend title 38, United States Code, to ensure that the Secretary of
Veterans Affairs has the necessary authority and flexibility to provide
staffing levels for the Veterans Health Administration of the Department
of Veterans Affairs as necessary to meet the responsibility of the United
States to provide health care services to eligible veterans and to permit
implementation of national health care reform by the Department.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY 8, 1994
Mr. MONTGOMERY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Veterans’ Affairs
A BILL
To amend title 38, United States Code, to ensure that the
Secretary of Veterans Affairs has the necessary authority
and flexibility to provide staffing levels for the Veterans
Health Administration of the Department of Veterans
Affairs as necessary to meet the responsibility of the
United States to provide health care services to eligible
veterans and to permit implementation of national health
care reform by the Department.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. FINDINGS.
The Congress makes the following findings:
(1) Under proposals for national health care re-
form, the Department of Veterans Affairs would be
required to enroll veterans and to provide health
care on a competitive basis with other, private health
care providers.
(2) In order to be able to implement changes
contemplated by proposals for national health care
reform, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs must have
flexibility to restructure and reform the Veterans
Health Administration as necessary without further,
artificial constraints on either full-time equivalent
employee (FTEE) positions levels or on the ability
of the Department to contract for needed health re-
lated services, when appropriate.
(3) The Office of Management and Budget, as
part of an announced plan to require a reduction
over five years of 252,000 FTEE positions in the
executive branch, proposes to require substantial an-
nual reductions of FTEE positions for five years in
personnel of the Veterans Health Administration, a
reduction in personnel which would severely impede
the ability of the Department of Veterans Affairs to
implement national health care reform.
SEC. 2. EMPLOYMENT LEVEL IN VETERANS HEALTH AD-
MINISTRATION.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 7 of title 38, United
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the follow-
ing new section:
‘‘§ 713. Full-time equivalent employees: limitation on
reduction
‘‘(a) During the five-year period beginning on Octo-
ber 1, 1994, no reduction may be made in the number
of full-time equivalent employees in the Veterans Health
Administration other than as specifically required by law
or by the availability of funds. During that period, the per-
sonnel of the Veterans Health Administration shall be
managed on the basis of the needs of eligible veterans and
the availability of funds.
‘‘(b) No law may be construed as suspending or modi-
fying this section unless such law specifically refers to or
amends this section.’’.
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections
at the beginning of such chapter is amended by adding
at the end the following new item:
‘‘713. Full-time equivalent employees: limitation on reduction.’’.
SEC. 3. ENHANCED AUTHORITY TO CONTRACT FOR NEC-
ESSARY SERVICES.
Section 8110(c) of title 38, United States Code, is
amended by striking out paragraph (7) and inserting in
lieu thereof the following:
‘‘(7) Paragraphs (1) through (6) shall not be in effect
during fiscal years 1995 through 1999.
‘‘(8) During the period covered by paragraph (7),
whenever an activity at a Department health-care facility
is converted from performance by Federal employees to
performance by employees of a contractor of the Govern-
ment, the Secretary shall—
‘‘(A) require in the contract for the perform-
ance of such activity that the contractor, in hiring
employees for the performance of the contract, give
priority to former employees of the Department who
have been displaced by the award of the contract;
and
‘‘(B) provide to such former employees of the
Department all possible assistance in obtaining other
Federal employment or entrance into job training
and retraining programs.
‘‘(9) The Secretary shall include in the Secretary’s
annual report to Congress under section 529 of this title,
for each fiscal year covered by paragraph (7), a report
on the use during the year covered by the report of con-
tracting-out authority made available by reason of para-
graph (7). The Secretary shall include in each such report
a description of each use of such authority, together with
the rationale for the use of such authority and the effect
of the use of such authority on patient care and on em-
ployees of the Department.’’.
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