I 
115TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5683 
To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to report biennially on actions 
taken to address areas of concern that led to the inclusion of veterans 
health care in the High Risk List of the Government Accountability 
Office, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 7, 2018 
Mr. BANKS of Indiana (for himself and Mr. MOULTON) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 
A BILL 
To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to report bienni-
ally on actions taken to address areas of concern that 
led to the inclusion of veterans health care in the High 
Risk List of the Government Accountability Office, 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 ‘‘Department of Vet-
erans Affairs Oversight Enhancement Act of 2018’’. 
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SEC. 2. BIENNIAL REPORT BY SECRETARY OF VETERANS 
AFFAIRS ON ACTIONS TAKEN TO ADDRESS 
AREAS OF CONCERN THAT LED TO INCLU-
SION OF VETERANS HEALTH CARE IN THE 
HIGH RISK LIST OF THE GOVERNMENT AC-
COUNTABILITY OFFICE. 
(a) BIENNIAL REPORT REQUIRED.—No later than 
120 days after the date of the enactment of this Act and 
in each session of Congress thereafter in which the High 
Risk List of the Government Accountability Office pub-
lished in that session includes health care furnished under 
laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, 
the Secretary shall submit to Congress, the appropriate 
committees of Congress, and the Comptroller General of 
the United States a report on the actions taken by the 
Secretary and the progress made by the Secretary in im-
plementing the High Risk Action Plan of the Department 
of Veterans Affairs to address the areas of concern that 
led to the designation of such health care as high risk by 
the Comptroller General in the most recently published 
High Risk List. 
(b) CONTENTS.—Each report submitted under sub-
section (a) shall include, for the period covered by the pe-
riod, the following: 
(1) The corrective measures and specific steps 
necessary for addressing root causes identified in the 
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High Risk Action Plan for removal from the high- 
risk designation, including the progress of the Sec-
retary in implementing those measures and steps. 
The specific measures and steps shall— 
(A) address each root cause; 
(B) identify resources to implement correc-
tive actions, including funding, stakeholders, 
technology, and the senior officials responsible 
for implementing the corrective actions and re-
porting results; 
(C) identify metrics that can be used to as-
sess progress and assign responsibility for 
tracking progress, including the mechanism 
that will be used to keep senior leadership in-
formed about progress made or challenges en-
countered; 
(D) list key outcomes and goals that dem-
onstrate progress in addressing the concerns; 
and 
(E) establish timeframes with overall and 
interim milestones. 
(2) The progress of the Secretary in addressing 
the five criteria for removal from the High Risk List 
for each of the areas of concern identified by the 
Comptroller General. 
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(3) An explanation and course of action for 
each failure to fully adopt the Comptroller General’s 
criteria for removal from the High Risk list. 
SEC. 3. ANNUAL REPORT BY SECRETARY OF VETERANS AF-
FAIRS ON IMPLEMENTATION OF CERTAIN 
RECOMMENDATIONS OF COMPTROLLER GEN-
ERAL OF THE UNITED STATES PERTAINING 
TO DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 
(a) ANNUAL REPORT REQUIRED.—No later than 120 
days after the date of the enactment of this Act and not 
less frequently than once each year thereafter, the Sec-
retary of Veterans Affairs shall submit to Congress, the 
appropriate committees of Congress, and to the Comp-
troller General of the United States a report on implemen-
tation of 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. 
(2) An explanation for each instance where the 
Secretary has decided not to implement, or has not 
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fully implemented, an open priority recommendation 
of the Comptroller General for the Department. 
(3) Courses of action for the Secretary to im-
plement open priority recommendations of the 
Comptroller General, including— 
(A) resources to implement corrective ac-
tions, including funding, stakeholders, tech-
nology, and the senior officials responsible for 
implementing the corrective actions and report-
ing results; 
(B) metrics that can be used to assess 
progress and assign responsibility for tracking 
progress, including the mechanism that will be 
used to keep senior leadership informed about 
progress made or challenges encountered; 
(C) key outcomes and goals that dem-
onstrate progress in addressing the concerns; 
and 
(D) timeframes with overall and interim 
milestones. 
(c) SUPPLEMENT AND NOT SUPPLANT CURRENT RE-
PORT REQUIREMENTS.—The requirements of this section 
shall supplement and not supplant the requirements of 
section 720 of title 31, United States Code. 
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SEC. 4. REPORT BY COMPTROLLER GENERAL OF THE 
UNITED STATES ON ACTIONS TAKEN BY SEC-
RETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS TO ADDRESS 
AREAS OF CONCERN THAT LED TO INCLU-
SION OF VETERANS HEALTH CARE IN THE 
2017 HIGH RISK LIST OF THE GOVERNMENT 
ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE. 
(a) REPORT REQUIRED.—No later than one year 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comp-
troller General of the United States shall submit to Con-
gress and the appropriate committees of Congress a report 
on the implementation, the actions taken, and the progress 
made by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs in imple-
menting the High Risk Action Plan of the Department 
of Veterans Affairs to address the areas of concern that 
led to the designation of health care furnished under laws 
administered by the Secretary as high risk by the Comp-
troller General in the High Risk List published by the 
Comptroller General in 2017. 
(b) CONTENTS.—The report submitted under para-
graph (1) shall include the following: 
(1) An evaluation of the progress of the Sec-
retary in implementing corrective measures and spe-
cific steps for addressing root causes identified in 
the High Risk Action Plan for removal of veterans 
health care from the High Risk List. 
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(2) An evaluation of the progress of the Sec-
retary in addressing the five criteria for removal 
from the High Risk List for each of the areas of 
concern identified by the Comptroller General. 
(3) An evaluation of the Secretary’s expla-
nations and courses of action for each failure to fully 
adopt the Comptroller General’s criteria for removal 
from the High Risk List. 
SEC. 5. APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CONGRESS DE-
FINED. 
In this Act, the term ‘‘appropriate committees of 
Congress’’ means the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of 
the Senate and the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the 
House of Representatives. 
Æ 
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