I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5525 
To amend title 38 and title 5, United States Code, to require the Secretary 
of Veterans Affairs and other officials of the Department of Veterans 
Affairs to receive health care from the Department, and for other pur-
poses. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 19, 2019 
Mr. RICE of South Carolina introduced the following bill; which was referred 
to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 
A BILL 
To amend title 38 and title 5, United States Code, to require 
the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and other officials of 
the Department of Veterans Affairs to receive health 
care from the Department, 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 ‘‘Providing Account-
ability for Veterans Affairs Executives Act of 2019’’ or 
‘‘PAVE Act of 2019’’. 
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SEC. 2. HEALTH CARE FOR OFFICIALS OF THE DEPART-
MENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1710 of title 38, United 
States Code, is amended— 
(1) in subsection (a)(3)— 
(A) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ before ‘‘In’’; 
(B) by inserting ‘‘or in the case of an offi-
cial of the Department listed in subparagraph 
(B),’’ before ‘‘the Secretary’’; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following new 
subparagraph: 
‘‘(B) As a condition of office and employment, 
and for the duration of such term of office or em-
ployment, each of the following officials of the De-
partment may not receive any hospital care or med-
ical services (other than emergency medical services) 
except under this section: 
‘‘(i) The Secretary. 
‘‘(ii) The Deputy Secretary. 
‘‘(iii) The Under Secretary for Health. 
‘‘(iv) The Under Secretary for Benefits. 
‘‘(v) The Under Secretary for Memorial 
Affairs. 
‘‘(vi) Each Assistant Secretary, includ-
ing— 
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‘‘(I) the Assistant Secretary for Man-
agement; 
‘‘(II) the Assistant Secretary for 
Human Resources and Administration; 
‘‘(III) the Assistant Secretary for 
Public and Intergovernmental Affairs; and 
‘‘(IV) the Assistant Secretary for Op-
erations, Security, and Preparedness. 
‘‘(vii) Each Deputy Assistant Secretary. 
‘‘(viii) The Chief Financial Officer. 
‘‘(ix) The Chief Information Officer. 
‘‘(x) The General Counsel. 
‘‘(xi) The Inspector General. 
‘‘(xii) The Director of Construction and 
Facilities Management. 
‘‘(xiii) The Chief of Staff. 
‘‘(xiv) The Chairman of the Board of Vet-
erans’ Appeals. 
‘‘(xv) The Vice Chairman of the Board of 
Veterans’ Appeals.’’; 
(2) in subsection (f), by inserting ‘‘or official of 
the Department’’ after ‘‘veteran’’ each place it ap-
pears; and 
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(3) in subsection (g), by inserting ‘‘or official of 
the Department’’ after ‘‘veteran’’ each place it ap-
pears. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 
(1) TITLE
38.—Section 1705(a) of title 38, 
United States Code, is amended— 
(A) by inserting ‘‘and officials of the De-
partment’’ after ‘‘veterans’’; and 
(B) in paragraph (8) by inserting ‘‘and of-
ficials of the Department’’ after ‘‘veterans’’. 
(2) TITLE
5.—Section 8901(1) of title 5, 
United States Code, is amended in the matter fol-
lowing subparagraph (J)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of clause 
(iii); 
(B) by adding ‘‘or’’ after the semicolon at 
the end of clause (iv); and 
(C) by adding at the end the following new 
clause: 
‘‘(v) an official of the Department of Vet-
erans Affairs listed in section 1710(a)(3)(B) of 
title 38;’’. 
Æ 
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