I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 8172 
To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to use accredited commercial 
institutional review boards to review research proposal protocols of the 
Department, and to establish an Office of Research Reviews in the 
Department of Veterans Affairs. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 4, 2020 
Mrs. LURIA (for herself and Mr. BANKS) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 
A BILL 
To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to use accredited 
commercial institutional review boards to review research 
proposal protocols of the Department, and to establish 
an Office of Research Reviews in the Department of 
Veterans Affairs. 
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 Research Tech-
nology Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. USE BY DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS OF 
COMMERCIAL 
INSTITUTIONAL 
REVIEW 
BOARDS IN SPONSORED RESEARCH TRIALS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Vet-
erans Affairs shall complete all necessary policy revisions 
within the directive of the Veterans Health Administration 
numbered 1200.05 and titled ‘‘Requirements for the Pro-
tection of Human Subjects in Research’’, to allow spon-
sored clinical research of the Department of Veterans Af-
fairs to use accredited commercial institutional review 
boards to review research proposal protocols of the De-
partment. 
(b) IDENTIFICATION OF REVIEW BOARDS.—Not later 
than 90 days after the completion of the policy revisions 
under subsection (a), the Secretary shall— 
(1) identify accredited commercial institutional 
review boards for use in connection with sponsored 
clinical research of the Department; and 
(2) establish a process to modify existing ap-
provals in the event that a commercial institutional 
review board loses its accreditation during an ongo-
ing clinical trial. 
(c) REPORT.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 
the completion of the policy revisions under sub-
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section (a), and annually thereafter, the Secretary 
shall submit to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 
of the Senate and the Committee on Veterans’ Af-
fairs of the House of Representatives a report on all 
approvals of institutional review boards used by the 
Department, including central institutional review 
boards and commercial institutional review boards. 
(2) ELEMENTS.—The report required by para-
graph (1) shall include, at a minimum, the following: 
(A) The name of each clinical trial with re-
spect to which the use of an institutional review 
board has been approved. 
(B) The institutional review board or insti-
tutional review boards used in the approval 
process for each clinical trial. 
(C) The amount of time between submis-
sion and approval. 
SEC. 3. CREATION OF OFFICE OF RESEARCH REVIEWS 
WITHIN THE OFFICE OF INFORMATION AND 
TECHNOLOGY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF VET-
ERANS AFFAIRS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Vet-
erans Affairs shall establish within the Office of Informa-
tion and Technology of the Department of Veterans Af-
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fairs an Office of Research Reviews (in this section re-
ferred to as the ‘‘Office’’). 
(b) ELEMENTS.—The Office shall do the following: 
(1) Perform centralized security reviews and 
complete security processes for approved research 
sponsored outside the Department, with a focus on 
multi-site clinical trials. 
(2) Develop and maintain a list of commercially 
available software preferred for use in sponsored 
clinical trials of the Department and ensure such list 
is maintained as part of the official approved soft-
ware products list of the Department. 
(3) 
Develop 
benchmarks 
for 
appropriate 
timelines for security reviews conducted by the Of-
fice. 
(c) REPORT.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than one year 
after the establishment of the Office, the Office shall 
submit to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the 
Senate and the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of 
the House of Representatives a report on the activity 
of the Office. 
(2) ELEMENTS.—The report required by para-
graph (1) shall include the following: 
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(A) The number of security reviews com-
pleted. 
(B) The number of personnel assigned for 
performing the functions described in sub-
section (b). 
Æ 
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