I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 6531 
To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to develop a training program 
for certain senior executives and supervisors employed by the Department 
of Veterans Affairs. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 30, 2023 
Mr. PAPPAS (for himself and Mr. VAN ORDEN) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 
A BILL 
To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to develop a 
training program for certain senior executives and super-
visors employed by 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 ‘‘Training Responsible 
And Informed National VA Employees Act’’ or the 
‘‘TRAIN VA Employees Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. TRAINING PROGRAM FOR CERTAIN SENIOR EXECU-
TIVES AND SUPERVISORS. 
(a) PROGRAM REQUIRED.—Not later than one year 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 
of Veterans Affairs shall develop a training program for 
all covered employees. Such training shall be mandatory 
for all such covered employees and for any individual who 
is hired to be such an covered employee. 
(b) CONSULTATION.—In developing the training re-
quired under subsection (a), the Secretary shall consult 
with the heads of at least three other Federal departments 
and agencies, including the Department of Defense, to 
gather information about how such departments and agen-
cies approach management training. 
(c) CURRENT EMPLOYEES.—Any individual who as 
of the date of the enactment of this Act is an covered em-
ployee shall be required, as a condition of continued em-
ployment at the Department of Veterans Affairs, to com-
plete the training program developed under subsection (a) 
by not later than 18 months after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act. 
(d) REFRESHER TRAINING.—The Secretary shall de-
velop a refresher training program for the program re-
quired under subsection (a), and each covered employee 
shall be required, as a condition of continued employment 
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at the Department of Veterans Affairs, to complete such 
refresher training once every two years. 
(e) DESIGN OF TRAINING.—The training program re-
quired under subsection (a) shall be designed using prin-
ciples of adult learning and industry standard instruc-
tional design. To the extent practicable, the training 
shall— 
(1) be instructor-based and provided in-person; 
and 
(2) focus on— 
(A) developing and discussing relevant per-
formance goals and objectives with the employ-
ees they supervise; 
(B) communicating and discussing employ-
ees’ progress relative to performance goals and 
objectives, and conducting performance apprais-
als; 
(C) mentoring and motivating employees 
and improving employee engagement, perform-
ance, and productivity; 
(D) effectively managing employees with 
unacceptable performance, including training to 
understand the disciplinary options and proce-
dures available to the supervisor; 
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(E) prohibited personnel practices, em-
ployee rights, and the procedures and processes 
used to enforce employee rights; 
(F) effectively using the probationary pe-
riod to examine whether an employee has dem-
onstrated successful performance or conduct to 
continue past the probationary period; 
(G) addressing reports of a hostile work 
environment, retaliation, or harassment of, or 
by, another supervisor or employee; 
(H) collaborating with human resources 
employees to recruit, select, appraise, and re-
ward employees to build a workforce based on 
organizational goals, budget considerations, and 
staffing needs; and 
(I) carrying out the duties or responsibil-
ities of a supervisor. 
(f) COVERED EMPLOYEE DEFINED.—In this section, 
the term ‘‘covered employee’’ means an employee of the 
Department of Veterans Affairs who is— 
(1) a supervisor (as defined in section 7103(a) 
of title 5, United States Code); or 
(2) a covered individual under section 713 of 
title 38, United States Code. 
Æ 
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