Title: To amend title 38, United States Code, to make certain improvements to the Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes.
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security

Summary:
This bill modifies policies and procedures of the Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection within the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) related to whistleblower disclosures and whistleblower retaliation, including by authorizing the transfer of VA funds to be made available for the purpose of addressing whistleblower and retaliation claims in specified circumstances.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6638 Introduced in House (IH)]

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117th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6638

To amend title 38, United States Code, to make certain improvements to 
   the Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection of the 
        Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 8, 2022

  Mr. Mann (for himself and Mr. Bost) introduced the following bill; 
   which was referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, and in 
    addition to the Committee on Appropriations, for a period to be 
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 
  of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
                               concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend title 38, United States Code, to make certain improvements to 
   the Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection of the 
        Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. MODIFICATIONS AND IMPROVEMENTS TO OFFICE OF ACCOUNTABILITY 
              AND WHISTLEBLOWER PROTECTION.

    Section 323 of title 38, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in subsection (c)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1)--
                            (i) by striking subparagraphs (A) and (B);
                            (ii) by redesignating subparagraphs (C) 
                        through (G) as subparagraphs (A) through (E), 
                        respectively;
                            (iii) in each of subparagraphs (A) and (B), 
                        as so redesignated, by inserting ``and 
                        allegations of whistleblower retaliation'' 
                        after ``disclosures'';
                            (iv) in subparagraph (B), as so 
                        redesignated--
                                    (I) by striking ``subparagraph 
                                (C)'' and inserting ``subparagraph 
                                (A)''; and
                                    (II) by striking ``the Office of 
                                the Medical Inspector'' and all that 
                                follows through the period at the end 
                                and inserting ``the Office of Special 
                                Counsel.''; and
                            (v) by striking subparagraphs (H) and (I); 
                        and
                    (B) in paragraph (2)--
                            (i) by striking ``a toll-free telephone 
                        number and Internet'' and inserting ``an 
                        internet''; and
                            (ii) by inserting ``and allegations of 
                        whistleblower retaliation'' after 
                        ``disclosures'';
            (2) by striking subsection (f) and inserting the following 
        new subsection (f):
    ``(f) Reports.--(1) Not later than 90 days after the last day of 
each fiscal year, the Assistant Secretary 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 activities of 
the Office during that fiscal year.
    ``(2) Each report submitted under paragraph (1) shall include, for 
the fiscal year covered by the report, the following:
            ``(A) A full and substantive analysis of the activities of 
        the Office, including such statistical information as the 
        Assistant Secretary considers appropriate.
            ``(B) Identification of any issues reported to the 
        Secretary under subsection (c)(1)(G), including such data as 
        the Assistant Secretary considers relevant to such issues and 
        any trends the Assistant Secretary may have identified with 
        respect to such issues.
            ``(C) Identification of such concerns as the Assistant 
        Secretary may have regarding the size, staffing, and resources 
        of the Office and such recommendations as the Assistant 
        Secretary may have for legislative or administrative action to 
        address such concerns.
            ``(D) Such recommendations as the Assistant Secretary may 
        have for legislative or administrative action to improve--
                    ``(i) the process by which concerns are reported to 
                the Office; and
                    ``(ii) the protection of whistleblowers within the 
                Department.
            ``(E) Such other matters as the Assistant Secretary 
        considers appropriate regarding the functions of the Office or 
        other matters relating to the Office.'';
            (3) by redesignating subsection (g) as subsection (j);
            (4) by inserting after subsection (f) the following new 
        subsections:
    ``(g) Transfer Authority.--(1) As the Secretary determines 
appropriate, of the amounts made available for the Department for any 
of fiscal years 2022 through 2026, the Secretary may transfer to the 
Office of Special Counsel not more than $5,000,000, to be available for 
the purpose of addressing whistleblower and retaliation claims, if the 
Comptroller General of the Office of Special Counsel enters into an 
agreement with the Secretary under which the Comptroller General agrees 
to ensure that amounts transferred under this paragraph will only be 
used--
            ``(A) to address whistleblower and retaliation claims 
        involving the Department; and
            ``(B) to supplement and not to supplant amounts otherwise 
        made available to the Office of Special Counsel.
    ``(2) Not later than 90 days after the last day of any fiscal year 
for which the Secretary transfers funds under this subsection, the 
Special Counsel shall submit to the Committees on Veterans' Affairs of 
the Senate and House of Representatives a report on the use of the 
funds transferred under this subsection during such fiscal year. Each 
such report shall include, for the fiscal year covered by the report--
            ``(A) the total amount transferred and an accounting of the 
        expenditure of such funds demonstrating that such funds were 
        used only to address complaints related to the Department;
            ``(B) the number of whistleblower complaints received by 
        the Office of Special Counsel involving the Department;
            ``(C) the number of retaliation complaints received by the 
        Office of Special Counsel involving the Department;
            ``(D) the number of whistleblower complaints investigated 
        by the Office of Special Counsel involving the Department;
            ``(E) the number of retaliation complaints closed by the 
        Office of Special Counsel involving the Department and 
        disposition of each such complaint, including--
                    ``(i) whether each such complaint was settled, 
                closed without a finding of retaliation, or received 
                another disposition; and
                    ``(ii) for each such complaint that was settled, 
                the amount of the settlement; and
            ``(F) data regarding the amount of time it took the Office 
        of Special Counsel to close whistleblower and retaliation 
        claims involving the Department, including a distribution of 
        the closed cases by type.
    ``(h) Training.--The Assistant Secretary shall--
            ``(1) provide training on whistleblower protection and 
        related issues and make such training available to employees of 
        the Department; and
            ``(2) disseminate training materials and information to 
        employees on whistleblower rights, whistleblower disclosures, 
        and allegations of whistleblower retaliation, including any 
        materials created pursuant to section 733 of this title.
    ``(i) Availability of Information.--The Assistant Secretary shall 
make publicly available on an appropriate website of the Department the 
following information:
            ``(1) Templates that can be used to submit proper and 
        complete whistleblower and retaliation claims.
            ``(2) The standard operating procedures of the Office and 
        any applicable regulations.
            ``(3) Each report submitted under subsection (f).''; and
            (5) in subsection (j), as so redesignated--
                    (A) by striking paragraph (1);
                    (B) by redesignating paragraphs (2) and (3) as 
                paragraphs (1) and (2), respectively; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following new 
                paragraph:
            ``(3) The term `whistleblower retaliation' means the taking 
        or failure to take, or the threat to take or not to take, by a 
        supervisory employee (as such term is defined in section 
        7103(a) of title 5), of a personnel action because of a 
        whistleblower disclosure.''.

SEC. 2. PILOT PROGRAM ON COUNSELING FOR WHISTLEBLOWERS.

    (a) In General.--The Assistant Secretary of Veterans Affairs for 
Accountability and Whistleblower Protection shall carry out two-year 
pilot program under which the Assistant Secretary shall offer 
counseling to a Department of Veterans Affairs whistleblower regarding 
the relevant laws and policies that affect the whistleblower, the 
whistleblower's disclosure, and any allegation of whistleblower 
retaliation.
    (b) Implementation.--The Assistant Secretary shall begin 
implementing the pilot program required under this section by not later 
than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act.
    (c) Report.--Upon the conclusion of the pilot program, the 
Assistant Secretary shall submit to Congress a report on the program, 
which shall include the number of employees who received counseling 
under the program, trends identified by the program, an analysis of the 
program, and such other matters as the Assistant Secretary determines 
relevant.
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