S.Amdt. 2701

SA 2701. Mr. YOUNG submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to
amendment SA 2282 proposed by Mr. Inhofe (for himself and Mr. McCain)
to the bill H.R. 5515, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2019
for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military
construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy,
to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for
other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

At the end of subtitle F of title X, add the following:

SEC. 10__. REPORTS ON IMPLEMENTATION BY DEPARTMENT OF
VETERANS AFFAIRS OF RECOMMENDATIONS OF
COMPTROLLER GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES.

(a) Biennial Report on Actions Taken to Address Areas of
Concern That Led to Inclusion of Veterans Health Care in the
High Risk List of the Government Accountability Office.--
(1) Biennial report required.--Not 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 published 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 implementing 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.
(2) Contents.--Each report submitted under paragraph (1)
shall include, for the period covered by the report, the
following:
(A) The corrective measures and specific steps necessary
for addressing root causes identified in the High Risk Action
Plan for removal from the high-risk designation, including
the progress of the Secretary in implementing those measures
and steps. The specific measures and steps shall--
(i) address each root cause;
(ii) identify resources to implement corrective actions,
including funding, stakeholders, technology, and the senior
officials responsible for implementing the corrective actions
and reporting results;
(iii) identify 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;
(iv) list key outcomes and goals that demonstrate progress
in addressing the concerns; and
(v) establish timeframes with overall and interim
milestones.
(B) 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.
(C) An explanation and course of action for each failure to
fully adopt the Comptroller General's criteria for removal
from the High Risk list.
(b) Annual Report by Secretary of Veterans Affairs on
Implementation of Certain Recommendations of Comptroller
General Pertaining to Department of Veterans Affairs.--
(1) Annual report required.--Not later than 120 days after
the date of the enactment of this Act and not less frequently
than once each year thereafter, the Secretary of Veterans
Affairs shall submit to Congress, the appropriate committees
of Congress, and the Comptroller General of the United States
a report on implementation of recommendations of the
Comptroller General that pertain to the Department of
Veterans Affairs.
(2) Contents.--Each report submitted under paragraph (1)
shall include, for the period covered by the report, the
following:
(A) The progress of the Secretary in implementing all open
priority recommendations of the Comptroller General for the
Department of Veterans Affairs.
(B) An explanation for each instance in which the Secretary
has decided not to implement, or has not fully implemented,
an open priority recommendation of the Comptroller General
for the Department.
(C) Courses of action for the Secretary to implement open
priority recommendations of the Comptroller General,
including--
(i) resources to implement corrective actions, including
funding, stakeholders, technology, and the senior officials
responsible for implementing the corrective actions and
reporting results;
(ii) 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;
(iii) key outcomes and goals that demonstrate progress in
addressing the concerns; and
(iv) timeframes with respect to overall and interim
milestones.
(3) Supplement and not supplant current report
requirements.--The requirements of this subsection shall
supplement and not supplant the requirements of section 720
of title 31, United States Code.
(c) Comptroller General Report on Actions Taken by
Secretary of Veterans Affairs to Address Areas of Concern
With Respect to Veterans Health Care.--

[[Page S3698]]

(1) Report required.--Not later than one year after the
date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of
the United States shall submit to Congress 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 implementing 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 Comptroller General in the High
Risk List published by the Comptroller General in 2017.
(2) Contents.--The report submitted under paragraph (1)
shall include the following:
(A) An evaluation of the progress of the Secretary in
implementing corrective measures and specific steps for
addressing root causes identified in the High Risk Action
Plan for removal of veterans health care from the High Risk
List.
(B) An evaluation of 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.
(C) An evaluation of the Secretary's explanations and
courses of action for each failure to fully adopt the
Comptroller General's criteria for removal from the High Risk
List.
(d) Appropriate Committees of Congress Defined.--In this
section, 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.
______