Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress House Bill HB2642 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	I
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION H. R. 2642
5	5	To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to permit Members of Congress
6	6	to use facilities of the Department of Veterans Affairs for the purposes
7	7	of meeting with constituents, and for other purposes.
8	8	IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
9	9	APRIL3, 2025
10	10	Mr. M
11	11	AST(for himself, Mr. BAIRD, Mrs. CHERFILUS-MCCORMICK, Ms. SALA-
12	12	ZAR, Mr. FINSTAD, Mrs. MILLER-MEEKS, Mr. FLOOD, and Mr. PA-
13	13	NETTA) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
14	14	mittee on Veterans’ Affairs
15	15	A BILL
16	16	To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to permit Mem-
17	17	bers of Congress to use facilities of the Department
18	18	of Veterans Affairs for the purposes of meeting with
19	19	constituents, and for other purposes.
20	20	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
21	21	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
22	22	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
23	23	This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Improving Veterans 4
24	24	Access to Congressional Services Act of 2025’’. 5
25	25	VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:58 Apr 11, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2642.IH H2642
26	26	ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 2
27	27	•HR 2642 IH
28	28	SEC. 2. USE OF FACILITIES OF THE DEPARTMENT OF VET-1
29	29	ERANS AFFAIRS BY MEMBERS OF CONGRESS. 2
30	30	(a) I
31	31	NGENERAL.—Upon request of a Member of 3
32	32	Congress and subject to regulations prescribed under sub-4
33	33	section (b), the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall permit 5
34	34	the Member to use a facility of the Department of Vet-6
35	35	erans Affairs for the purposes of meeting with constitu-7
36	36	ents of the Member. The Secretary and the Administrator 8
37	37	of General Services shall jointly identify available spaces 9
38	38	in facilities of the Department for such purposes. 10
39	39	(b) R
40	40	EGULATIONS.—Not later than 90 days after the 11
41	41	date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans 12
42	42	Affairs shall prescribe regulations regarding such use of 13
43	43	a facility of the Department of Veterans Affairs by Mem-14
44	44	bers of Congress. Regulations prescribed under this sub-15
45	45	section— 16
46	46	(1) shall require that a space within a facility 17
47	47	of the Department provided to a Member under sub-18
48	48	section (a) is— 19
49	49	(A) available during normal business 20
50	50	hours; 21
51	51	(B) located in an area that is visible and 22
52	52	accessible to constituents of the Member; and 23
53	53	(C) subject to a rate of rent (payable from 24
54	54	the Member’s Representational Allowance or 25
55	55	the Senator’s Official Personnel and Office Ex-26
56	56	VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:58 Apr 11, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2642.IH H2642
57	57	ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 3
58	58	•HR 2642 IH
59	59	pense Account, as the case may be) that is 1
60	60	similar to the rate charged by the Adminis-2
61	61	trator of General Services for office space in the 3
62	62	area of the facility; 4
63	63	(2) may not prohibit a Member from adver-5
64	64	tising the use by the Member of a space within a fa-6
65	65	cility of the Department under subsection (a); 7
66	66	(3) shall comply with sections 7321 through 8
67	67	7326 of title 5, United States Code (commonly re-9
68	68	ferred to as the ‘‘Hatch Act’’) and section 10
69	69	1.218(a)(14) of title 38, Code of Federal Regula-11
70	70	tions (or successor regulation), by prohibiting activi-12
71	71	ties including— 13
72	72	(A) campaigning in support of or opposi-14
73	73	tion to any political office; 15
74	74	(B) statements or actions that solicit, sup-16
75	75	port, or oppose any change to Federal law or 17
76	76	policy; 18
77	77	(C) any activity that interferes with secu-19
78	78	rity or normal operation of the facility; 20
79	79	(D) photographing or recording a veteran 21
80	80	patient at such facility; 22
81	81	(E) photographing or recording a patient, 23
82	82	visitor to the facility, or employee of the De-24
83	83	VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:58 Apr 11, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2642.IH H2642
84	84	ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 4
85	85	•HR 2642 IH
86	86	partment without the consent of such indi-1
87	87	vidual; and 2
88	88	(F) photography or recording for the pur-3
89	89	pose of political campaign materials; 4
90	90	(4) may not permit a Member of Congress to 5
91	91	use such a facility during the 60-day period pre-6
92	92	ceding an election for Federal office in the jurisdic-7
93	93	tion in which such facility is located; and 8
94	94	(5) may not unreasonably restrict use of a facil-9
95	95	ity of the Department by a Member under sub-10
96	96	section (a) if— 11
97	97	(A) there is space in such facility not in 12
98	98	regular use by personnel of the Department; 13
99	99	and 14
100	100	(B) use of such space shall not impede op-15
101	101	erations of the Department in such facility. 16
102	102	Æ
103	103	VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:58 Apr 11, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2642.IH H2642
104	104	ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS