| 1 | 1 | | II |
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| 2 | 2 | | 119THCONGRESS |
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| 3 | 3 | | 1 |
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| 4 | 4 | | STSESSION S. 787 |
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| 5 | 5 | | To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish a commission to review |
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| 6 | 6 | | operations at the Veterans Health Administration and submit to Con- |
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| 7 | 7 | | gress reports with respect to that review, and for other purposes. |
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| 8 | 8 | | IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES |
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| 9 | 9 | | FEBRUARY27, 2025 |
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| 10 | 10 | | Mr. C |
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| 11 | 11 | | ASSIDY(for himself and Ms. HIRONO) introduced the following bill; |
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| 12 | 12 | | which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs |
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| 13 | 13 | | A BILL |
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| 14 | 14 | | To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish a com- |
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| 15 | 15 | | mission to review operations at the Veterans Health Ad- |
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| 16 | 16 | | ministration and submit to Congress reports with respect |
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| 17 | 17 | | to that review, and for other purposes. |
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| 18 | 18 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
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| 19 | 19 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
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| 20 | 20 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
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| 21 | 21 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘VetPAC Act of 2025’’. 4 |
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| 24 | 24 | | •S 787 IS |
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| 25 | 25 | | SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF VETERANS HEALTH ADMINIS-1 |
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| 26 | 26 | | TRATION POLICY ADVISORY COMMISSION. 2 |
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| 27 | 27 | | (a) I |
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| 28 | 28 | | NGENERAL.—Subchapter I of chapter 73 of title 3 |
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| 29 | 29 | | 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end 4 |
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| 30 | 30 | | the following new section: 5 |
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| 31 | 31 | | ‘‘§ 7310B. Veterans Health Administration Policy Ad-6 |
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| 32 | 32 | | visory Commission 7 |
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| 33 | 33 | | ‘‘(a) E |
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| 34 | 34 | | STABLISHMENT.—There is established the Vet-8 |
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| 35 | 35 | | erans Health Administration Policy Advisory Commission 9 |
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| 36 | 36 | | (in this section referred to as the ‘Commission’). 10 |
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| 37 | 37 | | ‘‘(b) M |
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| 38 | 38 | | EMBERSHIP.— 11 |
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| 39 | 39 | | ‘‘(1) C |
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| 40 | 40 | | OMPOSITION.—The Commission shall be 12 |
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| 41 | 41 | | composed of 17 members appointed by the Comp-13 |
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| 42 | 42 | | troller General of the United States, of which not 14 |
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| 43 | 43 | | fewer than 2 shall be veterans. 15 |
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| 44 | 44 | | ‘‘(2) Q |
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| 45 | 45 | | UALIFICATIONS.— 16 |
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| 46 | 46 | | ‘‘(A) I |
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| 47 | 47 | | N GENERAL.—An individual is eligi-17 |
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| 48 | 48 | | ble for appointment to the Commission under 18 |
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| 49 | 49 | | paragraph (1) if the individual has significant 19 |
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| 50 | 50 | | expertise in operating or advising large medical 20 |
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| 51 | 51 | | systems, including expertise in quality of care, 21 |
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| 52 | 52 | | staffing issues, information technology, artificial 22 |
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| 53 | 53 | | intelligence in health care, medical supply 23 |
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| 54 | 54 | | chains, procurement of medical supplies, med-24 |
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| 55 | 55 | | ical facility construction or leasing, medical fa-25 |
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| 58 | 58 | | •S 787 IS |
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| 59 | 59 | | cility architecture or engineering, medical re-1 |
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| 60 | 60 | | search, and managed care plans and networks. 2 |
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| 61 | 61 | | ‘‘(B) E |
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| 62 | 62 | | XPERIENCE OF MEMBERS .—In ap-3 |
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| 63 | 63 | | pointing members under paragraph (1), the 4 |
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| 64 | 64 | | Comptroller General shall select individuals 5 |
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| 65 | 65 | | from backgrounds that reflect the broad diver-6 |
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| 66 | 66 | | sity of health care received by veterans, includ-7 |
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| 67 | 67 | | ing nonprofit health systems, public and private 8 |
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| 68 | 68 | | health systems, care furnished by the Veterans 9 |
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| 69 | 69 | | Health Administration, and care furnished by 10 |
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| 70 | 70 | | the Department of Defense. 11 |
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| 71 | 71 | | ‘‘(3) E |
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| 72 | 72 | | THICAL DISCLOSURE.—A member of the 12 |
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| 73 | 73 | | Commission shall be considered an employee of Con-13 |
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| 74 | 74 | | gress whose compensation is disbursed by the Sec-14 |
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| 75 | 75 | | retary of the Senate for purposes of applying sub-15 |
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| 76 | 76 | | chapter I of chapter 131 of title 5, United States 16 |
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| 77 | 77 | | Code, except that a member of the Commission is 17 |
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| 78 | 78 | | required to file public financial disclosure reports 18 |
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| 79 | 79 | | without regard to their number of days of service or 19 |
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| 80 | 80 | | rate of pay. 20 |
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| 81 | 81 | | ‘‘(c) P |
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| 82 | 82 | | ERIOD OFAPPOINTMENT; VACANCIES.— 21 |
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| 83 | 83 | | ‘‘(1) T |
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| 84 | 84 | | ERMS.—A member of the Commission 22 |
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| 85 | 85 | | shall be appointed under subsection (b)(1) for a 23 |
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| 86 | 86 | | term of 5 years, except that the Comptroller General 24 |
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| 89 | 89 | | •S 787 IS |
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| 90 | 90 | | shall designate staggered terms for the members 1 |
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| 91 | 91 | | first appointed. 2 |
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| 92 | 92 | | ‘‘(2) V |
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| 93 | 93 | | ACANCIES.— 3 |
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| 94 | 94 | | ‘‘(A) I |
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| 95 | 95 | | N GENERAL.—A vacancy on the 4 |
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| 96 | 96 | | Commission shall be filled in the manner in 5 |
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| 97 | 97 | | which the original appointment was made and 6 |
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| 98 | 98 | | shall be subject to any conditions that applied 7 |
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| 99 | 99 | | with respect to the original appointment. 8 |
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| 100 | 100 | | ‘‘(B) F |
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| 101 | 101 | | ILLING UNEXPIRED TERM .—An in-9 |
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| 102 | 102 | | dividual chosen to fill a vacancy shall be ap-10 |
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| 103 | 103 | | pointed for the unexpired term of the member 11 |
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| 104 | 104 | | replaced. 12 |
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| 105 | 105 | | ‘‘(3) E |
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| 106 | 106 | | XPIRATION OF TERMS.—The term of any 13 |
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| 107 | 107 | | member shall not expire before the date on which 14 |
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| 108 | 108 | | the member’s successor takes office. 15 |
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| 109 | 109 | | ‘‘(d) M |
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| 110 | 110 | | EETINGS.— 16 |
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| 111 | 111 | | ‘‘(1) F |
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| 112 | 112 | | REQUENCY.—The Commission shall meet 17 |
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| 113 | 113 | | at the call of the Chairman, but not less frequently 18 |
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| 114 | 114 | | than once per year. 19 |
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| 115 | 115 | | ‘‘(2) Q |
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| 116 | 116 | | UORUM.—A majority of the members of 20 |
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| 117 | 117 | | the Commission shall constitute a quorum, but a 21 |
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| 118 | 118 | | lesser number of members may hold meetings. 22 |
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| 119 | 119 | | ‘‘(e) C |
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| 120 | 120 | | HAIRMAN ANDVICECHAIRMAN.—The Comp-23 |
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| 121 | 121 | | troller General shall designate one member of the Commis-24 |
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| 122 | 122 | | sion as Chairman and one member of the Commission as 25 |
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| 125 | 125 | | •S 787 IS |
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| 126 | 126 | | Vice Chairman, at the time of appointment of such mem-1 |
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| 127 | 127 | | ber and for the term of appointment of such member, ex-2 |
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| 128 | 128 | | cept that in the case of vacancy of the Chairmanship or 3 |
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| 129 | 129 | | Vice Chairmanship, the Comptroller General may des-4 |
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| 130 | 130 | | ignate another member for the remainder of that mem-5 |
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| 131 | 131 | | ber’s term. 6 |
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| 132 | 132 | | ‘‘(f) D |
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| 133 | 133 | | UTIES OF THECOMMISSION.— 7 |
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| 134 | 134 | | ‘‘(1) R |
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| 135 | 135 | | EVIEW.—The Commission shall— 8 |
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| 136 | 136 | | ‘‘(A) review operations at the Veterans 9 |
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| 137 | 137 | | Health Administration; and 10 |
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| 138 | 138 | | ‘‘(B) prepare reports for Congress based 11 |
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| 139 | 139 | | on such review, including recommendations to 12 |
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| 140 | 140 | | Congress. 13 |
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| 141 | 141 | | ‘‘(2) T |
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| 142 | 142 | | OPICS TO BE REVIEWED .—In conducting 14 |
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| 143 | 143 | | a review under paragraph (1)(A), the Commission 15 |
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| 144 | 144 | | shall include periodic reviews of the following, taking 16 |
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| 145 | 145 | | into consideration other independent assessments in 17 |
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| 146 | 146 | | selecting topics to limit duplicative efforts: 18 |
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| 147 | 147 | | ‘‘(A) Information technology infrastructure 19 |
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| 148 | 148 | | at medical facilities of the Department, includ-20 |
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| 149 | 149 | | ing with respect to electronic health record sys-21 |
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| 150 | 150 | | tems. 22 |
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| 151 | 151 | | ‘‘(B) Referrals to care at facilities of the 23 |
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| 152 | 152 | | Department and under the Veterans Commu-24 |
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| 155 | 155 | | •S 787 IS |
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| 156 | 156 | | nity Care Program under section 1703 of this 1 |
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| 157 | 157 | | title, and factors impacting those referrals. 2 |
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| 158 | 158 | | ‘‘(C) Access and wait times at medical fa-3 |
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| 159 | 159 | | cilities of the Department and under the Vet-4 |
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| 160 | 160 | | erans Community Care Program, including both 5 |
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| 161 | 161 | | primary and specialty care, and factors impact-6 |
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| 162 | 162 | | ing those wait times. 7 |
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| 163 | 163 | | ‘‘(D) The quality of health care furnished 8 |
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| 164 | 164 | | by the Department and through the Veterans 9 |
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| 165 | 165 | | Community Care Program. 10 |
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| 166 | 166 | | ‘‘(E) Workforce issues, including workforce 11 |
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| 167 | 167 | | performance, recruitment, and retention fac-12 |
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| 168 | 168 | | tors. 13 |
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| 169 | 169 | | ‘‘(F) Patient satisfaction and customer 14 |
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| 170 | 170 | | service at medical facilities of the Department 15 |
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| 171 | 171 | | and through the Veterans Community Care 16 |
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| 172 | 172 | | Program. 17 |
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| 173 | 173 | | ‘‘(G) The training of health care providers 18 |
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| 174 | 174 | | and the standards of care at facilities of the 19 |
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| 175 | 175 | | Department and in the Veterans Community 20 |
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| 176 | 176 | | Care Program. 21 |
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| 177 | 177 | | ‘‘(H) The long-term budgetary outlook of 22 |
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| 178 | 178 | | the Veterans Health Administration, as well as 23 |
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| 179 | 179 | | key components driving budgetary changes over 24 |
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| 180 | 180 | | time. 25 |
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| 184 | 184 | | ‘‘(I) Procurement of supplies at medical fa-1 |
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| 185 | 185 | | cilities of the Department. 2 |
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| 186 | 186 | | ‘‘(J) The research program of the Depart-3 |
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| 187 | 187 | | ment, including both internal and external re-4 |
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| 188 | 188 | | search. 5 |
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| 189 | 189 | | ‘‘(K) Hospital construction, leasing, and 6 |
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| 190 | 190 | | capital requirements. 7 |
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| 191 | 191 | | ‘‘(L) The interaction of care under the 8 |
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| 192 | 192 | | Medicare program under title XVIII of the So-9 |
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| 193 | 193 | | cial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395 et seq.), the 10 |
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| 194 | 194 | | Medicaid program under title XIX of such Act 11 |
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| 195 | 195 | | (42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.), the TRICARE pro-12 |
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| 196 | 196 | | gram under chapter 55 of title 10, and commer-13 |
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| 197 | 197 | | cial health care plans with care furnished by the 14 |
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| 198 | 198 | | Veterans Health Administration. 15 |
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| 199 | 199 | | ‘‘(3) I |
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| 200 | 200 | | SSUES REGARDING VETERAN HEALTH 16 |
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| 201 | 201 | | CARE DELIVERY GENERALLY .—In carrying out the 17 |
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| 202 | 202 | | requirements of this subsection, the Commission 18 |
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| 203 | 203 | | shall review the effect of policies under this title on 19 |
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| 204 | 204 | | the delivery of health care services to veterans and 20 |
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| 205 | 205 | | assess the implications of changes in health care de-21 |
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| 206 | 206 | | livery for veterans in the United States. 22 |
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| 207 | 207 | | ‘‘(4) T |
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| 208 | 208 | | RANSMITTAL OF CERTAIN REPORTS .—If 23 |
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| 209 | 209 | | the Secretary or the Inspector General of the De-24 |
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| 210 | 210 | | partment of Veterans Affairs submits to Congress 25 |
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| 214 | 214 | | (or a committee of Congress) a report that is re-1 |
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| 215 | 215 | | quired by law and that relates to policies for health 2 |
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| 216 | 216 | | care furnished under the laws administered by the 3 |
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| 217 | 217 | | Secretary, the Secretary shall transmit a copy of 4 |
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| 218 | 218 | | that report to the Commission. 5 |
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| 219 | 219 | | ‘‘(5) C |
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| 220 | 220 | | ONSULTATION AND ADDITIONAL REVIEWS 6 |
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| 221 | 221 | | AND STUDIES.— 7 |
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| 222 | 222 | | ‘‘(A) C |
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| 223 | 223 | | ONSULTATION.—In carrying out the 8 |
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| 224 | 224 | | requirements of this subsection, the Commis-9 |
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| 225 | 225 | | sion shall consult periodically with the chairmen 10 |
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| 226 | 226 | | and ranking members of the Committee on Vet-11 |
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| 227 | 227 | | erans’ Affairs of the Senate and the Committee 12 |
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| 228 | 228 | | on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Represent-13 |
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| 229 | 229 | | atives regarding the agenda of the Commission 14 |
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| 230 | 230 | | and progress towards achieving that agenda. 15 |
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| 231 | 231 | | ‘‘(B) A |
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| 232 | 232 | | DDITIONAL REVIEWS AND RE -16 |
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| 233 | 233 | | PORTS.—The Commission may conduct addi-17 |
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| 234 | 234 | | tional reviews, and may submit additional re-18 |
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| 235 | 235 | | ports to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of 19 |
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| 236 | 236 | | the Senate and the Committee on Veterans’ Af-20 |
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| 237 | 237 | | fairs of the House of Representatives, from 21 |
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| 238 | 238 | | time to time on such topics relating to the ac-22 |
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| 239 | 239 | | tivities of the Commission as may be requested 23 |
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| 240 | 240 | | by the Chairman and members and as the Com-24 |
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| 241 | 241 | | mission determines appropriate. 25 |
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| 244 | 244 | | •S 787 IS |
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| 245 | 245 | | ‘‘(C) SPECIAL STUDIES.—The Commission 1 |
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| 246 | 246 | | may conduct special studies requested by the 2 |
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| 247 | 247 | | chairman or ranking member of the Committee 3 |
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| 248 | 248 | | on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate or the Com-4 |
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| 249 | 249 | | mittee on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of 5 |
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| 250 | 250 | | Representatives and as the Commission deter-6 |
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| 251 | 251 | | mines appropriate. 7 |
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| 252 | 252 | | ‘‘(6) B |
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| 253 | 253 | | UDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS .—Before 8 |
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| 254 | 254 | | making any recommendations to Congress, the Com-9 |
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| 255 | 255 | | mission shall examine the budget consequences of 10 |
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| 256 | 256 | | such recommendations, directly or through consulta-11 |
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| 257 | 257 | | tion with appropriate expert entities. 12 |
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| 258 | 258 | | ‘‘(7) R |
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| 259 | 259 | | EPORT.— 13 |
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| 260 | 260 | | ‘‘(A) I |
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| 261 | 261 | | N GENERAL.—By not later than 14 |
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| 262 | 262 | | March 15 of each year, the Commission shall 15 |
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| 263 | 263 | | submit to Congress a report containing the re-16 |
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| 264 | 264 | | sults and recommendations from the review 17 |
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| 265 | 265 | | conducted under paragraph (1). 18 |
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| 266 | 266 | | ‘‘(B) I |
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| 267 | 267 | | NCLUSION OF RECOMMENDA -19 |
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| 268 | 268 | | TIONS.—A recommendation may be included in 20 |
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| 269 | 269 | | a report under subparagraph (A) if a simple 21 |
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| 270 | 270 | | majority of the members of the Commission 22 |
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| 271 | 271 | | vote to include the recommendation in the re-23 |
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| 272 | 272 | | port. 24 |
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| 273 | 273 | | ‘‘(g) P |
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| 274 | 274 | | OWERS OFCOMMISSION.— 25 |
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| 277 | 277 | | •S 787 IS |
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| 278 | 278 | | ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission may— 1 |
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| 279 | 279 | | ‘‘(A) employ and fix the compensation of 2 |
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| 280 | 280 | | an Executive Director (at a rate of pay not 3 |
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| 281 | 281 | | greater than that provided for level III of the 4 |
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| 282 | 282 | | Executive Schedule under section 5314 of title 5 |
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| 283 | 283 | | 5) and such other personnel as may be nec-6 |
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| 284 | 284 | | essary to carry out the duties of the Commis-7 |
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| 285 | 285 | | sion, without regard to the provisions of title 5 8 |
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| 286 | 286 | | governing appointments in the competitive serv-9 |
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| 287 | 287 | | ice; 10 |
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| 288 | 288 | | ‘‘(B) seek such assistance and support as 11 |
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| 289 | 289 | | may be required in the performance of its du-12 |
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| 290 | 290 | | ties from appropriate departments and agencies 13 |
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| 291 | 291 | | of the United States or departments or agencies 14 |
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| 292 | 292 | | of a State; 15 |
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| 293 | 293 | | ‘‘(C) enter into contracts or make other ar-16 |
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| 294 | 294 | | rangements, as may be necessary for the con-17 |
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| 295 | 295 | | duct of the work of the Commission (without 18 |
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| 296 | 296 | | regard to section 3709 of the Revised Statutes 19 |
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| 297 | 297 | | (41 U.S.C. 6101)); 20 |
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| 298 | 298 | | ‘‘(D) make advance, progress, and other 21 |
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| 299 | 299 | | payments that relate to the work of the Com-22 |
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| 300 | 300 | | mission; 23 |
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| 304 | 304 | | ‘‘(E) provide transportation and subsist-1 |
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| 305 | 305 | | ence for individuals serving the Commission 2 |
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| 306 | 306 | | without compensation; and 3 |
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| 307 | 307 | | ‘‘(F) prescribe such rules and regulations 4 |
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| 308 | 308 | | as the Commission determines necessary with 5 |
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| 309 | 309 | | respect to the internal organization and oper-6 |
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| 310 | 310 | | ation of the Commission. 7 |
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| 311 | 311 | | ‘‘(2) D |
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| 312 | 312 | | ATA COLLECTION.—In order to carry out 8 |
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| 313 | 313 | | its functions, the Commission shall— 9 |
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| 314 | 314 | | ‘‘(A) utilize existing information, both pub-10 |
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| 315 | 315 | | lished and unpublished, if possible, collected 11 |
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| 316 | 316 | | and assessed either by its own staff or under 12 |
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| 317 | 317 | | other arrangements made in accordance with 13 |
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| 318 | 318 | | this section; 14 |
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| 319 | 319 | | ‘‘(B) carry out, or award grants or con-15 |
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| 320 | 320 | | tracts for, original research and experimen-16 |
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| 321 | 321 | | tation, if existing information is inadequate; 17 |
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| 322 | 322 | | and 18 |
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| 323 | 323 | | ‘‘(C) adopt procedures allowing any inter-19 |
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| 324 | 324 | | ested party to submit information for use by 20 |
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| 325 | 325 | | the Commission in making reports and rec-21 |
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| 326 | 326 | | ommendations. 22 |
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| 327 | 327 | | ‘‘(3) I |
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| 328 | 328 | | NFORMATION FROM FEDERAL AGEN -23 |
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| 329 | 329 | | CIES.— 24 |
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| 332 | 332 | | •S 787 IS |
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| 333 | 333 | | ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Commission may 1 |
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| 334 | 334 | | secure directly from any relevant department or 2 |
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| 335 | 335 | | agency of the United States health care infor-3 |
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| 336 | 336 | | mation the Chairman determines would be help-4 |
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| 337 | 337 | | ful to enable the Commission to carry out this 5 |
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| 338 | 338 | | section. 6 |
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| 339 | 339 | | ‘‘(B) T |
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| 340 | 340 | | IMING.—Upon request of the Chair-7 |
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| 341 | 341 | | man, the head of a department or agency of the 8 |
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| 342 | 342 | | United States shall furnish information re-9 |
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| 343 | 343 | | quested under subparagraph (A) to the Com-10 |
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| 344 | 344 | | mission on an agreed upon schedule or not later 11 |
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| 345 | 345 | | than 180 days after the date of the request. 12 |
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| 346 | 346 | | ‘‘(h) C |
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| 347 | 347 | | OMPENSATION.— 13 |
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| 348 | 348 | | ‘‘(1) M |
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| 349 | 349 | | EMBERS.— 14 |
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| 350 | 350 | | ‘‘(A) I |
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| 351 | 351 | | N GENERAL.—While conducting the 15 |
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| 352 | 352 | | business of the Commission (including travel 16 |
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| 353 | 353 | | time), a member of the Commission shall be en-17 |
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| 354 | 354 | | titled to compensation at the per diem equiva-18 |
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| 355 | 355 | | lent of the rate provided for level IV of the Ex-19 |
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| 356 | 356 | | ecutive Schedule under section 5315 of title 5. 20 |
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| 357 | 357 | | ‘‘(B) T |
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| 358 | 358 | | RAVEL EXPENSES .—While con-21 |
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| 359 | 359 | | ducting the business of the Commission away 22 |
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| 360 | 360 | | from home and the regular place of business of 23 |
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| 361 | 361 | | the member, a member may be allowed travel 24 |
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| 362 | 362 | | expenses, as authorized by the Chairman. 25 |
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| 365 | 365 | | •S 787 IS |
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| 366 | 366 | | ‘‘(2) PHYSICIAN COMPARABILITY ALLOWANCE 1 |
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| 367 | 367 | | FOR PERSONNEL.—The Commission may provide a 2 |
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| 368 | 368 | | physician comparability allowance to physicians serv-3 |
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| 369 | 369 | | ing as personnel of the Commission in the same 4 |
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| 370 | 370 | | manner as physicians of the Federal Government 5 |
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| 371 | 371 | | may be provided such an allowance by an agency 6 |
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| 372 | 372 | | under section 5948 of title 5, and for such purpose, 7 |
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| 373 | 373 | | subsection (i) of such section shall apply to the Com-8 |
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| 374 | 374 | | mission in the same manner as it applies to the Ten-9 |
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| 375 | 375 | | nessee Valley Authority. 10 |
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| 376 | 376 | | ‘‘(3) T |
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| 377 | 377 | | REATMENT OF PERSONNEL .—For pur-11 |
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| 378 | 378 | | poses of pay (other than pay of members of the 12 |
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| 379 | 379 | | Commission) and employment benefits, rights, and 13 |
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| 380 | 380 | | privileges, all personnel of the Commission shall be 14 |
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| 381 | 381 | | treated as if they were employees of the United 15 |
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| 382 | 382 | | States Senate. 16 |
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| 383 | 383 | | ‘‘(i) D |
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| 384 | 384 | | ETAIL OFFEDERALEMPLOYEES.—An em-17 |
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| 385 | 385 | | ployee of the Federal Government may be detailed to the 18 |
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| 386 | 386 | | Commission without reimbursement and without interrup-19 |
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| 387 | 387 | | tion or loss of civil service status or privileges. 20 |
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| 388 | 388 | | ‘‘(j) A |
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| 389 | 389 | | CCESS OFCONGRESSIONAL SUPPORTAGEN-21 |
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| 390 | 390 | | CIES TOINFORMATION.—The Commission shall provide to 22 |
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| 391 | 391 | | the Comptroller General, the Congressional Research 23 |
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| 392 | 392 | | Service, and the Congressional Budget Office unrestricted 24 |
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| 393 | 393 | | access to all deliberations, records, and nonproprietary 25 |
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| 396 | 396 | | •S 787 IS |
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| 397 | 397 | | data of the Commission not later than 30 days after such 1 |
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| 398 | 398 | | access is requested. 2 |
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| 399 | 399 | | ‘‘(k) A |
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| 400 | 400 | | UTHORIZATION OFAPPROPRIATIONS.— 3 |
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| 401 | 401 | | ‘‘(1) R |
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| 402 | 402 | | EQUEST FOR APPROPRIATIONS .—The 4 |
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| 403 | 403 | | Commission shall submit requests for appropriations 5 |
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| 404 | 404 | | in the same manner as the Comptroller General sub-6 |
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| 405 | 405 | | mits requests for appropriations, but amounts ap-7 |
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| 406 | 406 | | propriated for the Commission shall be separate 8 |
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| 407 | 407 | | from amounts appropriated for the Comptroller Gen-9 |
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| 408 | 408 | | eral. 10 |
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| 409 | 409 | | ‘‘(2) A |
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| 410 | 410 | | UTHORIZATION.—There are authorized to 11 |
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| 411 | 411 | | be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to 12 |
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| 412 | 412 | | carry out this section.’’. 13 |
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| 413 | 413 | | (b) C |
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| 414 | 414 | | LERICALAMENDMENT.—The table of sections 14 |
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| 415 | 415 | | at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting 15 |
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| 416 | 416 | | after the item relating to section 7310A the following new 16 |
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| 417 | 417 | | item: 17 |
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| 418 | 418 | | ‘‘7310B. Veterans Health Administration Policy Advisory Commission.’’. |
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| 419 | 419 | | (c) INITIALAPPOINTMENT.—Not later than 280 days 18 |
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| 420 | 420 | | after the date on which amounts are first appropriated 19 |
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| 421 | 421 | | to the Veterans Health Administration Policy Advisory 20 |
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| 422 | 422 | | Commission established under section 7310B of title 38, 21 |
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| 423 | 423 | | United States Code, as added by subsection (a), the 22 |
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| 424 | 424 | | Comptroller General of the United States shall make ini-23 |
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| 427 | 427 | | •S 787 IS |
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| 428 | 428 | | tial appointments of members to the Commission under 1 |
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| 429 | 429 | | subsection (b)(1) of such section. 2 |
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| 430 | 430 | | Æ |
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