Veterans Accountability Act of 2013

Veterans Accountability Act of 2013 - Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) to report semiannually to the congressional veterans committees on covered travel made by VA employees while on official business. Defines covered travel as travel: (1) outside the United States or its territories, possessions, or territorial waters, if paid for by the VA or another element of the government; or (2) to any location, if paid for by any person or entity other than the government. Requires each report to include the name of each employee and the destination, purpose, duration, total cost, and identity of a payor other than the government.

Directs the Secretary to report each case of reportable infectious disease or condition (a disease or condition that a state requires to be reported) that occurs at a VA medical facility to the appropriate state entity and to report to the accrediting organization of such facility each case classified as a health-care-associated infection sentinel event. Requires the Secretary, upon a failure to report, to pay to a state the same penalty that a non-federal facility of such state would pay for a failure to report. Allows a state to file a civil action against the VA for the recovery of such amount. Requires the VA Inspector General to investigate and suspend and impose other appropriate administrative disciplinary action against a director of a Veterans Integrated Service Network who has failed to comply with such requirement.

Directs the Secretary to prescribe regulations to ensure that any visual recording made by the Secretary of a patient during the course of furnishing care through the VA is carried out only with the full and informed consent of that patient. Allows the Secretary to waive such requirement if the recording is made: (1) upon a determination by a physician or psychologist that the recording is medically necessary or necessary for the patient's safety, (2) pursuant to a warrant or order of a court of competent jurisdiction, or (3) in a public setting where a person would not have a reasonable expectation to privacy (such as a waiting room or hallway) and the recording is for general security purposes not particularized to the patient.

[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1804 Introduced in House (IH)]

113th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1804

   To amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of 
 Veterans Affairs to submit to Congress semiannual reports on the cost 
   of foreign travel made by employees of the Department of Veterans 
                                Affairs.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 26, 2013

Mr. Huelskamp introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of 
 Veterans Affairs to submit to Congress semiannual reports on the cost 
   of foreign travel made by employees of the Department of Veterans 
                                Affairs.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Foreign Travel Accountability Act''.

SEC. 2. SEMIANNUAL REPORTS TO CONGRESS ON COST OF FOREIGN TRAVEL.

    (a) In General.--Subchapter I of chapter 5 of title 38, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new section:
``Sec. 518. Semiannual reports to Congress on cost of foreign travel
    ``(a) Semiannual Reports.--Not later than June 30, 2014, and each 
180-day period thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee 
on Veterans' Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Committee 
on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate a semiannual report on covered 
foreign travel made during the 180-day period covered by the report.
    ``(b) Matters Included.--Each report under subsection (a) shall 
include the following:
            ``(1) With respect to each instance of covered foreign 
        travel made during the period covered by the report--
                    ``(A) the purpose of such travel;
                    ``(B) the destination;
                    ``(C) the name and title of each employee included 
                on such travel;
                    ``(D) the duration of such travel; and
                    ``(E) the total cost to the Department of such 
                travel.
            ``(2) The final costs to the Department with respect to all 
        covered foreign travel made during the period covered by the 
        report, including costs relating to--
                    ``(A) transportation, including fares for travel by 
                air, rail, bus, ferry, cruise ship, taxi, mass transit, 
                or other mode of transportation;
                    ``(B) expenses or reimbursements relating to 
                operating and maintaining a car, including the costs of 
                fuel and mileage;
                    ``(C) passport and visa fees;
                    ``(D) lodging;
                    ``(E) per diem payments;
                    ``(F) baggage charges;
                    ``(G) computer rental fees;
                    ``(H) rental of halls, auditoriums, or other 
                spaces;
                    ``(I) entertainment; and
                    ``(J) contractors.
    ``(c) Duplicative Information.--Each report under subsection (a) 
shall include the information described in subsection (b) regardless of 
whether such information is also included in a report under section 517 
of this title.
    ``(d) Covered Foreign Travel Defined.--In this section, the term 
`covered foreign travel' means travel made by an employee of the 
Department of Veterans Affairs, including an employee who is stationed 
in a foreign country, on official business to a location outside of--
            ``(1) the several States;
            ``(2) the District of Columbia;
            ``(3) a territory, commonwealth, or possession of the 
        United States;
            ``(4) Indian lands (as defined in section 4(4) of the 
        Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (25 U.S.C. 2703(4))); or
            ``(5) the territorial waters of the United States.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections at the beginning of 
such chapter is amended by adding after the item relating to section 
517 the following new item:

``518. Semiannual reports to Congress on cost of foreign travel.''.
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