BRAVE Act of 2016

Be Responsive to all Veterans Expeditiously Act of 2016 or the BRAVE Act of 2016

This bill requires the primary telephone line for any Department of Veterans Affairs facility to include voice mail.

The introductory message of any voice mail shall inform the caller of: (1) the facility's name, (2) the expected response time, and (3) an emergency telephone number.

[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4477 Introduced in House (IH)]

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114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4477

   To amend title 38, United States Code, to require voice mail for 
certain telephone lines paid for by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 4, 2016

   Mr. Clawson of Florida (for himself, Mr. Blum, and Mr. Rooney of 
   Florida) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend title 38, United States Code, to require voice mail for 
certain telephone lines paid for by the Secretary 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. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Be Responsive to all Veterans 
Expeditiously Act of 2016'' or the ``BRAVE Act of 2016''.

SEC. 2. VOICE MAIL FOR CERTAIN TELEPHONE LINES PAID FOR BY THE 
              SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.

    (a) In General.--Section 705 of title 38, United States Code, is 
amended--
            (1) in the heading, by striking ``for medical officers and 
        facility directors'';
            (2) by striking ``The Secretary'' and inserting the 
        following:
    ``(a) Telephone Service for Medical Officers and Facility 
Directors.--The Secretary''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(b) Voice Mail Required.--(1) The primary telephone line for any 
facility of the Department shall include voice mail.
    ``(2) The introductory message of any voice mail under paragraph 
(1) shall inform the caller of--
            ``(A) the name of the relevant facility;
            ``(B) when the caller may expect a response; and
            ``(C) another telephone number to call in case of 
        emergency.
    ``(c) Performance Reviews.--In reviewing the performance of any 
employee responsible for responding to messages left on voice mail 
under subsection (b), the Secretary shall consider the timeliness of 
such responses.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for chapter 7 of 
title 38, United States Code, is amended by striking the item relating 
to section 705 and inserting the following:

``705. Telephone service.''.
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