(a) Office of Congressional and Legislative Affairs

Chapter 3 of title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new section:

326. Office of Congressional and Legislative Affairs.

(a) Establishment

There is established within the Department an Office of Congressional and Legislative Affairs (referred to in this section as the Office), which shall serve as the principal liaison between the Department and Congress.

(b) Functions

The Office shall—

(1)

coordinate communications and legislative engagement with Congress;

(2)

facilitate hearings, briefings, and technical assistance;

(3)

coordinate the preparation and submission of testimony and witness materials for congressional hearings, including written statements, oral testimony, and responses for the record;

(4)

manage and track congressional requests for information;

(5)

support the development and analysis of legislative proposals; and

(6)

ensure timely and accurate responses to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Senate (in this section, referred to as the Committees).

(c) Leadership

(1)

There is at the head of the Office an Assistant Secretary appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, who shall ensure that the functions of legislative strategy and congressional operations are exercised independently, concurrently, and in mutual restraint, and who shall be responsible for resolving impasses between the Deputy Assistant Secretaries.

(2)

The Deputy Assistant Secretary for Legislative Strategy, a noncareer appointee (as defined in section 3132(a) of title 5), shall be responsible for the formulation and articulation of each legislative position and policy communication conveyed to Congress, but may not direct or control the timing, production, or transmission of congressional materials.

(3)

The Deputy Assistant Secretary for Congressional Operations, a career appointee (as defined in section 3132(a) of title 5) in the Senior Executive Service, shall be responsible for coordination, production, and transmission of congressional materials, but may not alter, delay, or substitute any legislative position established by the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Legislative Strategy.

(d) Position designations

(1)

The Assistant Secretary, the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Legislative Strategy, and any supervisory policy official, who shall be accountable for the substance, consistency, and attribution of each legislative position communicated to Congress, shall be a noncareer appointee (as defined in section 3132(a) of title 5).

(2)

Any analyst, liaison, records manager, member of production staff, technical specialist, and administrative support personnel shall be a career employee in the competitive service.

(e) Staffing composition

(1)

Not fewer than 65 percent of the employees occupying full-time equivalent positions of the Office shall be career employees in the competitive service.

(2)

A political appointee may perform policy and strategy functions but shall not replace a core operational career role.

(3)

In this subsection, political appointee means an individual who is—

(A)

a noncareer appointee in the Senior Executive Service, as defined under section 3132(a) of title 5; or

(B)

employed in a position of a confidential or policy-determining character under schedule C of subpart C of part 213 of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations, or successor regulation.

(f) Procedures

The Assistant Secretary shall maintain procedures for the following:

(1)

Ensuring prompt acknowledgment of congressional requests, coordinated and complete responses, availability of subject-matter experts for briefings, and internal tracking of outstanding inquiries.

(2)

Documenting the source of each legislative position and the timing of each congressional production, such that responsibility for substance and responsibility for timeliness are separately identifiable.

(g) Supervision

The Office shall operate under the supervision of the Assistant Secretary. In supervising the Office, the Assistant Secretary shall receive parallel reports from each Deputy Assistant Secretary concerning the performance of the Office, including instances in which action or inaction of the other Deputy Assistant Secretary affected accuracy, consistency, or timeliness of engagement with Congress.

(h) Congressional information access and timelines

(1)

Upon receipt of a written or electronic request for information from the Committees, the Assistant Secretary shall—

(A)

send to the requesting committee an acknowledgment of the request not later than two business days after receipt of such request;

(B)

provide to the requesting committee a production plan and estimated date of the delivery of the requested material not later than five business days after receipt of such request; and

(C)

produce all requested records and materials not later than 45 days after receipt.

(2)

If the Secretary certifies that the scope or complexity of the request prevents full production not later than 30 days after the receipt of such request, the Assistant Secretary shall—

(A)

provide a partial response to the request not later than 45 days after receipt; and

(B)

produce a complete response to the request not later than 60 days after receipt.

(3)

Information shall be provided in the form requested by the Committees, including underlying records, datasets, methodologies, contracts, and communications, and may not be limited to summaries or briefing materials in lieu of original source documents unless authorized by the requesting committee.

(4)

No official or employee of the Department may—

(A)

withhold, screen, or alter responsive information;

(B)

delay or condition production on initial clearance or political review;

(C)

require a nondisclosure agreement unless required by law;

(D)

substitute summaries for requested records; or

(E)

otherwise impede or interfere with direct transmission of information to the Committees.

(5)

If the Secretary determines that any information requested by Congress is classified, the Secretary shall make arrangements to present such information to the Chair of the requesting committee using appropriate security measures.

(i) Noncompliance

If the Secretary fails to comply with the required timeline for response to a congressional request under subsection (h)—

(1)

the Secretary shall provide written notice to the requesting committee explaining the delay and identifying corrective actions;

(2)

the Secretary shall submit to the requesting committee a corrective action plan, including specific deadlines for compliance and designated;

(3)

amounts available for the salaries and expenses of the Office may not be obligated or expended during the period beginning on the day on which the Secretary is not in substantial compliance with subsection (h) and ending on the day on which the Secretary enters into compliance, except for activities necessary to achieve compliance; and

(4)

the Inspector General of the Department shall conduct a review to determine the cause of such noncompliance, including whether any action or inaction by a senior Department official contributed to the noncompliance, and submit a report to the Committees not later than 60 days after notification by the Secretary under paragraph (1).

(b) Report

Not later than two years after the date of the enactment of this section, the Comptroller General shall submit to the Committees a report evaluating the implementation of this section.

(c) Clerical amendments