[Report No. 119–834]
March 24, 2026
Mrs. Kiggans of Virginia introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs
September 24, 2026
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic
For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on March 24, 2026
To amend title 38, United States Code, to require that a sterile processing technician of the Veterans Health Administration holds an appropriate professional certification, 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 Veteran Infection Prevention Act
.
Sec. 2. Temporary professional certification requirement for sterile processing technicians of the Veterans Health Administration
(a) Requirement
To be eligible to be appointed to a sterile processing technician position (except for such a position that the Secretary of Veterans Affairs determines is entry level), a person must be certified as a sterile processing technician by an accredited institution engaged in providing sterile processing technician training not later than two years after such an appointment.
(b) Current employees
(1) Applicability
Subsection (a) shall apply to a covered employee on the day that is 18 months after the date of the enactment of this Act.
(2) Employee Incentive Scholarship Program
(A) Requirement
The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall award to a covered employee a scholarship under subchapter VI of chapter 76 of title 38, United States Code, for certification described in section 7402(b)(14) of such title, as amended by subsection (a).
(B) Period of obligated service
Notwithstanding section 7672(e) of such title, the period of obligated service of a covered employee awarded a scholarship pursuant to subparagraph (A) shall be a period of one day beginning on the day that the covered employee receives such certification.
(3) Covered employee defined
In this subsection, the term covered employee
means a person—
(A)
occupying a sterile processing technician position in the Veterans Health Administration on the date of the enactment of this Act; and
(B)
who, on such date, is not certified as a sterile processing technician by an accredited institution engaged in providing sterile processing technician training.
(c) Termination
This section shall have no effect after September 30, 2028.
Sec. 3. Extension of certain limits on payments of pension
Section 5503(d)(7) of title 38, United States Code, is amended by striking January 31, 2033
and inserting September 30, 2034
.