,,ii  #aacth ,,congress  #ast ,session  
,s4 #hgg  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of ,,the
 ,,united ,,states  ,may #g1 #bjac ,mr4 
,begich introduced the following bill2  
which was read twice and referred to the
 ,committee on ,veterans' ,affairs  ,a  
,,bill  ,to require the ,secretary of   
,veterans ,affairs to allow public      
access to research of the ,department1  
and for other purposes4  #a4 ,short     
title ,this ,act may be cited as the    
,veterans ,affairs ,research            
,transparency ,act of #bjac4  #b4       
,public access to ,department of        
,veterans ,affairs research and data    
sharing between ,departments  7a7       
,establishment of ,internet website ,the
 ,secretary of ,veterans ,affairs shall 
make available on an ,internet website  
of the ,department of ,veterans ,affairs
 available to the public the following3 
7#a7 ,data files that contain           
information on research of the          
,department4  7#b7 ,a data dictionary on
 each data file4  7#c7 ,instructions for

 how to obtain access to each data file 
for use in research4  7b7 ,public access
 to manuscripts on ,department funded   
research  7#a7 ,in general ,beginning   
not later than #edj days after the date 
of the enactment of this ,act1 the      
,secretary shall require1 as a condition
 on the use of any data gathered or     
formulated from research funded by the  
,department1 that any final1            
peer-reviewed manuscript prepared for   
publication that uses such data be      
submitted to the ,secretary for deposit 
in the digital archive established under
 paragraph 7#b7 and publication under   
paragraph 7#c74  7#b7 ,establishment of 
digital archive ,not later than #edj    
days after the date of the enactment of 
this ,act1 the ,secretary shall         
establish a digital archive consisting  
of manuscripts described in paragraph   
7#a74  7#c7 ,public availability  7,a7  
,availability of archive ,the ,secretary
 shall make the digital archive         
established under paragraph 7#b7 and the

 contents of such archive available to  
the public via a publicly accessible    
,internet website at not cost to the    
public4  7,b7 ,availability of          
manuscripts ,the ,secretary shall ensure
 that each manuscript submitted to the  
,secretary under paragraph 7#a7 is      
available to the public under           
subparagraph 7,a7 not later than one    
year after the official date on which   
the manuscript is otherwise published4  
7#d7 ,consistent with copyright law ,the
 ,secretary shall carry out this        
subsection in a manner consistent with  
applicable copyright law4  7#e7 ,annual 
report  7,a7 ,in general ,not later than
 one year after the date the ,secretary 
begins making manuscripts available to  
the public under this subsection and not
 less frequently than once each year    
thereafter1 the ,secretary shall submit 
to the ,committee on ,veterans' ,affairs
 of the ,senate and the ,committee on   
,veterans' ,affairs of the ,house of    
,representatives a report on the        

implementation of this subsection during
 the most recent one-year period4  7,b7 
,contents ,each report submitted under  
subparagraph 7,a7 shall include for the 
period of the report3  7i7 ,the number  
of manuscripts submitted under paragraph
 7#a74  7ii7 ,the titles of such        
manuscripts4  7iii7 ,the authors of such
 manuscripts4  7iv7 ,for each such      
manuscript1 the name and issue number or
 volume number1 as the case may be1 of  
the journal or other publication in     
which such manuscript was published4    
7c7 ,recommendations for data sharing   
between ,department of ,veterans        
,affairs and ,department of ,defense    
,not later than one year after the date 
of the enactment of this ,act1 the      
,department of ,veterans                
,affairs-,department of ,defense ,joint 
,executive ,committee established by    
section #cbj7;a7 of title #ch1 ,united  
,states ,code1 shall submit to the      
,secretary of ,veterans ,affairs and the
 ,secretary of ,defense options and     

recommendations for establishment of a  
program for long-term cooperation and   
data-sharing between and within the     
,department of ,veterans ,affairs and   
the ,department of ,defense to          
facilitate research on outcomes of      
military service1 readjustment after    
combat deployment1 and other topics of  
importance to the following3  7#a7      
,veterans4  7#b7 ,members of the ,armed 
,forces4  7#c7 ,family members of       
veterans4  7#d7 ,family members of      
members of the ,armed ,forces4  7#e7    
,members of communities that have a     
significant population of veterans or   
members of the ,armed ,forces4