,i  #aaeth ,,congress  #ast ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #cdei  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,july #bg1 #bjag,mr4 
,brown of ,maryland 7for himself and    
,mr4 ,de,fazio7 introduced the following
 bill2 which was referred to the        
,committee on ,veterans' ,affairs  ,a   
,,bill  ,to direct the ,secretary of    
,veterans ,affairs to make certain      
improvements in the transparency of the 
personnel vacancies and staffing levels 
of the ,department of ,veterans         
,affairs1 and for other purposes4  #a4  
,short title ,this ,act may be cited as 
the ,,va ,staffing and ,vacancies       
,transparency ,act of #bjag4  #b4 ,sense
 of ,congress regarding ,department of  
,veterans ,affairs staffing levels  7a7 
,findings ,congress makes the following 
findings3  7#a7 ,the ,department of     
,veterans ,affairs needs to fill at     
least #de1jjj positions4  7#b7          
,prolonged personnel vacancies in the   
,department result in staffing shortages
 that cause veterans to receive delayed 

benefits and services4  7b7 ,sense of   
,congress ,it is the sense of ,congress 
that the ,department should make the    
resolution of staffing shortages a top  
priority4  #c4 ,department of ,veterans 
,affairs personnel transparency  7a7    
,publication of staffing and vacancies  
7#a7 ,website required ,not later than  
#cj days after the date of the enactment
 of this ,act1 the ,secretary of        
,veterans ,affairs shall make publicly  
available on an internet website of the 
,department of ,veterans ,affairs the   
following information1 which shall be   
displayed by departmental component or1 
in the case of information relating to  
,veterans ,health ,administration       
positions1 by medical facility3  7,a7   
,the number of personnel encumbering    
positions4  7,b7 ,the number of         
accessions and de-accessions of         
personnel during the month preceding the
 date of the publication of the         
information4  7,c7 ,the number of       
vacancies1 by occupation4  7,d7 ,the    

number of active job postings that have 
been filled during the #cj-;day period  
ending on the date of publication of the
 information1 including the length of   
time for which each position was posted 
prior to being filled4  7#b7 ,update of 
information ,the ,secretary shall update
 the information on the website required
 under paragraph 7#a7 on a monthly      
basis4  7#c7 ,treatment of contractor   
positions ,any ,department of ,veterans 
,affairs position that is filled through
 a contractor employee may not be       
treated as a ,department position for   
purposes of the information required to 
be published under paragraph 7#a74  7#d7
 ,inspector ,general review ,on a       
semi-annual basis1 the ,inspector       
,general of the ,department shall review
 the administration of the website      
required under paragraph 7#a7 and make  
recommendations relating to the         
improvement of such administration4  7b7
 ,report to ,congress ,the ,secretary of
 ,veterans ,affairs shall submit to     

,congress an annual report on the steps 
the ,department is taking to achieve    
full staffing capacity4 ,each such      
report shall include the amount of      
additional funds necessary to enable the
 ,department to reach full staffing     
capacity4