,,ii  #aaith ,,congress  #ast ,session  
,s4 #bbfd  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of     
,,the ,,united ,,states  ,july #ad1     
#bjbe,mr4 ,blumenthal 7for himself and  
,ms4 ,hirono7 introduced the following  
bill2 which was read twice and referred 
to the ,committee on ,veterans' ,affairs
  ,a ,,bill  ,to improve the emergency  
management capabilities of the          
,department of ,veterans ,affairs1 and  
for other purposes4  #a4 ,short title   
,this ,act may be cited as the          
,advancing ,,va's ,emergency ,response  
to 7,,avert7 ,crises ,act of #bjbe4  #b4
 ,report on emergency management roles  
for ,department of ,veterans ,affairs   
7a7 ,in general ,not later than #ahj    
days after the date of the enactment of 
this ,act1 the ,secretary of ,veterans  
,affairs shall submit to the ,committee 
on ,veterans' ,affairs of the ,senate   
and the ,committee on ,veterans'        
,affairs of the ,house of               
,representatives a report outlining the 
roles and responsibilities of all       

offices of the ,department of ,veterans 
,affairs involved with emergency        
management4  7b7 ,consultation ,in      
preparing the report required by        
subsection 7a71 the ,secretary of       
,veterans ,affairs shall consult with   
the ,comptroller ,general of the ,united
 ,states1 the ,inspector ,general of the
 ,department of ,veterans ,affairs1 the 
,secretary of ,homeland ,security1 and  
such other ,federal agencies as the     
,secretary of ,veterans ,affairs        
considers relevant1 to obtain insights  
from their experience and trends that   
they have found1 and such               
recommendations as they may have with   
respect to the management by the        
,department of ,veterans ,affairs of    
emergency management functions4  7c7    
,contents ,the report submitted pursuant
 to subsection 7a7 shall include the    
following3 7#a7 ,a description of the   
organizational structure of each office1
 both during normal operations and      
during emergency or disaster operations4

  7#b7 ,the roles and responsibilities  
of each office4  7#c7 ,a detailed       
description of roles and                
responsibilities that are shared by both
 the ,office of ,emergency ,management  
of the ,department and the ,office of   
,operations1 ,security1 and             
,preparedness of the ,department1       
including an analysis of how each office
 plays a part in emergency management   
functions4  7#d7 ,recommendations for   
improving the structure and alignment of
 relevant offices to better prepare the 
,department for emergencies1 remove     
redundancies1 and improve               
accountability4  7#e7 ,an analysis of   
the feasibility and advisability of     
consolidating relevant offices into one 
centralized emergency management office 
to improve communication and streamline 
emergency preparedness and response     
efforts of the ,department4  #c4 ,report
 on ,regional ,readiness ,centers of    
,department of ,veterans ,affairs  7a7  
,in general ,not later than #ahj days   

after the date of the enactment of this 
,act1 the ,secretary of ,veterans       
,affairs 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        
,regional ,readiness ,centers of the    
,department of ,veterans ,affairs4  7b7 
,contents ,the report submitted pursuant
 to subsection 7a7 shall include the    
following3 7#a7 ,the number of requests 
made by facilities of the ,department to
 obtain supplies from a ,regional       
,readiness ,center since the inception  
of the ,regional ,readiness ,center     
program1 disaggregated by ,regional     
,readiness ,center4  7#b7 ,information  
on types and amounts of material        
distributed since the inception of the  
,regional ,readiness ,center program1   
disaggregated by ,regional ,readiness   
,center4  7#c7 ,current inventory1      
disaggregated by ,regional ,readiness   
,center4  7#d7 ,an overview of the      

change in inventory in each ,regional   
,readiness ,center during the two-year  
period ending on the date of the        
enactment of this ,act4  7#e7 ,the      
percentage of inventory that is expired 
or that will expire in the next month1  
disaggregated by ,regional ,readiness   
,center4  7#f7 ,operational costs since 
the inception of the ,regional          
,readiness ,center program1             
disaggregated by ,regional ,readiness   
,center4  7#g7 ,an analysis of the types
 and sizes of emergencies1 including    
natural disasters1 public health        
emergencies1 or ,fourth ,mission        
activations of the ,department1 with    
respect to which each ,regional         
,readiness ,center would be able to     
provide sufficient resources to respond 
to1 based on the current capacity of the
 ,regional ,readiness ,center4  7#h7    
,any plans of the ,secretary to realign 
or change the number of ,regional       
,readiness ,centers4  #d4 ,plan to allow
 fuel sharing and increased coordination

 between the ,federal ,emergency        
,management ,agency and the ,department 
of ,veterans ,affairs ,not later than   
#ij days after the date of the enactment
 of this ,act1 the ,secretary of        
,veterans ,affairs shall1 after         
consulting with the ,administrator of   
the ,federal ,emergency ,management     
,agency1 submit to the ,committee on    
,veterans' ,affairs of the ,senate1 the 
,committee on ,veterans' ,affairs of the
 ,house of ,representatives1 the        
,committee on ,homeland ,security and   
,government ,affairs of the ,senate1 and
 the ,committee on ,homeland ,security  
of the ,house of ,representatives a     
report regarding-- 7#a7 the current     
limitations preventing the ,federal     
,emergency ,management ,agency from     
providing fuel or other resources to the
 ,department of ,veterans ,affairs      
during emergencies2  7#b7 whether the   
,department requires action by ,congress
 to allow such resource provision to    
occur2  7#c7 whether the ,secretary has 

been unable to coordinate with the      
,administrator during prior emergencies 
or ,fourth ,mission activations due to a
 lack of authority for such             
coordination2 and  7#d7 whether the     
,secretary requires action by ,congress 
to address any of the issues mentioned  
under paragraph 7#c74