[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2264 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 2264
To improve the emergency management capabilities of the Department of
Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 14, 2025
Mr. Blumenthal (for himself and Ms. Hirono) introduced the following
bill; 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 Affairs, 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 ``Advancing VA's Emergency Response to
(AVERT) Crises Act of 2025''.
SEC. 2. REPORT ON EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT ROLES FOR DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS
AFFAIRS.
(a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, 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 management.
(b) Consultation.--In preparing the report required by subsection
(a), the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall consult with the
Comptroller General of the United States, the Inspector General of the
Department of Veterans Affairs, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and
such other Federal agencies as the Secretary of Veterans Affairs
considers relevant, to obtain insights from their experience and trends
that they have found, and such recommendations as they may have with
respect to the management by the Department of Veterans Affairs of
emergency management functions.
(c) Contents.--The report submitted pursuant to subsection (a)
shall include the following:
(1) A description of the organizational structure of each
office, both during normal operations and during emergency or
disaster operations.
(2) The roles and responsibilities of each office.
(3) A detailed description of roles and responsibilities
that are shared by both the Office of Emergency Management of
the Department and the Office of Operations, Security, and
Preparedness of the Department, including an analysis of how
each office plays a part in emergency management functions.
(4) Recommendations for improving the structure and
alignment of relevant offices to better prepare the Department
for emergencies, remove redundancies, and improve
accountability.
(5) 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 Department.
SEC. 3. REPORT ON REGIONAL READINESS CENTERS OF DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS
AFFAIRS.
(a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, 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 Affairs.
(b) Contents.--The report submitted pursuant to subsection (a)
shall include the following:
(1) 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 program,
disaggregated by Regional Readiness Center.
(2) Information on types and amounts of material
distributed since the inception of the Regional Readiness
Center program, disaggregated by Regional Readiness Center.
(3) Current inventory, disaggregated by Regional Readiness
Center.
(4) 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 Act.
(5) The percentage of inventory that is expired or that
will expire in the next month, disaggregated by Regional
Readiness Center.
(6) Operational costs since the inception of the Regional
Readiness Center program, disaggregated by Regional Readiness
Center.
(7) An analysis of the types and sizes of emergencies,
including natural disasters, public health emergencies, or
Fourth Mission activations of the Department, with respect to
which each Regional Readiness Center would be able to provide
sufficient resources to respond to, based on the current
capacity of the Regional Readiness Center.
(8) Any plans of the Secretary to realign or change the
number of Regional Readiness Centers.
SEC. 4. PLAN TO ALLOW FUEL SHARING AND INCREASED COORDINATION BETWEEN
THE FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY AND THE
DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.
Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act,
the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall, after consulting with the
Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, submit to the
Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate, the Committee on
Veterans' Affairs of the House of Representatives, the Committee on
Homeland Security and Government Affairs of the Senate, and the
Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives a report
regarding--
(1) the current limitations preventing the Federal
Emergency Management Agency from providing fuel or other
resources to the Department of Veterans Affairs during
emergencies;
(2) whether the Department requires action by Congress to
allow such resource provision to occur;
(3) 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
coordination; and
(4) whether the Secretary requires action by Congress to
address any of the issues mentioned under paragraph (3).
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