House Lawmakers Encourage VA to Expand Recruiting Capabilities, Urge Lead on Medical Innovation
House Committee on Veterans' Affairs Chairman Rep. Mark Takano (D-CA) and Ranking Member Rep. Mike Bost (R-IL) proposed legislation to improve the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) ability to produce medical advancements.
The VA Infrastructure Powers Exceptional Research (VIPER) Act Of 2021 aims to eliminate administrative burdens on VA scientists and administrators, expands the VA's transactional authority to parallel other federal agencies, and authorizes continuity of the VA's Office of Research to focus on research in pre-clinical, clinical and health systems science.
"It's no secret that VA research is a jewel in VA's crown, and we need to ensure that VA can continue to be competitive in hiring the finest scientists to understand, prevent, and treat the health challenges veterans face from the effects of toxic military exposures and chronic pain to post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury," stated Rep. Takano.
Further, the Congressmen seek to develop a recruitment system that focuses on retaining top talent and a loaning program with data scientists and researchers positioned at other agencies – which is not unlike the Partnership for Public Service's (Partnership) talent exchange guidance as previously reported in FEDmanager.
"VA has long been a leader in medical and prosthetic research. The VIPER Act will make VA's ability to deliver groundbreaking advancements on what matters most to veterans even better. This bill is particularly important now as we strive to provide answers to the hundreds of thousands of veterans fighting the effects of toxic exposure," stated Rep. Bost.
The VIPER Act also removes legal restrictions on federal employees outside salary when the research is beneficial to the Department of Veterans Affairs. It would also require the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to investigate the retention of VA clinicians and scientists, in addition to their research productivity.
