119-s1655

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1655 Introduced in Senate

    (IS) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 S. 1655

 To expand congressional oversight of the operation of the Veterans 
Crisis Line of the Department of Veterans Affairs, to improve workforce 
 protections for all Veterans Crisis Line personnel, and to ensure 
 robust performance standards that fulfill the Veterans Crisis Line 
 mission and meet caller demand, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

 May 7, 2025

 Ms. Duckworth introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
 referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To expand congressional oversight of the operation of the Veterans 
Crisis Line of the Department of Veterans Affairs, to improve workforce 
 protections for all Veterans Crisis Line personnel, and to ensure 
 robust performance standards that fulfill the Veterans Crisis Line 
 mission and meet caller demand, 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 ``Protecting Veterans in Crisis Act''.

SEC. 2. OVERSIGHT OF VETERANS CRISIS LINE.

    (a) Notification of Pending Termination of Veterans Crisis Line 
Employees.--

    (1) In general.--Not later than 48 hours before terminating 
 the employment of any employee of the Veterans Crisis Line, 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 notification that 
 provides--
        (A) a justification of cause for such termination;
        (B) a clarification on whether the employee is a 
 veteran or military spouse; and
            (C) a detailed plan to ensure continuity of the 
 mission readiness of the Veterans Crisis Line in the 
 event of such termination.

    (2) Sunset.--This subsection shall terminate on January 20, 
 2029.

    (b) Report on Veterans Crisis Line Personnel.--Not later than 30 
days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 
submit to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs and the Committee on 
Appropriations of the Senate and the Committee on Veterans' Affairs and 
the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives a 
report that includes the following:

    (1) The number of employees working for the Veterans Crisis 
 Line on January 20, 2025, which shall include a breakdown by 
 job category, probationary status, whether the employee is a 
 veteran, whether the employee is a military spouse, status of 
 employment on the date of submission of the report, and date of 
 reinstatement.

    (2) The number of employees terminated from the Veterans 
 Crisis Line on or around February 13, 2025, which shall include 
 a breakdown by job category, probationary status, whether the 
 employee is a veteran, whether the employee is a military 
 spouse, status of employment on the date of submission of the 
 report, and date of reinstatement.

    (3) The number of employees terminated from the Veterans 
 Crisis Line on or around February 24, 2025, which shall include 
 a breakdown by job category, probationary status, whether the 
 employee is a veteran, whether the employee is a military 
 spouse, status of employment on the date of submission of the 
 report, and date of reinstatement.

    (4) The number of employees working for the Veterans Crisis 
 Line on the date of submission of the report, which shall 
 include a breakdown by job category, probationary status, 
 whether the employee is a veteran, and whether the employee is 
 a military spouse.
            (c) Report on Veterans Crisis Line Operations and Performance.--Not 
later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, and 
every 30 days thereafter until January 20, 2029, 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 
that includes the following:

    (1) An assessment of the performance of the Veterans Crisis 
 Line, as compared to the previous month and the same month of 
 the previous calendar year.

    (2) Average wait times for a caller to connect with an 
 operator and the volume of unanswered calls.

    (3) Ratios of callers to phone operators, both in-person 
 and remote, trainers, and all other positions affiliated with 
 the Veterans Crisis Line.

    (4) A report on resources used and outstanding.

    (5) A staffing report broken down by job category.
            (d) Comptroller General Report on Improvements to Veterans Crisis 
Line.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this 
Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to the 
Committee on Veterans' Affairs and the Committee on Health, Education, 
Labor, and Pensions of the Senate and the Committee on Veterans' 
Affairs and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of 
Representatives a report on the operation and performance of the 
Veterans Crisis Line, including recommendations for improvement.

    (e) Veterans Crisis Line Defined.--In this section, the term 
``Veterans Crisis Line'' means the toll-free hotline for veterans 
established under 

section 1720F

    (h) of title 38, United States Code.
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