WASHINGTON – The U.S. House passed legislation introduced by Congressman Chris Pappas (NH-01), who serves as the Chair of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee for the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, alongside Representative Ashley Hinson (IA-01), Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA) and Senator Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), to drastically improve policies and oversight in regards to sexual harassment at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

Their legislation, the Improving VA Accountability to Prevent Sexual Harassment and Discrimination Act of 2021, follows an alarming federal survey which estimated that one in five VA employees experienced sexual harassment in the workplace. After holding a hearing, Congressman Pappas helped introduce this legislation which will update policies, based on recommendations from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) report to address these unacceptable findings.

Specifically, this legislation will require VA to report all sexual harassment complaints, create a better leadership structure to help oversee complaints, and update sexual harassment policies, information, and training.

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