H.R. 8052

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8052 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 8052

To amend title 38, United States Code, to require that a sterile 
processing technician of the Veterans Health Administration holds an 
appropriate professional certification, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

March 24, 2026

Mrs. Kiggans of Virginia introduced the following bill; which was 
referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To amend title 38, United States Code, to require that a sterile 
processing technician of the Veterans Health Administration holds an 
appropriate professional certification, 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 ``Veteran Infection Prevention Act''.

SEC. 2. PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENT FOR STERILE PROCESSING 
TECHNICIANS OF THE VETERANS HEALTH ADMINISTRATION.

(a) Requirement.--Section 7402(b) of title 38, United States Code, 
is amended--
(1) by redesignating paragraph (14) as (15); and
(2) by inserting after paragraph (13) the following new 
paragraph:
``(14) Sterile Processing Technician.--To be eligible to be 
appointed to a sterile processing technician position (except for such 
a position that the Secretary determines is entry level), a person must 
be certified as a sterile processing technician by an accredited 
institution engaged in providing sterile processing technician training 
not later than two years after such an appointment.''.
(b) Current Employees.--
(1) Applicability.--The amendment made by subsection (a) 
shall apply to a covered employee two years after the date of 
the enactment of this Act.
(2) Employee incentive scholarship program.--
(A) Requirement.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
shall award to a covered employee a scholarship under 
subchapter VI of chapter 76 of title 38, United States 
Code, for certification described in of section 
7402(b)(14) of such title, as amended by subsection 
(a).
(B) Period of obligated service.--Notwithstanding 
section 7672(e) of such title, the period of obligated 
service of a covered employee awarded a scholarship 
pursuant to subparagraph (A) shall be a period of two 
years beginning on the day that the covered employee 
receives such certification.
(3) Covered employee defined.--In this subsection, the term 
``covered employee'' means a person--
(A) occupying a sterile processing technician 
position in the Veterans Health Administration on the 
date of the enactment of this Act; and
(B) who, on such date, is not certified as a 
sterile processing technician by an accredited 
institution engaged in providing sterile processing 
technician training.
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