Findings

Congress finds the following: (1) Section 1635 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 (Public Law 110–181; 10 U.S.C. 1071 note) directed the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to jointly— (A) develop and implement electronic record systems that allow full interoperability of personal health care information between the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs; and (B) accelerate the exchange of such information between the two departments. (2) Such section established the Department of Defense-Department of Veterans Affairs Interagency Program Office (with a Director and Deputy Director) for such purposes and authorized the Secretaries to carry out pilot projects to assess the feasibility and advisability of various technological approaches to the development of the record systems. (3) Such section also requires— (A) the Director of the Interagency Program Office to submit to the Secretaries and to Congress annual reports on the activities of the Office; (B) the Secretaries to make such reports available to the public; and (C) the Comptroller General of the United States to conduct semiannual assessments of the progress of the Secretaries in carrying out the requirements of such section.