IIB 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1226 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 8, 2023 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

AN ACT 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to allow for the 

electronic request of certain records, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Wounded Warrior Ac3 cess Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. ELECTRONIC REQUEST OF CERTAIN RECORDS 

5 MAINTAINED BY THE SECRETARY OF VET6 ERANS AFFAIRS. 

7 (a) ELECTRONIC RECORD REQUESTS.—Section 5702 

8 of title 38, United States Code, is amended— 

9 (1) by redesignating subsection (b) as sub10 section (c); and 

11 (2) by inserting after subsection (a) the fol12 lowing: 

13 ‘‘(b)(1) The Secretary shall establish and maintain 

14 a secure website or online tool for a claimant or a duly 

15 recognized agent or representative of that claimant to sub16 mit an electronic request for such records. 

17 ‘‘(2) The Secretary, upon receipt of a valid request 

18 made through the website or online tool established under 

19 paragraph (1), shall provide to the requestor— 

20 ‘‘(A) not later than 10 days after receipt, con21 firmation of such receipt; and 

22 ‘‘(B) not later than 120 days after receipt, such 

23 records requested in the form selected by the re24 questor.’’. 

25 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 5702(a) 

26 of title 38, United States Code, is amended— 


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1 (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 

2 striking ‘‘in writing’’ and inserting ‘‘in writing, in3 cluding an electronic request submitted through the 

4 website or online tool established under subsection 

5 (b),’’; 

6 (2) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

7 end; 

8 (3) in paragraph (2), by striking the period at 

9 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

10 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(3) the format in which such copy is desired, 

12 including whether in printed form or by 

13 downloadable file.’’. 

14 (c) DEADLINE; ESTABLISHMENT OF WEBSITE OR

15 ONLINE TOOL.—Not later than one year after the date 

16 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans 

17 Affairs shall establish the website or online tool required 

18 under section 5702(b)(1) of title 38, United States Code, 

19 as added by this Act, and, to the extent practicable, the 

20 Secretary shall utilize existing online resources of the De21 partment of Veterans Affairs for the purposes of such es22 tablishment. 


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1 SEC. 3. WARNINGS TO CLAIMANTS UNDER LAWS ADMINIS2 TERED BY THE SECRETARY OF VETERANS AF3 FAIRS REGARDING UNRECOGNIZED REP4 RESENTATIVES. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 5901 of title 38, United 

6 States Code, is amended— 

7 (1) by inserting ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—’’ before 

8 ‘‘Except’’; 

9 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub10 section: 

11 ‘‘(b) WARNINGS ABOUT POTENTIAL PREDATORY

12 PRACTICES.—(1) The Secretary shall ensure that, each 

13 time a claimant under a law administered by the Secretary 

14 logs in to a website or online tool of the Department, such 

15 website or online tool issues to the claimant, in plain lan16 guage— 

17 ‘‘(A) a warning about individuals who seek to 

18 act in violation of this chapter; 

19 ‘‘(B) a link to an online tool of the Department 

20 through which the claimant may report such an indi21 vidual; 

22 ‘‘(C) a link to an online tool of the Department 

23 through which the claimant may search for a recog24 nized agent, attorney, or other entity recognized by 

25 the Secretary for the preparation, presentation, or 


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1 prosecution of any claim under laws administered by 

2 the Secretary; and 

3 ‘‘(D) a link to a website or an online tool of the 

4 Department providing final decisions on discipline of 

5 agents, attorneys, and entities, described in subpara6 graph (C), by the Secretary for violations of this 

7 chapter. 

8 ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall provide all information 

9 under paragraph (1) in the following languages: 

10 ‘‘(A) English. 

11 ‘‘(B) Spanish. 

12 ‘‘(C) Tagalog. 

13 ‘‘(D) The seven other languages most com14 monly spoken in the United States.’’. 

15 (b) IMPLEMENTATION.—The Secretary of Veterans 

16 Affairs shall carry out subsection (b) of such section, as 

17 added by subsection (a) of this section— 

18 (1) after consulting with stakeholders (including 

19 veterans service organizations recognized under sec20 tion 5902 of such title) regarding the wording of the 

21 warning under such subsection; and 

22 (2) not later than one year after the date of the 

23 enactment of this Act. 


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1 SEC. 4. NO ADDITIONAL FUNDS AUTHORIZED. 

2 No additional funds are authorized to be appro3 priated to carry out the requirements of this Act. 

Passed the House of Representatives March 7, 

2023. 

Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, 

Clerk. 


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