I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1226 

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

of certain records, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 28, 2023 

Mr. AGUILAR introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Wounded Warrior Ac5 cess Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ELECTRONIC REQUEST OF CERTAIN RECORDS 

7 MAINTAINED BY THE SECRETARY OF VET8 ERANS AFFAIRS. 

9 (a) ELECTRONIC RECORD REQUESTS.—Section 5702 

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


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
2 

•HR 1226 IH

1 (1) by redesignating subsection (b) as sub2 section (c); and 

3 (2) by inserting after subsection (a) the fol4 lowing: 

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

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

7 recognized agent or representative of that claimant to sub8 mit an electronic request for such records. 

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

10 made through the website or online tool established under 

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

12 ‘‘(A) not later than 10 days after receipt, con13 firmation of such receipt; and 

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

15 records requested in the form selected by the re16 questor.’’. 

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

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

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

20 striking ‘‘in writing’’ and inserting ‘‘in writing, in21 cluding an electronic request submitted through the 

22 website or online tool established under subsection 

23 (b),’’; 

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

25 end; 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
3 

•HR 1226 IH

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

2 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

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

5 including whether in printed form or by 

6 downloadable file.’’. 

7 (c) DEADLINE; ESTABLISHMENT OF WEBSITE OR

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

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

10 Affairs shall establish the website or online tool required 

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

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

13 Secretary shall utilize existing online resources of the De14 partment of Veterans Affairs for the purposes of such es15 tablishment. 

16 SEC. 3. WARNINGS TO CLAIMANTS UNDER LAWS ADMINIS17 TERED BY THE SECRETARY OF VETERANS AF18 FAIRS REGARDING UNRECOGNIZED REP19 RESENTATIVES. 

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

21 States Code, is amended— 

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

23 ‘‘Except’’; 

24 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub25 section: 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
4 

•HR 1226 IH

1 ‘‘(b) WARNINGS ABOUT POTENTIAL PREDATORY

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

3 time a claimant under a law administered by the Secretary 

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

5 website or online tool issues to the claimant, in plain lan6 guage— 

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

8 act in violation of this chapter; 

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

10 through which the claimant may report such an indi11 vidual; 

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

13 through which the claimant may search for a recog14 nized agent, attorney, or other entity recognized by 

15 the Secretary for the preparation, presentation, or 

16 prosecution of any claim under laws administered by 

17 the Secretary; and 

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

19 Department providing final decisions on discipline of 

20 agents, attorneys, and entities, described in subpara21 graph (C), by the Secretary for violations of this 

22 chapter. 

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

24 under paragraph (1) in the following languages: 

25 ‘‘(A) English. 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
5 

•HR 1226 IH

1 ‘‘(B) Spanish. 

2 ‘‘(C) Tagalog. 

3 ‘‘(D) The seven other languages most com4 monly spoken in the United States.’’. 

5 (b) IMPLEMENTATION.—The Secretary of Veterans 

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

7 added by subsection (a) of this section— 

8 (1) after consulting with stakeholders (including 

9 veterans service organizations recognized under sec10 tion 5902 of such title) regarding the wording of the 

11 warning under such subsection; and 

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

13 enactment of this Act. 

14 SEC. 4. NO ADDITIONAL FUNDS AUTHORIZED. 

15 No additional funds are authorized to be appro16 priated to carry out the requirements of this Act. Such 

17 requirements shall be carried out using amounts otherwise 

18 authorized to be appropriated. 

Æ 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB