I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1598 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Veterans 

Affairs to issue, upon request, veteran identification cards to certain veterans. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 17, 2013 

Mr. GRIFFIN of Arkansas (for himself, Mr. GRIFFITH of Virginia, Mr. 

MCGOVERN, Ms. SHEA-PORTER, Mr. NUNNELEE, Ms. HANABUSA, Mr. 

BLUMENAUER, Ms. BORDALLO, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. KEATING, Mr. 

HIMES, Mr. RUSH, Mrs. HARTZLER, Mr. JONES, Ms. NORTON, Mr. 

BRADY of Pennsylvania, Mr. WESTMORELAND, Mr. RAHALL, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mrs. MILLER of Michigan, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. VAN

HOLLEN, Mr. BUCSHON, Mr. HECK of Washington, Mr. BRIDENSTINE, 

Mr. LATTA, Mr. LONG, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. OLSON, Mr. WITTMAN, Mr. 

STEWART, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. POLIS, Mrs. ROBY, Mr. BENTIVOLIO, 

and Mr. COHEN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to issue, upon request, veteran 

identification cards to certain veterans. 

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 ‘‘Veteran’s I.D. Card 

5 Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. VETERANS IDENTIFICATION CARD. 

2 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) Currently, veteran identification cards are 

4 issued to veterans who have either completed the 

5 statutory time-in-service requirement for retirement 

6 from the Armed Forces or who have received a med7 ical-related discharge from the Armed Forces. 

8 (2) A veteran who has served a minimum obli9 gated time in service, but who does not meet the cri10 teria described in paragraph (1), does not receive a 

11 means of identifying the veteran’s status as a vet12 eran other than using the official DD–214 discharge 

13 papers of the veteran. 

14 (3) Goods, services, and promotional activities 

15 are often offered by public and private institutions 

16 to veterans who demonstrate proof of service in the 

17 military but it is impractical for a veteran to always 

18 carry official DD–214 discharge papers to dem19 onstrate such proof. 

20 (4) A general purpose veteran identification 

21 card made available to a veteran who does not meet 

22 the criteria described in paragraph (1) would be use23 ful to such veteran in order to demonstrate the sta24 tus of the veteran without having to carry and use 

25 official DD–214 discharge papers. 


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1 (5) The Department of Veterans Affairs has 

2 the infrastructure in place across the United States 

3 to produce photographic identification cards and ac4 cept a small payment to cover the cost of these 

5 cards. 

6 (b) PROVISION OF VETERAN IDENTIFICATION

7 CARDS.—Chapter 57 of title 38, United States Code, is 

8 amended by adding after section 5705 the following new 

9 section: 

10 ‘‘§ 5706. Veterans identification card 

11 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Veterans Af12 fairs shall issue an identification card described in sub13 section (b) to any covered veteran who— 

14 ‘‘(1) requests such card; 

15 ‘‘(2) was discharged from the Armed Forces 

16 under honorable conditions; 

17 ‘‘(3) presents a copy of the DD–214 form or 

18 other official document from the official military 

19 personnel file of the veteran that describes the serv20 ice of the veteran; and 

21 ‘‘(4) pays the fee under subsection (c)(1). 

22 ‘‘(b) IDENTIFICATION CARD.—An identification card 

23 described in this subsection is a card that— 

24 ‘‘(1) displays a photograph of the covered vet25 eran; 


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1 ‘‘(2) displays the name of the covered veteran; 

2 ‘‘(3) explains that such card is not proof of any 

3 benefits to which the veteran is entitled to; 

4 ‘‘(4) contains an identification number that is 

5 not a social security number; and 

6 ‘‘(5) serves as proof that such veteran— 

7 ‘‘(A) honorably served in the Armed 

8 Forces; and 

9 ‘‘(B) has a DD–214 form or other official 

10 document in the official military personnel file 

11 of the veteran that describes the service of the 

12 veteran. 

13 ‘‘(c) COSTS OF CARD.—(1) The Secretary shall 

14 charge a fee to each veteran who receives an identification 

15 card issued under this section, including a replacement 

16 identification card. 

17 ‘‘(2)(A) The fee charged under paragraph (1) shall 

18 equal an amount that the Secretary determines is nec19 essary to issue an identification card under this section. 

20 ‘‘(B) In determining the amount of the fee under sub21 paragraph (A), the Secretary shall ensure that the total 

22 amount of fees collected under paragraph (1) equals an 

23 amount necessary to carry out this section, including costs 

24 related to any additional equipment or personnel required 

25 to carry out this section. 


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1 ‘‘(C) The Secretary shall review and reassess the de2 termination under subparagraph (A) during each five-year 

3 period in which the Secretary issues an identification card 

4 under this section. 

5 ‘‘(3) Amounts collected under this subsection shall be 

6 deposited in an account of the Department available to 

7 carry out this section. Amounts so deposited shall be 

8 merged with amounts in such account and shall be subject 

9 to the same conditions and limitations as amounts other10 wise in such account. 

11 ‘‘(d) EFFECT OF CARD ON BENEFITS.—(1) An iden12 tification card issued under this section shall not serve as 

13 proof of any benefits that the veteran may be entitled to 

14 under this title. 

15 ‘‘(2) A covered veteran who is issued an identification 

16 card under this section shall not be entitled to any benefits 

17 under this title by reason of possessing such card. 

18 ‘‘(e) ADMINISTRATIVE MEASURES.—(1) The Sec19 retary shall ensure that any information collected or used 

20 with respect to an identification card issued under this 

21 section is appropriately secured. 

22 ‘‘(2) The Secretary may determine any appropriate 

23 procedures with respect to issuing a replacement identi24 fication card. 


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1 ‘‘(3) In carrying out this section, the Secretary shall 

2 coordinate with the National Personnel Records Center. 

3 ‘‘(4) The Secretary may conduct such outreach to ad4 vertise the identification card under this section as the 

5 Secretary considers appropriate. 

6 ‘‘(f) CONSTRUCTION.—This section shall not be con7 strued to affect identification cards otherwise provided by 

8 the Secretary to veterans enrolled in the health care sys9 tem established under section 1705(a) of this title. 

10 ‘‘(g) COVERED VETERAN DEFINED.—In this section, 

11 the term ‘covered veteran’ means a veteran who— 

12 ‘‘(1) is not entitled to retired pay under chapter 

13 1223 of title 10; and 

14 ‘‘(2) is not enrolled in the system of patient en15 rollment under section 1705 of this title.’’. 

16 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

17 at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting 

18 after the item relating to section 5705 the following new 

19 item: 

‘‘5706. Veterans identification card.’’. 

20 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

21 this Act shall take effect on the date that is 60 days after 

22 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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