I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7919 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for certain revisions 

to the manual of the Veterans Benefits Administration and to improve 

the quality of the adjudication of claims for benefits under the laws 

administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 10, 2024 

Mr. LUTTRELL (for himself, Ms. STEFANIK, and Mr. BILIRAKIS) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for certain 

revisions to the manual of the Veterans Benefits Administration and to improve the quality of the adjudication 

of claims for benefits under the laws administered by 

the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, 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 ‘‘Veterans Claims Qual5 ity Improvement Act of 2024’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REVIEW OF CERTAIN REVISIONS TO MANUALS OF 

2 VETERANS BENEFITS ADMINISTRATION RE3 QUIRED; TRAINING PROGRAM FOR CERTAIN 

4 EMPLOYEES OF DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS 

5 AFFAIRS. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 311 of title 38, United 

7 States Code, is amended— 

8 (1) by striking ‘‘There is in the Department’’ 

9 and inserting ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There is in the 

10 Department’’; and 

11 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub12 sections: 

13 ‘‘(b) REVIEW OF REVISIONS TO CERTAIN MANU14 ALS.—With respect to any revisions to the manuals of the 

15 Veterans Benefits Administration for the adjudication of 

16 a claim for benefits under the laws administered by the 

17 Secretary that would have a material effect on such adju18 dication, the General Counsel shall review such revision. 

19 ‘‘(c) PROGRAM FOR TRAINING.—The General Coun20 sel shall develop and carry out a program to provide em21 ployees of the Veterans Benefits Administration who are 

22 responsible for drafting rules, guidance, or other issuances 

23 of the Veterans Benefits Administration training on such 

24 rules, guidance, or other issuances that— 


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1 ‘‘(1) would have a material effect on the adju2 dication of a claim for benefits under the laws ad3 ministered by the Secretary; or 

4 ‘‘(2) require review by the General Counsel.’’. 

5 (b) STUDY AND REPORT ON CERTAIN OGC OPIN6 IONS.— 

7 (1) STUDY.—Not later than one year after the 

8 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 

9 Veterans Affairs, in consultation with the General 

10 Counsel of the Department of Veterans Affairs and 

11 the Chairman of the Board of Veterans’ Appeals, 

12 shall complete a study to identify issues about which 

13 an opinion from the General Counsel of the Depart14 ment would foster consistency in the decisions of the 

15 Secretary with respect to claims for benefits under 

16 the laws administered by the Secretary. 

17 (2) REPORT.—Not later than one year after the 

18 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 

19 Veterans Affairs shall submit to the Committees on 

20 Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Representatives a 

21 report that contains the findings of the study re22 quired by paragraph (1). 


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1 SEC. 3. IMPROVEMENTS TO SYSTEM FOR ADJUDICATION 

2 OF CLAIMS FOR BENEFITS UNDER LAWS AD3 MINISTERED BY SECRETARY OF VETERANS 

4 AFFAIRS. 

5 (a) PROGRAM FOR QUALITY ASSURANCE IN DECI6 SIONS OF BOARD OF VETERANS’ APPEALS; PERFORM7 ANCE REVIEWS.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 7101 of title 38, 

9 United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

10 end the following new subsection: 

11 ‘‘(f)(1) The Chairman shall carry out a program to 

12 ensure quality in the decisions of the Board. Under such 

13 program, the Chairman shall— 

14 ‘‘(A) develop policies and procedures for— 

15 ‘‘(i) measuring quality in such decisions; 

16 ‘‘(ii) maintaining data on— 

17 ‘‘(I) errors in such decisions; and 

18 ‘‘(II) errors in decisions remanded or 

19 returned to the Board by the Court of Ap20 peals for Veterans Claims; and 

21 ‘‘(iii) ensuring any such decision of the 

22 Board to remand a claim for a benefit under a 

23 law administered by the Secretary is necessary 

24 under any applicable law or regulation; 


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1 ‘‘(B) with respect to a claim for such a benefit 

2 that is remanded to the Board by the Court of Ap3 peals for Veterans Claims— 

4 ‘‘(i) inform any employee of the Board re5 sponsible for drafting the decision of the Board 

6 with respect to such claim that such decision 

7 was remanded; 

8 ‘‘(ii) provide any such employee with a 

9 copy of the relevant order of the Court of Ap10 peals for Veterans Claims (including a copy of 

11 any accompanying joint motion for remand); 

12 and 

13 ‘‘(iii) provide incentives to such employees 

14 to review such relevant orders and joint motions 

15 for remand; and 

16 ‘‘(C) ensure, to the maximum extent prac17 ticable, that any error identified by the Board under 

18 such program is corrected before the date on which 

19 the Board issues the final decision associated with 

20 such error. 

21 ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall submit to the Committees 

22 on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Representatives and 

23 the Senate an annual report on the program required by 

24 this subsection that includes, with respect to the period 

25 covered by the report, an identification of— 


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1 ‘‘(A) elements, if any of the process of the 

2 Board for reviewing an appeal under this chapter 

3 that lead to errors in decisions of the Board; and 

4 ‘‘(B) the most common reasons that a claim for 

5 a benefit under a law administered by the Secretary 

6 was remanded to such Board by the Court of Ap7 peals for Veterans Claims.’’. 

8 (2) DEADLINE.—The Secretary shall submit 

9 the first report required by paragraph (2) of such 

10 section (as added by paragraph (1)) by not later 

11 than one year after the date of the enactment of this 

12 Act. 

13 (b) TRAINING PROGRAM FOR CERTAIN EMPLOYEES

14 OF BOARD OF VETERANS’ APPEALS; PERFORMANCE RE15 VIEWS.— 

16 (1) TRAINING PROGRAM.— 

17 (A) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 71 of such 

18 title (as amended by subsection (a)) is further 

19 amended by inserting after section 7101A the 

20 following new section: 

21 ‘‘§ 7101B. Training program for Members of Board on 

22 timely and correct adjudication of ap23 peals 

24 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in conjunction 

25 with the Chairman of the Board of Veterans’ Appeals, 


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1 shall develop and carry out a program to provide Members 

2 of the Board training on timely and correct adjudication 

3 of appeals under this chapter. 

4 ‘‘(b) REQUIRED CONSIDERATIONS.—In carrying out 

5 the program required by subsection (a), the Secretary 

6 shall consider the following: 

7 ‘‘(1) Feedback, if any, from members of the 

8 Board and covered employees with respect to such 

9 program. 

10 ‘‘(2) Data on errors in decisions of the Board 

11 maintained pursuant to the program for quality as12 surance required by subsection (f) of section 7101 of 

13 this title. 

14 ‘‘(3) Any decision of the Court of Appeals for 

15 Veterans Claims to remand a claim for benefits 

16 under the laws administered by the Secretary to the 

17 Board for further action, including a joint motion to 

18 remand such claim. 

19 ‘‘(c) REPORT.—The Secretary shall submit to the 

20 Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Rep21 resentatives and the Senate an annual report on the pro22 gram required by subsection (a) that includes a statement 

23 of the topics of training provided pursuant to this section, 

24 disaggregated by— 

25 ‘‘(1) mandatory training; and 


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1 ‘‘(2) non-mandatory training. 

2 ‘‘(d) COVERED EMPLOYEE DEFINED.—In this sec3 tion, the term ‘covered employee’ means an employee of 

4 the Board who is— 

5 ‘‘(1) not a member of the Board; and 

6 ‘‘(2) responsible for drafting decisions of the 

7 Board.’’. 

8 (B) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of 

9 sections at the beginning of such chapter is 

10 amended by inserting after the item relating to 

11 section 7101A the following new item: 

‘‘7101B. Training program for Members of Board on timely and correct 

adjudication of appeals.’’. 

12 (2) PERFORMANCE REVIEWS OF MEMBERS OF

13 THE BOARD.—Section 7101A of such title (as 

14 amended by paragraph (1)) is amended— 

15 (A) in subparagraph (B) of subsection 

16 (c)(1) by striking ‘‘not less often than once 

17 every three years’’ and inserting ‘‘not less often 

18 than annually’’; and 

19 (B) by adding at the end the following new 

20 subsection: 

21 ‘‘(h)(1) With respect to any performance review of 

22 a covered employee, the Secretary may not consider the 

23 timeliness or quality of work of any Member of the Board. 


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1 ‘‘(2) In this section, the term ‘covered employee’ has 

2 the meaning given such term in section 7101B of this 

3 title.’’. 

4 (c) DECISIONS OF BOARD TO REMAND.— 

5 (1) INFORMATION RELATING TO DECISIONS TO

6 REMAND.—Section 7104 of such title is amended in 

7 subsection (d)— 

8 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1) 

9 through (3) as paragraphs (2) through (4), 

10 respsectively; and 

11 (B) by inserting before paragraph (2) (as 

12 so redesignated), the following new paragraph: 

13 ‘‘(1) with respect to a claim that the Board re14 mands for further action, a statement of the specific 

15 reasons such claim was remanded, including any 

16 failure on the part of the Secretary to comply with— 

17 ‘‘(A) the Secretary’s duty to assist under 

18 section 5103A of this title; and 

19 ‘‘(B) the Secretary’s duty to notify under 

20 section 5103 of this title.’’. 

21 (2) NOTICE OF REMANDED DECISION FOR CER22 TAIN EMPLOYEES.—Such section is further amended 

23 in— 

24 (A) subsection (e)— 


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1 (i) by redesignating paragraphs (1) 

2 through (3) as subparagraphs (A) through 

3 (C), respectively; 

4 (ii) by striking ‘‘After’’ and inserting 

5 ‘‘(1) After’’; and 

6 (iii) by adding at the end the fol7 lowing new paragraph: 

8 ‘‘(2) If, pursuant to a decision on an appeal, the 

9 Board remands a claim for a benefit under a law adminis10 tered by the Secretary for further action, the Secretary 

11 shall, to the maximum extent practicable, issue a copy of 

12 such decision to each employee of the Veterans Benefits 

13 Administration who committed the error resulting in the 

14 decision of the Board to remand, when applicable.’’; and 

15 (B) in subsection (f), by striking ‘‘under 

16 subsection (e)’’ and inserting ‘‘under paragraph 

17 (1) of subsection (e)’’. 

18 (d) ANNUAL REPORTS FOR BOARD OF VETERANS’ 

19 APPEALS.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 71 of such title 38, 

21 United States Code, is amended by inserting after 

22 section 7113 the following new section: 


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1 ‘‘§ 7114. Annual reports on Board of Veterans’ Ap2 peals 

3 ‘‘(a) REPORT ON REASONS FOR REMANDS.—The 

4 Chairman of the Board shall submit to the Committees 

5 on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Representatives and 

6 the Senate an annual report that includes, for each deci7 sion of the Board to remand a claim for a benefit under 

8 a law administered by the Secretary to the Secretary for 

9 further adjudication during the period covered by the re10 port, a statement of the reasons for such decision of the 

11 Board, disaggregated by decisions on— 

12 ‘‘(1) claims with a relevant decision dated on or 

13 after February 19, 2019; and 

14 ‘‘(2) claims with a relevant decision dated be15 fore such date. 

16 ‘‘(b) REPORT ON UNNECESSARY REMANDS.—The 

17 Secretary, in consultation with the Chairman of the Board 

18 and the head of the Office of Administrative Review of 

19 the Veterans Benefits Administration, shall submit to 

20 Congress an annual report that includes a statement of 

21 the number of decisions of the Board to remand a claim 

22 for a benefit under a law administered by the Secretary 

23 to the Secretary for further action that the Secretary de24 termines were unnecessary during the period covered by 

25 the report.’’. 


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1 (2) DEADLINES.—The Secretary shall submit 

2 the first reports required by subsections (a) and (b) 

3 of section 7114 of title 38, United States Code (as 

4 added by paragraph (1)) by not later than one year 

5 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

6 (e) PLAN FOR IMPROVEMENTS TO QUALITY IN DECI7 SIONS OF BOARD.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than six months 

9 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec10 retary of Veterans Affairs, in consultation with the 

11 Chairman of the Board of Veterans’ Appeals and the 

12 head of the Office of Administrative Review of the 

13 Veterans Benefits Administration, shall develop a 

14 plan to— 

15 (A) improve the quality of decisions of the 

16 Board to remand, pursuant to section 7104 of 

17 title 38, United States Code, claims for a ben18 efit under a law administered by the Secretary 

19 to the Secretary for further action; and 

20 (B) mitigate the number of such decisions 

21 that are unnecessary under any applicable law 

22 or regulation. 

23 (2) REPORT.—The Secretary shall submit to 

24 the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of 

25 Representatives and the Senate a report on such 


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1 plan by not later than six months after the date of 

2 the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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