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Union Calendar No. 448

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4864

[Report No. 106–781]

To amend title 38, United States Code, to reaffirm and clarify the duty

of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to assist claimants for benefits

under laws administered by the Secretary, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JULY 17, 2000

Mr. STUMP (for himself, Mr. EVANS, Mr. QUINN, Mr. FILNER, Mr. BILIRAKIS, Mr. EVERETT, Mr. STEARNS, Mr. HANSEN, Mr. MCKEON, Mr.

GIBBONS, Ms. BROWN of Florida, Mr. DOYLE, Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota, Mr. REYES, Mr. SHOWS, Mr. RODRIGUEZ, Ms. BERKLEY, Mr.

UDALL of New Mexico, Mr. SPRATT, Mrs. JONES of Ohio, Mr. ROHRABACHER, Mr. DAVIS of Florida, Ms. BALDWIN, Mrs. JOHNSON of Connecticut, Mr. HOBSON, Ms. HOOLEY of Oregon, Mr. UNDERWOOD, Ms.

KAPTUR, Mr. CRAMER, Mr. LAZIO, Mr. HOLDEN, Mr. ABERCROMBIE,

Mr. MOAKLEY, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. LUCAS of Oklahoma, Mr.

DEFAZIO, Mr. MOLLOHAN, Mr. NETHERCUTT, Ms. DUNN, Mr. SANDERS,

and Mr. SMITH of Texas) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs

JULY 24, 2000

Additional sponsors: Mr. BOEHLERT, Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi, Mr. REYNOLDS, Mr. OBEY, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. MINGE, Ms. CARSON,

Mr. BLAGOJEVICH, Ms. PRYCE of Ohio, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. BAKER, Mr.

HASTINGS of Washington, Mr. HINOJOSA, Mr. MCHUGH, Mr. HOUGHTON, Mr. TIAHRT, Mr. WHITFIELD, Mr. OSE, Mrs. CLAYTON, Mr. RAHALL, Mr. BARCIA, Mr. MCCOLLUM, Mr. BATEMAN, Mr. LAHOOD, Mr.

GREEN of Texas, Mr. MASCARA, Mr. HALL of Texas, Mr. KILDEE, Mr.

SUNUNU, Mr. BALDACCI, Mr. ROMERO-BARCELO ́

, Mr. MURTHA, Mr.

STUPAK, Mr. TIERNEY, Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN, Mrs. MORELLA, Mr. GONZALEZ, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. SAWYER, Mr. CLEMENT, Mr. KOLBE, Mr.

BUYER, Mr. COMBEST, Mr. DIAZ-BALART, Mr. LOBIONDO, Mr. WAMP,

Mr. HAYWORTH, Mr. POMEROY, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. COSTELLO, Mr.

ISAKSON, Mr. KLECZKA, Mr. SNYDER, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. HILL of In-
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diana, Mr. UPTON, Mr. DEMINT, Mr. METCALF, Mr. ROTHMAN, Mr.

MANZULLO, Mr. NEY, Mr. PETRI, Mrs. EMERSON, Mr. LARSON, Ms.

DELAURO, Mr. WOLF, Mr. SWEENEY, Mr. SHIMKUS, Mr. LATOURETTE,

Mrs. FOWLER, and Mr. STRICKLAND

JULY 24, 2000

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole

House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on July 17, 2000]

A BILL

To amend title 38, United States Code, to reaffirm and

clarify the duty of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs

to assist claimants for benefits under laws administered

by the Secretary, 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 Assist5 ance Act of 2000’’.

6 SEC. 2. CLARIFICATION OF DEFINITION OF ‘‘CLAIMANT’’

7 FOR PURPOSES OF VETERANS LAWS.

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 51 of title 38, United

9 States Code, is amended by inserting before section 5101

10 the following new section:

11 ‘‘§ 5100. Definition of ‘claimant’

12 ‘‘For purposes of this chapter, the term ‘claimant’

13 means any individual applying for, or submitting a claim
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1 for, any benefit under the laws administered by the Sec2 retary.’’.

3 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections at

4 the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting before

5 the item relating to section 5101 the following new item:

‘‘5100. Definition of ‘claimant’.’’.

6 SEC. 3. ASSISTANCE TO CLAIMANTS.

7 (a) REAFFIRMATION AND CLARIFICATION OF DUTY TO

8 ASSIST.—Chapter 51 of title 38, United States Code, is

9 amended by striking sections 5102 and 5103 and inserting

10 the following:

11 ‘‘§ 5102. Applications: forms furnished upon request;

12 notice to claimants of incomplete applica13 tions

14 ‘‘(a) FURNISHING FORMS.—Upon request made in

15 person or in writing by any person claiming or applying

16 for a benefit under the laws administered by the Secretary,

17 the Secretary shall furnish such person, free of all expense,

18 all such printed instructions and forms as may be necessary

19 in establishing such claim.

20 ‘‘(b) INCOMPLETE APPLICATIONS.—If a claimant’s ap21 plication for a benefit under the laws administered by the

22 Secretary is incomplete, the Secretary shall notify the

23 claimant and the claimant’s representative, if any, of the

24 information necessary to complete the application. The Sec25 retary shall notify each claimant of any additional infor-
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1 mation and medical and lay evidence necessary to substan2 tiate the claim. As part of such notice, the Secretary shall

3 indicate which portion of such evidence, if any, is to be

4 provided by the claimant and which portion of such evi5 dence, if any, the Secretary will attempt to obtain on behalf

6 of the claimant.

7 ‘‘(c) TIME LIMITATION.—In the case of evidence that

8 the claimant is notified is to be provided by the claimant,

9 if such evidence is not received by the Secretary within one

10 year from the date of such notification, no benefits may be

11 paid or furnished by reason of such application.

12 ‘‘(d) INAPPLICABILITY TO CERTAIN BENEFITS.—This

13 section shall not apply to any application or claim for Gov14 ernment life insurance benefits.

15 ‘‘§ 5103. Applications: Duty to assist claimants

16 ‘‘(a) DUTY TO ASSIST.—The Secretary shall make rea17 sonable efforts to assist in obtaining evidence necessary to

18 establish a claimant’s eligibility for a benefit under a law

19 administered by the Secretary. However, the Secretary may

20 decide a claim without providing assistance under this sub21 section when no reasonable possibility exists that such as22 sistance will aid in the establishment of eligibility for the

23 benefit sought.

24 ‘‘(b) ASSISTANCE IN OBTAINING RECORDS.—(1) As

25 part of the assistance provided under subsection (a), the
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1 Secretary shall make reasonable efforts to obtain relevant

2 records that the claimant adequately identifies to the Sec3 retary and authorizes the Secretary to obtain.

4 ‘‘(2) Whenever the Secretary, after making such rea5 sonable efforts, is unable to obtain all of the records sought,

6 the Secretary shall inform the claimant that the Secretary

7 is unable to obtain such records. Such a notice shall—

8 ‘‘(A) specifically identify the records the Sec9 retary is unable to obtain;

10 ‘‘(B) briefly explain the efforts that the Secretary

11 made to obtain those records;

12 ‘‘(C) describe any further actions to be taken by

13 the Secretary with respect to the claim; and

14 ‘‘(D) request the claimant, if the claimant in15 tends to attempt to obtain such records independently,

16 to so notify the Secretary within a time period to be

17 specified in the notice.

18 ‘‘(c) OBTAINING RECORDS FOR COMPENSATION

19 CLAIMS.—In the case of a claim by a veteran for disability

20 compensation, the assistance provided by the Secretary

21 under subsection (a) shall include obtaining the following

22 records if relevant to the veteran’s claim:

23 ‘‘(1) The claimant’s existing service medical

24 records and, if the claimant has furnished informa-
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1 tion sufficient to locate such records, other relevant

2 service records.

3 ‘‘(2) Existing records of relevant medical treat4 ment or examination of the veteran at Department

5 health-care facilities or at the expense of the Depart6 ment, if the claimant has furnished information suffi7 cient to locate such records.

8 ‘‘(3) Information as described in section 5106 of

9 this title.

10 ‘‘(d) MEDICAL EXAMINATIONS FOR COMPENSATION

11 CLAIMS.—In the case of a claim by a veteran for disability

12 compensation, the assistance provided by the Secretary

13 under subsection (a) shall include providing a medical ex14 amination, or obtaining a medical opinion, when the evi15 dence of record before the Secretary—

16 ‘‘(1) establishes that—

17 ‘‘(A) the claimant has—

18 ‘‘(i) a current disability;

19 ‘‘(ii) current symptoms of a disease

20 that may not be characterized by symptoms

21 for extended periods of time; or

22 ‘‘(iii) persistent or recurrent symptoms

23 of disability following discharge or release

24 from active military, naval, or air service;

25 and
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1 ‘‘(B) there was an event, injury, or disease

2 (or combination of events, injuries, or diseases)

3 during the claimant’s active military, naval, or

4 air service capable of causing or aggravating the

5 claimant’s current disability or symptoms, but

6 ‘‘(2) is insufficient to establish service-connection

7 of the current disability or symptoms.

8 ‘‘(e) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall prescribe

9 regulations to carry out this section. Such regulations shall

10 include provisions for—

11 ‘‘(1) specifying the evidence necessary under sub12 section (a) to establish a claimant’s eligibility for a

13 benefit under a law administered by the Secretary;

14 and

15 ‘‘(2) determining under subsections (b) and (c)

16 what records are relevant to a claim.

17 ‘‘(f) RULE WITH RESPECT TO DISALLOWED

18 CLAIMS.—Nothing in this section shall be construed to re19 quire the Secretary to reopen a claim that has been dis20 allowed except when new and material evidence is presented

21 or secured, as described in section 5108 of this title.

22 ‘‘(g) OTHER ASSISTANCE NOT PRECLUDED.—Nothing

23 in this section shall be construed as precluding the Sec24 retary from providing such other assistance to a claimant

25 as the Secretary considers appropriate.’’.
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1 (b) REENACTMENT OF RULE FOR CLAIMANT’S LACK2 ING A MAILING ADDRESS.—Chapter 51 of such title is

3 amended by adding at the end the following new section:

4 ‘‘§ 5126. Benefits not to be denied based on lack of

5 mailing address

6 ‘‘Benefits under laws administered by the Secretary

7 may not be denied a claimant on the basis that the claimant

8 does not have a mailing address.’’.

9 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.—The table of sections at

10 the beginning of chapter 51 of such title is amended—

11 (1) by striking the items relating to sections

12 5102 and 5103 and inserting the following:

‘‘5102. Applications: forms furnished upon request; notice to claimants of incomplete applications.

‘‘5103. Applications: duty to assist claimants.’’;

13 and

14 (2) by adding at the end the following new item:

‘‘5126. Benefits not to be denied based on lack of mailing address.’’.

15 SEC. 4. BURDEN OF PROOF.

16 (a) REPEAL OF ‘‘WELL-GROUNDED CLAIM’’ RULE.—

17 Section 5107 of title 38, United States Code, is amended

18 to read as follows:

19 ‘‘§ 5107. Burden of proof; benefit of the doubt

20 ‘‘(a) BURDEN OF PROOF.—Except when otherwise pro21 vided by this title or by the Secretary in accordance with

22 the provisions of this title, a claimant shall have the burden

23 of proving entitlement to benefits.
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1 ‘‘(b) BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT.—The Secretary shall

2 consider all evidence and material of record in a case before

3 the Department with respect to benefits under laws admin4 istered by the Secretary and shall give the claimant the ben5 efit of the doubt when there is an approximate balance of

6 positive and negative evidence regarding any issue material

7 to the determination of the matter.’’.

8 SEC. 5. PROHIBITION OF CHARGES FOR RECORDS FUR9 NISHED BY OTHER FEDERAL DEPARTMENTS

10 AND AGENCIES.

11 Section 5106 of title 38, United States Code, is amend12 ed by adding at the end the following new sentence: ‘‘No

13 charge may be imposed by the head of any such department

14 or agency for providing such information.’’.

15 SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE.

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as specifically provided oth17 erwise, the provisions of section 5107 of title 38, United

18 States Code, as amended by section 4 of this Act, apply

19 to any claim—

20 (1) filed on or after the date of the enactment of

21 this Act; or

22 (2) filed before the date of the enactment of this

23 Act and not final as of the date of the enactment of

24 this Act.
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1 (b) RULE FOR CLAIMS THE DENIAL OF WHICH BE2 CAME FINAL AFTER THE COURT OF APPEALS FOR VET3 ERANS CLAIMS DECISION IN THE MORTON CASE.—(1) In

4 the case of any claim for benefits—

5 (A) the denial of which became final during the

6 period beginning on July 14, 1999, and ending on the

7 date of the enactment of this Act; and

8 (B) which was denied or dismissed by the Sec9 retary of Veterans Affairs or a court because the claim

10 was not well grounded (as that term was used in sec11 tion 5107(a) of title 38, United States Code, as in ef12 fect during that period),

13 the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall, upon the request of

14 the claimant, or on the Secretary’s own motion, order the

15 claim readjudicated under chapter 51 of such title, as

16 amended by this Act, as if such denial or dismissal had

17 not been made.

18 (2) A claim may not be readjudicated under this sub19 section unless the request is filed or the motion made not

20 later than two years after the date of the enactment of this

21 Act.

22 (3) In the absence of a timely request of a claimant,

23 nothing in this Act shall be construed as establishing a duty

24 on the part of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to locate

25 and readjudicate claims described in this subsection.

Union Calendar No. 448

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4864

[Report No. 106–781]

A BILL

To amend title 38, United States Code, to reaffirm

and clarify the duty of the Secretary of VeteransAffairs to assist claimants for benefits underlaws administered by the Secretary, and for otherpurposes.

JULY 24, 2000

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union

and ordered to be printed