I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8381 

To direct the Comptroller General of the United States and the Secretary 

of Veterans Affairs to each report on certain disparities that affect 

the receipt of certain benefits administered by the Secretary, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 14, 2024 

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

Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To direct the Comptroller General of the United States and 

the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to each report on certain disparities that affect the receipt of certain benefits 

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 ‘‘Strengthening Trans5 parent Reporting to Improve Veteran Equality Act of 

6 2024’’ or the ‘‘STRIVE Act of 2024’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

2 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find3 ings: 

4 (1) According to an internal report of the De5 partment of Defense, Black members of the Armed 

6 Forces are more likely than White members to be 

7 the subject of— 

8 (A) an administrative action, including an 

9 investigation into alleged misconduct; 

10 (B) a nonjudicial punishment; or 

11 (C) a trial by court-martial. 

12 (2) Certain administrative actions, nonjudicial 

13 punishments, and court-martial sentences may ad14 versely affect the eligibility of a former member of 

15 the Armed Forces to receive disability benefits ad16 ministered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. 

17 (3) According to the report titled ‘‘VA Dis18 ability Benefits: Actions Needed to Further Examine 

19 Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Compensation’’ 

20 (GAO–23–106097), published on July 26, 2023— 

21 (A) Black, non-Hispanic applicants for 

22 such benefits experience the lowest rate of ap23 proval for such benefits compared to applicants 

24 of other races or ethnicities; 


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1 (B) a Black, non-Hispanic applicant is 14 

2 percent less likely to be approved for such bene3 fits than a White, non-Hispanic applicant; and 

4 (C) the rates of approval for such benefits 

5 for Black, male applicants are between 3 and 

6 22 percent lower than the rates of approval for 

7 applicants of other races or genders. 

8 (4) Female former members of the Armed 

9 Forces are less likely to apply for such benefits than 

10 male former members. 

11 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con12 gress that— 

13 (1) each former member of the Armed Forces 

14 made heroic sacrifices while serving in the Armed 

15 Forces, such as risking the life of the former mem16 ber, to preserve the freedom of the United States; 

17 and 

18 (2) the collection and publication by the Sec19 retary of accurate data regarding the race, ethnicity, 

20 and gender of all applicants for, and recipients of, 

21 disability benefits administered by the Secretary 

22 would enable the Secretary and Congress to identify 

23 and address any disparity based on the race, eth24 nicity, or gender of a former member of the Armed 

25 Forces, with respect to the receipt of such benefits. 


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1 SEC. 3. REPORTS ON RACIAL, ETHNIC, AND GENDER DIS2 PARITIES WITH RESPECT TO DISABILITY 

3 BENEFITS ADMINISTERED BY THE SEC4 RETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 

5 (a) GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE RE6 PORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date of the en7 actment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United 

8 States shall submit to the appropriate congressional com9 mittees a report that includes the following elements: 

10 (1) Statistics for the 15-year period imme11 diately prior to the date of the enactment of this Act 

12 that describe— 

13 (A) the characterization of discharge or 

14 dismissal of each former member of the Armed 

15 Forces who separated from the Armed Forces 

16 during such period, disaggregated by the race, 

17 ethnicity, and gender of the former member; 

18 and 

19 (B) the number of such former members, 

20 disaggregated by the race, ethnicity, and gender 

21 of each such former member, who— 

22 (i) requested review of the character23 ization of discharge or dismissal by an ap24 propriate board; 


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1 (ii) received review of the character2 ization of discharge or dismissal by an ap3 propriate board; 

4 (iii) received a change to the charac5 terization of discharge or dismissal as a re6 sult of a decision by an appropriate board; 

7 (iv) applied for disability benefits ad8 ministered by the Secretary of Veterans 

9 Affairs; 

10 (v) applied for and received such ben11 efits; and 

12 (vi) applied for and were denied such 

13 benefits for reason of characterization of 

14 discharge or dismissal. 

15 (2) The determination of the Comptroller Gen16 eral whether there is a disparity based on the race, 

17 ethnicity, or gender of a former member, with re18 spect to the receipt of— 

19 (A) review of the characterization of dis20 charge or dismissal by an appropriate board; or 

21 (B) a change to the characterization of dis22 charge or dismissal as a result of a decision by 

23 an appropriate board. 

24 (3) The assessment of the Comptroller General 

25 whether there is a relationship between— 


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1 (A) any disparity determined under para2 graph (2); and 

3 (B) any disparity determined by the Comp4 troller General in the covered report, with re5 spect to disability benefits administered by the 

6 Secretary. 

7 (b) SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS: REPORTS; 

8 PLAN; IMPLEMENTATION.— 

9 (1) INITIAL REPORT.—Not later than 365 days 

10 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec11 retary of Veterans Affairs shall submit to the Com12 mittees on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and the 

13 House of Representatives, and make available on a 

14 publicly accessible website of the Department of Vet15 erans Affairs, a report that includes the following 

16 elements: 

17 (A) A description of any specific actions 

18 taken or processes implemented by the Sec19 retary to address the limitations identified by 

20 the Comptroller General in the covered report, 

21 with respect to the collection and availability of 

22 data regarding each racial and ethnic group to 

23 which a former member of the Armed Forces 

24 belongs. 


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1 (B) An identification by the Secretary, 

2 based on information in the covered report, of 

3 every significant cause of a racial, ethnic, or 

4 gender disparity with respect to disability bene5 fits administered by the Secretary. 

6 (C) The three-year plan of the Secretary to 

7 address each significant cause identified under 

8 subparagraph (B). 

9 (2) IMPLEMENTATION OF PLAN; ANNUAL RE10 PORT.—The Secretary shall— 

11 (A) implement the plan under paragraph 

12 (1)(C) not later than one day after the submis13 sion of the report under paragraph (1); and 

14 (B) annually for each year during which 

15 the Secretary is carrying out such plan, make 

16 available on a publicly accessible website of the 

17 Department a report summarizing, for the pe18 riod covered by the report, the actions of the 

19 Secretary pursuant to such plan. 

20 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

21 (1) The term ‘‘appropriate board’’ means— 

22 (A) a board for the correction of military 

23 records under section 1552 of title 10, United 

24 States Code; or 


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1 (B) a board of review under section 1553 

2 of such title. 

3 (2) The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com4 mittees’’ means— 

5 (A) the Committee on Armed Services of 

6 the Senate; 

7 (B) the Committee on Armed Services of 

8 the House of Representatives; 

9 (C) the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of 

10 the Senate; and 

11 (D) the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of 

12 the House of Representatives. 

13 (3) The term ‘‘covered report’’ means the re14 port titled ‘‘VA Disability Benefits: Actions Needed 

15 to Further Examine Racial and Ethnic Disparities 

16 in Compensation’’ (GAO–23–106097), published on 

17 July 26, 2023. 

Æ 


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