II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 3295 

To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a portal for maintaining digital records of former members of the Armed Forces and 

to establish an advisory committee regarding the maintenance of those 

records, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 14 (legislative day, NOVEMBER 13), 2023 

Mr. LANKFORD (for himself and Ms. HASSAN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish 

a portal for maintaining digital records of former members of the Armed Forces and to establish an advisory 

committee regarding the maintenance of those 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 ‘‘Increasing Access to 

5 Military Service Records Act of 2023’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF PORTAL FOR DIGITAL 

2 RECORDS OF FORMER MEMBERS OF THE 

3 ARMED FORCES. 

4 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PORTAL REQUIRED.—The 

5 Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall establish a portal for 

6 maintaining images of the military personnel digital 

7 records of the Department of Defense so that former 

8 members of the Armed Forces and their families can ac9 cess their own records through a portal created by the De10 partment of Veterans Affairs. 

11 (b) ADVISORY COMMITTEE.— 

12 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall es14 tablish an advisory committee on access to mili15 tary personnel records of former members of 

16 the Armed Forces. 

17 (B) DESIGNATION.—The advisory com18 mittee established under subparagraph (A) shall 

19 be known as the ‘‘Veteran Military Personnel 

20 Record Advisory Committee’’ (in this section re21 ferred to as the ‘‘Advisory Committee’’). 

22 (2) MEMBERSHIP.— 

23 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Advisory Com24 mittee shall be composed of 12 members ap25 pointed by the Secretary, of which— 


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1 (i) not fewer than one shall be a rep2 resentative of the Administration; 

3 (ii) not fewer than one shall be a rep4 resentative of the Department of Defense; 

5 (iii) not fewer than one shall be a rep6 resentative of the Department of Veterans 

7 Affairs; 

8 (iv) not fewer than one shall be a rep9 resentative of the Army; 

10 (v) not fewer than one shall be a rep11 resentative of the Navy; 

12 (vi) not fewer than one shall be a rep13 resentative of the Air Force; 

14 (vii) not fewer than one shall be a 

15 representative of the Marine Corps; 

16 (viii) not fewer than one shall be a 

17 representative of the Space Force; 

18 (ix) not fewer than one shall be a rep19 resentative of the Coast Guard; 

20 (x) not fewer than one shall be a 

21 skilled software product development spe22 cialist; and 

23 (xi) not fewer than one shall be a rep24 resentative of a veterans service organiza25 tion. 


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1 (B) DATE.—The appointments of the 

2 members of the Committee under subparagraph 

3 (A) shall be made not later than 90 days after 

4 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

5 (C) PERIOD OF APPOINTMENT; VACAN6 CIES.— 

7 (i) IN GENERAL.—A member of the 

8 Advisory Committee shall be appointed for 

9 the life of the Advisory Committee. 

10 (ii) VACANCIES.—A vacancy in the 

11 Advisory Committee— 

12 (I) shall not affect the powers of 

13 the Advisory Committee; and 

14 (II) shall be filled in the same 

15 manner as the original appointment. 

16 (D) CHAIRPERSON AND VICE CHAIR17 PERSON.—The Advisory Committee shall select 

18 a Chairperson and Vice Chairperson from 

19 among the members of the Advisory Committee. 

20 (3) MEETINGS.— 

21 (A) INITIAL MEETING.—Not later than 90 

22 days after the date of the enactment of this 

23 Act, the Advisory Committee shall hold the first 

24 meeting of the Advisory Committee. 


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1 (B) FREQUENCY.—The Advisory Com2 mittee shall meet not less frequently than quar3 terly. 

4 (C) QUORUM.—A majority of the members 

5 of the Advisory Committee shall constitute a 

6 quorum, but a lesser number of members may 

7 hold hearings. 

8 (4) DUTIES.—The duties of the Advisory Com9 mittee are as follows: 

10 (A) To assess how the Department of Vet11 erans Affairs and the National Archives can 

12 more effectively utilize the electronic records of 

13 the Department of Defense via the Defense 

14 Personnel Records Information Retrieval Sys15 tem and how to best use this platform as a por16 tal for the digital images of the records. 

17 (B) To assess how the military depart18 ments would need to better coordinate the capa19 bilities of the Defense Personnel Records Infor20 mation Retrieval System. 

21 (C) To assess how best to leverage existing 

22 infrastructure of the Defense Personnel 

23 Records Information Retrieval System and 

24 other forms of infrastructure to facilitate miliVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:34 Nov 17, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3295.IS S3295

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1 tary personnel record access for former mem2 bers of the Armed Forces. 

3 (D) To create guidelines for compiling 

4 military personnel records of members of the 

5 Armed Forces in the portal established under 

6 subsection (a). 

7 (E) To assess the steps required to develop 

8 an electronic portal and corresponding website 

9 to carry out subsection (a). 

10 (F) To assess the transition from the De11 partment of Defense to the Administration 

12 after 62 years when military personnel records 

13 become public. 

14 (G) To assess the coordination of military 

15 personnel records between Federal agencies. 

16 (H) To assess the consistency and inter17 operability of data sharing between the military 

18 departments with respect to military personnel 

19 records. 

20 (I) To assess the legal impediments to the 

21 sharing between Federal agencies of military 

22 personnel records. 

23 (J) To assess the options for accessibility 

24 of former members of the Armed Forces to 


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1 their military personnel records and any hin2 drances to such accessibility. 

3 (K) To assess the feasibility and advis4 ability of a call center for former members of 

5 the Armed Forces to access their military per6 sonnel records within the National Personnel 

7 Records Center. 

8 (L) To assess the feasibility and advis9 ability of a nondigital option for former mem10 bers of the Armed Forces without access to the 

11 portal established under subsection (a) to ac12 cess their military personnel records. 

13 (M) To assess the feasibility and advis14 ability of establishing a portal like the one re15 quired by subsection (a) but separated from 

16 such portal and for congressional caseworkers 

17 of former members of the Armed Forces. 

18 (N) To assess the feasibility and advis19 ability of allowing third-party access to military 

20 personnel records of former members of the 

21 Armed Forces for scholars and extended family 

22 members of such former members. 

23 (O) To assess how the portal required by 

24 subsection (a) can have necessary separation 

25 between the actual data or information provided 


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1 and the end user to protect confidential infor2 mation and privacy. 

3 (P) To assess measures to ensure adequate 

4 access to military personnel records of former 

5 members of the Armed Forces by historians 

6 while protecting the privacy of former members 

7 of the Armed Forces. 

8 (Q) To assess which metrics should be 

9 used to determine which family members of 

10 former members of the Armed Forces should be 

11 allowed to access the military personnel records 

12 of such former members. 

13 (R) To assess how military personnel 

14 records transfer from the military departments 

15 to the Administration after 62 years will occur 

16 in the digital realm, including from a private in17 formation protection standpoint. 

18 (S) To assess the current standards for 

19 sharing records of former members of the 

20 Armed Forces. 

21 (T) To assess how to avoid data redun22 dancy and ensure consistent record keeping of 

23 military personnel records across all platforms 

24 and locations of the Federal Government. 


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1 (5) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after 

2 the initial meeting of the Advisory Committee under 

3 paragraph (3)(A), the Advisory Committee shall sub4 mit to Congress a report on the activities conducted 

5 by the Advisory Committee. 

6 (6) POWERS OF ADVISORY COMMITTEE.— 

7 (A) HEARINGS.—The Advisory Committee 

8 may hold such hearings, sit and act at such 

9 times and places, take such testimony, and re10 ceive such evidence as the Advisory Committee 

11 considers advisable to carry out this subsection. 

12 (B) INFORMATION FROM FEDERAL AGEN13 CIES.— 

14 (i) IN GENERAL.—The Advisory Com15 mittee may secure directly from a Federal 

16 department or agency such information as 

17 the Advisory Committee considers nec18 essary to carry out this subsection. 

19 (ii) FURNISHING INFORMATION.—On 

20 request of the Chairperson of the Advisory 

21 Committee, the head of the department or 

22 agency shall furnish the information to the 

23 Advisory Committee. 

24 (C) POSTAL SERVICES.—The Advisory 

25 Committee may use the United States mails in 


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1 the same manner and under the same condi2 tions as other departments and agencies of the 

3 Federal Government. 

4 (D) GIFTS.—The Advisory Committee may 

5 accept, use, and dispose of gifts or donations of 

6 services or property. 

7 (7) ADVISORY COMMITTEE PERSONNEL MAT8 TERS.— 

9 (A) COMPENSATION OF MEMBERS.—A 

10 member of the Advisory Committee who is not 

11 an officer or employee of the Federal Govern12 ment shall be compensated at a rate equal to 

13 the daily equivalent of the annual rate of basic 

14 pay prescribed for level IV of the Executive 

15 Schedule under section 5315 of title 5, United 

16 States Code, for each day (including travel 

17 time) during which the member is engaged in 

18 the performance of the duties of the Advisory 

19 Committee. 

20 (B) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—A member of the 

21 Advisory Committee shall be allowed travel ex22 penses, including per diem in lieu of subsist23 ence, at rates authorized for employees of agen24 cies under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, 

25 United States Code, while away from their 


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1 homes or regular places of business in the per2 formance of services for the Advisory Com3 mittee. 

4 (C) STAFF.— 

5 (i) IN GENERAL.—The Chairperson of 

6 the Advisory Committee may, without re7 gard to the civil service laws (including 

8 regulations), appoint and terminate an ex9 ecutive director and such other additional 

10 personnel as may be necessary to enable 

11 the Advisory Committee to perform its du12 ties, except that the employment of an ex13 ecutive director shall be subject to con14 firmation by the Advisory Committee. 

15 (ii) COMPENSATION.—The Chair16 person of the Advisory Committee may fix 

17 the compensation of the executive director 

18 and other personnel without regard to 

19 chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 

20 53 of title 5, United States Code, relating 

21 to classification of positions and General 

22 Schedule pay rates, except that the rate of 

23 pay for the executive director and other 

24 personnel may not exceed the rate payable 


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1 for level V of the Executive Schedule under 

2 section 5316 of that title. 

3 (D) DETAIL OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOY4 EES.—A Federal Government employee may be 

5 detailed to the Advisory Committee without re6 imbursement, and such detail shall be without 

7 interruption or loss of civil service status or 

8 privilege. 

9 (E) PROCUREMENT OF TEMPORARY AND

10 INTERMITTENT SERVICES.—The Chairperson of 

11 the Advisory Committee may procure temporary 

12 and intermittent services under section 3109(b) 

13 of title 5, United States Code, at rates for indi14 viduals that do not exceed the daily equivalent 

15 of the annual rate of basic pay prescribed for 

16 level V of the Executive Schedule under section 

17 5316 of that title. 

18 (8) TERMINATION OF ADVISORY COMMITTEE.— 

19 The Advisory Committee shall terminate on the date 

20 that is two years after the date of the enactment of 

21 this Act. 

22 (9) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—No 

23 amounts are authorized to be appropriated to carry 

24 out this subsection. The Secretary shall carry out 


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1 this subsection using amounts otherwise made avail2 able to the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

3 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

4 (1) ADMINISTRATION AND ARCHIVIST.—The 

5 terms ‘‘Administration’’ and ‘‘Archivist’’ have the 

6 meanings given those terms in section 2101 of title 

7 44, United States Code. 

8 (2) VETERANS SERVICE ORGANIZATION.—The 

9 term ‘‘veterans service organization’’ means any or10 ganization recognized by the Secretary of Veterans 

11 Affairs for the representation of veterans under sec12 tion 5902 of title 38, United States Code. 

Æ 


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