IIB 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 91 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 19, 2015 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

AN ACT 

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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Veteran’s I.D. Card 

3 Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. VETERANS IDENTIFICATION CARD. 

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

6 (1) Currently, veteran identification cards are 

7 issued to veterans who have either completed the 

8 statutory time-in-service requirement for retirement 

9 from the Armed Forces or who have received a med10 ical-related discharge from the Armed Forces. 

11 (2) A veteran who has served a minimum obli12 gated time in service, but who does not meet the cri13 teria described in paragraph (1), does not receive a 

14 means of identifying the veteran’s status as a vet15 eran other than using the official DD–214 discharge 

16 papers of the veteran. 

17 (3) Goods, services, and promotional activities 

18 are often offered by public and private institutions 

19 to veterans who demonstrate proof of service in the 

20 military, but it is impractical for a veteran to always 

21 carry official DD–214 discharge papers to dem22 onstrate such proof. 

23 (4) A general purpose veteran identification 

24 card made available to a veteran who does not meet 

25 the criteria described in paragraph (1) would be use26 ful to such veteran in order to demonstrate the staVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:18 May 20, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H91.RFS H91

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1 tus of the veteran without having to carry and use 

2 official DD–214 discharge papers. 

3 (5) The Department of Veterans Affairs has 

4 the infrastructure in place across the United States 

5 to produce photographic identification cards and ac6 cept a small payment to cover the cost of these 

7 cards. 

8 (b) PROVISION OF VETERAN IDENTIFICATION

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

10 amended by adding after section 5705 the following new 

11 section: 

12 ‘‘§ 5706. Veterans identification card 

13 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Veterans Af14 fairs shall issue an identification card described in sub15 section (b) to any covered veteran who— 

16 ‘‘(1) requests such card; 

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

18 under honorable conditions; 

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

20 other official document from the official military 

21 personnel file of the veteran that describes the serv22 ice of the veteran; and 

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

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

25 described in this subsection is a card that— 


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1 ‘‘(1) displays a photograph of the covered vet2 eran; 

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

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

5 benefits to which the veteran is entitled to; 

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

7 not a social security number; and 

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

9 ‘‘(A) honorably served in the Armed 

10 Forces; and 

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

12 document in the official military personnel file 

13 of the veteran that describes the service of the 

14 veteran. 

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

16 charge a fee to each veteran who receives an identification 

17 card issued under this section, including a replacement 

18 identification card. 

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

20 equal an amount that the Secretary determines is nec21 essary to issue an identification card under this section. 

22 ‘‘(B) In determining the amount of the fee under sub23 paragraph (A), the Secretary shall ensure that the total 

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

25 amount necessary to carry out this section, including costs 


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1 related to any additional equipment or personnel required 

2 to carry out this section. 

3 ‘‘(C) The Secretary shall review and reassess the de4 termination under subparagraph (A) during each 5-year 

5 period in which the Secretary issues an identification card 

6 under this section. 

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

8 deposited in an account of the Department available to 

9 carry out this section. Amounts so deposited shall be— 

10 ‘‘(A) merged with amounts in such account; 

11 ‘‘(B) available in such amounts as may be pro12 vided in appropriation Acts; and 

13 ‘‘(C) subject to the same conditions and limita14 tions as amounts otherwise in such account. 

15 ‘‘(d) EFFECT OF CARD ON BENEFITS.—(1) An iden16 tification card issued under this section shall not serve as 

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

18 under this title. 

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

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

21 under this title by reason of possessing such card. 

22 ‘‘(e) ADMINISTRATIVE MEASURES.—(1) The Sec23 retary shall ensure that any information collected or used 

24 with respect to an identification card issued under this 

25 section is appropriately secured. 


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

2 procedures with respect to issuing a replacement identi3 fication card. 

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

5 coordinate with the National Personnel Records Center. 

6 ‘‘(4) The Secretary may conduct such outreach to ad7 vertise the identification card under this section as the 

8 Secretary considers appropriate. 

9 ‘‘(f) CONSTRUCTION.—This section shall not be con10 strued to affect identification cards otherwise provided by 

11 the Secretary to veterans enrolled in the health care sys12 tem established under section 1705(a) of this title. 

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

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

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

16 1223 of title 10; and 

17 ‘‘(2) is not enrolled in the system of patient en18 rollment under section 1705 of this title.’’. 

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

20 at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting 

21 after the item relating to section 5705 the following new 

22 item: 

‘‘5706. Veterans identification card.’’. 


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

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

3 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Passed the House of Representatives May 18, 2015. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 

By ROBERT F. REEVES, 

Deputy Clerk. 


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