II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1203 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the processing by the 

Department of Veterans Affairs of claims for benefits under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 6, 2015 

Mr. HELLER (for himself, Mr. CASEY, Mr. MORAN, Mr. MANCHIN, Mr. 

TOOMEY, Mr. HEINRICH, Mr. VITTER, Mr. TESTER, and Ms. COLLINS) 

introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 

Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the 

processing by the Department of Veterans Affairs of 

claims for benefits under 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘21st Century Veterans Benefits Delivery Act’’. 

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

7 this Act is as follows: 


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Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

TITLE I—BENEFITS CLAIMS SUBMISSION 

Sec. 101. Improvements to Transition Assistance Program. 

Sec. 102. Requirement that decisions on claims explain advantages of filing appeals within 180 days. 

Sec. 103. Determination of manner of appearance for hearings before Board of 

Veterans’ Appeals. 

TITLE II—PRACTICES OF REGIONAL OFFICES 

Sec. 201. Required Comptroller General audit of regional offices of Veterans 

Benefits Administration. 

Sec. 202. Requirement for management training program for veterans service 

center managers of Veterans Benefits Administration. 

Sec. 203. Analysis of communication between regional offices of Department of 

Veterans Affairs and veterans service organizations and Congressional caseworkers. 

Sec. 204. Review of practices of regional offices regarding use of suspense 

dates. 

Sec. 205. Annual report on capacity of Veterans Benefits Administration to 

process benefits claims. 

Sec. 206. Requirement to complete efforts to revise resource allocation model 

of Department of Veterans Affairs. 

Sec. 207. Semiannual report on progress in implementing Veterans Benefits 

Management System. 

Sec. 208. Report on plans of Secretary of Veterans Affairs to reduce inventory 

of claims for dependency and indemnity compensation and 

claims for pension. 

Sec. 209. Increased transparency in Monday Morning Workload Report. 

Sec. 210. Reports on appeals of decisions on benefits claims. 

Sec. 211. Modification of pilot program for use of contract physicians for disability examinations. 

TITLE III—GOVERNMENT RESPONSE 

Sec. 301. Increased cooperation across Government. 

Sec. 302. Report on interoperability between electronic health records systems 

of Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs. 

1 TITLE I—BENEFITS CLAIMS 

2 SUBMISSION 

3 SEC. 101. IMPROVEMENTS TO TRANSITION ASSISTANCE 

4 PROGRAM. 

5 (a) MODIFICATION TO ENABLE ONLINE ACCESS.— 

6 Section 1144 of title 10, United States Code, is amended 

7 by adding at the end the following new subsection: 


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1 ‘‘(f) ONLINE ACCESS.—(1) The Secretary of Labor, 

2 in conjunction with the Secretary of Defense, the Sec3 retary of Homeland Security, and the Secretary of Vet4 erans Affairs, shall take such actions and make such modi5 fications to the eBenefits Internet website as may be nec6 essary to ensure that members of the armed forces and 

7 spouses described in subsection (a)(1) can access materials 

8 from the program carried out under this section through 

9 an Internet website. 

10 ‘‘(2) An individual subject to a requirement under 

11 subsection (c) may not satisfy such requirement by partici12 pating in the program carried out under this section solely 

13 through an Internet website.’’. 

14 (b) PARTICIPATION OF VETERANS SERVICE ORGANI15 ZATIONS.— 

16 (1) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of 

17 Congress that the Secretary of Defense, in collabora18 tion with the Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of 

19 Homeland Security, and the Secretary of Veterans 

20 Affairs, should establish a process by which a rep21 resentative of a veterans service organization may be 

22 present at any portion of the program carried out 

23 under section 1144 of title 10, United States Code, 

24 relating to the submittal of claims to the Secretary 


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1 of Veterans Affairs for compensation under chapter 

2 11 or 13 of title 38, United States Code. 

3 (2) REPORT.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year 

5 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

6 Secretary of Defense shall submit to Congress 

7 a report on participation of veterans service or8 ganizations in the program carried out under 

9 section 1144 of title 10, United States Code. 

10 (B) CONTENTS.—The report required by 

11 subparagraph (A) shall include the following: 

12 (i) An assessment of the compliance 

13 of facilities of the Department of Defense 

14 with the directives included in the memo15 randum of the Secretary of Defense enti16 tled ‘‘Installation Access and Support 

17 Services for Nonprofit Non-Federal Enti18 ties’’ and dated December 23, 2014. 

19 (ii) The number of military bases that 

20 have complied with such directives. 

21 (iii) How many veterans service orga22 nizations have been present at a portion of 

23 a program as described in paragraph (1). 

24 (3) VETERANS SERVICE ORGANIZATION DE25 FINED.—In this subsection, the term ‘‘veterans servVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:18 May 14, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1203.IS S1203

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1 ice organization’’ means any organization recognized 

2 by the Secretary for the representation of veterans 

3 under section 5902 of title 38. 

4 SEC. 102. REQUIREMENT THAT DECISIONS ON CLAIMS EX5 PLAIN ADVANTAGES OF FILING APPEALS 

6 WITHIN 180 DAYS. 

7 Section 5104(a) of title 38, United States Code, is 

8 amended— 

9 (1) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ before ‘‘In the case’’; and 

10 (2) by striking the second sentence and insert11 ing the following new paragraph: 

12 ‘‘(2) The notice shall include the following: 

13 ‘‘(A) An explanation of the procedure for ob14 taining review of the decision. 

15 ‘‘(B) An explanation of the advantages of filing 

16 for review of the decision within 180 days.’’. 

17 SEC. 103. DETERMINATION OF MANNER OF APPEARANCE 

18 FOR HEARINGS BEFORE BOARD OF VET19 ERANS’ APPEALS. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 7107 of title 38, United 

21 States Code, is amended— 

22 (1) by striking subsection (e); 

23 (2) by redesignating subsections (d) and (f) as 

24 subsections (f) and (g), respectively; 


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1 (3) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol2 lowing new subsections (d) and (e): 

3 ‘‘(d)(1) Subject to paragraph (2), a hearing before 

4 the Board shall be conducted, as the Board considers ap5 propriate— 

6 ‘‘(A) in person; or 

7 ‘‘(B) through picture and voice transmission, by 

8 electronic or other means, in such manner that the 

9 appellant is not present in the same location as the 

10 members of the Board during the hearing. 

11 ‘‘(2) Upon request by an appellant, a hearing before 

12 the Board shall be conducted, as the appellant considers 

13 appropriate— 

14 ‘‘(A) in person; or 

15 ‘‘(B) through picture and voice transmission as 

16 described in paragraph (1)(B). 

17 ‘‘(e)(1) In a case in which a hearing before the Board 

18 is to be conducted through picture and voice transmission 

19 as described in subsection (d)(1)(B), the Secretary shall 

20 provide suitable facilities and equipment to the Board or 

21 other components of the Department to enable an appel22 lant located at an appropriate facility within the area 

23 served by a regional office to participate as so described. 

24 ‘‘(2) Any hearing conducted through picture and 

25 voice transmission as described in subsection (d)(1)(B) 


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1 shall be conducted in the same manner as, and shall be 

2 considered the equivalent of, a personal hearing.’’; and 

3 (4) in subsection (f)(1), as redesignated by 

4 paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘An appellant may re5 quest’’ and all that follows through ‘‘office of the 

6 Department’’ and inserting ‘‘In a case in which a 

7 hearing before the Board is to be conducted in per8 son, the hearing shall be held at the principal loca9 tion of the Board or at a facility of the Department 

10 located within the area served by a regional office of 

11 the Department.’’. 

12 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

13 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to cases received 

14 by the Board of Veterans’ Appeals pursuant to notices of 

15 disagreement submitted on or after the date of the enact16 ment of this Act. 

17 TITLE II—PRACTICES OF 

18 REGIONAL OFFICES 

19 SEC. 201. REQUIRED COMPTROLLER GENERAL AUDIT OF 

20 REGIONAL OFFICES OF VETERANS BENEFITS 

21 ADMINISTRATION. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 

23 date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 

24 of the United States shall complete an audit of the re25 gional offices of the Veterans Benefits Administration— 


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1 (1) to assess the consistency of decisions being 

2 made with respect to claims for benefits under laws 

3 administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; 

4 and 

5 (2) to identify ways in which the consistency of 

6 such decisions can be improved. 

7 (b) IDENTIFICATION OF FACTORS AND BEST PRAC8 TICES.—The audit conducted under subsection (a) shall 

9 include the following: 

10 (1) Identification of the factors, including man11 agement practices, that distinguish higher per12 forming regional offices from other regional offices. 

13 (2) Identification of best practices employed by 

14 higher performing regional offices that distinguish 

15 the performance of such offices from other regional 

16 offices. 

17 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 90 days after the date 

18 on which the Comptroller General completes the audit re19 quired by subsection (a), the Comptroller General shall 

20 submit to Congress a report on the results of the audit. 


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1 SEC. 202. REQUIREMENT FOR MANAGEMENT TRAINING 

2 PROGRAM FOR VETERANS SERVICE CENTER 

3 MANAGERS OF VETERANS BENEFITS ADMIN4 ISTRATION. 

5 The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall establish a 

6 training program for veterans service center managers, or 

7 for employees in successor positions in regional offices of 

8 the Veterans Benefits Administration, on matters con9 cerning managerial skills and such other skills as the Sec10 retary considers appropriate for such managers. 

11 SEC. 203. ANALYSIS OF COMMUNICATION BETWEEN RE12 GIONAL OFFICES OF DEPARTMENT OF VET13 ERANS AFFAIRS AND VETERANS SERVICE OR14 GANIZATIONS AND CONGRESSIONAL CASE15 WORKERS. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 

17 shall ensure that each systemic analysis of operations that 

18 is completed by a veterans service center manager in a 

19 regional office of the Department of Veterans Affairs in20 cludes an analysis of the communication between the re21 gional office and veterans service organizations and case22 workers employed by Members of Congress. 

23 (b) VETERANS SERVICE ORGANIZATION DEFINED.— 

24 In this section, the term ‘‘veterans service organization’’ 

25 means any organization recognized by the Secretary for 


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1 the representation of veterans under section 5902 of title 

2 38, United States Code. 

3 SEC. 204. REVIEW OF PRACTICES OF REGIONAL OFFICES 

4 REGARDING USE OF SUSPENSE DATES. 

5 (a) REVIEW REQUIRED.—Not later than 180 days 

6 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Inspector 

7 General of the Department of Veterans Affairs shall con8 duct a review of the practices of regional offices of the 

9 Department regarding the use of suspense dates during 

10 the disability claim assessment process. 

11 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 270 days after the date 

12 of the enactment of this Act, the Inspector General of the 

13 Department shall submit to Congress a report on the find14 ings of the Inspector General with respect to the review 

15 conducted under subsection (a). 

16 (c) SUSPENSE DATE DEFINED.—In this section, the 

17 term ‘‘suspense date’’ means a measure used by the Vet18 erans Benefits Administration to set incremental deadlines 

19 for disability claims as they progress through the disability 

20 claim assessment process. 

21 SEC. 205. ANNUAL REPORT ON CAPACITY OF VETERANS 

22 BENEFITS ADMINISTRATION TO PROCESS 

23 BENEFITS CLAIMS. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—Along with the supporting infor25 mation included in the budget submitted by the President 


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1 for fiscal year 2017 pursuant to section 1105(a) of title 

2 31, United States Code, and with the supporting informa3 tion included in each budget submittal under such section 

4 thereafter, the President shall include a report that the 

5 Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall prepare on the capacity 

6 of the Veterans Benefits Administration to process claims 

7 for benefits under laws administered by the Secretary dur8 ing the fiscal year covered by the budget with which the 

9 report is submitted. 

10 (b) CONTENTS.—Each report submitted under sub11 section (a) shall include, for the period covered by the re12 port, the following: 

13 (1) The number of claims for benefits under 

14 laws administered by the Secretary that the Sec15 retary expects the Veterans Benefits Administration 

16 to process. 

17 (2) The number of full-time equivalent employ18 ees of the Veterans Benefits Administration who are 

19 dedicated to processing such claims. 

20 (3) An estimate of the average number of such 

21 claims a single full-time equivalent employee of the 

22 Administration can process in a year, based on a 

23 time and motion study that the Secretary shall con24 duct on the processing of such claims. 


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1 (4) An assessment of whether the Administra2 tion requires additional or fewer full-time equivalent 

3 employees to process such claims during the next 

4 one-year, five-year, and ten-year periods. 

5 (5) A description of the actions the Secretary 

6 will take to improve the processing of such claims. 

7 (6) An assessment of the actions identified by 

8 the Secretary in the previous report submitted under 

9 subsection (a) and identification of the effects of 

10 those actions. 

11 (c) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The Secretary shall 

12 make each report required by subsection (a) available to 

13 the public on an Internet website of the Department of 

14 Veterans Affairs. 

15 SEC. 206. REQUIREMENT TO COMPLETE EFFORTS TO RE16 VISE RESOURCE ALLOCATION MODEL OF DE17 PARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

19 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Vet20 erans Affairs shall complete the efforts of the Department 

21 of Veterans Affairs to revise the resource allocation model 

22 of the Veterans Benefits Administration. 

23 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 

24 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit 

25 to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and 


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1 the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Rep2 resentatives a report on the resource allocation model re3 vised pursuant to subsection (a). 

4 SEC. 207. SEMIANNUAL REPORT ON PROGRESS IN IMPLE5 MENTING VETERANS BENEFITS MANAGE6 MENT SYSTEM. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

8 date of the enactment of this Act and not less frequently 

9 than once every 180 days thereafter until the date that 

10 is three years after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

11 the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall submit to Congress 

12 a report on the progress of the Secretary in implementing 

13 the Veterans Benefits Management System. 

14 (b) CONTENTS.—The report required by subsection 

15 (a) shall include the following: 

16 (1) An assessment of the current functionality 

17 of the Veterans Benefits Management System. 

18 (2) Recommendations submitted to the Sec19 retary by employees of the Department of Veterans 

20 Affairs who are involved in processing claims for 

21 benefits under laws administered by the Secretary, 

22 including veteran service representatives, rating vet23 eran service representatives, and decision review offi24 cers, for such legislative or administrative action as 


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1 the employees consider appropriate to improve the 

2 processing of such claims. 

3 (3) Recommendations submitted to the Sec4 retary by veterans service organizations who use the 

5 Veterans Benefits Management System for such leg6 islative or administrative action as the veterans serv7 ice organization consider appropriate to improve 

8 such system. 

9 SEC. 208. REPORT ON PLANS OF SECRETARY OF VETERANS 

10 AFFAIRS TO REDUCE INVENTORY OF CLAIMS 

11 FOR DEPENDENCY AND INDEMNITY COM12 PENSATION AND CLAIMS FOR PENSION. 

13 Not later than 90 days after the date of the enact14 ment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall 

15 submit to Congress a report that details the plans of the 

16 Secretary to reduce the inventory of— 

17 (1) claims submitted to the Secretary for com18 pensation under chapter 13 of title 38, United 

19 States Code; and 

20 (2) claims submitted to the Secretary for pen21 sion under chapter 15 of such title. 

22 SEC. 209. INCREASED TRANSPARENCY IN MONDAY MORN23 ING WORKLOAD REPORT. 

24 (a) DISAGGREGATION OF CLAIMS BY DECISIONS RE25 QUIRING DISABILITY RATING.—The Secretary of VetVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:18 May 14, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00014 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1203.IS S1203

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1 erans Affairs shall include in each Monday Morning Work2 load Report published by the Secretary the number of 

3 claims for benefits under laws administered by the Sec4 retary that have been received by a regional office of the 

5 Department of Veterans Affairs and are pending a deci6 sion, disaggregated by— 

7 (1) claims that have been pending for more 

8 than 125 days; 

9 (2) claims that have been pending for 125 days 

10 or fewer; and 

11 (3) claims that do not require a decision con12 cerning a disability rating. 

13 (b) INCLUSION OF INFORMATION ON ASSIGNMENT OF

14 PARTIAL RATINGS.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 

15 shall include in each Monday Morning Workload Report 

16 published by the Secretary in the portion of the report 

17 entitled ‘‘Transformation’’ and in the portion of the report 

18 entitled ‘‘Aggregate’’ the number of partial ratings as19 signed. 

20 (c) REPORT ON FULLY DEVELOPED CLAIMS.—The 

21 Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall include in each Monday 

22 Morning Workload Report published by the Secretary the 

23 following: 


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1 (1) The total number of fully developed claims 

2 for benefits under laws administered by the Sec3 retary that— 

4 (A) have been received by a regional office 

5 of the Department of Veterans Affairs; and 

6 (B) are pending a decision. 

7 (2) The total number of such claims that have 

8 been pending for more than 125 days, disaggregated 

9 by station. 

10 (d) STATION DEFINED.—In this section, the term 

11 ‘‘station’’ means the location of a regional office of the 

12 Department where claims for disability compensation are 

13 processed. 

14 SEC. 210. REPORTS ON APPEALS OF DECISIONS ON BENE15 FITS CLAIMS. 

16 (a) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The Secretary of Vet17 erans Affairs shall make the reports of the Department 

18 of Veterans Affairs entitled ‘‘Appeals Pending’’ and ‘‘Ap19 peals Workload By Station’’ available to the public on an 

20 Internet website of the Department. 

21 (b) APPEALS GRANTED BY STATION.—The Secretary 

22 shall include in one of the reports described in subsection 

23 (a) the percentage of appeals granted by station. 

24 (c) CLAIMS PREVIOUSLY ADJUDICATED BY APPEALS

25 MANAGEMENT CENTER.—The Secretary shall include in 


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1 one of the reports described in subsection (a) the percent2 age of claims previously adjudicated by the Appeals Man3 agement Center that were either subsequently granted or 

4 remanded by the Board of Veterans’ Appeals. 

5 (d) STATION DEFINED.—In this section, the term 

6 ‘‘station’’ means the location of a regional office of the 

7 Department where claims for disability compensation are 

8 processed. 

9 SEC. 211. MODIFICATION OF PILOT PROGRAM FOR USE OF 

10 CONTRACT PHYSICIANS FOR DISABILITY EX11 AMINATIONS. 

12 Section 504 of the Veterans’ Benefits Improvement 

13 Act of 1996 (Public Law 104–275; 38 U.S.C. 5101 note) 

14 is amended— 

15 (1) by redesignating subsections (c) and (d) as 

16 subsections (d) and (e), respectively; and 

17 (2) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol18 lowing new subsection (c): 

19 ‘‘(c) LICENSURE OF CONTRACT PHYSICIANS.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any law 

21 regarding the licensure of physicians, a physician de22 scribed in paragraph (2) may conduct an examina23 tion pursuant to a contract entered into under sub24 section (a) at any location in any State, the District 

25 of Columbia, or a Commonwealth, territory, or posVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:18 May 14, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00017 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1203.IS S1203

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1 session of the United States, so long as the examina2 tion is within the scope of the authorized duties 

3 under such contract. 

4 ‘‘(2) PHYSICIAN DESCRIBED.—A physician de5 scribed in this paragraph is a physician who— 

6 ‘‘(A) has a current license to practice the 

7 health care profession of the physician; and 

8 ‘‘(B) is performing authorized duties for 

9 the Department of Veterans Affairs pursuant to 

10 a contract entered into under subsection (a).’’. 

11 TITLE III—GOVERNMENT 

12 RESPONSE 

13 SEC. 301. INCREASED COOPERATION ACROSS GOVERN14 MENT. 

15 (a) APPOINTMENT OF LIAISONS.— 

16 (1) DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE.—The Sec17 retary of Defense shall appoint individuals as fol18 lows: 

19 (A) At least one individual to act as a liai20 son under this section between the Department 

21 of Defense and the Department of Veterans Af22 fairs. 

23 (B) At least one individual for each of the 

24 reserve components of the Armed Forces to act 

25 as a liaison under this section between the reVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:18 May 14, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00018 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1203.IS S1203

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1 spective component of the Armed Forces and 

2 the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

3 (2) NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ADMIN4 ISTRATION.—The Archivist of the United States 

5 shall appoint at least one individual to act as a liai6 son under this section between the National Archives 

7 and Records Administration and the Department of 

8 Veterans Affairs. 

9 (b) DUTIES OF LIAISONS.—Each individual acting as 

10 a liaison under this section shall expedite the timely provi11 sion to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs of such informa12 tion as the Secretary requires to process claims submitted 

13 to the Secretary for benefits under laws administered by 

14 the Secretary. 

15 (c) PROCEDURES.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Veterans 

17 Affairs, the Secretary of Defense, and the Archivist 

18 of the United States shall jointly develop and imple19 ment procedures to improve the timely provision to 

20 the Secretary of Veterans Affairs of such informa21 tion as the Secretary requires to process claims sub22 mitted to the Secretary for benefits under laws ad23 ministered by the Secretary. 

24 (2) TIMELY PROVISION.—The procedures devel25 oped and implemented under paragraph (1) shall enVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:18 May 14, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00019 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1203.IS S1203

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1 sure that the information provided to the Secretary 

2 of Veterans Affairs is provided to the Secretary not 

3 later than 30 days after the date on which the Sec4 retary requests the information. 

5 (d) ANNUAL REPORTS.—Not less frequently than 

6 once each year, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall 

7 submit to Congress a report on— 

8 (1) the requests for information made by the 

9 Secretary during the most recent one-year period for 

10 information from the Secretary of Defense and the 

11 Archivist of the United States required by the Sec12 retary of Veterans Affairs to process claims sub13 mitted to the Secretary for benefits under laws ad14 ministered by the Secretary; and 

15 (2) the timeliness of responses to such requests. 

16 SEC. 302. REPORT ON INTEROPERABILITY BETWEEN ELEC17 TRONIC HEALTH RECORDS SYSTEMS OF DE18 PARTMENT OF DEFENSE AND DEPARTMENT 

19 OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 

20 Not later than one year after the date of the enact21 ment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense and the Sec22 retary of Veterans Affairs shall jointly submit to Congress 

23 a report that sets forth a timeline with milestones for 

24 achieving interoperability between the electronic health 


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1 records systems of the Department of Defense and the De2 partment of Veterans Affairs. 

Æ 


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