In the House of Representatives, U. S.,

June 13, 1994.

Resolved, That the bill from the Senate (S. 1904) entitled ‘‘An Act to amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the organization and procedures of the Board of Veterans’ Appeals’’, do pass with the following

AMENDMENT:

Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert:

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Board of Veterans’ Ap3 peals Administrative Procedures Improvement Act of

4 1994’’.

5 SEC. 2. NUMBER OF MEMBERS OF BOARD OF VETERANS’

6 APPEALS.

7 Section 7101(a) of title 38, United States Code, is

8 amended by striking out ‘‘(not more than 65)’’.

9 SEC. 3. ETHICAL AND LEGAL LIMITATIONS ON CHAIRMAN.

10 Section 7101(b)(1) of title 38 United States Code, is

11 amended by inserting after the first sentence the following

12 new sentence: ‘‘The Chairman shall be subject to the same

13 ethical and legal limitations and restrictions concerning in14 volvement in political activities as apply to judges of the

15 United States Court of Veterans Appeals.’’.
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1 SEC. 4. ACTING AND TEMPORARY MEMBERS OF BOARD OF

2 VETERANS’ APPEALS.

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (c) of section 7101 of

4 title 38, United States Code, is amended—

5 (1) by striking out paragraph (1) and inserting

6 in lieu thereof the following:

7 ‘‘(c)(1)(A) The Chairman may from time to time des8 ignate one or more employees of the Department to serve

9 as acting members of the Board. Except as provided in sub10 paragraph (B), any such designation shall be for a period

11 not to exceed 90 days, as determined by the Chairman.

12 ‘‘(B) An individual designated as an acting member

13 of the Board may continue to serve as an acting member

14 of the Board in the making of any determination on a pro15 ceeding for which the individual was designated as an act16 ing member of the Board, notwithstanding the termination

17 of the period of designation of the individual as an acting

18 member of the Board under subparagraph (A) or (C).

19 ‘‘(C) An individual may not serve as an acting mem20 ber of the Board for more than 270 days during any one21 year period.

22 ‘‘(D) At no time may the number of acting members

23 exceed 20 percent of the total of the number of Board mem24 bers and acting Board members combined.’’;

25 (2) by striking out paragraph (2);
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1 (3) by redesignating paragraph (3) as para2 graph (2); and

3 (4) in paragraph (2), as so redesignated, by

4 striking out ‘‘the number of temporary Board mem5 bers’’ and all that follows through the period at the

6 end and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘the number of act7 ing members of the Board designated under such

8 paragraph (1) during the year for which the report

9 is made.’’.

10 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—(1) Subsection (e) of

11 such section is amended by striking out ‘‘a temporary or’’

12 and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘an’’.

13 (2) Subsection (d)(3)(B) of such section is amended by

14 striking ‘‘section 7103(d)’’ and inserting in lieu thereof

15 ‘‘section 7101(a)’’.

16 SEC. 5. CHAIRMAN’S ANNUAL REPORT ON BOARD ACTIVI17 TIES.

18 Section 7101(d)(2) of title 38, United States Code, is

19 amended—

20 (1) by striking out ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara21 graph (D);

22 (2) by striking out the period at the end of sub23 paragraph (E) and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘; and’’;

24 and
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1 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub2 paragraph:

3 ‘‘(F) the number of employees of the Department

4 designated under subsection (c)(1) to serve as acting

5 members of the Board during that year and the num6 ber of cases in which each such member participated

7 during that year.’’.

8 SEC. 6. DECISIONS BY THE BOARD.

9 (a) ACTION BY BVA.—Sections 7102 and 7103 of title

10 38, United States Code, are amended to read as follows:

11 ‘‘§ 7102. Assignment of members of Board

12 ‘‘(a) A proceeding instituted before the Board may be

13 assigned to an individual member of the Board or to a

14 panel of not less than three members of the Board. A mem15 ber or panel assigned a proceeding shall make a determina16 tion thereon, including any motion filed in connection

17 therewith. The member or panel, as the case may be, shall

18 make a report under section 7104(d) of this title on any

19 such determination, which report shall constitute the final

20 disposition of the proceeding by the member or panel.

21 ‘‘(b) A proceeding may not be assigned to the Chair22 man as an individual member. The Chairman may partici23 pate in a proceeding assigned to a panel or in a reconsider24 ation assigned to a panel of members.
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1 ‘‘§ 7103. Reconsideration; correction of obvious errors

2 ‘‘(a) The decision of the Board determining a matter

3 under section 7102 of this title is final unless the Chairman

4 orders reconsideration of the decision in accordance with

5 subsection (b). Such an order may be made on the Chair6 man’s initiative or upon motion of the claimant.

7 ‘‘(b)(1) Upon the order of the Chairman for reconsider8 ation of the decision in a case, the case shall be referred—

9 ‘‘(A) in the case of a matter originally heard by

10 a single member of the Board, to a panel of not less

11 than three members of the Board; or

12 ‘‘(B) in the case of a matter originally heard by

13 a panel of members of the Board, to an enlarged

14 panel of the Board.

15 ‘‘(2) A panel referred to in paragraph (1) may not

16 include the member, or any member of the panel, that made

17 the decision subject to reconsideration.

18 ‘‘(3) A panel reconsidering a case under this subsection

19 shall render its decision after reviewing the entire record

20 before the Board. The decision of the panel shall be made

21 by a majority vote of the members of the panel. The decision

22 of the panel shall constitute the final decision of the Board.

23 ‘‘(c) The Board on its own motion may correct an ob24 vious error in the record, without regard to whether there

25 has been a motion or order for reconsideration.’’.
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1 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections at

2 the beginning of chapter 71 of such title is amended by

3 striking out the item relating to section 7103 and inserting

4 in lieu thereof the following:

‘‘7103. Reconsideration; correction of obvious errors.’’.

5 SEC. 7. PROCEDURES RELATING TO APPEALS.

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—(1) Section 7107 of title 38, United

7 States Code, is amended to read as follows:

8 ‘‘§ 7107. Appeals: dockets; hearings

9 ‘‘(a)(1) Each case received pursuant to application for

10 review on appeal shall be considered and decided in regular

11 order according to its place upon the docket.

12 ‘‘(2) A case referred to in paragraph (1) may, for cause

13 shown, be advanced on motion for earlier consideration and

14 determination. Any such motion shall set forth succinctly

15 the grounds upon which it is based and may not be granted

16 unless the case involves interpretation of law of general ap17 plication affecting other claims or for other sufficient cause

18 shown.

19 ‘‘(b) The Board shall decide any appeal only after af20 fording the appellant an opportunity for a hearing.

21 ‘‘(c) A hearing docket shall be maintained and formal

22 recorded hearings shall be held by such member or members

23 of the Board as the Chairman may designate. Such member

24 or members designated by the Chairman to conduct the

25 hearing shall, except in the case of a reconsideration of a
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1 decision under section 7103 of this title, participate in mak2 ing the final determination of the claim.

3 ‘‘(d)(1) An appellant may request that a hearing before

4 the Board be held at its principal location or at a facility

5 of the Department located within the area served by a re6 gional office of the Department.

7 ‘‘(2) A hearing to be held within an area served by

8 a regional office of the Department shall (except as provided

9 in paragraph (3)) be scheduled to be held in the order in

10 which requests for hearings within that area are received

11 by the Department.

12 ‘‘(3) In a case in which the Secretary is aware that

13 the appellant is seriously ill or is under severe financial

14 hardship, a hearing may be scheduled at a time earlier than

15 would be provided for under paragraph (2).

16 ‘‘(e)(1) At the request of the Chairman, the Secretary

17 may provide suitable facilities and equipment to the Board

18 or other components of the Department to enable an appel19 lant located at a facility within the area served by a re20 gional office to participate, through voice transmission or

21 through picture and voice transmission, by electronic or

22 other means, in a hearing with a Board member or mem23 bers sitting at the Board’s principal location.

24 ‘‘(2) When such facilities and equipment are available,

25 the Chairman may afford the appellant an opportunity to
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1 participate in a hearing before the Board through the use

2 of such facilities and equipment in lieu of a hearing held

3 by personally appearing before a Board member or panel

4 as provided in subsection (d). Any such hearing shall be

5 conducted in the same manner as, and shall be considered

6 the equivalent of, a personal hearing. If the appellant de7 clines to participate in a hearing through the use of such

8 facilities and equipment, the opportunity of the appellant

9 to a hearing as provided in such subsection (d) shall not

10 be affected.’’.

11 (2) The item relating to section 7107 in the table of

12 sections at the beginning of chapter 71 of such title is

13 amended to read as follows:

‘‘7107. Appeals: dockets; hearings.’’.

14 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—(1) Section 7104(a)

15 of such title is amended by striking out the third sentence.

16 (2) Section 7110 of such title is repealed.

17 (3) The table of sections at the beginning of chapter

18 71 of such title is amended by striking out the item relating

19 to section 7110.

20 SEC. 8. CROSS-REFERENCE CORRECTION.

21 Section 7104(a) of title 38, United States Code, is

22 amended by striking out ‘‘211(a)’’ and inserting in lieu

23 thereof ‘‘511(a)’’.
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1 SEC. 9. REVISION TO INCOME VERIFICATION REQUIRE2 MENTS.

3 (a) PARENTS DIC.—Section 1315(e) of title 38, United

4 States Code, is amended—

5 (1) in the first sentence—

6 (A) by striking out ‘‘shall’’ and inserting in

7 lieu thereof ‘‘may’’; and

8 (B) by striking out ‘‘each year’’ and insert9 ing in lieu thereof ‘‘for a calendar year’’; and

10 (2) in the second sentence—

11 (A) by striking out ‘‘file with the Secretary

12 a revised report’’ and inserting in lieu thereof

13 ‘‘notify the Secretary’’; and

14 (B) by striking out ‘‘the estimated’’.

15 (b) PENSION.—Section 1506 of such title is amended—

16 (1) in paragraph (2)—

17 (A) by striking out ‘‘shall’’ and inserting in

18 lieu thereof ‘‘may’’; and

19 (B) by striking out ‘‘each year’’ and insert20 ing in lieu thereof ‘‘for a calendar year’’; and

21 (2) in paragraph (3)—

22 (A) by striking out ‘‘file a revised report’’

23 and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘notify the Sec24 retary’’;

25 (B) by striking out ‘‘estimated’’ each place

26 it appears; and
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1 (C) by striking out ‘‘such applicant’s or re2 cipient’s estimate of’’.

Attest:

Clerk.

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1904

AMENDMENT