I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 733 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide certain employees of 

Members of Congress and certain employees of State or local governmental agencies with access to case-tracking information of the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 14, 2013 

Mr. RUNYAN (for himself and Mr. WALZ) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide certain 

employees of Members of Congress and certain employees 

of State or local governmental agencies with access to 

case-tracking information of the Department of Veterans 

Affairs. 

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 ‘‘Access to Veterans 

5 Benefits Improvement Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PROVISION OF ACCESS TO CASE-TRACKING INFOR2 MATION. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 59 of title 38, United 

4 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol5 lowing: 

6 ‘‘§ 5906. Provision of access to case-tracking informa7 tion 

8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—(1) In accordance with sub9 section (b), the Secretary shall provide a covered employee 

10 with access to the case-tracking system to provide a vet11 eran with information regarding the status of a claim sub12 mitted by such veteran, regardless of whether such em13 ployee is acting under a power of attorney executed by 

14 such veteran. 

15 ‘‘(2) In providing a covered employee with access to 

16 the case-tracking system under paragraph (1), the Sec17 retary shall ensure— 

18 ‘‘(A) that such access— 

19 ‘‘(i) is provided in a manner that does not 

20 allow such employee to modify the data con21 tained in such system; and 

22 ‘‘(ii) does not include access to medical 

23 records; and 

24 ‘‘(B) that each time a covered employee ac25 cesses such system, the employee must certify that 

26 such access is for official purposes only. 


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1 ‘‘(b) PRIVACY CERTIFICATION COURSE.—The Sec2 retary may not provide a covered employee with access to 

3 the case-tracking system under subsection (a)(1) unless 

4 the covered employee has successfully completed a certifi5 cation course on privacy issues provided by the Secretary. 

6 ‘‘(c) TREATMENT OF DISCLOSURE.—The access to 

7 information by a covered employee pursuant to subsection 

8 (a)(1) shall be deemed to be— 

9 ‘‘(1) a covered disclosure under section 552a(b) 

10 of title 5; and 

11 ‘‘(2) a permitted disclosure under regulations 

12 promulgated under section 264(c) of the Health In13 surance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 

14 (42 U.S.C. 1320d–2 note). 

15 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

16 ‘‘(1) The term ‘case-tracking system’ means the 

17 system of the Department of Veterans Affairs that 

18 provides information regarding the status of a claim 

19 submitted by a veteran. 

20 ‘‘(2) The term ‘covered employee’ means— 

21 ‘‘(A) an employee of a Member of Congress 

22 who assists the constituents of the Member with 

23 issues regarding departments or agencies of the 

24 Federal Government; or 


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1 ‘‘(B) an employee of a State or local gov2 ernmental agency (including a veterans service 

3 officer) who, in the course of carrying out the 

4 responsibilities of such employment, assists vet5 erans with claims for any benefit under the 

6 laws administered by the Secretary.’’. 

7 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

8 at the beginning of such chapter is amended by adding 

9 at the end the following new item: 

‘‘5906. Provision of access to case-tracking information.’’. 

Æ 


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