I 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5576 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to make certain improvements in 

the claims processing of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 11, 2008 

Mr. BUYER (for himself and Mr. LAMBORN) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

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

improvements in the claims processing of the Department 

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. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Veteran Claims Back5 log Reduction Act of 2008’’. 

6 SEC. 2. REFERENCES TO TITLE 38, UNITED STATES CODE. 

7 Except as otherwise expressly provided, whenever in 

8 this Act an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms 

9 of an amendment to, or a repeal of, a section or other 


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1 provision, the reference shall be considered to be made to 

2 a section or other provision of title 38, United States 

3 Code. 

4 SEC. 3. ASSISTANCE IN PROVIDING NOTICE AND ASSIST5 ANCE TO CLAIMANTS REQUIRED AS A CONDI6 TION OF RECOGNITION AS AGENT OR ATTOR7 NEY. 

8 (a) ASSISTANCE.—Chapter 59 is amended— 

9 (1) in section 5902(b)— 

10 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

11 the end; 

12 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking the pe13 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

14 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

15 paragraph: 

16 ‘‘(3) unless such individual has certified to the 

17 Secretary that the individual will assist the Sec18 retary in complying with the Secretary’s obligations 

19 under sections 5103(a) and 5103A of this title.’’; 

20 and 

21 (2) in section 5903(a)— 

22 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

23 the end; 

24 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking the pe25 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 


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1 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

2 paragraph: 

3 ‘‘(3) such individual has certified to the Sec4 retary that the individual will assist the Secretary in 

5 complying with the Secretary’s obligations under 

6 sections 5103(a) and 5103A of this title.’’. 

7 (b) TRAINING FOR RECOGNIZED REPRESENTATIVES

8 OF ORGANIZATIONS.—Section 5902 is amended by adding 

9 at the end the following new subsection: 

10 ‘‘(e) The Secretary shall establish a training program 

11 to provide training to individuals recognized under this 

12 section. Training provided pursuant to this subsection 

13 shall include a certification.’’. 

14 (c) TREATMENT OF CERTAIN CLAIMS.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter I of chapter 51 

16 is amended by adding at the end the following new 

17 section: 

18 ‘‘§ 5109C. Treatment of certain claims 

19 ‘‘(a) TREATMENT OF FULLY DEVELOPED CLAIMS.— 

20 In the case of a claim submitted to the Secretary that is 

21 certified as fully developed by the veteran submitting the 

22 claim and by a representative of an organization recog23 nized under section 5902 of this title who is a graduate 

24 of the training academy established under subsection (e) 

25 of that section, the Secretary shall consider the claim to 


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1 be fully developed and shall evaluate the claim based on 

2 the evidence provided. 

3 ‘‘(b) PRESUMPTION REBUTTABLE.—Where there is 

4 affirmative evidence that a claim certified as fully devel5 oped under subsection (a) is not fully developed, the Sec6 retary may take such actions with respect to such claim 

7 as the Secretary determines are necessary to fully develop 

8 the claim.’’. 

9 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec10 tions at the beginning of such chapter is amended 

11 by adding at the end of the items relating to sub12 chapter I the following new item: 

‘‘5109C. Treatment of certain claims.’’. 

13 SEC. 4. QUALITY CONTROL ASSESSMENT FOR REGIONAL 

14 OFFICES OF VETERANS BENEFITS ADMINIS15 TRATION. 

16 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF SYSTEM.—Chapter 7 is 

17 amended by adding at the end the following new section: 

18 ‘‘§ 713. Veterans Benefits Administration quality con19 trol assessment 

20 ‘‘(a) ASSESSMENT REQUIRED.—At least once each 

21 fiscal year the Secretary shall conduct a quality control 

22 assessment of one percent of the ratings specialists and 

23 veterans service representatives employed by the Veterans 

24 Benefits Administration. In conducting each such assess25 ment, the Secretary shall study a statistically valid sample 


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1 of the employee’s work and review the quality of that 

2 work. 

3 ‘‘(b) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than 90 days after 

4 the last day of a fiscal year, the Secretary shall submit 

5 to Congress a report on the assessments conducted under 

6 this section during that fiscal year.’’. 

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: 

‘‘713. Veterans Benefits Administration quality control assessment.’’. 

10 SEC. 5. ELECTRONIC PROCESSING OF CLAIMS FOR BENE11 FITS ADMINISTERED BY SECRETARY OF VET12 ERANS AFFAIRS. 

13 (a) ELECTRONIC PROCESSING OF CLAIMS.—Subtitle 

14 I of chapter 51, as amended by section 251(c), is further 

15 amended by adding at the end the following new section: 

16 ‘‘§ 5109D. Electronic processing of claims 

17 ‘‘(a) SYSTEM REQUIRED.—The Secretary shall carry 

18 out a two-year pilot program under which the Secretary 

19 shall develop and maintain a system for processing claims 

20 for disability compensation under this title using rules21 based technology. Such system shall use medical and mili22 tary service data to generate recommendations with re23 spect to disability ratings. 

24 ‘‘(b) QUARTERLY REPORTS.—For the period during 

25 which the Secretary carries out the pilot program under 


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1 subsection (a), the Secretary shall submit to the Commit2 tees on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and House of Rep3 resentatives quarterly reports on the pilot program.’’. 

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

5 at the beginning of such chapter, as so amended, is further 

6 amended by adding at the end the following new item: 

‘‘5109D. Electronic processing of claims.’’. 

7 SEC. 6. TREATMENT OF BENEFICIARY OF VETERAN’S AC8 CRUED BENEFITS AS CLAIMANT FOR PUR9 POSES OF INCOMPLETE CLAIMS AS OF 

10 DEATH OF VETERAN. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 5102 is amended by 

12 added at the end the following new subsection: 

13 ‘‘(d) TREATMENT OF BENEFICIARIES AS CLAIMANTS

14 ON DEATH OF VETERANS.—If a veteran who is a claimant 

15 dies before completing the submission of a claim for any 

16 benefit under a law administered by the Secretary, the 

17 person who would receive any accrued benefits due to the 

18 veteran under section 5121(a)(2) of this title shall be 

19 treated as the claimant for the purposes of completing the 

20 submission of the claim, except that such person may only 

21 submit new evidence in support of the claim during the 

22 60-day period beginning on the death of the veteran.’’. 

23 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Subsection (d) of section 

24 5102 of title 38, United States Code, shall apply with reVerDate Aug 31 2005 07:26 Mar 12, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5576.IH H5576

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1 spect to the claim of any veteran who dies on or after 

2 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

3 SEC. 7. EVALUATION OF TRAINING AND ASSESSMENT PRO4 GRAMS FOR EMPLOYEES OF VETERANS BEN5 EFITS ADMINISTRATION. 

6 (a) EVALUATION REQUIRED.—The Secretary of Vet7 erans Affairs shall enter into a contract with a private en8 tity with experience evaluating quality assurance and ben9 efits programs under which that entity shall— 

10 (1) conduct an evaluation of the items required 

11 to be included in the annual report of the Secretary 

12 under section 7734 of title 38, United States Code, 

13 that were included in the last such report submitted 

14 before the date of the enactment of this Act, that re15 late to the training and performance assessment pro16 grams of the Department of Veterans Affairs for 

17 employees of the Veterans Benefits Administration 

18 who are responsible for matters relating to com19 pensation or pension benefits under the laws admin20 istered by the Secretary; and 

21 (2) not later than 180 days after the date of 

22 the enactment of this Act, submit to the Secretary 

23 the results of such evaluation. 

24 (b) SUBMISSION OF RESULTS TO CONGRESS.—The 

25 Secretary shall include the results of the evaluation reVerDate Aug 31 2005 07:26 Mar 12, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5576.IH H5576

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1 quired under subsection (a) with the first annual report 

2 required to be submitted to Congress under section 529 

3 of title 38, United States Code, submitted after the date 

4 on which the Secretary receives such results. 

5 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 

6 on which the Secretary submits the report referred to in 

7 subsection (b), the Secretary shall submit to Congress a 

8 report on any actions the Secretary has taken or plans 

9 to take in response to the results of the evaluation re10 quired under subsection (a). 

11 SEC. 8. ELECTRONIC MONITORING OF CLAIM STATUS. 

12 (a) MECHANISM FOR ELECTRONIC MONITORING RE13 QUIRED.—Subchapter I of chapter 51 is amended by in14 serting after section 5101 the following new section: 

15 ‘‘§ 5101A. Electronic monitoring of claim status 

16 ‘‘(a) MONITORING OF CLAIM STATUS.—The Sec17 retary shall make available, on the Internet website of the 

18 Department, a mechanism that can be used by a claimant 

19 to check on the status of any claim submitted by that 

20 claimant. Such mechanism shall provide to the claimant— 

21 ‘‘(1) if a decision has been reached with respect 

22 to such a claim, notice of the decision; or 

23 ‘‘(2) if no such decision has been reached, no24 tice of— 


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1 ‘‘(A) whether the application submitted by 

2 the claimant is complete; 

3 ‘‘(B) whether the Secretary requires addi4 tional information or evidence to process the 

5 claim; 

6 ‘‘(C) the estimated date on which a deci7 sion with respect to the claim is expected to be 

8 made; and 

9 ‘‘(D) the stage at which the claim is being 

10 processed as of the date on which such status 

11 is checked. 

12 ‘‘(b) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER NOTICE REQUIRE13 MENTS.—Monitoring provided pursuant to subsection (a) 

14 shall not satisfy the responsibility of the Secretary to pro15 vide notice under section 5102, 5103, or 5104 of this 

16 title.’’. 

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

18 at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting 

19 after the item relating to section 5101 the following new 

20 item: 

‘‘5101A. Electronic monitoring of claim status.’’. 

21 SEC. 9. PILOT PROGRAM ON SUBMITTAL OF CLAIMS TO 

22 ANY REGIONAL OFFICE OF THE DEPART23 MENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 

24 (a) PILOT PROGRAM REQUIRED.—The Secretary of 

25 Veterans Affairs shall carry out a two-year pilot program 


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1 under which the Secretary shall permit a qualifying vet2 eran filing a claim for benefits under a law administered 

3 by the Secretary to submit such claim to any regional of4 fice of the Department of Veterans Affairs. The Secretary 

5 shall promptly notify each qualifying veteran of the oppor6 tunity to participate in the pilot program. 

7 (b) QUALIFYING VETERANS.—For the purposes of 

8 the pilot program under subsection (a), a qualifying vet9 eran is a veteran who would, except as provided under the 

10 pilot program, be required to submit a claim to one of 

11 five regional offices of the Department selected by the Sec12 retary based on below average performance. 

13 (c) REPORTS.— 

14 (1) INTERIM REPORT.—Upon the selection of 

15 the Secretary of five regional offices for the purposes 

16 of subsection (b), the Secretary shall submit a report 

17 to Congress that lists the offices selected and the 

18 Secretary’s rationale for selecting such offices. 

19 (2) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than 90 days 

20 after the completion of the pilot program under sub21 section (a), the Secretary shall submit to Congress 

22 a final report on the pilot program that contains the 

23 Secretary’s recommendations with respect to the al24 location of resources among the regional offices of 

25 the Department. 


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1 SEC. 10. EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT FELLOWSHIP PRO2 GRAM. 

3 (a) FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM.—Chapter 77 of title 38, 

4 United States Code is amended by adding at the end the 

5 following new subchapter: 

6 ‘‘SUBCHAPTER III—EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT 

7 FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM 

8 ‘‘§ 7751. Executive Management Fellowship Program 

9 ‘‘(a) FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM.—There is in the De10 partment an Executive Management Fellowship Program. 

11 The purpose of the program shall be to provide eligible 

12 employees of the Veterans Benefits Administration with 

13 training and experience in the private sector. 

14 ‘‘(b) FELLOWSHIP.—(1) A fellowship provided under 

15 this section is a one-year fellowship during which the eligi16 ble employee who is the recipient of the fellowship shall 

17 receive training at a private-sector entity that is engaged 

18 in the administration and delivery of benefits. 

19 ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall enter into such agreements 

20 with private-sector entities as are necessary to carry out 

21 this section. 

22 ‘‘(c) SELECTION OF RECIPIENTS.—In August of each 

23 year, the Secretary shall select at least six and not more 

24 than 10 eligible employees to receive a fellowship under 

25 this section. 


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1 ‘‘(d) ELIGIBLE EMPLOYEES.—(1) For the purposes 

2 of this section, an eligible employee is an employee of the 

3 Veterans Benefits Administration who— 

4 ‘‘(A) is compensated at a rate of basic pay not 

5 less than the minimum rate of basic pay payable for 

6 grade GS–14 of the General Schedule and not more 

7 than the minimum rate of basic pay payable to a 

8 member of the Senior Executive Service under sec9 tion 5382 of title 5, United States Code; 

10 ‘‘(B) enters into an agreement with the Sec11 retary under subsection (e); and 

12 ‘‘(C) submits to the Secretary an application 

13 containing such information and assurances as the 

14 Secretary may require. 

15 ‘‘(2) For purposes of paragraph (1)(A), the term 

16 ‘basic pay’ does not include any comparability payment 

17 under section 5304 of such title 5 or any other similar 

18 payment 

19 ‘‘(e) AGREEMENTS.—An agreement between the Sec20 retary and a recipient of a fellowship shall be in writing, 

21 shall be signed by the recipient, and shall include the fol22 lowing provisions: 

23 ‘‘(1) The Secretary’s agreement— 

24 ‘‘(A) to provide the recipient with a fellow25 ship under this section; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) to afford the participant the oppor2 tunity for employment in the Veterans Benefits 

3 Administration (subject to the availability of 

4 appropriated funds for such purpose and other 

5 qualifications established in accordance with 

6 section 7402 of this title). 

7 ‘‘(2) The recipient’s agreement— 

8 ‘‘(A) to accept the fellowship; 

9 ‘‘(B) after completion of the fellowship, to 

10 serve as a full-time employee in the Veterans 

11 Benefits Administration for at least two years 

12 as specified in the agreement; and 

13 ‘‘(C) that, during the two-year period be14 ginning on the last day of the fellowship, the re15 cipient will not accept employment in the same 

16 industry as the industry of the private entity at 

17 which the recipient accepts the fellowship. 

18 ‘‘(3) A provision that any financial obligation of 

19 the United States arising out of an agreement en20 tered into under this chapter, and any obligation of 

21 the recipient which is conditioned on such agree22 ment, is contingent upon funds being appropriated 

23 for educational assistance under this chapter. 


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1 ‘‘(4) A statement of the damages to which the 

2 United States is entitled under this chapter for the 

3 recipient’s breach of the agreement. 

4 ‘‘(5) Such other terms as the Secretary deter5 mines are required to be included in the agreement. 

6 ‘‘(f) TREATMENT OF RECIPIENTS.—The recipient of 

7 a fellowship under this section shall be considered an em8 ployee of the Department for all purposes, including for 

9 purposes of receiving a salary and benefits, and shall re10 main eligible for all promotion and incentive programs 

11 otherwise available to such an employee. 

12 ‘‘(g) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 60 days 

13 after completing a fellowship under this section, a recipi14 ent shall submit to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs 

15 of the Senate and House of Representatives a report on 

16 the fellowship. Each such report shall describe the duties 

17 of the recipient during the fellowship and any rec18 ommendations of the recipient for the application of indus19 try processes, technologies, and best practices. A report 

20 submitted under this subsection shall not be reviewable by 

21 the Secretary before being submitted to the Committees.’’. 

22 (b) DEADLINE FOR IMPLEMENTATION.—Not later 

23 than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

24 the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall implement the Ex25 ecutive Management Fellowship Program required under 


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1 section 7751 of title 38, United States Code, as added by 

2 subsection (a). 

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

4 at the beginning of such chapter is amended by adding 

5 at the end the following new items: 

‘‘III—EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM

‘‘7751. Executive Management Fellowship Program.’’. 

Æ 


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