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Union Calendar No. 484 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4971 

[Report No. 113–645] 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to conduct annual surveys of 

veterans on experiences obtaining hospital care and medical services 

from medical facilities of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 25, 2014 

Mr. O’ROURKE (for himself, Mr. FLORES, Ms. GABBARD, Mr. HORSFORD, Mr. 

ISRAEL, Mr. JOLLY, Mr. MICHAUD, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. SWALWELL of 

California, Ms. HANABUSA, Ms. HAHN, and Mr. THOMPSON of California) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Veterans’ Affairs 

DECEMBER 3, 2014 

Additional sponsors: Mr. HURT, Mrs. NEGRETE MCLEOD, Ms. BROWNLEY of 

California, Ms. TITUS, Mr. BARBER, Mrs. KIRKPATRICK, Mr. AL GREEN

of Texas, Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas, Mr. GARCIA, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Mr. COOK, Mr. YOHO, Mr. RUIZ, Mrs. WALORSKI, Mr. WALZ, Mr. 

PEARCE, Mr. LEWIS, Mr. JONES, Ms. SINEMA, Mr. HUFFMAN, and Ms. 

KUSTER

DECEMBER 3, 2014 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on June 25, 2014] 


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•HR 4971 RH

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to conduct annual 

surveys of veterans on experiences obtaining hospital care 

and medical services from medical facilities of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes. 


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•HR 4971 RH

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 ‘‘Ask Veterans Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. SURVEY OF VETERAN EXPERIENCES WITH DEPART6 MENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS MEDICAL CARE. 

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

8 shall seek to enter into a contract with a non-government 

9 entity with significant experience conducting scientifically 

10 verifiable surveys and research to conduct an annual survey 

11 of a statistically significant sample of veterans who reside 

12 in the geographic area served by each of the medical facili13 ties of the Department of Veterans Affairs to determine the 

14 nature of the experiences of such veterans in obtaining hos15 pital care and medical services furnished by the Secretary 

16 at each such medical facility. Each such survey shall be con17 ducted using scientific and verifiable methods. Such con18 tract shall provide that the non-government entity shall 

19 conduct such annual surveys during the five-year period be20 ginning on the date on which the Secretary enters into the 

21 contract with the non-government entity. 

22 (b) CONTENTS.—The contract entered into under sub23 section (a) shall provide that each survey conducted pursu24 ant to the contract shall be specific to a medical facility 

25 of the Department and shall include questions relating to 


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1 the experiences of veterans in requesting and receiving ap2 pointments for hospital care and medical services furnished 

3 by the Secretary at that medical facility, including ques4 tions relating to each of the following: 

5 (1) The veteran’s ability to obtain hospital care 

6 and medical services at the facility in a timely man7 ner. 

8 (2) The period of time between the date on which 

9 the veteran requests an appointment at the facility 

10 and the date on which the appointment is scheduled. 

11 (3) The frequency with which scheduled appoint12 ments are cancelled by the facility. 

13 (4) The quality of hospital care or medical serv14 ices the veteran has received at the facility. 

15 (c) CONSULTATION.—The contract entered into under 

16 subsection (a) shall provide that in designing and con17 ducting the surveys for each medical facility of the Depart18 ment pursuant to such contract, the non-government entity 

19 shall consult with veterans service organizations. 

20 (d) CERTIFICATION.—The contract entered into under 

21 subsection (a) shall provide that— 

22 (1) before conducting a survey pursuant to the 

23 contract, the non-government entity shall submit the 

24 proposed survey to the Comptroller General who shall 

25 assess whether the survey is scientifically valid and 


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1 whether the proposed sample size of veterans to be 

2 surveyed is statistically significant; and 

3 (2) the non-government entity may not conduct 

4 such a survey until the Comptroller General provides 

5 such a certification for the survey. 

6 (e) SUBMITTAL OF RESULTS AND PUBLIC AVAIL7 ABILITY OF INFORMATION.—Not later than 30 days after 

8 the completion of the surveys conducted pursuant to a con9 tract entered into under subsection (a) for a year, the Sec10 retary shall make the results of the surveys publicly avail11 able on the Internet website of the Department. 

12 (f) PAPERWORK REDUCTION.—Subchapter I of chapter 

13 35 of title 44, United States Code shall not apply to this 

14 section. 

15 (g) DEADLINE FOR IMPLEMENTATION.—The Secretary 

16 shall enter into a contract under subsection (a) for each 

17 medical facility of the Department by not later than 180 

18 days after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

19 SEC. 3. MENTAL HEALTH TREATMENT FOR VETERANS WHO 

20 SERVED IN CLASSIFIED MISSIONS. 

21 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Congress 

22 that veterans who experience combat-related mental health 

23 wounds should have immediate, appropriate, and consistent 

24 access to comprehensive mental health care. 


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1 (b) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 17 of title 

2 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end 

3 the following section: 

4 ‘‘§ 1720H. Mental health treatment for veterans who 

5 served in classified missions 

6 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF STANDARDS.—(1) The Sec7 retary shall establish standards and procedures to ensure 

8 that each covered veteran may access mental health care 

9 provided by the Secretary in a manner that fully accommo10 dates the obligation of the veteran to not improperly disclose 

11 classified information. 

12 ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall disseminate guidance to em13 ployees of the Veterans Health Administration, including 

14 mental health professionals, on the standards and proce15 dures established under paragraph (1) and how to best en16 gage covered veterans during the course of mental health 

17 treatment with respect to classified information. 

18 ‘‘(b) IDENTIFICATION.—In carrying out this section, 

19 the Secretary shall ensure that a veteran may elect to iden20 tify as a covered veteran on an appropriate form. 

21 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

22 ‘‘(1) The term ‘classified information’ means any 

23 information or material that has been determined by 

24 an official of the United States pursuant to law, an 

25 Executive order, or regulation to require protection 


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1 against unauthorized disclosure for reasons of na2 tional security. 

3 ‘‘(2) The term ‘covered veteran’ means a veteran 

4 who— 

5 ‘‘(A) is enrolled in the health care system 

6 established under section 1705(a) of this title; 

7 ‘‘(B) is seeking mental health treatment; 

8 and 

9 ‘‘(C) in the course of serving in the Armed 

10 Forces, participated in a sensitive mission or 

11 served in a sensitive unit. 

12 ‘‘(3) The term ‘sensitive mission’ means a mis13 sion of the Armed Forces that, at the time at which 

14 a covered veteran seeks treatment, is classified. 

15 ‘‘(4) The term ‘sensitive unit’ has the meaning 

16 given that term in section 130b(c)(4) of title 10.’’. 

17 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections at 

18 the beginning of such chapter is amended by adding after 

19 the item relating to section 1720G the following new item: 

‘‘1720H. Mental health treatment for veterans who served in classified missions.’’. 

20 SEC. 4. BOARD OF VETERANS’ APPEALS VIDEO HEARINGS. 

21 Section 7107 of title 38, United States Code, is amend22 ed— 

23 (1) in subsection (d), by amending paragraph 

24 (1) to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘(1)(A) Upon request for a hearing, the Board shall 

2 determine, for purposes of scheduling the hearing for the 

3 earliest possible date, whether a hearing before the Board 

4 will be held at its principal location or at a facility of the 

5 Department or other appropriate Federal facility located 

6 within the area served by a regional office of the Depart7 ment. The Board shall also determine whether to provide 

8 a hearing through the use of the facilities and equipment 

9 described in subsection (e)(1) or by the appellant personally 

10 appearing before a Board member or panel. 

11 ‘‘(B) The Board shall notify the appellant of the deter12 minations of the location and type of hearing made under 

13 subparagraph (A). Upon notification, the appellant may re14 quest a different location or type of hearing as described 

15 in such subparagraph. If so requested, the Board shall grant 

16 such request and ensure that the hearing is scheduled at 

17 the earliest possible date without any undue delay or other 

18 prejudice to the appellant.’’; and 

19 (2) in subsection (e), by amending paragraph (2) 

20 to read as follows: 

21 ‘‘(2) Any hearing provided through the use of the fa22 cilities and equipment described in paragraph (1) shall be 

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

24 the equivalent of, a personal hearing.’’. 


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Union Calendar No. 484 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4971 

[Report No. 113–645] 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to conAffairs, and for other purposes. medical facilities of the Department of Veterans obtaining hospital care and medical services from duct annual surveys of veterans on experiences 

DECEMBER 3, 2014 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Comand ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with BILLS