I 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7153 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to submit to Congress a plan 

to modernize the information technology systems of the Veterans Benefits 

Administration, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 18, 2022 

Mr. BOST introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to submit to 

Congress a plan to modernize the information technology 

systems of the Veterans Benefits Administration, 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 ‘‘Department of Vet5 erans Affairs Principles of Benefits Automation Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

7 It is the sense of Congress that the Secretary of Vet8 erans Affairs should increase automation in the processing 


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1 of claims for benefits under the laws administered by the 

2 Secretary in accordance with the following principles: 

3 (1) The purpose of automation should be to in4 crease the speed and accuracy of claims processing 

5 decisions. 

6 (2) Automation should be conducted in a man7 ner that enhances the productivity of employees of 

8 the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

9 (3) Automation should be carried out in a man10 ner that achieves greater consistency in the proc11 essing and rating of claims by relying on patterns of 

12 similar evidence in claim files. 

13 (4) To the greatest extent possible, automation 

14 should be carried out by drawing from information 

15 in the possession of the Department, other Govern16 ment agencies, and applicants for benefits. 

17 (5) Automation of any claims analysis or deter18 mination process should not be end-to-end or lack 

19 intermediation. 

20 (6) Employees of the Department should con21 tinue to make decisions with respect to the approval 

22 of claims and the granting of benefits. 

23 (7) Automation should not be carried out in a 

24 manner that reduces or infringes upon— 


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1 (A) the due process rights of applicants for 

2 benefits under the laws administered by the 

3 Secretary; or 

4 (B) the duties of the Secretary to assist 

5 and notify claimants. 

6 SEC. 3. PLAN FOR MODERNIZATION OF VETERANS BENE7 FITS ADMINISTRATION INFORMATION TECH8 NOLOGY SYSTEMS. 

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

10 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Vet11 erans Affairs shall submit to appropriate congressional 

12 committees a plan for the modernization of the informa13 tion technology systems of the Veterans Benefits Adminis14 tration. The plan shall cover the first fiscal year that be15 gins after the date of the enactment of this Act and the 

16 subsequent four fiscal years and shall include each of the 

17 following: 

18 (1) An identification of any information system 

19 to be modernized or retired, if applicable, during the 

20 period covered by the plan. 

21 (2) A description of how the Secretary intends 

22 to incorporate the principles referred to in section 2 

23 into the modernization of such information systems. 

24 (3) An identification of targets, for each fiscal 

25 year, by which the Secretary intends to complete the 


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1 modernization of each information system or major 

2 component or functionality of such system identified 

3 under paragraph (1). 

4 (4) Cost estimates for the modernization of 

5 each information system identified under paragraph 

6 (1) for each fiscal year covered by the plan and in 

7 total. 

8 (b) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES.— 

9 In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate congressional com10 mittees’’ means— 

11 (1) the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs and the 

12 Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans’ 

13 Affairs, and Related Agencies of the Committee on 

14 Appropriations of the House of Representatives; and 

15 (2) the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs and the 

16 Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans’ 

17 Affairs, and Related Agencies of the Committee on 

18 Appropriations of the Senate. 

Æ 


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