II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1163 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve compensation and specially 

adapted housing for veterans in certain cases of impairment of vision 

involving both eyes, and to provide for the use of the National Directory 

of New Hires for income verification purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 19, 2007 

Mr. AKAKA (for himself, Mr. BROWN, Mr. FEINGOLD, Mr. HAGEL, Mr. 

ISAKSON, and Mr. WEBB) introduced the following bill; which was read 

twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve compensation and specially adapted housing for veterans in 

certain cases of impairment of vision involving both eyes, 

and to provide for the use of the National Directory 

of New Hires for income verification 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 ‘‘Blinded Veterans 

5 Paired Organ Act of 2007’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. IMPROVEMENT IN COMPENSATION AND SPECIALLY 

2 ADAPTED HOUSING FOR VETERANS IN CER3 TAIN CASES OF IMPAIRMENT OF VISION IN4 VOLVING BOTH EYES. 

5 (a) COMPENSATION BENEFITS.—Section 1160(a)(1) 

6 of title 38, United States Code, is amended— 

7 (1) by striking ‘‘blindness’’ both places it ap8 pears and inserting ‘‘impairment of vision’’; and 

9 (2) by striking ‘‘misconduct;’’ and inserting 

10 ‘‘misconduct if— 

11 ‘‘(A) the impairment of vision in each eye 

12 is rated at a visual acuity of 20/200 or less; or 

13 ‘‘(B) the peripheral field of vision for each 

14 eye is 20 degrees or less;’’. 

15 (b) SPECIALLY ADAPTED HOUSING.—Section 

16 2101(b)(2)(A) of such title is amended by striking ‘‘eyes 

17 with 5/200 visual acuity or less.’’ and inserting ‘‘eyes— 

18 ‘‘(i) with 20/200 visual acuity or less; or 

19 ‘‘(ii) with a peripheral field of vision of 20 

20 degrees or less.’’. 

21 SEC. 3. USE OF NATIONAL DIRECTORY OF NEW HIRES FOR 

22 INCOME VERIFICATION PURPOSES FOR CER23 TAIN VETERANS BENEFITS. 

24 (a) USE OF INFORMATION IN NATIONAL DIRECTORY

25 OF NEW HIRES.—Chapter 53 of title 38, United States 


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1 Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new 

2 section: 

3 ‘‘§ 5320. Use of National Directory of New Hires for 

4 income verification purposes 

5 ‘‘(a) INFORMATION FROM NATIONAL DIRECTORY OF

6 NEW HIRES.—(1) The Secretary shall furnish to the Sec7 retary of Health and Human Services information in the 

8 custody of the Secretary on individuals under the age of 

9 65 who are applicants for or recipients of benefits or serv10 ices specified in subsection (d) for comparison with infor11 mation on such individuals in the National Directory of 

12 New Hires maintained by the Secretary of Health and 

13 Human Services pursuant to section 453 of the Social Se14 curity Act (42 U.S.C. 653). The Secretary shall furnish 

15 the information on a quarterly basis or at such other inter16 vals as may be determined by the Secretary. 

17 ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall furnish information under 

18 paragraph (1) with respect to any individual only if doing 

19 so is essential to determine the individual’s eligibility for 

20 benefits and services specified in subsection (d) or the 

21 amount of benefits specified in paragraphs (1), (2), and 

22 (4) of subsection (d), to which the individual is entitled. 

23 ‘‘(3)(A) The Secretary of Health and Human Serv24 ices shall, in cooperation with the Secretary and in accord25 ance with this subsection— 


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1 ‘‘(i) compare information in the National Direc2 tory of New Hires with information furnished pursu3 ant to paragraph (1); and 

4 ‘‘(ii) disclose information in that directory to 

5 the Secretary for the purposes specified in this sub6 section. 

7 ‘‘(B) The Secretary of Health and Human Services 

8 may make a disclosure in accordance with subparagraph 

9 (A) only to the extent that the Secretary of Health and 

10 Human Services determines that such disclosure does not 

11 interfere with the effective operation of the program under 

12 part D of title IV of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

13 651 et seq.). 

14 ‘‘(4) The Secretary may use information resulting 

15 from a data match pursuant to this subsection only for 

16 the purpose of determining eligibility for benefits and serv17 ices specified in subsection (d), and the amount of benefits 

18 specified in paragraphs (1), (2), and (4) of that sub19 section, for indivudals under the age of 65. 

20 ‘‘(5) The Secretary shall reimburse the Secretary of 

21 Health and Human Services for the additional costs in22 curred by that Secretary in furnishing information under 

23 this subsection. Such reimbursement shall be at rates that 

24 the Secretary of Health and Human Services determines 

25 to be reasonable (and shall include payment for the costs 


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1 of obtaining, verifying, maintaining, and comparing the in2 formation). 

3 ‘‘(b) NOTIFICATION TO BENEFICIARIES.—The Sec4 retary shall notify each applicant for, or recipient of, a 

5 benefit or service specified in subsection (d) that income 

6 information furnished by the applicant to the Secretary 

7 may be compared with information obtained by the Sec8 retary from the Secretary of Health and Human Services 

9 under subsection (a). The Secretary shall periodically 

10 transmit to recipients of such benefits additional notices 

11 under this subsection. 

12 ‘‘(c) INDEPENDENT VERIFICATION REQUIRED.—The 

13 Secretary may terminate, deny, suspend, or reduce any 

14 benefit or service described in subsection (d) by reason of 

15 information obtained from the Secretary of Health and 

16 Human Services under subsection (a) only if the Secretary 

17 takes appropriate steps to verify independently informa18 tion relating to employment and income from employment. 

19 ‘‘(d) COVERED BENEFITS AND SERVICES.—The ben20 efits and services specified in this subsection are the fol21 lowing: 

22 ‘‘(1) Needs-based pension benefits provided 

23 under chapter 15 of this title or under any other law 

24 administered by the Secretary. 


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1 ‘‘(2) Parents’ dependency and indemnity com2 pensation provided under section 1315 of this title. 

3 ‘‘(3) Health-care services furnished under sub4 sections (a)(2)(G), (a)(3), and (b) of section 1710 of 

5 this title. 

6 ‘‘(4) Compensation paid under chapter 11 of 

7 this title at the 100 percent rate based solely on 

8 unemployability and without regard to the fact that 

9 the disability or disabilities are not rated as 100 per10 cent disabling under the rating schedule. 

11 ‘‘(e) OPPORTUNITY TO CONTEST FINDINGS.—The 

12 Secretary shall inform the individual of the findings made 

13 by the Secretary on the basis of verified information under 

14 subsection (c), and shall give the individual an opportunity 

15 to contest such findings in the same manner as applies 

16 to other information and findings relating to eligibility for 

17 the benefit or service involved. 

18 ‘‘(f) SOURCE OF FUNDS FOR ADMINISTRATION OF

19 SECTION.—The Secretary shall pay the expenses of car20 rying out this section from amounts available to the De21 partment for the payment of compensation and pensions. 

22 ‘‘(g) TERMINATION OF AUTHORITY.—The authority 

23 of the Secretary to obtain information from the Secretary 

24 of Health and Human Services under subsection (a) ex25 pires on September 30, 2012.’’. 


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

2 at the beginning of such chapter is amended by adding 

3 at the end the following new item: 

‘‘5320. Use of National Directory of New Hires for income verification purposes.’’. 

4 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Section 5320 of title 38, 

5 United States Code, as added by subsection (a), shall take 

6 effect 270 days after the date of the enactment of this 

7 Act. 

Æ 


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