I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1490 

To provide for a presumption of service-connectedness for certain claims 

for benefits under the laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans 

Affairs, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 13, 2007 

Mr. DONNELLY (for himself and Mr. UPTON) (both by request): introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To provide for a presumption of service-connectedness for 

certain claims for benefits under the laws administered 

by the Secretary 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. PRESUMPTION OF SERVICE-CONNECTEDNESS 

4 FOR SUBMITTED CLAIMS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 5107 of title 38, United 

6 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol7 lowing new subsection: 


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1 ‘‘(c) PRESUMPTION OF SERVICE-CONNECTEDNESS.— 

2 (1) A claimant presenting a claim for benefits with respect 

3 to a service-connected disability or death shall be pre4 sumed to have presented a valid claim of service-connect5 edness, subject to the requirements of paragraph (2), un6 less the Secretary determines there is positive evidence to 

7 the contrary. 

8 ‘‘(2) A claimant presenting a claim described under 

9 paragraph (1) shall be required to support such claim with 

10 proof of service in a conflict referred to in such claim, and 

11 a brief description of the nature, including the connection 

12 to such service, of the disability or claim. 

13 ‘‘(3) The Secretary shall audit a percentage, to be 

14 determined by the Secretary, of the presented claims de15 scribed in paragraph (1), to uncover and deter fraudulent 

16 claims. 

17 ‘‘(4) The Secretary shall award benefits for claims 

18 described in paragraph (1) and meeting the requirements 

19 under paragraph (2), immediately upon processing of such 

20 claim, at a median level, as determined by the Secretary, 

21 for the type of disability described in the claim, until such 

22 time as the appropriate level of benefits is determined.’’. 

23 (b) APPLICABILITY.—Subsection (c) of section 5107 

24 of title 38, United States Code, as added by subsection 

25 (a) of this section, shall apply to claims presented on or 


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1 after the date of the enactment of this Act and claims 

2 that are still pending or have not been fully adjudicated 

3 as of the date of the enactment of this Act, but shall not 

4 apply to claims which have been denied and fully adju5 dicated before the date of the enactment of this Act. 

6 SEC. 2. REDEPLOYMENT OF DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS 

7 AFFAIRS CLAIMS WORKERS TO ASSIST VET8 ERANS WITH CLAIMS. 

9 The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall redeploy a 

10 certain number of employees involved with processing 

11 claims that the Secretary determines are no longer needed 

12 to evaluate claims for benefits relating to service-con13 nected disability and death, due to the presumption of 

14 service-connectedness for such claims under section 

15 5107(c) of title 38, United States Code, as added by sec16 tion 1, for the purpose of assisting veterans applying for 

17 such benefits. The Secretary shall redeploy such employees 

18 to centers for the provision of readjustment counseling 

19 and related mental health services established under sec20 tion 1712A of such title (commonly referred to as ‘‘vet 

21 centers’’), or to any other locations the Secretary deter22 mines are appropriate for such purpose. 

Æ 


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