I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2383 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to authorize the Secretary of Veterans 

Affairs to use electronic communication to provide required notice to 

claimants for benefits under laws administered by the Secretary, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 24, 2011 

Mr. JOHNSON of Ohio introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to authorize the 

Secretary of Veterans Affairs to use electronic communication to provide required notice to claimants for benefits under laws administered by the Secretary, 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 ‘‘Modernizing Notice 

5 to Claimants Act’’. 


tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 2383 IH

1 SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF USE OF ELECTRONIC COMMU2 NICATION TO PROVIDE NOTICE TO CLAIM3 ANTS FOR BENEFITS UNDER LAWS ADMINIS4 TERED BY THE SECRETARY OF VETERANS AF5 FAIR. 

6 Section 5103 of title 38, United States Code, is 

7 amended— 

8 (1) in subsection (a)(1)— 

9 (A) by striking ‘‘Upon receipt of a com10 plete or substantially complete application, the’’ 

11 and inserting ‘‘The’’; 

12 (B) by striking ‘‘notify’’ and inserting 

13 ‘‘provide to’’; and 

14 (C) by inserting ‘‘by the most expeditious 

15 means available, including electronic commu16 nication or notification in writing’’ before ‘‘of 

17 any information’’; and 

18 (2) in subsection (b), by adding at the end the 

19 following new paragraphs: 

20 ‘‘(4) Nothing in this section shall require the Sec21 retary to provide notice for a subsequent claim that is filed 

22 while a previous claim is pending if the notice previously 

23 provided for such pending claim provides notice of the in24 formation and evidence necessary to substantiate such 

25 subsequent claim. 


tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 2383 IH

1 ‘‘(5) This section shall not apply to any claim or issue 

2 where the Secretary may award the benefit sought based 

3 on the evidence of record.’’. 

4 SEC. 3. DUTY TO ASSIST CLAIMANTS IN OBTAINING PRI5 VATE RECORDS. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 5103A(b) of title 38, 

7 United States Code, is amended to read as follows: 

8 ‘‘(b) ASSISTANCE IN OBTAINING PRIVATE

9 RECORDS.—(1) As part of the assistance provided under 

10 subsection (a), the Secretary shall make reasonable efforts 

11 to obtain relevant private records if the claimant requests 

12 assistance, in a manner prescribed by the Secretary, in 

13 obtaining such records. 

14 ‘‘(2)(A) Whenever the Secretary, after making such 

15 reasonable efforts, is unable to obtain all of the relevant 

16 records sought, the Secretary shall notify the claimant 

17 that the Secretary is unable to obtain records with respect 

18 to the claim. Such a notification shall— 

19 ‘‘(i) identify the records the Secretary is unable 

20 to obtain; 

21 ‘‘(ii) briefly explain the efforts that the Sec22 retary made to obtain such records; and 

23 ‘‘(iii) explain that the Secretary will decide the 

24 claim based on the evidence of record but that this 

25 section does not prohibit the submission of records 


tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 2383 IH

1 at a later date if such submission is otherwise al2 lowed. 

3 ‘‘(B) The Secretary shall make not less than two re4 quests to a custodian of a private record in order for an 

5 effort to obtain relevant private records to be treated as 

6 reasonable under this section. 

7 ‘‘(3) This section shall not apply if the evidence of 

8 record allows for the Secretary to award the benefit 

9 sought. 

10 ‘‘(4) Under regulations prescribed by the Secretary, 

11 the Secretary shall encourage claimants to submit relevant 

12 private medical records of the claimant to the Secretary 

13 if such submission does not burden the claimant. 

14 ‘‘(5) The claimant may waive any requirements under 

15 this section.’’. 

16 (b) PUBLIC RECORDS.—Section 5103A(c) of such 

17 title is amended to read as follows: 

18 ‘‘(c) OBTAINING RECORDS FOR COMPENSATION

19 CLAIMS.—(1) In the case of a claim for disability com20 pensation, the assistance provided by the Secretary under 

21 this section shall include obtaining the following records 

22 if relevant to the claim: 

23 ‘‘(A) The claimant’s service medical records 

24 and, if the claimant has furnished the Secretary in25 formation sufficient to locate such records, other relVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:08 Jul 01, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2383.IH H2383

tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 2383 IH

1 evant records pertaining to the claimant’s active 

2 military, naval, or air service that are held or main3 tained by a governmental entity. 

4 ‘‘(B) Records of relevant medical treatment or 

5 examination of the claimant at Department health6 care facilities or at the expense of the Department, 

7 if the claimant furnishes information sufficient to lo8 cate those records. 

9 ‘‘(C) Any other relevant records held by any 

10 Federal department or agency that the claimant ade11 quately identifies and authorizes the Secretary to ob12 tain. 

13 ‘‘(2) Whenever the Secretary attempts to obtain 

14 records from a Federal department or agency under this 

15 subsection, the efforts to obtain those records shall con16 tinue until the records are obtained unless it is reasonably 

17 certain that such records do not exist or that further ef18 forts to obtain those records would be futile.’’. 

Æ 


tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS