II 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2884 

To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to develop a standard letter 

format to be provided to individuals who are indebted to the United 

States by virtue of their participation in benefits programs administered 

by the Secretary, to provide notice of debt by electronic means to such 

individuals when so elected, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 17, 2018 

Mrs. FISCHER (for herself, Mr. TESTER, Mr. BROWN, Mr. CORNYN, Mr. 

HELLER, and Mr. RUBIO) introduced the following bill; which was read 

twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to develop a 

standard letter format to be provided to individuals who 

are indebted to the United States by virtue of their 

participation in benefits programs administered by the 

Secretary, to provide notice of debt by electronic means 

to such individuals when so elected, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Veterans Fair Debt 

3 Notice Act of 2018’’. 

4 SEC. 2. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS NOTICE RE5 LATING TO DEBT COLLECTION ACTIVITIES. 

6 (a) DEBT NOTIFICATION LETTER FORMATS.—The 

7 Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall collaborate with vet8 erans service organizations to develop a standard format 

9 for any letter provided to individuals who the Secretary 

10 determines are indebted to the United States by virtue of 

11 such person’s participation in a benefits program adminis12 tered by the Secretary. Such letter shall be written in plain 

13 language and shall include a notice of the debt and a clear 

14 explanation of— 

15 (1) why the individual is indebted to the United 

16 States by virtue of such person’s participation in a 

17 benefits program administered by the Secretary; and 

18 (2) the options available to the individual. 

19 (b) DELIVERY OF DEBT NOTICES BY STANDARD

20 MAIL AND ELECTRONIC MEANS.—The Secretary shall de21 velop a method by which individuals may elect to receive 

22 notice of debt by electronic means and shall ensure, to the 

23 extent practicable, that the letter developed under sub24 section (a) is delivered— 


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1 (1) by both standard mail and by electronic 

2 means to intended recipients who have made such an 

3 election; and 

4 (2) only by standard mail to intended recipients 

5 who have not made such an election. 

6 (c) NOTICE TO CONGRESS.— 

7 (1) NOTICES OF COMPLETION.—Upon comple8 tion of the development of the standard letter format 

9 required under subsection (a) and upon completion 

10 of development of the method under subsection (b), 

11 the Secretary shall submit to Congress notice of the 

12 completion of the development. 

13 (2) PROGRESS REPORTS.—If the Secretary has 

14 not submitted each notice required by paragraph (1) 

15 by the date that is 90 days after the date of the en16 actment of this Act, the Secretary shall— 

17 (A) submit to Congress a report describing 

18 the progress of the Secretary toward imple19 menting subsections (a) and (b) and an expla20 nation for why the respective development has 

21 not been completed; and 

22 (B) every 30 days thereafter until all of 

23 the notices required by paragraph (1) have been 

24 submitted, submit to Congress an update to the 

25 report under subparagraph (A) that includes an 


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1 additional explanation for the failure to com2 plete the respective development. 

3 (d) STUDY AND REPORT.— 

4 (1) STUDY.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs, 

5 in coordination with the Secretary of the Treasury, 

6 shall conduct a study on the process by which indi7 viduals who are indebted to the United States by vir8 tue of their participation in a benefits program ad9 ministered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs are 

10 notified of debt collection efforts relating to such in11 debtedness. 

12 (2) ELEMENTS.—The study required by para13 graph (1) shall include the following: 

14 (A) An analysis of the scope of the prob15 lem of individuals who are indebted to the 

16 United States by virtue of their participation in 

17 a benefits program administered by the Sec18 retary of Veterans Affairs not receiving debt 

19 collection notices relating to such indebtedness. 

20 (B) Identification of administrative actions 

21 the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the Sec22 retary of the Treasury can carry out to reduce 

23 the number of incorrect or unknown addresses 

24 of such individuals in the databases of the De25 partment Veterans Affairs and the Department 


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1 of the Treasury and a timeline for carrying out 

2 such actions. 

3 (C) An estimate of the costs associated 

4 with sending debt collection notices to such in5 dividuals by certified mail. 

6 (D) An analysis of whether, or to what ex7 tent, sending debt collection notices to such in8 dividuals by certified mail would address the 

9 problem analyzed under subparagraph (A). 

10 (E) An analysis of the requirements and 

11 resources that would be necessary to develop 

12 the capability for creating a single consolidated 

13 snapshot of a veteran’s debt. 

14 (F) An analysis of the extent to which in15 dividuals indebted to the United States by vir16 tue of their participation in a benefits program 

17 administered by the Secretary of Veterans Af18 fairs are so indebted as a result of an error, 

19 misrepresentation, or fraud by such individuals. 

20 (3) REPORT.—Not later than one year after the 

21 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 

22 Veterans Affairs, in coordination with the Secretary 

23 of the Treasury, shall submit to Congress a report 


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1 on the findings of the Secretaries with respect to the 

2 study conducted under paragraph (1). 

Æ 


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