HR 6416 RDS
SEC. 104. COMPTROLLER GENERAL REVIEW OF CLAIMS 
PROCESSING PERFORMANCE OF REGIONAL 
OFFICES OF VETERANS BENEFITS ADMINIS-
TRATION. 
(a) REVIEW REQUIRED.—Not later than 15 months 
after the effective date specified in subsection (e), the 
Comptroller General of the United States shall complete 
a review of the regional offices of the Veterans Benefits 
Administration to help the Veterans Benefits Administra-
tion achieve more consistent performance in the processing 
of claims for disability compensation. 
(b) ELEMENTS.—The review required by subsection 
(a) shall include the following: 
(1) An identification of the following: 
(A) The factors, including management 
practices, that distinguish higher performing re-
gional offices from other regional offices with 
respect to claims for disability compensation. 
(B) The best practices employed by higher 
performing regional offices that distinguish the 
performance of such offices from other regional 
offices. 
(C) Such other management practices or 
tools as the Comptroller General determines 
could be used to improve the performance of re-
gional offices. 
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(2) An assessment of the effectiveness of com-
munication with respect to the processing of claims 
for disability compensation between the regional of-
fices and veterans service organizations and case-
workers employed by Members of Congress. 
(c) REPORT.—Not later than 15 months after the ef-
fective date specified in subsection (e), the Comptroller 
General shall submit to the Committee on Veterans’ Af-
fairs of the Senate and the Committee on Veterans’ Af-
fairs of the House of Representatives a report on the re-
sults of the review completed under subsection (a). 
(d) VETERANS SERVICE ORGANIZATION DEFINED.— 
In this section, the term ‘‘veterans service organization’’ 
means any organization recognized by the Secretary for 
the representation of veterans under section 5902 of title 
38, United States Code. 
(e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall take effect 
on the date that is 270 days after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act. 
SEC. 105. REPORT ON STAFFING LEVELS AT REGIONAL OF-
FICES OF DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AF-
FAIRS UNDER NATIONAL WORK QUEUE. 
Not later than 15 months after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall 
submit to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the Sen-
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ate and the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the House 
of Representatives a report on the criteria and procedures 
that the Secretary will use to determine appropriate staff-
ing levels at the regional offices of the Department under 
the National Work Queue for the distribution of the claims 
processing workload. 
SEC. 106. INCLUSION IN ANNUAL BUDGET SUBMISSION OF 
INFORMATION ON CAPACITY OF VETERANS 
BENEFITS 
ADMINISTRATION 
TO 
PROCESS 
BENEFITS CLAIMS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Along with the supporting infor-
mation included in the budget submitted to Congress by 
the President pursuant to section 1105(a) of title 31, 
United States Code, the President shall include informa-
tion on the capacity of the Veterans Benefits Administra-
tion to process claims for benefits under the laws adminis-
tered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, including infor-
mation described in subsection (b), during the fiscal year 
covered by the budget with which the information is sub-
mitted. 
(b) INFORMATION DESCRIBED.—The information de-
scribed in this subsection is the following: 
(1) An estimate of the average number of 
claims for benefits under the laws administered by 
the Secretary, excluding such claims completed dur-
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ing mandatory overtime, that a single full-time 
equivalent employee of the Administration should be 
able to process in a year, based on the following: 
(A) A time and motion study that the Sec-
retary shall conduct on the processing of such 
claims. 
(B) Such other information relating to 
such claims as the Secretary considers appro-
priate. 
(2) A description of the actions the Secretary 
will take to improve the processing of such claims. 
(3) An assessment of the actions identified by 
the Secretary under paragraph (2) in the previous 
year and an identification of the effects of those ac-
tions. 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall apply with 
respect to any budget submitted as described in subsection 
(a) with respect to any fiscal year after fiscal year 2018. 
SEC. 107. REPORT ON PLANS OF SECRETARY OF VETERANS 
AFFAIRS TO REDUCE INVENTORY OF NON- 
RATING WORKLOAD; SENSE OF CONGRESS 
REGARDING MONDAY MORNING WORKLOAD 
REPORT. 
(a) REPORT.—Not later than 120 days after the date 
of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans 
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Affairs shall submit to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 
of the Senate and the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of 
the House of Representatives a report that details the 
plans of the Secretary to reduce the inventory of work 
items listed in the Monday Morning Workload Report 
under End Products 130, 137, 173, 290, 400, 600, 607, 
690, 930, and 960. 
(b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-
gress that the Secretary of Veterans Affairs should include 
in each Monday Morning Workload Report published by 
the Secretary the following: 
(1) With respect to each regional office of the 
Department of Veterans Affairs, the following: 
(A) The number of fully developed claims 
for benefits under the laws administered by the 
Secretary that have been received. 
(B) The number of claims described in 
subparagraph (A) that are pending a decision. 
(C) The number of claims described in 
subparagraph (A) that have been pending a de-
cision for more than 125 days. 
(2) Enhanced information on appeals of deci-
sions relating to claims for benefits under the laws 
administered by the Secretary that are pending, in-
cluding information contained in the reports of the 
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