I 
112TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4213 
To amend title 38, United States Code, to require judges of the United 
States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims to reside within fifty miles 
of the District of Columbia, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 19, 2012 
Mr. RUNYAN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 
A BILL 
To amend title 38, United States Code, to require judges 
of the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans 
Claims to reside within fifty miles of the District of 
Columbia, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. REQUIREMENT THAT JUDGES ON UNITED 
STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR VETERANS 
CLAIMS RESIDE WITHIN FIFTY MILES OF DIS-
TRICT OF COLUMBIA. 
(a) RESIDENCY REQUIREMENT.— 
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(1) IN
GENERAL.—Section 7255 of title 38, 
United States Code, is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘§ 7255. Offices, duty stations, and residences 
‘‘(a) PRINCIPAL OFFICE.—The principal office of the 
Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims shall be in the 
Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, but the Court may 
sit at any place within the United States. 
‘‘(b) OFFICIAL DUTY STATIONS.—(1) Except as pro-
vided in paragraph (2), the official duty station of each 
judge while in active service shall be the principal office 
of the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. 
‘‘(2) The place where a recall-eligible retired judge 
maintains the actual abode in which such judge custom-
arily lives shall be considered the recall-eligible retired 
judge’s official duty station. 
‘‘(c) RESIDENCES.—(1) Except as provided in para-
graph (2), after appointment and while in active service, 
each judge of the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims 
shall reside within 50 miles of the District of Columbia. 
‘‘(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to recall-eligible 
retired judges of the Court of Appeals for Veterans 
Claims.’’. 
(2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec-
tions at the beginning of chapter 72 of such title is 
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amended by striking the item relating to section 
7255 and inserting the following new item: 
‘‘7255. Offices, duty stations, and residences.’’. 
(b) REMOVAL.—Section 7253(f)(1) of such title is 
amended by striking ‘‘or engaging in the practice of law’’ 
and inserting ‘‘engaging in the practice of law, or violating 
section 7255(c) of this title’’. 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Subsection (c) of section 
7255 of such title, as added by subsection (a), and 
the amendment made by subsection (b) shall take ef-
fect on the date that is 180 days after the date of 
the enactment of this Act. 
(2) APPLICABILITY.—The amendment made by 
subsection (b) shall apply with respect to judges con-
firmed on or after January 1, 2012. 
Æ 
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