IB 
Union Calendar No. 293 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3705 
[Report No. 115–397] 
To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to require the use of certified 
mail and plain language in certain debt collection activities. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 7, 2017 
Ms. PINGREE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 
NOVEMBER 7, 2017 
Additional sponsors: Ms. KUSTER of New Hampshire and Mr. YOUNG of Iowa 
NOVEMBER 7, 2017 
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on September 7, 2017] 
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Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Veterans Fair Debt No-
tice Act of 2017’’. 
SEC. 2. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS NOTICE RE-
LATING TO DEBT COLLECTION ACTIVITIES. 
(a) DEBT NOTIFICATION LETTERS.—The Secretary of 
Veterans Affairs shall collaborate with veterans service orga-
nizations to write a standard letter to be provided to indi-
viduals who the Secretary determines owe debts to the De-
partment of Veterans Affairs. Such letter shall be written 
in plain language and shall include a notice of the debt 
and a clear explanation of— 
(1) why the individual owes money to the De-
partment of Veterans Affairs; and 
(2) the options available to the individual. 
(b) DELIVERY OF LETTERS.—The Secretary shall de-
velop a method by which individuals may elect to receive 
debt notification letters by electronic means and shall en-
sure, to the extent practicable, that the letter developed 
under subsection (a) is delivered to intended recipients who 
have made such an election by both standard mail and by 
electronic means and to intended recipients who have not 
made such an election only by standard mail. 
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(c) NOTICE TO CONGRESS.— 
(1) NOTICE OF COMPLETION.—Upon completion 
of the letter required under subsection (a), the Sec-
retary shall submit to Congress notice of the comple-
tion of the letter. 
(2) PROGRESS REPORTS.—If the Secretary has 
not submitted the notice required by paragraph (1) by 
the date that is 90 days after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act, the Secretary shall— 
(A) submit to Congress a report describing 
the progress of the Secretary toward imple-
menting subsection (a) and an explanation for 
why the letter has not been completed; and 
(B) every 30 days thereafter until the sub-
mittal of the notice required by paragraph (1), 
submit to Congress an update to the report 
under subparagraph (A) that includes an addi-
tional explanation for the failure to complete the 
letter. 
(d) STUDY; REPORT.— 
(1) STUDY.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
shall conduct a study on the process by which the De-
partment of Veterans Affairs notifies veterans of debt 
collection efforts. Such study shall include— 
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(A) an analysis of the scope of the problem 
of veterans not receiving debt collection notices; 
(B) a description of any non-legislative ac-
tions the Secretary could take to reduce the num-
ber of incorrect or unknown addresses of veterans 
in the databases of the Department and a 
timeline for adopting such actions; and 
(C) an estimate of the costs associated with 
sending debt collection notices by certified mail. 
(2) REPORT.—Not later than 12 months after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 
submit to Congress a report on the study conducted 
under paragraph (1). 
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Union Calendar No. 293 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 3705 
[Report No. 115–397] 
A BILL 
To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to re-
quire the use of certified mail and plain language 
in certain debt collection activities. 
NOVEMBER 7, 2017 
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Com-
mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 
and ordered to be printed 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:50 Nov 08, 2017
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
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E:\BILLS\H3705.RH
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