H. Res. 855 
In the House of Representatives, U. S., 
December 11, 2007. 
Resolved, That upon the adoption of this resolution the 
bill (H.R. 797) entitled ‘‘An Act to amend title 38, United 
States Code, to improve compensation benefits for veterans in 
certain cases of impairment of vision involving both eyes, to 
provide for the use of the National Directory of New Hires 
for income verification purposes, to extend the authority of 
the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to provide an educational 
assistance allowance for qualifying work study activities, and 
to authorize the provision of bronze representations of the let-
ter ‘V’ for the graves of eligible individuals buried in private 
cemeteries in lieu of Government-provided headstones or 
markers’’, with the Senate amendment thereto, shall be con-
sidered to have been taken from the Speaker’s table to the 
end that the Senate amendment thereto be, and the same is 
hereby, agreed to with the following amendments: 
In lieu of the matter proposed to be inserted by the 
amendment of the Senate, insert the following:
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SEC. 102. IMPROVEMENT IN COMPENSATION FOR VET-
ERANS IN CERTAIN CASES OF IMPAIRMENT 
OF VISION INVOLVING BOTH EYES. 
Section 1160(a)(1) of title 38, United States Code, is 
amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘blindness’’ both places it ap-
pears and inserting ‘‘impairment of vision’’; 
(2) by striking ‘‘misconduct;’’ and inserting 
‘‘misconduct and—’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following new sub-
paragraphs: 
‘‘(A) the impairment of vision in each eye 
is rated at a visual acuity of 20/200 or less; or 
‘‘(B) the peripheral field of vision for each 
eye is 20 degrees or less;’’. 
TITLE 
II—MATTERS 
RELATING 
TO BURIAL AND MEMORIAL 
AFFAIRS 
SEC. 201. PROVISION OF MEDALLION OR OTHER DEVICE 
FOR PRIVATELY-PURCHASED GRAVE MARK-
ERS. 
Section 2306(d) of title 38, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph: 
‘‘(5) In lieu of furnishing a headstone or marker under 
this subsection, the Secretary may furnish, upon request, 
a medallion or other device of a design determined by the
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Secretary to signify the deceased’s status as a veteran, to 
be attached to a headstone or marker furnished at private 
expense.’’. 
SEC. 202. IMPROVEMENT IN PROVISION OF ASSISTANCE TO 
STATES RELATING TO THE INTERMENT OF 
VETERANS IN CEMETERIES OTHER THAN NA-
TIONAL CEMETERIES. 
(a) REPEAL OF TIME LIMITATION FOR STATE FILING 
FOR REIMBURSEMENT FOR INTERMENT COSTS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The second sentence of section 
3.1604(d)(2) of title 38, Code of Federal Regulations, 
shall have no further force or effect as it pertains to 
unclaimed remains of a deceased veteran. 
(2) RETROACTIVE APPLICATION.—Paragraph (1) 
shall take effect as of October 1, 2006 and apply with 
respect to interments and inurnments occurring on or 
after that date. 
(b) GRANTS FOR OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE OF 
STATE VETERANS’ CEMETERIES.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (a) of section 2408 
of title 38, United States Code, is amended to read as 
follows: 
‘‘(a)(1) Subject to subsection (b), the Secretary may 
make a grant to any State for the following purposes:
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‘‘(A) Establishing, expanding, or improving a 
veterans’ cemetery owned by the State. 
‘‘(B) Operating and maintaining such a ceme-
tery. 
‘‘(2) A grant under paragraph (1) may be made only 
upon submission of an application to the Secretary in such 
form and manner, and containing such information, as the 
Secretary may require.’’. 
(2) LIMITATION ON AMOUNTS AWARDED.—Sub-
section (e) of such section is amended— 
(A) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ before ‘‘Amounts’’; 
and 
(B) by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph: 
‘‘(2) In any fiscal year, the aggregate amount of grants 
awarded under this section for the purposes specified in sub-
section (a)(1)(B) may not exceed $5,000,000.’’. 
(3) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Such section is 
further amended— 
(A) in subsection (b)— 
(i) by striking ‘‘Grants under this sec-
tion’’ and inserting ‘‘A grant under this 
section for a purpose described in subsection 
(a)(1)(A)’’; and
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(ii) by striking ‘‘a grant under this 
section’’ each place it appears and inserting 
‘‘such a grant’’; 
(B) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘to assist 
such State in establishing, expanding, or im-
proving a veterans’ cemetery’’; and 
(C) in subsection (f)(1), by inserting ‘‘, or 
in operating and maintaining such cemeteries,’’ 
after ‘‘veterans’ cemeteries’’. 
(4) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 180 days 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec-
retary of Veterans Affairs shall prescribe regulations 
to carry out the amendments made by this subsection. 
SEC. 203. MODIFICATION OF AUTHORITIES ON PROVISION 
OF GOVERNMENT HEADSTONES AND MARK-
ERS FOR BURIALS OF VETERANS AT PRIVATE 
CEMETERIES. 
(a) REPEAL OF EXPIRATION OF AUTHORITY.—Sub-
section (d) of section 2306 of title 38, United States Code, 
as amended by section 201, is further amended— 
(1) by striking paragraph (3); and 
(2) by redesignating paragraphs (4) and (5), as 
added by that section, as paragraphs (3) and (4), re-
spectively.
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(b) 
RETROACTIVE
EFFECTIVE
DATE.—Notwith-
standing subsection (d) of section 502 of the Veterans Edu-
cation and Benefits Expansion Act of 2001 (Public Law 
107–103; 115 Stat. 995; 38 U.S.C. 2306 note) or any other 
provision of law, the amendments made by that section and 
by subsections (a), (b), (c), (d), and (f) of section 402 of 
the Veterans Benefits, Health Care, and Information Tech-
nology Act of 2006 (Public Law 109–461; 120 Stat. 3429) 
shall take effect as of November 1, 1990, and shall apply 
with respect to headstones and markers for the graves of 
individuals dying on or after that date. 
TITLE III—OTHER MATTERS 
SEC. 301. USE OF NATIONAL DIRECTORY OF NEW HIRES 
FOR INCOME VERIFICATION PURPOSES FOR 
CERTAIN VETERANS BENEFITS. 
(a) AUTHORITY FOR INFORMATION COMPARISONS AND 
DISCLOSURES OF INFORMATION TO ASSIST IN ADMINISTRA-
TION OF CERTAIN VETERANS BENEFITS.—Section 453(j) of 
the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 653(j)) is amended by 
adding at the end the following new paragraph: 
‘‘(11) INFORMATION COMPARISONS AND DISCLO-
SURES TO ASSIST IN ADMINISTRATION OF CERTAIN 
VETERANS BENEFITS.— 
‘‘(A) FURNISHING OF INFORMATION BY SEC-
RETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.—Subject to the
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provisions of this paragraph, the Secretary of 
Veterans Affairs shall furnish to the Secretary, 
on such periodic basis as determined by the Sec-
retary of Veterans Affairs in consultation with 
the Secretary, information in the custody of the 
Secretary of Veterans Affairs for comparison 
with information in the National Directory of 
New Hires, in order to obtain information in 
such Directory with respect to individuals who 
are applying for or receiving— 
‘‘(i) needs-based pension benefits pro-
vided under chapter 15 of title 38, United 
States Code, or under any other law admin-
istered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; 
‘‘(ii) parents’ dependency and indem-
nity compensation provided under section 
1315 of title 38, United States Code; 
‘‘(iii) health care services furnished 
under subsections (a)(2)(G), (a)(3), or (b) of 
section 1710 of title 38, United States Code; 
or 
‘‘(iv) compensation paid under chapter 
11 of title 38, United States Code, at the 
100 
percent 
rate 
based 
solely 
on 
unemployability and without regard to the