I 
119TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 7280 
To amend title 38, United States Code, to prohibit the Secretary of Veterans 
Affairs from entering into a contract pursuant to which the contractor 
may sell sensitive personal information maintained by the Secretary and 
to ensure the protection of personal information in certain contracts 
of the Department. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 30, 2026 
Ms. BUDZINSKI (for herself and Mr. BARRETT) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 
A BILL 
To amend title 38, United States Code, to prohibit the Sec-
retary of Veterans Affairs from entering into a contract 
pursuant to which the contractor may sell sensitive per-
sonal information maintained by the Secretary and to 
ensure the protection of personal information in certain 
contracts of the Department. 
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 ‘‘Veteran Data Account-
ability for Third-party Actors Act’’ or the ‘‘Veteran DATA 
Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. PROHIBITION OF THE SALE OF SENSITIVE PER-
SONAL INFORMATION MAINTAINED BY THE 
SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 
Section 5725 of title 38, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following new sub-
section: 
‘‘(d) PROHIBITION
OF SALE
OF SENSITIVE PER-
SONAL INFORMATION.—The Secretary may not enter into 
a contract that permits the contractor to sell (or otherwise 
disclose for consideration) sensitive personal information 
to another entity.’’. 
SEC. 3. PROTECTION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION IN CON-
TRACTS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS 
AFFAIRS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Vet-
erans Affairs shall— 
(1) ensure that each covered contract includes, 
or is modified to include, a clause prohibiting cov-
ered information from being monetized, sold, or oth-
erwise misused by any contractor, including any sub-
contractor or affiliate thereof, or other non-Depart-
ment of Veterans Affairs entity; and 
(2) issue a directive or other policy providing 
guidance to employees and contractors of the De-
partment on how to identify the monetization, sale, 
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or misuse of covered information in order to ensure 
contractors are in compliance with clauses in covered 
contracts included pursuant to paragraph (1). 
(b) REPORT.—Not later than one year after the date 
of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit 
to the appropriate congressional committees a report that 
includes— 
(1) a copy of the contract clause required by 
subsection (a)(1); 
(2) the guidance required by subsection (a)(2); 
and 
(3) a summary of any other actions taken to 
comply with subsection (a). 
(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com-
mittees’’ means the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs 
of the House of Representatives and the Senate. 
(2) The term ‘‘covered contract’’ means a con-
tract of the Department of Veterans Affairs that 
provides for the handling of covered information and 
is entered into— 
(A) after the date of the enactment of this 
Act; or 
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(B) before the date of the enactment of 
this Act and does not expire before the date of 
the enactment of this Act. 
(3) The term ‘‘covered information’’— 
(A) means protected health information or 
personally identifiable information, including 
such information that has been anonymized; 
and 
(B) 
includes 
information 
protected 
under— 
(i) section 552a of title 5, United 
States Code; 
(ii) section 5701 or 7332 of title 38 
United States Code; 
(iii) parts 160, 161, and 164 of title 
45, Code of Federal Regulations; and 
(iv) any other provision of law, as de-
termined by the Secretary. 
Æ 
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