I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3949 
To amend title 38, United States Code, and the Servicemember Civil Relief 
Act, to make certain improvements in the laws relating to benefits 
administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and for other pur-
poses. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 28, 2009 
Mr. FILNER (for himself, Mr. BUYER, Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida, Mr. 
BROWN of South Carolina, Mr. SNYDER, Mr. MILLER of Florida, Ms. 
HERSETH SANDLIN, Mr. BOOZMAN, Mr. MITCHELL, Mr. BUCHANAN, Mr. 
HALL of New York, Mr. ROE of Tennessee, Mrs. HALVORSON, Mr. 
PERRIELLO, Mr. TEAGUE, Mr. RODRIGUEZ, Mr. MCNERNEY, Mr. WALZ, 
Mr. ADLER of New Jersey, Mrs. KIRKPATRICK of Arizona, Mr. NYE, Mr. 
MCINTYRE, and Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 
A BILL 
To amend title 38, United States Code, and the Servicemem-
ber Civil Relief Act, to make certain improvements in 
the laws relating to benefits administered by the Sec-
retary of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
VerDate Nov 24 2008 
22:36 Oct 28, 2009
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3949.IH
H3949
srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with BILLS
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Veterans’ 
Small 
Business 
Assistance 
and 
Servicemembers Protection Act of 2009’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
Sec. 2. References to title 38, United States Code. 
TITLE I—SMALL BUSINESS AND EDUCATION MATTERS 
Sec. 101. Clarification of responsibility of Secretary of Veterans Affairs to 
verify small business ownership. 
Sec. 102. Improvement of Department of Veterans Affairs contracting goals 
and preferences for small business concerns owned and con-
trolled by veterans. 
Sec. 103. Reauthorization of Veterans’ Advisory Committee on Education. 
TITLE II—SERVICEMEMBERS CIVIL RELIEF ACT MATTERS 
Sec. 201. Termination of service contracts. 
Sec. 202. Residential and motor vehicle leases. 
Sec. 203. Enforcement by the Attorney General and by private right of action. 
TITLE III—OTHER BENEFITS MATTERS 
Sec. 301. Improvement of outreach activities within Department of Veterans 
Affairs. 
Sec. 302. Visual impairment and orientation and mobility professionals edu-
cation assistance program. 
Sec. 303. Interment in national cemeteries of parents of certain deceased vet-
erans. 
SEC. 2. REFERENCES TO TITLE 38, UNITED STATES CODE. 
Except as otherwise expressly provided, whenever in 
this Act an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms 
of an amendment to, or repeal of, a section or other provi-
sion, the reference shall be considered to be made to a 
section or other provision of title 38, United States Code. 
VerDate Nov 24 2008 
22:36 Oct 28, 2009
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3949.IH
H3949
srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with BILLS
TITLE I—SMALL BUSINESS AND 
EDUCATION MATTERS 
SEC. 101. CLARIFICATION OF RESPONSIBILITY OF SEC-
RETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS TO VERIFY 
SMALL BUSINESS OWNERSHIP. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This section may be cited as the 
‘‘Veterans Small Business Verification Act’’. 
(b) CLARIFICATION
OF RESPONSIBILITY
OF SEC-
RETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS TO VERIFY SMALL BUSI-
NESS OWNERSHIP.— 
(1) 
CLARIFICATION.—Section 
8127(f) 
is 
amended— 
(A) in paragraph (2)— 
(i) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ before ‘‘To be 
eligible’’; 
(ii) by inserting after ‘‘or the vet-
eran.’’ the following new sentence: ‘‘Appli-
cation for inclusion in the database shall 
constitute permission under section 552a 
of title 5 (commonly referred to as the Pri-
vacy Act) for the Secretary to access such 
personal information maintained by the 
Secretary as may be necessary to verify the 
information contained in the application.’’; 
and 
VerDate Nov 24 2008 
22:36 Oct 28, 2009
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3949.IH
H3949
srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with BILLS
(iii) by inserting after the sentence 
added by subparagraph (B) the following 
new subparagraph: 
‘‘(B) If the Secretary receives an application for 
inclusion in the database from an individual whose 
status as a veteran cannot be verified because the 
Secretary does not maintain information with re-
spect to the veteran status of the individual, the Sec-
retary may not include the small business concern 
owned or controlled by the individual in the database 
maintained by the Secretary until the Secretary re-
ceives such information as may be necessary to 
verify that the individual is a veteran.’’; and 
(B) by striking paragraph (4) and insert-
ing the following new paragraph (4): 
‘‘(4) No small business concern may be listed in the 
database until the Secretary has verified that— 
‘‘(A) the small business concern is owned and 
controlled by veterans; and 
‘‘(B) in the case of a small business concern for 
which the person who owns or controls the concern 
indicates that the person is a veteran with a service- 
connected disability, that the person is a veteran 
with a service-connected disability.’’. 
VerDate Nov 24 2008 
22:36 Oct 28, 2009
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3949.IH
H3949
srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with BILLS
(2) APPLICABILITY.—In the case of a small 
business concern included in the database as of the 
date of the enactment of this Act for which, as of 
such date, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs has not 
verified the status of such concern in accordance 
with paragraph (4) of subsection (f) of section 8127 
of title 38, United States Code, as amended by sub-
section (a), not later than 60 days after the date of 
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall notify 
the person who owns or controls the concern that— 
(A) the Secretary is required to verify the 
status of the concern in accordance with such 
paragraph; 
(B) verification of such status shall require 
that the person who owns or controls the con-
cern apply for inclusion in the database in ac-
cordance with such subsection, as so amended; 
(C) application for inclusion in the data-
base shall constitute permission under section 
552a of title 5, United States Code (commonly 
referred to as the Privacy Act), for the Sec-
retary to access such personal information 
maintained by the Secretary as may be nec-
essary to verify the information contained in 
the application; and 
VerDate Nov 24 2008 
22:36 Oct 28, 2009
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3949.IH
H3949
srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with BILLS
(D) the person who owns or controls the 
concern must submit to the Secretary an af-
firmative acknowledgment of the requirement 
under paragraph (3) within 90 days of receiving 
the Secretary’s notice of such requirement or 
the concern shall be removed from the data-
base. 
SEC. 102. IMPROVEMENT OF DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS 
AFFAIRS CONTRACTING GOALS AND PREF-
ERENCES FOR SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS 
OWNED AND CONTROLLED BY VETERANS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 8127, as amended by sec-
tion 101, is further amended in subsection (c), by striking 
‘‘may’’ and inserting ‘‘shall’’. 
(b) DEADLINE FOR INTERIM POLICY GUIDANCE.— 
By not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment 
of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall issue 
interim policy guidance to carry out the amendment made 
by subsection (a). 
SEC. 103. REAUTHORIZATION OF VETERANS’ ADVISORY 
COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION. 
Section 3692(c) is amended by striking ‘‘December 
31, 2009’’ and inserting ‘‘December 31, 2015’’. 
VerDate Nov 24 2008 
22:36 Oct 28, 2009
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3949.IH
H3949
srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with BILLS