110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 797
AN ACT 
To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve com-
pensation benefits for veterans in certain cases of impair-
ment 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 Sec-
retary of Veterans Affairs to provide an educational as-
sistance allowance for qualifying work study activities, 
and to authorize the provision of bronze representations 
of the letter ‘‘V’’ for the graves of eligible individuals 
buried in private cemeteries in lieu of Government-pro-
vided headstones or markers.
Directory to the Secretary, in accordance with this sub-
section, for the purposes specified in this subsection. 
‘‘(B) The Secretary of Health and Human Services 
may make a disclosure in accordance with subparagraph 
(A) only to the extent that the Secretary determines that 
such disclosure does not interfere with the effective oper-
ation of the program under part D of title IV of the Social 
Security Act. 
‘‘(4) The Secretary may use information resulting 
from a data match pursuant to this subsection only for 
the purpose of determining eligibility for benefits and serv-
ices specified in subsection (d) and the amount of benefits 
specified in paragraphs (1) and (2) of that subsection. 
‘‘(5) The Secretary shall reimburse the Secretary of 
Health and Human Services for the additional costs in-
curred by that Secretary in furnishing information under 
this subsection. Such reimbursement shall be at rates that 
the Secretary of Health and Human Services determines 
to be reasonable (which rates shall include payment for 
the costs of obtaining, verifying, maintaining, and com-
paring the information). 
‘‘(b) NOTIFICATION TO BENEFICIARIES.—The Sec-
retary shall notify each applicant for, or recipient of, a 
benefit or service specified in subsection (d) that income 
information furnished by the applicant to the Secretary
may be compared with information obtained by the Sec-
retary from the Secretary of Health and Human Services 
under subsection (a). The Secretary shall periodically 
transmit to recipients of such benefits additional notifica-
tions of such matters. 
‘‘(c) INDEPENDENT VERIFICATION REQUIRED.—The 
Secretary may not, by reason of information obtained from 
the Secretary of Health and Human Services under sub-
section (a) , terminate, deny, suspend, or reduce any ben-
efit or service described in subsection (d) until the Sec-
retary takes appropriate steps to verify independently in-
formation relating to employment and employment in-
come. 
‘‘(d) COVERED BENEFITS AND SERVICES.—The ben-
efits and services specified in this subsection are the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(1) Needs-based pension benefits provided 
under chapter 15 of this title or under any other law 
administered by the Secretary. 
‘‘(2) Parents’ dependency and indemnity com-
pensation provided under section 1315 of this title. 
‘‘(3) Health-care services furnished under sub-
sections (a)(2)(G), (a)(3), and (b) of section 1710 of 
this title.
‘‘(4) Compensation paid under chapter 11 of 
this title at the 100 percent rate based solely on 
unemployability and without regard to the fact that 
the disability or disabilities are not rated as 100 per-
cent disabling under the rating schedule. 
‘‘(e) LIMITATION WITH RESPECT
TO INDIVIDUAL 
UNEMPLOYABILITY CASES.—In the case of compensation 
described in subsection (d)(4), the Secretary may inde-
pendently verify or otherwise act upon wage or self-em-
ployment information referred to in subsection (c) of this 
section only if the Secretary finds that the amount and 
duration of the earnings reported in that information 
clearly indicate that the individual is not qualified for a 
rating of total disability. 
‘‘(f) OPPORTUNITY
TO CONTEST FINDINGS.—The 
Secretary shall inform the individual of the findings made 
by the Secretary on the basis of verified information under 
subsection (c), and shall give the individual an opportunity 
to contest such findings, in the same manner as applies 
to other information and findings relating to eligibility for 
the benefit or service involved. 
‘‘(g) SOURCE OF FUNDS FOR ADMINISTRATION OF 
SECTION.—The Secretary shall pay the expenses of car-
rying out this section from amounts available to the De-
partment for the payment of compensation and pension.
‘‘(h) TERMINATION OF AUTHORITY.—The authority 
of the Secretary to obtain information from the Secretary 
of Health and Human Services under subsection (a) ex-
pires on September 30, 2012.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 
at the beginning of such chapter is amended by adding 
at the end the following new item:
‘‘5320. Use of National Directory of New Hires for income verification pur-
poses.’’.
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Section 5320 of title 38, 
United States Code, as added by subsection (a), shall take 
effect 270 days after the date of the enactment of this 
Act. 
SEC. 3. EXTENSION OF AUTHORITY OF SECRETARY OF VET-
ERANS 
AFFAIRS 
TO 
PROVIDE 
AN 
EDU-
CATIONAL ASSISTANCE ALLOWANCE TO PER-
SONS 
PERFORMING 
QUALIFYING 
WORK-
STUDY ACTIVITIES. 
Section 3485(a)(4) of title 38, United States Code, 
is amended by striking ‘‘June 30, 2007’’ each place it ap-
pears and inserting ‘‘June 30, 2012’’.
SEC. 4. PROVISION OF BRONZE REPRESENTATIONS OF THE 
LETTER ‘‘V’’ FOR GRAVE OF ELIGIBLE INDI-
VIDUAL BURIED IN PRIVATE CEMETERY IN 
LIEU 
OF 
GOVERNMENT-PROVIDED 
HEAD-
STONE OR MARKER. 
Section 2306(d) of title 38, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following new para-
graph: 
‘‘(5) In lieu of furnishing a headstone or marker 
under this subsection, the Secretary may furnish, if re-
quested, a bronze representation of the letter ‘V’ to be at-
tached to a headstone or marker furnished at private ex-
pense. The Secretary shall make available two sizes of 
such representations for such purpose.’’. 
Passed the House of Representatives March 21, 
2007. 
Attest:
Clerk.
110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 797
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 al-
lowance for qualifying work study activities, and 
to authorize the provision of bronze representa-
tions of the letter ‘‘V’’ for the graves of eligible 
individuals buried in private cemeteries in lieu of 
Government-provided headstones or markers.