I 
110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 797 
To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve compensation benefits 
for veterans in certain cases of impairment of vision involving both 
eyes, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 5, 2007 
Ms. BALDWIN (for herself, Mr. BOOZMAN, Mr. FILNER, Mr. MILLER of Flor-
ida, Ms. HERSETH, Ms. BERKLEY, and Mr. HALL of New York) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Vet-
erans’ Affairs 
A BILL 
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, and for other pur-
poses. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. ENHANCED COMPENSATION BENEFITS FOR 
VETERANS IN CERTAIN CASES OF IMPAIR-
MENT OF VISION INVOLVING BOTH EYES. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This section may be cited as the 
‘‘Dr. James Allen Veteran Vision Equity Act’’. 
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(b) 
ENHANCED
COMPENSATION.—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’’; and 
(2) by inserting before the semicolon at the end 
the following: ‘‘, where the impairment in each eye 
is to a visual acuity of 20/200 or less or of a periph-
eral field loss of 20 degrees or less’’. 
SEC. 2. USE OF NATIONAL DIRECTORY OF NEW HIRES FOR 
INCOME VERIFICATION PURPOSES FOR CER-
TAIN VETERANS BENEFITS. 
(a) USE OF INFORMATION IN NATIONAL DIRECTORY 
OF NEW HIRES.—Chapter 53 of title 38, United States 
Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new 
section: 
‘‘§ 5320. Use of National Directory of New Hires for 
income verification purposes 
‘‘(a) INFORMATION FROM NATIONAL DIRECTORY OF 
NEW HIRES.—(1) The Secretary shall furnish to the Sec-
retary of Health and Human Services, on a quarterly basis 
or at such intervals as may be determined by the Sec-
retary, information in the custody of the Secretary for 
comparison with information in the National Directory of 
New Hires maintained by the Secretary of Health and 
Human Services pursuant to section 453 of the Social Se-
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curity Act (42 U.S.C. 653), in order to obtain the informa-
tion in such directory with respect to individuals under 
the age of 65 who are applicants for or recipients of bene-
fits or services specified in subsection (d). 
‘‘(2) The Secretary shall seek information pursuant 
to this subsection only to the extent essential to deter-
mining eligibility for benefits and services specified in sub-
section (d) and the amount of benefits specified in para-
graphs (1) and (2) of that subsection for individuals under 
the age of 65. 
‘‘(3)(A) The Secretary of Health and Human Serv-
ices, in cooperation with the Secretary, shall compare in-
formation in the National Directory of New Hires with 
information in the custody of the Secretary furnished pur-
suant to paragraph (1), and disclose information in that 
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 
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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-
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