I 
113TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5193 
To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to conduct outreach to veterans 
regarding the effect of delayed payments by the Veterans Integrated 
Service Networks and to direct the Secretary to submit to Congress 
an annual report regarding such delayed payments. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 24, 2014 
Mr. BOUSTANY (for himself, Mr. CASSIDY, Mr. MCALLISTER, Mr. SCALISE, 
and Mr. RICHMOND) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 
A BILL 
To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to conduct out-
reach to veterans regarding the effect of delayed pay-
ments by the Veterans Integrated Service Networks and 
to direct the Secretary to submit to Congress an annual 
report regarding such delayed payments. 
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 ‘‘Veterans’ Credit Pro-
tection Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. OUTREACH TO VETERANS REGARDING EFFECT OF 
DELAYED PAYMENTS BY VETERANS INTE-
GRATED SERVICE NETWORKS. 
(a) OUTREACH.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
shall conduct outreach, including through national and 
local veterans service organizations, to inform veterans of 
how to resolve credit issues caused by a delayed payment. 
The Secretary shall establish a toll-free telephone number 
for veterans to report such credit issues to the Veterans 
Integrated Service Networks. 
(b) ANNUAL REPORT.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Veterans 
Affairs shall annually submit to Congress a report 
on the effectiveness of each Veterans Integrated 
Service Network in providing timely payment of a 
proper invoice by the required payment date during 
both the five-year period preceding the date of the 
report and the one-year period preceding such date. 
(2) MATTERS INCLUDED.—The reports under 
paragraph (1) shall include, for each period covered 
by the report, the following: 
(A) The number of veterans who contacted 
the Secretary regarding a delayed payment that 
negatively affected, or will potentially negatively 
affect, the credit of the veteran. 
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(B) The total amount of interest penalties 
paid by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs under 
section 3902 of title 31, United States Code, by 
reason of a delayed payment. 
(C) The number of proper invoices sub-
mitted, listed in a table for each quarter and 
fiscal year of each such period that includes— 
(i) the total amount owed by the Sec-
retary under the proper invoices; 
(ii) the payment status of each proper 
invoice, as of the date of the report; and 
(iii) the period that elapsed until each 
proper invoice was paid, including an ex-
planation of any delayed payment. 
(D) Any comments regarding delayed pay-
ments made by medical providers. 
(E) An identification of the Veterans Inte-
grated Service Network with the least number 
of delayed payments and the Veterans Inte-
grated Service Network with the most number 
of delayed payments. 
(F) A description of the best practices that 
a Veterans Integrated Service Network can 
carry out to provide timely payment of a proper 
invoice, including a plan for underperforming 
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Veterans Integrated Service Networks to im-
prove such timely payments. 
(c) COMPTROLLER GENERAL STUDY.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General of 
the United States shall conduct a study that com-
pares the effectiveness of each Veterans Integrated 
Service Network in providing timely payment of a 
proper invoice by the required payment date. 
(2) SUBMITTAL.—The Comptroller General 
shall submit to Congress a report on the study con-
ducted under paragraph (1), including the total 
amount of interest penalties paid by the Secretary of 
Veterans Affairs under section 3902 of title 31, 
United States Code, by reason of a delayed payment. 
(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) The term ‘‘delayed payment’’ means a prop-
er invoice that is not paid by the Secretary of Vet-
erans Affairs until after the required payment date. 
(2) The term ‘‘proper invoice’’ has the meaning 
given that term in section 3901(a) of title 31. 
(3) The term ‘‘required payment date’’ means 
the date that payment is due for a contract pursu-
ant to section 3903(a) of title 31. 
Æ 
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