IB 
Union Calendar No. 28 
110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 797 
[Report No. 110–57] 
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 
MARCH 20, 2007 
Additional sponsors: Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, 
Mr. GUTIERREZ, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. FATTAH, Ms. KILPATRICK, Ms. JACK-
SON-LEE of Texas, Mr. WALZ of Minnesota, Ms. CORRINE BROWN of 
Florida, Mr. DOYLE, Mr. DAVIS
of Alabama, Mr. HIGGINS, Mr. 
CUMMINGS, Mr. GONZALEZ, Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota, Mr. REYES, 
Mr. CARNEY, Ms. CARSON, Ms. BORDALLO, Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin, Mr. 
KIND, Mr. YARMUTH, Mr. MCCOTTER, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON 
of Texas, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Mr. JONES of North Carolina, Mr. 
HOLDEN, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. SPACE, Ms. HIRONO, Ms. MCCOLLUM of Min-
nesota, Mr. SENSENBRENNER, Mr. KAGEN, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. MAN-
ZULLO, Mr. COHEN, Mr. BILIRAKIS, Mr. MICHAUD, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. 
TIM MURPHY of Pennsylvania, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. BRADY of Penn-
sylvania, Ms. MATSUI, Mr. HOLT, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. DEGETTE, Mr. 
MURTHA, Mr. WEXLER, Mr. BAKER, Mr. KLINE of Minnesota, Ms. 
MOORE of Wisconsin, Mr. HARE, Mr. BUYER, Mr. STEARNS, Mr. 
LAMBORN, Mr. BUCHANAN, Mr. MCNERNEY, and Mr. ORTIZ 
MARCH 20, 2007 
Reported with amendments, committed to the Committee of the Whole House 
on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 
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[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on February 5, 2007] 
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’’. 
(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 peripheral 
field of 20 degrees or less’’. 
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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 in-
come 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 Secretary, 
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 Serv-
ices pursuant to section 453 of the Social Security Act (42 
U.S.C. 653), in order to obtain the information in such di-
rectory with respect to individuals under the age of 65 who 
are applicants for or recipients of benefits or services speci-
fied in subsection (d). 
‘‘(2) The Secretary shall seek information pursuant to 
this subsection only to the extent essential to determining 
eligibility for benefits and services specified in subsection 
(d) and the amount of benefits specified in paragraphs (1) 
and (2) of that subsection for individuals under the age of 
65. 
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‘‘(3)(A) The Secretary of Health and Human Services, 
in cooperation with the Secretary, shall compare informa-
tion in the National Directory of New Hires with informa-
tion in the custody of the Secretary furnished pursuant to 
paragraph (1), and disclose information in that Directory 
to the Secretary, in accordance with this subsection, 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 operation 
of the program under part D of title IV of the Social Secu-
rity 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 services 
specified in subsection (d) and the amount of benefits speci-
fied 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 
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costs of obtaining, verifying, maintaining, and comparing 
the information). 
‘‘(b) NOTIFICATION
TO BENEFICIARIES.—The Sec-
retary shall notify each applicant for, or recipient of, a ben-
efit or service specified in subsection (d) that income infor-
mation furnished by the applicant to the Secretary may 
be compared with information obtained by the Secretary 
from the Secretary of Health and Human Services under 
subsection (a). The Secretary shall periodically transmit to 
recipients of such benefits additional notifications 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 benefit 
or service described in subsection (d) until the Secretary 
takes appropriate steps to verify independently information 
relating to employment and employment income. 
‘‘(d) COVERED BENEFITS AND SERVICES.—The bene-
fits 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 ad-
ministered by the Secretary. 
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‘‘(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 independ-
ently verify or otherwise act upon wage or self-employment 
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 dis-
ability. 
‘‘(f) OPPORTUNITY TO CONTEST FINDINGS.—The Sec-
retary shall inform the individual of the findings made by 
the Secretary on the basis of verified information under sub-
section (c), and shall give the individual an opportunity 
to contest such findings, in the same manner as applies to 
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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 carrying 
out this section from amounts available to the Department 
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) expires 
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 purposes.’’. 
(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 appears 
and inserting ‘‘June 30, 2009’’. 
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SEC. 4. PROVISION OF BRONZE REPRESENTATION 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 paragraph: 
‘‘(5) In lieu of furnishing a headstone or marker under 
this subsection, the Secretary may furnish, if requested, a 
bronze representation of the letter ‘V’ to be attached to a 
headstone or marker furnished at private expense. The Sec-
retary shall make such representation available in two sizes 
for such purpose.’’. 
Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘A bill to amend title 
38, United States Code, to improve compensation bene-
fits 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 Af-
fairs to provide an educational assistance allowance for 
qualifying work study activities, and to authorize the pro-
vision of bronze representations of the letter ‘V’ for the 
graves of eligible individuals buried in private cemeteries 
in lieu of Government-provided headstones or markers.’’. 
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Union Calendar No. 28 
110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 797 
[Report No. 110–57] 
A BILL 
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. 
MARCH 20, 2007 
Reported with amendments, committed to the Committee 
of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and or-
dered to be printed 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
22:30 Mar 20, 2007
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