HR 797 RFS
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 periph-
eral field 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: 
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HR 797 RFS
‘‘§ 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-
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 
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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 
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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. 
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‘‘(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. 
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‘‘(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’’. 
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