recent annual report submitted by the Secretary under 
section 7734 of title 38, United States Code. 
(e) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out this section, the 
Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall consult with informa-
tion technology designers at the Veterans Health Adminis-
tration, VistA managers, the Secretary of Defense, appro-
priate officials of other Government agencies, appropriate 
individuals in the private and public sectors, veterans serv-
ice organizations, and other relevant service organizations. 
(f) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—By not later than Janu-
ary 1, 2009, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a re-
port on the review and comprehensive plan required under 
this section. 
SEC. 111. TREATMENT OF CLAIMS UPON DEATH OF CLAIM-
ANT. 
(a) TREATMENT OF BENEFICIARY OF VETERAN’S 
ACCRUED BENEFITS AS CLAIMANT FOR PURPOSES OF IN-
COMPLETE CLAIMS UPON DEATH OF VETERAN.—Chapter 
51 of title 38, United States Code, is amended by inserting 
after section 5121 the following new section: 
‘‘§ 5121A. Substitution in case of death of claimant 
‘‘(a) SUBSTITUTION.—If a veteran who is a claimant 
dies while a claim for any benefit under a law administered 
by the Secretary, or an appeal of a decision with respect 
to such a claim, is pending and awaiting adjudication, the 
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person who would receive any accrued benefits due to the 
veteran under section 5121(a)(2) of this title shall be 
treated as the claimant for the purposes of processing the 
claim to completion, except that such person may only 
submit new evidence in support of the claim during the 
one-year period beginning on the date of the death of the 
veteran. 
‘‘(b) LIMITATION.—Only one person may be treated 
as the claimant under subsection (a). 
‘‘(c) DESIGNATION OF THIRD PARTY.—If the person 
who would be eligible to be treated as the claimant under 
subsection (a) certifies to the Secretary that the person 
does not want to be treated as the claimant for such pur-
poses, such person may designate the person who would 
receive the benefits under section 5121(a)(2) upon the 
death of the person who would otherwise be treated as 
the claimant under subsection (a) to be treated as the 
claimant for the purposes of processing the claim to com-
pletion.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 
at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting 
after the item relating to section 5121 the following new 
item: 
‘‘5121A. Death of claimant.’’. 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply with respect to the claim of any 
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veteran who dies on or after the date of the enactment 
of this Act. 
TITLE II—MATTERS RELATING 
TO UNITED STATES COURT 
OF APPEALS FOR VETERANS 
CLAIMS 
SEC. 201. ANNUAL REPORTS ON WORKLOAD OF UNITED 
STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR VETERANS 
CLAIMS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter III of chapter 72 of 
title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 
end the following new section: 
‘‘§ 7288. Annual report 
‘‘The chief judge of the Court shall annually submit 
to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and 
the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Rep-
resentatives a report summarizing the workload of the 
Court during the last fiscal year that ended before the sub-
mission of such report. Such report shall include, with re-
spect to such fiscal year, the following information: 
‘‘(1) The number of appeals filed. 
‘‘(2) The number of petitions filed. 
‘‘(3) The number of applications filed under 
section 2412 of title 28. 
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‘‘(4) The number and type of dispositions, in-
cluding settlements. 
‘‘(5) The median time from filing to disposition. 
‘‘(6) The number of oral arguments. 
‘‘(7) The number and status of pending appeals 
and petitions and of applications described in para-
graph (3). 
‘‘(8) A summary of any service performed by 
recalled retired judges during the fiscal year. 
‘‘(9) The number of decisions or dispositions 
rendered by a single judge, multi-judge panels and 
the full Court. 
‘‘(10) The number of cases pending longer than 
18 months.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 
at the beginning of chapter 72 of such title is amended 
by inserting after the item related to section 7287, the 
following new item: 
‘‘7288. Annual report.’’. 
SEC. 202. MODIFICATION OF JURISDICTION AND FINALITY 
OF DECISIONS OF UNITED STATES COURT OF 
APPEALS FOR VETERANS CLAIMS. 
(a) MODIFICATION.—Section 7252(a) of title 38, 
United States Code, is amended— 
(1) by striking the third sentence; and 
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(2) by adding at the end the following new sen-
tence: ‘‘The Court shall have power to affirm, mod-
ify, reverse, remand, or vacate and remand a deci-
sion of the Board after deciding all relevant assign-
ments of error raised by an appellant for each par-
ticular claim for benefits. In a case in which the 
Court reverses a decision on the merits of a par-
ticular claim and orders an award of benefits, the 
Court need not decide any additional assignments of 
error with respect to that claim.’’ 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
subsection (a) shall apply with respect to a decision of the 
Board of Veterans’ Appeals made on or after the date of 
the enactment of this Act. 
Æ 
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