I 118th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 8381 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES May 14, 2024 Mr. Horsford introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs A BILL To direct the Comptroller General of the United States and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to each report on certain disparities that affect the receipt of certain benefits administered by the Secretary, and for other purposes.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Strengthening Transparent Reporting to Improve Veteran Equality Act of 2024 or the STRIVE Act of 2024 . 2. Findings; sense of Congress (a) Findings Congress makes the following findings: (1) According to an internal report of the Department of Defense, Black members of the Armed Forces are more likely than White members to be the subject of— (A) an administrative action, including an investigation into alleged misconduct; (B) a nonjudicial punishment; or (C) a trial by court-martial. (2) Certain administrative actions, nonjudicial punishments, and court-martial sentences may adversely affect the eligibility of a former member of the Armed Forces to receive disability benefits administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. (3) According to the report titled VA Disability Benefits: Actions Needed to Further Examine Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Compensation (GAO–23–106097), published on July 26, 2023— (A) Black, non-Hispanic applicants for such benefits experience the lowest rate of approval for such benefits compared to applicants of other races or ethnicities; (B) a Black, non-Hispanic applicant is 14 percent less likely to be approved for such benefits than a White, non-Hispanic applicant; and (C) the rates of approval for such benefits for Black, male applicants are between 3 and 22 percent lower than the rates of approval for applicants of other races or genders. (4) Female former members of the Armed Forces are less likely to apply for such benefits than male former members. (b) Sense of Congress It is the sense of Congress that— (1) each former member of the Armed Forces made heroic sacrifices while serving in the Armed Forces, such as risking the life of the former member, to preserve the freedom of the United States; and (2) the collection and publication by the Secretary of accurate data regarding the race, ethnicity, and gender of all applicants for, and recipients of, disability benefits administered by the Secretary would enable the Secretary and Congress to identify and address any disparity based on the race, ethnicity, or gender of a former member of the Armed Forces, with respect to the receipt of such benefits. 3. Reports on racial, ethnic, and gender disparities with respect to disability benefits administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (a) Government Accountability Office report Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report that includes the following elements: (1) Statistics for the 15-year period immediately prior to the date of the enactment of this Act that describe— (A) the characterization of discharge or dismissal of each former member of the Armed Forces who separated from the Armed Forces during such period, disaggregated by the race, ethnicity, and gender of the former member; and (B) the number of such former members, disaggregated by the race, ethnicity, and gender of each such former member, who— (i) requested review of the characterization of discharge or dismissal by an appropriate board; (ii) received review of the characterization of discharge or dismissal by an appropriate board; (iii) received a change to the characterization of discharge or dismissal as a result of a decision by an appropriate board; (iv) applied for disability benefits administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; (v) applied for and received such benefits; and (vi) applied for and were denied such benefits for reason of characterization of discharge or dismissal. (2) The determination of the Comptroller General whether there is a disparity based on the race, ethnicity, or gender of a former member, with respect to the receipt of— (A) review of the characterization of discharge or dismissal by an appropriate board; or (B) a change to the characterization of discharge or dismissal as a result of a decision by an appropriate board. (3) The assessment of the Comptroller General whether there is a relationship between— (A) any disparity determined under paragraph (2); and (B) any disparity determined by the Comptroller General in the covered report, with respect to disability benefits administered by the Secretary. (b) Secretary of Veterans Affairs: reports; plan; implementation (1) Initial report Not later than 365 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall submit to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and the House of Representatives, and make available on a publicly accessible website of the Department of Veterans Affairs, a report that includes the following elements: (A) A description of any specific actions taken or processes implemented by the Secretary to address the limitations identified by the Comptroller General in the covered report, with respect to the collection and availability of data regarding each racial and ethnic group to which a former member of the Armed Forces belongs. (B) An identification by the Secretary, based on information in the covered report, of every significant cause of a racial, ethnic, or gender disparity with respect to disability benefits administered by the Secretary. (C) The three-year plan of the Secretary to address each significant cause identified under subparagraph (B). (2) Implementation of plan; annual report The Secretary shall— (A) implement the plan under paragraph (1)(C) not later than one day after the submission of the report under paragraph (1); and (B) annually for each year during which the Secretary is carrying out such plan, make available on a publicly accessible website of the Department a report summarizing, for the period covered by the report, the actions of the Secretary pursuant to such plan. (c) Definitions In this section: (1) The term appropriate board means— (A) a board for the correction of military records under section 1552 of title 10, United States Code; or (B) a board of review under section 1553 of such title. (2) The term appropriate congressional committees means— (A) the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate; (B) the Committee on Armed Services of the House of Representatives; (C) the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate; and (D) the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Representatives. (3) The term covered report means the report titled VA Disability Benefits: Actions Needed to Further Examine Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Compensation (GAO–23–106097), published on July 26, 2023.