jiayi-li23/proxann_data huggingface dataset:
Topic: Defense — Personnel Issues
Subject: Commerce
Date: 2016-05-26 00:00:00

National Guard and Reserve Entrepreneurship Support Act of 2016

(Sec. 2) This bill amends the Small Business Act and the Veterans Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development Act of 1999 to revise a condition on the extension of disaster loan assistance to a small business concern that has suffered, or that is likely to suffer, substantial economic injury as the result of an essential employee's being ordered to active military duty during a period of military conflict.

The condition "being ordered to active military duty during a period of military conflict" shall change to read "being ordered to deploy as part of active military duty." This change shall permit the extension of disaster assistance to a small business concern in such a circumstance even when deployment is not during a period of military conflict.

The same condition is revised in requirements for deferred repayment of principal and interest due on a direct loan to a qualified borrower who is an eligible armed forces reservist and who:

 received a direct loan, including a disaster loan, from the Small Business Administration (SBA) before being ordered to active duty; or is an essential employee ordered to active duty from a small business concern that received a direct loan, including a disaster loan, from the SBA. The President shall report semiannually to specified congressional committees on the number of loans, and their dollar amount, made under the Military Reservist Economic Injury Disaster Loan program, including the subsidy rate of those loans.

(Sec. 3) The SBA shall to make grants and enter into contracts and cooperative agreements with specified public and private entities for outreach programs for the spouses of veterans and members of a reserve component of the armed forces.

 In making such grants the SBA shall establish a National Guard and Reserve Deployment Support and Business Training Program to give training, counseling and other assistance to support members of a reserve component of the armed forces and their spouses.

In establishing this program the SBA may:

 modify existing programs and resources to disseminate pre-deployment and other information specific to members of a reserve component of the Armed Forces and their spouses; collaborate with the National Guard Bureau (NGB), State Adjutant Generals (or their designees), and other public and private partners; and furnish training, information, and other resources to the NGB and State Adjutant Generals (or designees) to support members of a reserve component of the armed forces, their spouses, and the spouses of veterans.
Topic: Defense — Personnel Issues
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2016-06-06 00:00:00

Arla Harrell Act

This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to reconsider and make a new determination regarding each claim for disability compensation in connection with exposure to mustard gas or lewisite during active military, naval, or air service during World War II that was denied before this bill's enactment. The VA or the Department of Defense (DOD): (1) shall presume that a veteran experienced full-body exposure to mustard gas or lewisite unless proven otherwise; and (2) may not use information contained in the DOD and VA Chemical Biological Warfare Database or any list of known testing sites for mustard gas or lewisite maintained by the VA or DOD as the sole reason for determining that the veteran did not experience such exposure.

The VA shall report to Congress every 90 days on reconsidered claims that were denied.

The VA and DOD shall jointly establish a policy for processing future claims in connection with such exposure.

The bill requires DOD, for purposes of determining whether a site should be added to the list of DOD sites where mustard gas or lewisite testing occurred, to: (1) investigate and assess sites where the Army Corps of Engineers has uncovered evidence of mustard gas or lewisite testing or where more than two veterans submitted claims in connection with exposure that were denied; and (2) report on experiments conducted by DOD during World War II to assess the effects of mustard gas and lewisite.

The VA shall: (1) investigate and assess VA actions to reach out to individuals who had been exposed in such experiments, the disability compensation claims that were filed, and the percentage of such claims that were denied; and (2) submit a comprehensive list of each location where such an experiment was conducted.
Topic: Defense — Personnel Issues
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2016-06-07 00:00:00

Maurice (Mo) Bailey Highly Rural Veteran Transportation Grant Reauthorization Act of 2016

This bill amends the Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act of 2010 to reauthorize through FY2017 a grant program to provide innovative transportation options to veterans in highly rural areas.
Topic: Defense — Personnel Issues
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2016-06-08 00:00:00

Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2016

 This bill directs the Department of Veterans Affairs to increase, as of December 1, 2016, the rates of veterans' disability compensation, additional compensation for dependents, the clothing allowance for certain disabled veterans, and dependency and indemnity compensation for surviving spouses and children.

 Each such increase shall be the same percentage as the increase in benefits provided under title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act, on the same effective date.
Topic: Defense — Personnel Issues
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2016-06-09 00:00:00

Muhammad Ali Voluntary Service Act

This bill repeals the Military Selective Service Act.

No person may be denied a right, privilege, benefit, or employment position under federal law on the grounds that the person failed to present himself for and submit to registration under the Military Selective Service Act before its repeal by this bill.
Topic: Defense — Personnel Issues
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2016-06-09 00:00:00

Justice for Servicemembers Act of 2016

This bill amends the Uniformed Services Employment Rights Act of 1994 to: (1) consider procedural protections or provisions under such Act concerning employment and reemployment rights of members of the uniformed services to be a right or benefit subject to the protection of such Act, and (2) make any agreement to arbitrate a claim under such provisions unenforceable unless all parties consent to arbitration after a complaint on the specific claim has been filed in court or with the Merit Systems Protection Board, and all parties knowingly and voluntarily consent to have that particular claim subjected to arbitration.

Consent shall not be considered voluntary when a person is required to agree to arbitrate an action, complaint, or claim alleging a violation of such provisions as a condition of future or continued employment, advancement in employment, or receipt of any right or benefit of employment.
Topic: Defense — Personnel Issues
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2016-06-13 00:00:00

Veterans Transplant Coverage Act of 2016

This bill authorizes the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide for an operation on a live donor to carry out a transplant procedure for an eligible veteran notwithstanding that the live donor may not be eligible for VA health care.

The VA shall furnish to such a donor any care or services that may be required before and after conducting such procedure.
Topic: Defense — Personnel Issues
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2016-06-20 00:00:00

(This measure has not been amended since it was passed by the Senate on September 20, 2016. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

Charles Duncan Buried with Honor Act of 2016

(Sec. 2) This bill authorizes the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), if it is unable to identify a deceased veteran's next of kin and if it determines that sufficient resources for the furnishing of a casket or urn for the burial of such veteran are not otherwise available, to furnish a casket or urn for the burial of such veteran in a national cemetery (current law) or in a veterans cemetery of a state or tribal organization for which the VA has provided a grant for the establishment, expansion, and improvement of veterans' cemeteries.
Topic: Defense — Personnel Issues
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2016-06-21 00:00:00

Working to Integrate Networks Guaranteeing Member Access Now Act or the WINGMAN Act

This bill directs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to provide an accredited, permanent congressional employee with read-only remote access to the electronic Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) claims records system of a represented veteran, regardless of whether the employee is acting under a power of attorney executed by the veteran.

The VA shall ensure that access does not allow the employee to modify system data.

An employee must complete the VA certification process required of agents or attorneys in order to have system access.

 Each Member of Congress who elects to have an employee have access to the system shall bear the certification cost, which shall be paid from the Member's representational allowance.

Information access by an employee shall be deemed: (1) a covered disclosure requiring prior consent, with specified exceptions; and (2) a permitted disclosure relating to the privacy of individually identifiable health information.

The VA may not recognize an employee for purposes of preparation, presentation, and prosecution of VA claims by reason of such system access.

"Accredited, permanent congressional employee" means an employee of a Member of Congress who assists constituents with issues regarding federal departments or agencies.

"Electronic VBA claims records system" means the VA system that provides claim status information, including information about medical records, compensation and pension exams records, rating decisions, a statement of the case and a supplementary statement of the case, a notice of disagreement, and Form-9.
Topic: Defense — Personnel Issues
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2016-06-29 00:00:00

(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary has been expanded because action occurred on the measure.)

Department of Veterans Affairs Bonus Transparency Act of 2016

(Sec. 2) This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to submit an annual report to specified congressional committees on the performance awards and bonuses presented to Regional Office Directors of the VA, Directors of Medical Centers of the VA, and Directors of Veterans Integrated Service Networks.

Each report shall include:

 the amount of each award or bonus, the job title of each recipient, and the location where each recipient individual works.
Topic: Defense — Personnel Issues
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2016-07-11 00:00:00

Boosting Rates of American Veteran Employment Act or the BRAVE Act

 This bill authorizes the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), in awarding a contract for the procurement of goods or services, to give preference to offerors based on the percentage of the offeror's full-time employees who are veterans.

Any offeror determined to have willfully and intentionally misrepresented the veteran status of its employees shall be debarred from contracting with the VA for at least five years.
Topic: Defense — Personnel Issues
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2016-07-12 00:00:00

VA Accountability First and Appeals Modernization Act of 2016

This bill authorizes the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to remove or demote a VA employee based on performance or misconduct and provides that specified federal employee performance appraisal provisions shall not apply to such removals or demotions. The VA may remove such individual from the civil service or demote the individual through a reduction in grade or annual pay rate.

 A demoted individual shall not be placed on administrative leave or any other category of paid leave during the appeals period and can receive pay only if he or she reports for duty.

 An expedited appeals process is established under which: (1) an employee shall have the right to an appeal before the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) within seven days of removal or demotion, (2) the MSPB shall issue a decision within 60 days of the appeal or the removal or demotion becomes final, (3) an MSPB decision and any final removal or demotion may be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals, and (4) the MSPB may not stay any removal or demotion.

The VA may not remove or demote an employee: (1) without the approval of the Special Counsel if the individual seeks corrective action from the Office of Special Counsel based on an alleged prohibited personnel practice, and (2) until a final decision in the case of a whistle blower complaint.

 The VA shall reduce the federal annuity of an individual removed from the VA Senior Executive Service (SES) who is convicted of a felony that influenced his or her performance while employed in such position.

The VA may reduce the federal annuity of an individual who was convicted of such a felony and was subject to removal or transfer from the SES but who left the VA before final action was taken.

 The VA may recoup an award, a bonus, or relocation expenses paid to a VA employee under specified circumstances.

 The VA may suspend, reprimand or admonish an SES employee for misconduct or performance that does not merit removal. The VA must notify an individual five days before taking such proposed action. Appeals may be made to the Senior Executive Disciplinary Appeals Board (as provided for by this bill) and may not be appealed to the MSPB.

 The bill establishes an additional whistle blower complaint process, which shall include suspension and removal actions against supervisory employees who commit prohibited personnel actions against a whistle blower.

The bill amends the disability benefits appeals process.

 The bill amends the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014 to prohibit payment of an award or bonus to any VA SES employee during each of FY2017-FY2021.
Topic: Defense — Personnel Issues
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2016-07-13 00:00:00

State Veterans Home Adult Day Health Care Improvement Act of 2016

This bill directs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to enter into an agreement or a contract with each state home to pay for medical supervision model adult day health care for a veteran for whom the home is not receiving VA nursing home care payments.

The veteran must need such care either specifically for a service-connected disability, or, if not specifically for one, the veteran must have a service-connected disability rated 70% or more.

Payment under each agreement or contract between the VA and a state home must equal 65% of the payment that the VA would otherwise pay to the state home if the veteran were receiving nursing home care.

 "Medical supervision model adult day health care" means adult day health care that includes the coordination of physician services, dental services, the administration of drugs, and such other requirements as the VA may determine.
Topic: Defense — Personnel Issues
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2016-07-14 00:00:00

Enewetak Atoll Cleanup Veterans Registry and Study Act of 2016

This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to establish and maintain the Enewetak Atoll Veterans Health Registry of each veteran who performed a radiation cleanup mission in the Enewetak Atoll in the Marshall Islands between January 1, 1977, and December 31, 1980, while serving as a member of the Armed Forces and who:

 applies for medical care or services from the VA; files a claim for compensation on the basis of any disability associated with such service; dies and is survived by a spouse, child, or parent who files a claim for dependency and indemnity compensation on the basis of such service; requests a health examination from the VA; or receives such a health examination and submits a request to be included in the registry. The registry shall include relevant medical data relating to the health status of each such individual who: (1) grants the VA permission to include such information, or (2) is deceased when the individual's name is added to the registry.

In the case of such an individual who is deceased, the VA shall provide that individual's spouse, child, or parent with consultation and counseling with respect to the results of an examination of such individual, upon request.

The VA shall: (1) periodically notify individuals listed in the registry of significant developments in research on the health consequences of potential radiation exposure related to such service, (2) provide for an independent study on such potential exposure, and (3) carry out outreach activities with respect to health examinations and consultation and counseling services.
Topic: Defense — Personnel Issues
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2016-07-14 00:00:00

Protecting Veterans Credit Act of 2016

This bill amends the Fair Credit Reporting Act to exclude from a consumer report: (1) for one year, information related to a veteran's medical debt resulting from hospital or medical services provided in a non-Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) facility; and (2) information related to a fully paid or settled medical debt that had been characterized as delinquent, charged off, or in collection.

 A veteran may submit a notice along with proof of VA liability for such debt to a consumer reporting agency or a reseller to dispute the debt's inclusion in a consumer report. The consumer reporting agency shall, within 30 days, delete such information from the consumer's file and notify the furnisher and the veteran.

 The Consumer Credit Protection Act is amended to provide a mechanism for veterans to dispute the inclusion of program debt already on a credit report. A consumer reporting agency shall, within 30 days after receiving notice of such dispute, delete such information from the veteran's file and notify the furnisher and the veteran. 

Within five days after the initial communication with a veteran, a debt collector shall, unless the appropriate information is contained in the initial communication or the veteran has paid the debt, send the veteran a written notice containing specified debt-related information, including information concerning the debt amount, creditors, the insurance company involved, and the hospital or medical care provider.

If a veteran notifies the debt collector within such one-year period that the program debt is disputed or that the veteran requests the name and address of the original creditor, the debt collector shall cease collection until debt verification or the name and address of the original creditor is obtained.
Topic: Defense — Personnel Issues
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2016-09-14 00:00:00

Department of Veterans Affairs Appeals Modernization Act of 2016

This bill amends the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) benefits appeals process to permit a claimant to request:

 a review of the agency of original jurisdiction's decision by a higher-level adjudicator within the agency based on the original evidence; or a Board of Veterans Appeals (BVA) review under which no BVA hearing is requested and no additional evidence may be submitted or under which a BVA hearing is requested and the appellant requests an opportunity to submit additional evidence at, and within 90 days of, the hearing (for which the BVA shall maintain two separate dockets). (The term "agency of original jurisdiction" means the activity which entered the original determination with regard to a claim for veterans benefits.)

The bill prescribes additional information that must be included in the notice of a denied benefit.

A finding favorable to a claimant is binding on all subsequent VA adjudicators unless clear and convincing evidence is shown to the contrary.

 If a claim is denied the claimant may, within one year after the agency of original jurisdiction issues a decision with respect to such claim: (1) file a request for higher-level review, (2) file a supplemental claim, or (3) file a notice of disagreement.

The BVA may remand a claim to the agency to obtain a corrective advisory medical opinion.

 The VA shall provide for expedited treatment by the agency of original jurisdiction of any claim that is remanded by the BVA.

The bill revises effective dates of awards provisions.

 The bill repeals a provision authorizing the BVA to secure an independent medical expert's opinion when warranted by the medical complexity or controversy involved in an appeal case.

The VA's duty to assist a claimant shall not apply: (1) once the claimant is provided notice of the agency's initial decision, and (2) to higher-level agency or BVA review.

The VA is not required to send notice for a supplemental claim or to readjudicate a claim that has been disallowed except when new and relevant evidence is presented or secured (currently such provision applies to reopening such claim).

A claimants's notice of disagreement must set out specific allegations of error of fact or law. The BVA is authorized to dismiss an appeal that fails to do so.
Topic: Defense — Personnel Issues
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2016-09-14 00:00:00

Accountability to Safeguard Veterans from Violent Crimes Act of 2016

This bill prohibits the covered service of an individual who is removed (or who retires before being removed) from a specified medical professional position in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and who is convicted of committing a crime of violence against a veteran while employed in such position from being taken into account for purposes of calculating a federal retirement annuity for such individual.

"Covered service" means the period of service beginning on the date the VA determines such individual engaged in activity that gave rise to the removal action and ending on the date such individual is removed from or leaves VA employment. An individual whose annuity is reduced pursuant to this bill shall be entitled to be paid so much of such individual's lump-sum credit as is attributable to such period of covered service.
Topic: Defense — Personnel Issues
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2016-09-15 00:00:00

Respectful Interment for Passing Veterans Act of 2016

This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to enter into a contract with at least one funeral home near each VA medical center for the expeditious provision of burial and funeral services for deceased veterans:

 who at the time of death were in receipt of compensation or a pension, or with respect to whom the VA determines that there is no next of kin or other person claiming the body and there are insufficient resources to cover burial and funeral expenses. The VA must:

 establish a policy on the provision of respectful and timely burial of such veterans, ensure that such policy is based on best practices used in the private sector, and balance the interests of the deceased in identifying the deceased's next of kin and in having a timely burial. The VA shall follow state and local government practices with respect to the treatment of unclaimed remains of deceased veterans until it establishes such policy.

The VA shall report annually regarding the remains of covered veterans who died in the most recently completed calendar year.
Topic: Defense — Personnel Issues
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
Date: 2016-09-20 00:00:00

Preventing Crimes Against Veterans Act of 2016

This bill amends the federal criminal code to declare that any person who knowingly engages in any scheme or artifice to defraud an individual of veterans' benefits, or in connection with obtaining veteran's benefits for that individual, shall be fined, imprisoned not more than five years, or both.