lcalvobartolome/proxann_data huggingface dataset:
Topic: Defense — Other
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2013-05-09 00:00:00

Veterans Equipped for Success Act of 2013 - Directs the Secretary of Labor to carry out a three-year pilot program to assess the feasibility and advisability of providing subsidies to employers employing eligible individuals in order to provide such individuals with valuable work experience, increase their skills, and assist them in obtaining long-term employment. Makes eligible for such program an individual who:

 is a veteran who was discharged or released from service under conditions other than dishonorable, is a member of the reserves who served on active duty for more than 180 consecutive days during the two-year period ending on the date of participation in the program, is between the ages of 18 and 34 or 55 and 64, is not in receiving compensation through the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) due to unemployability, is not enrolled in a federal or state job training program, and is considered by the Secretary to be unemployed or underemployed. Outlines employer eligibility requirements, and prohibits an employer from displacing current employees with program participants. Limits the program to 50,000 participants, and directs the Secretary to carry out the program in areas with high concentrations of veterans. Provides subsidy amounts as percentages of basic pay for the work performed. Limits payment duration to one year or the period of employment under the program. Expresses the sense of Congress that such subsidy should not be paid for the performance of functions that are so inherently governmental that the position would not provide the individual with the experience, training, or skills necessary for employment in the private sector. Requires pilot program reports during its duration.

Directs the VA Secretary to conduct a three-year pilot program to assess the feasibility and advisability of establishing a program of career transition services to assist eligible individuals in obtaining work experience in the private sector, increasing their marketable skills, obtaining long-term employment, and integrating into their local communities. Makes eligible for such program an individual described under (1), (2), or (6), above, who is, at the time of participation, at least 18 but no more than 30 years old. Limits the program to 50,000 participants, and directs such Secretary to especially consider areas with high concentrations of eligible individuals age 25 and younger. Outlines available career transition services under the program, and directs such Secretary to attempt to place participants in an internship with an appropriate employer. Provides mentoring and job-shadowing for program participants. Requires participants to also participate in volunteer activities related to providing assistance to, or for the benefit of, a veteran. Directs such Secretary to provide workshops for the development and improvement of professional skills of participants. Requires pilot program reports.
Topic: Defense — Other
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2013-05-09 00:00:00

Veterans' Outreach Act of 2013 - Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) to carry out a two-year demonstration project to assess the feasibility and advisability of using state and local government agencies and nonprofit organizations to increase veteran awareness of available benefits and services, and to improve the coordination of outreach activities between the Secretary and federal, state, and local government and nonprofit providers of health care and benefit services for veterans. Allows the Secretary to extend such program for an additional two years.

Authorizes the Secretary to enter into cooperative agreements with various state departments and agencies concerning the provision of veterans' activities.

Requires the Secretary to include, in annual VA budget justification materials, a separate statement of amounts requested for outreach activities of the VA in aggregate as well as for each of the Office of the Secretary, the Veterans Health Administration, the Veterans Benefits Administration, and the National Cemetery Administration.

Directs the Secretary to establish: (1) an advisory committee on VA outreach activities; and (2) for each VA medical center, an advisory board relating to outreach activities at such center.

Changes from biennial to annual a required report to Congress on VA outreach activities. Requires the inclusion in each report of recommendations: (1) to maximize resources for VA outreach activities, and (2) to focus such efforts on activities proven to be more effective.
Topic: Defense — Other
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2013-05-09 00:00:00

Claims Processing Improvement Act of 2013 - Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) to establish: (1) a working group to assess and develop recommendations for improving the employee work credit and work management systems of the Veterans Benefits Administration, and (2) a task force to assess the retention and training of claims processors and adjudicators employed by the VA and other federal departments and agencies.

Requires the Secretary, in providing assistance to a VA benefits claimant, to make no fewer than two attempts to obtain needed records from another federal department or agency, and to notify the claimant of the inability to obtain all of the records sought. Requires a record sought before the adjudication of a claim but received after such adjudication to be considered part of the original record.

Authorizes the Secretary to recognize representatives of Indian tribes in the preparation, presentation, and prosecution of VA claims.

Directs the Secretary to: (1) carry out a pilot program of including the participation of local governments and tribal organizations in improving the quality of disability compensation claims submitted to the VA, and (2) report quarterly through 2015 to the congressional veterans committees on the backlog of submitted claims.

Changes from one year to 180 days the filing period of a notice of disagreement to a decision on a claim, after which appellate review will be initiated. Allows the Secretary to waive such deadline for good cause shown, as long as such notice is filed within 186 days after the original deadline.

Revises the manner of appearance (in person, through picture and voice transmission, etc.) and appropriate location of a hearing before the Board of Veterans' Appeals.

Authorizes the Secretary to disclose VA patient medical records, as appropriate under an appeal, to the Supreme Court, a U.S. Court of Appeals, or the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims.

Extends: (1) VA authority to operate a regional office in the Republic of the Philippines, (2) the period for the scheduling of VA medical exams for veterans receiving temporary disability ratings due to severe mental disorders, (3) the marriage delimiting date for surviving spouses of Persian Gulf War veterans to qualify for a VA death pension, and (4) the temporary authority for the performance of VA medical disability examinations by contract physicians.

Requires a report from the Secretary to the veterans committees on: (1) the furnishing of general and specialty medical examinations by the VA for purposes of adjudicating benefits claims, and (2) progress of the VA's acceptable clinical evidence initiative in reducing the necessity for in-person disability examinations and other efforts to comply with requirements concerning the acceptance of reports of private physicians.
Topic: Defense — Other
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2013-05-13 00:00:00

Putting Veterans Funding First Act of 2013 - Authorizes the provision of advance appropriations for the following discretionary (under current law, medical care) accounts of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA): (1) Veterans Health Administration Medical Services, Medical Support and Compliance, Medical Facilities, and Medical Research and Support; (2) National Cemetery Administration; and (3) Veterans Benefits Administration, Native American Veteran Housing Loan Program.

Authorizes the provision of advance appropriations for the following VA discretionary administration accounts: (1) general operating expenses, (2) information technology systems, (3) the Office of the Inspector General, (4) construction for major and minor projects, and (5) grants for the construction of state extended care facilities and veterans cemeteries.
Topic: Defense — Other
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2013-05-13 00:00:00

Quicker Veterans Benefits Delivery Act of 2013 - Prohibits the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA), during the six-year period after the enactment of this Act, from requesting a medical examination in connection with a claim for veterans' disability compensation when the claimant submits medical evidence provided by a non-VA medical professional that is competent, credible, probative, and otherwise adequate for making a claim decision.

Requires the Secretary, during the same period: (1) to assign a prestabilization disability rating of total, 50%, or 30%, as appropriate; (2) to provide temporary minimum disability ratings for veterans not assigned a permanent rating; and (3) to not count any veteran assigned a prestabilization or temporary minimum rating under any backlog of unassigned ratings.

Authorizes the Secretary, during the same period, to certify benefit payments by mail or account deposit before the first day of the month for which such payments are due.
Topic: Defense — Other
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2013-05-14 00:00:00

Provides that if a person adversely affected by a final decision of the Board of Veterans' Appeals who has not filed a notice of appeal with the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims within the required 120-day period files a document with the Board or the agency of original jurisdiction within 120 days after the Board's decision expressing disagreement with the decision, such document shall be treated as a motion for reconsideration by the Board.

Provides that such a document shall not be considered a motion for reconsideration if the Board or agency of original jurisdiction receives the document, determines that it expresses an intent to appeal the decision to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, and forwards the document to such Court within the 120-day period.
Topic: Defense — Other
Subject: Taxation
Date: 2013-05-22 00:00:00

Help Veterans Own Franchises Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a business-related tax credit of up to $100,000 for 25% of the franchise fees paid or incurred by a veteran for the purchase of a franchise.

Directs the Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA) and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) to provide information about the tax credit allowed by this Act to veterans service organizations and veteran advocacy groups.
Topic: Defense — Other
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2013-05-23 00:00:00

Spouses of Heroes Education Act - Entitles to post-9/11 veterans' educational assistance the spouse (under current law, only the child) of a person who, on or after September 11, 2001, dies in the line of duty while serving on active duty as a member of the Armed Forces. Terminates such spouse's entitlement on the earlier of: (1) the date that is 15 years after the date on which the member died, and (2) the date of the spouse's remarriage.

Requires an individual entitled to such assistance and also to veterans' educational assistance under the Montgomery GI Bill to elect a single coverage.
Topic: Defense — Other
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2013-05-23 00:00:00

Veterans Legal Support Act of 2013 - Authorizes the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) to provide support to at least one university law school program that is designed to provide legal assistance to veterans.

Allows programs of university law schools which may receive support under this Act to include those that assist veterans with: (1) filing and appealing claims for benefits under laws administered by the Secretary; and (2) such other civil, criminal, and family legal matters as considered appropriate.

Permits the support provided to a program to include financial support.

Limits the total amount of financial support provided in any fiscal year to $1 million.
Topic: Defense — Other
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2013-06-12 00:00:00

Veterans Benefits Claims Faster Filing Act - Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) to post in a conspicuous place in each VA regional office and claims intake facility and on the VA website information on: (1) the average processing time for fully developed and not fully developed VA benefits claims submitted in specified forms, and (2) the percentage of such claims filed by specified methods for which benefits are awarded.

Requires the Secretary to notify each person submitting a claim for a VA benefit of such information and of the person's eligibility to receive up to an extra year of benefit payments if the person files a claim that is fully developed.

Requires the notice information to be updated at least quarterly.
Topic: Defense — Other
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2013-06-25 00:00:00

Improving Job Opportunities for Veterans Act of 2013 - Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA), for a certain four-year period, to require training establishments applying for state approval of on-the-job training programs to certify that the wages to be paid an eligible veteran or person upon entrance into training will be increased in regular periodic increments until, by the last full month of the training period, they will be at least 75% (currently 85%) of the wages paid for the job for which such eligible veteran or person is being trained.

Requires the Secretary to enter into agreements with the heads of other federal departments and agencies to operate similar on-the-job training programs to train eligible veterans or persons to perform skills necessary for employment by the department or agency operating the program.

Extends from November 30 through December 31, 2016, the requirement of a reduced pension ($90 per month) for veterans (with neither spouse nor child) or surviving spouses (with no child) covered by Medicaid plans under title XIX of the Social Security Act for services furnished by nursing facilities.
Topic: Defense — Other
Subject: Taxation
Date: 2013-06-27 00:00:00

Veterans Travel Tax Relief Act of 2013 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow veterans a deduction from gross income, up to $400 a year, for their travel expenses, including those of a family member, to a Department of Veterans Affairs medical center for treatment related to a service-connected disability or for an examination related to a claim for disability compensation or a pension.
Topic: Defense — Other
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2013-06-27 00:00:00

Authorizes the President to award the Medal of Honor to First Lieutenant Alonzo H. Cushing for acts of valor during the Civil War.
Topic: Defense — Other
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2013-07-15 00:00:00

Requires the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, during and as part of any electronic process for the filing of applications for benefits provided through the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), to: (1) notify each claimant or claimant representative that application services may be available from veterans service organizations (VSOs), and (2) provide such claimant or representative with a list of such VSOs.
Topic: Defense — Other
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2013-07-24 00:00:00

World War II Merchant Mariner Service Act - Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) to accept additional documentation for verifying that an individual performed honorable service as a coastwise merchant seaman during the period beginning on December 7, 1941, and ending on December 31, 1946, for purposes of eligibility for veterans' benefits under the GI Bill Improvement Act of 1977. Requires such documentation to include Social Security Administration (SSA) records and validated testimony in the case of the absence of Coast Guard shipping or discharge forms, ship logbooks, documents, or other official employment records.

Requires the Secretary, when determining whether to recognize service allegedly performed during such period, to recognize masters of seagoing vessels or other command officers who were authorized to document an individual for purposes of hiring for or discharging from the merchant marine.

Considers any service so recognized as active-duty service for purposes of veterans' burial benefits. Makes such veterans eligible for any appropriate military medals, ribbons, and decorations. Requires the Secretary to verify that an individual performed such service under honorable conditions without regard to their sex, age, or disability during the service period.
Topic: Defense — Other
Subject: Transportation and public works
Date: 2013-07-25 00:00:00

Helping Heroes Fly Act - Directs the Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security (Transportation Security Administration [TSA]) to develop and implement a process to ease travel and to the extent possible provide expedited passenger screening services for severely injured or disabled Armed Forces members and veterans, and their accompanying family members or nonmedical attendants.

Requires the Assistant Secretary also to maintain an operations center to provide for the movement of such members and veterans through screening before boarding a domestic or foreign passenger aircraft.

Directs the Assistant Secretary to establish and publish certain protocols for severely injured or disabled Armed Forces members and veterans or their family members and others to contact the operations center to request expedited screening services for the member or veteran.
Topic: Defense — Other
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2013-08-01 00:00:00

(This measure has not been amended since it was passed by the Senate on November 18, 2013. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

Alicia Dawn Koehl Respect for National Cemeteries Act - Authorizes the appropriate federal official (either the Secretary of Veterans Affairs [VA] or the Secretary of the Army) to reconsider a decision to inter or honor the memory of a person in the National Cemetery Administration or in Arlington National Cemetery upon receiving information that such person may have committed a federal or state capital crime but was not convicted by reason of unavailability for trial due to death or flight to avoid prosecution.

Requires such official, upon finding, after an opportunity for a hearing, that the person committed but was not convicted of such crime, to provide notice to the individual's next of kin or other person authorized to arrange burial or memorialization of the deceased person of the decision to disinter such person's remains or remove a memorial headstone or marker. Allows such next of kin or other person 60 days to file a notice of disagreement, which shall initiate appellate review. Authorizes the appropriate federal official, when a decision becomes final, to disinter the remains or remove the memorial headstone or marker.

Modifies the exception to the prohibition against interment or memorialization in the National Cemetery System or Arlington National Cemetery of a person convicted of a federal or state capital crime to require receipt of written notice of a conviction before interment or memorialization takes place (currently, receipt of such notice is required before the appropriate federal official approves an application for interment or memorialization).

Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs: (1) to disinter the remains of Michael LaShawn Anderson from Fort Custer National Cemetery (Michigan); (2) to notify his next of kin of the impending disinterment; and (3) upon disinterment, to relinquish the remains to the next of kin or, if the next of kin of record is unavailable, arrange for the appropriate disposition of the remains.
Topic: Defense — Other
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2013-09-24 00:00:00

Includes among the circumstances under which the federal government shall not be entitled to recover a portion of the value of state home facilities that received a grant for, but that the state has ceased to operate for, furnishing domiciliary or nursing home care to veterans the provision by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) of a contract or grant for veterans' residential care in such facilities.
Topic: Defense — Other
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2013-09-27 00:00:00

Veterans Outreach Enhancement Act of 2013 - Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) to carry out a five-year program of outreach to veterans to increase: (1) their access and use of federal, state, and local programs providing compensation and other benefits for service in the Armed Forces; and (2) their awareness of and eligibility for such programs. Allows the Secretary, under the program, to enter into agreements with other federal and state agencies and specified authorities and commissions to carry out projects to further such purposes.
Topic: Defense — Other
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2013-10-16 00:00:00

Military Family Relief Act - Authorizes the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) to pay temporary (not to exceed six months) dependency and indemnity compensation (DIC) to the surviving spouse of a veteran if, at the time of death, the veteran was in receipt of or entitled to receive compensation for a service-connected disability rated as total for at least one year preceding the veteran's death.

Authorizes the payment to such survivor, for the same period, of any veteran's pension that the deceased was receiving at the time of death, without regard to the annual income and net worth of the surviving spouse.

Allows a surviving spouse who is entitled to pension or DIC under any other VA provision to be paid the amount by which such pension or DIC exceeds the amount of pension paid under this Act.
Topic: Defense — Other
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2013-10-28 00:00:00

Improved Compensation for Hearing Loss Act of 2013 - Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) to report to the congressional veterans committees on actions taken to implement the findings and recommendations included in the 2006 report by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies entitled "Noise and Military Service: Implications for Hearing Loss and Tinnitus."

Requires the Secretary's report to include an evaluation of the extent to which veterans who had a military occupational specialty that is not included on the Duty Military Occupational Specialty Noise Exposure Listing are precluded from receiving VA benefits related to hearing loss.

Directs the Secretary to report to Congress on joint VA-Department of Defense (DOD) programs concerning the prevention, early detection, and treatment of hearing loss of members of the Armed Forces and veterans, as well as related matters.
Topic: Defense — Other
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2013-10-28 00:00:00

Expands the entitlement of disabled veterans and members of the Armed Forces to automobiles and other conveyances to: (1) allow two replacements of such automobiles and conveyances; (2) allow unlimited replacements if the automobile or other conveyance was destroyed due to a natural or other disaster and through no fault of the veteran or member; and (3) increase the maximum amount allowed for an automobile or conveyance to the lesser of its total purchase price or $30,000 (currently, $18,900).
Topic: Defense — Other
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2013-10-28 00:00:00

Requires premium rates and cash, loan, paid-up, and extended values for service-disabled veterans life insurance to be based on the Commissioners 2001 Standard Ordinary Mortality Table (currently, the Commissioners 1941 Standard Ordinary Table of Mortality).