119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 1039
AN ACT
To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to seek to enter
into an agreement with a federally funded research and
development center for an assessment of notice letters
that the Secretary sends to claimants for benefits under
laws administered by the Secretary, and for other pur-
poses. 2
•HR 1039 EH
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Clear Communication 4
for Veterans Claims Act’’. 5
SEC. 2. INDEPENDENT ASSESSMENT OF NOTICES THAT THE 6
SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS SENDS 7
TO CLAIMANTS. 8
(a) A
GREEMENT.—Not later than 30 days after the 9
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Vet-10
erans Affairs shall seek to enter into an agreement with 11
an FFRDC for an assessment of notices that the Sec-12
retary sends to claimants. 13
(b) A
SSESSMENT.—An FFRDC that enters to an 14
agreement under subsection (a) shall submit to the Sec-15
retary a written assessment of such notices. The assess-16
ment shall include the following: 17
(1) The determination of the FFRDC, made in 18
consultation with covered entities, whether each such 19
notice may be feasibly altered to reduce paper con-20
sumption by, and costs to, the Federal Government. 21
(2) The recommendations of the FFRDC re-22
garding how the Secretary may make such notices 23
clearer to claimants, better organized, and more con-24
cise. 25 3
•HR 1039 EH
(c) REPORT; IMPLEMENTATION.—Not later than 90 1
days after the Secretary receives the assessment under 2
subsection (b), the Secretary shall— 3
(1) submit to the Committees on Veterans’ Af-4
fairs of the Senate and House of Representatives a 5
copy of such assessment; and 6
(2) implement the recommendations in the as-7
sessment that are in compliance with the laws ad-8
ministered by the Secretary. 9
(d) D
EADLINE FOR IMPLEMENTATION.—The Sec-10
retary shall complete the implementation of such rec-11
ommendations pursuant to subsection (c)(2) by not later 12
than one year after the date on which the Secretary com-13
mences such implementation. 14
(e) D
EFINITIONS.—In this section: 15
(1) The term ‘‘FFRDC’’ means a federally 16
funded research and development center. 17
(2) The term ‘‘covered entities’’ includes— 18
(A) the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; 19
(B) an expert in laws administered by the 20
Secretary of Veterans Affairs; 21
(C) a veterans service organization recog-22
nized under section 5902 of title 38, United 23
States Code; 24 4
•HR 1039 EH
(D) an entity that advocates for veterans; 1
and 2
(E) an entity that advocates for the sur-3
vivors of veterans. 4
(3) The terms ‘‘claimant’’ and ‘‘notice’’ have 5
the meanings given such terms in section 5100 of 6
title 38, United States Code. 7
SEC. 3. EXTENSION OF CERTAIN LIMITS ON PAYMENTS OF 8
PENSION. 9
Section 5503(d)(7) of title 38, United States Code, 10
is amended by striking ‘‘November 30, 2031’’ and insert-11
ing ‘‘December 31, 2031’’. 12
Passed the House of Representatives April 7, 2025.
Attest:
Clerk. 119
TH
CONGRESS
1
ST
S
ESSION
H. R. 1039
AN ACT
To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to seek
to enter into an agreement with a federally fund-
ed research and development center for an as-
sessment of notice letters that the Secretary
sends to claimants for benefits under laws ad-
ministered by the Secretary, and for other pur-
poses.