| 1 | 1 | | I |
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| 2 | 2 | | 119THCONGRESS |
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| 3 | 3 | | 1 |
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| 4 | 4 | | STSESSION H. R. 1656 |
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| 5 | 5 | | To amend title 38, United States Code, to permit certain fee agreements |
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| 6 | 6 | | between claimants and agents or attorneys for the preparations, presen- |
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| 7 | 7 | | tation, or prosecution of initial claims for benefits under the laws admin- |
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| 8 | 8 | | istered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes. |
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| 9 | 9 | | IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
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| 10 | 10 | | FEBRUARY27, 2025 |
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| 11 | 11 | | Mr. B |
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| 12 | 12 | | ERGMAN(for himself, Mr. CORREA, Mrs. MILLER-MEEKS, Mr. ROUZER, |
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| 13 | 13 | | Mr. W |
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| 14 | 14 | | EBSTERof Florida, Mr. MCDOWELL, Mr. HARRIGAN, and Mr. |
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| 15 | 15 | | A |
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| 16 | 16 | | LFORD) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- |
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| 17 | 17 | | mittee on Veterans’ Affairs |
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| 18 | 18 | | A BILL |
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| 19 | 19 | | To amend title 38, United States Code, to permit certain |
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| 20 | 20 | | fee agreements between claimants and agents or attor- |
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| 21 | 21 | | neys for the preparations, presentation, or prosecution |
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| 22 | 22 | | of initial claims for benefits under the laws administered |
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| 23 | 23 | | by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and for other pur- |
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| 24 | 24 | | poses. |
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| 25 | 25 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
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| 26 | 26 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
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| 29 | 29 | | •HR 1656 IH |
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| 30 | 30 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 |
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| 31 | 31 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Preserving Lawful Uti-2 |
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| 32 | 32 | | lization of Services for Veterans Act of 2025’’ or the 3 |
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| 33 | 33 | | ‘‘PLUS for Veterans Act of 2025’’. 4 |
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| 34 | 34 | | SEC. 2. CLARIFICATION OF PREPARATION, PRESENTATION, 5 |
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| 35 | 35 | | OR PROSECUTION OF A CLAIM UNDER A LAW 6 |
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| 36 | 36 | | ADMINISTERED BY SECRETARY OF VET-7 |
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| 37 | 37 | | ERANS AFFAIRS. 8 |
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| 38 | 38 | | Section 5901 of title 38, United States Code, is 9 |
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| 39 | 39 | | amended by adding at the end the following new sub-10 |
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| 40 | 40 | | section: 11 |
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| 41 | 41 | | ‘‘(c) E |
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| 42 | 42 | | XCLUSION.—The administration of a medical 12 |
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| 43 | 43 | | examination, or the completion of a report with respect 13 |
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| 44 | 44 | | to such medical examination, as described in section 5125 14 |
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| 45 | 45 | | of this title, shall not constitute the preparation, presen-15 |
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| 46 | 46 | | tation, or prosecution of a claim under the laws adminis-16 |
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| 47 | 47 | | tered by the Secretary.’’. 17 |
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| 48 | 48 | | SEC. 3. AGENTS AND ATTORNEYS IN CERTAIN CLAIMS 18 |
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| 49 | 49 | | UNDER LAWS ADMINISTERED BY SECRETARY 19 |
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| 50 | 50 | | OF VETERANS AFFAIRS: APPLICATIONS FOR 20 |
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| 51 | 51 | | RECOGNITION; FEES ALLOWABLE FOR REP-21 |
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| 52 | 52 | | RESENTATION; GROUNDS FOR SUSPENSION; 22 |
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| 53 | 53 | | BARS FROM RECOGNITION. 23 |
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| 54 | 54 | | (a) I |
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| 55 | 55 | | NGENERAL.—Section 5904 of title 38, United 24 |
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| 56 | 56 | | States Code, is amended— 25 |
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| 57 | 57 | | (1) in subsection (a)— 26 |
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| 60 | 60 | | •HR 1656 IH |
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| 61 | 61 | | (A) in paragraph (1)— 1 |
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| 62 | 62 | | (i) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ before ‘‘Ex-2 |
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| 63 | 63 | | cept’’; and 3 |
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| 64 | 64 | | (ii) by adding at the end the following 4 |
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| 65 | 65 | | new subparagraphs: 5 |
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| 66 | 66 | | ‘‘(B)(i) An individual desiring recognition under this 6 |
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| 67 | 67 | | section shall submit to the Secretary an application, in-7 |
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| 68 | 68 | | cluding an application submitted by mail, fax, or electronic 8 |
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| 69 | 69 | | means, in such form, at such time, and containing such 9 |
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| 70 | 70 | | information and assurances as the Secretary has deter-10 |
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| 71 | 71 | | mined appropriate to recognize such individual under this 11 |
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| 72 | 72 | | section. 12 |
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| 73 | 73 | | ‘‘(ii) If the Secretary cannot verify whether the indi-13 |
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| 74 | 74 | | vidual satisfies the qualifications and standards prescribed 14 |
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| 75 | 75 | | under paragraph (2) before the 90-day period beginning 15 |
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| 76 | 76 | | after the date on which the Secretary receives an applica-16 |
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| 77 | 77 | | tion under clause (i), the Secretary shall recognize the in-17 |
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| 78 | 78 | | dividual on a conditional and temporary basis for a one- 18 |
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| 79 | 79 | | year period. 19 |
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| 80 | 80 | | ‘‘(iii) At the end of such one-year period, the Sec-20 |
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| 81 | 81 | | retary shall recognize the individual on a conditional and 21 |
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| 82 | 82 | | temporary basis for such additional one-year periods until 22 |
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| 83 | 83 | | the date on which the Secretary can verify whether the 23 |
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| 84 | 84 | | individual satisfies such qualifications and standards. 24 |
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| 87 | 87 | | •HR 1656 IH |
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| 88 | 88 | | ‘‘(C) The Secretary may not suspend, exclude from 1 |
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| 89 | 89 | | further practice before the Department, fine pursuant to 2 |
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| 90 | 90 | | section 5905 of this title, or refuse to recognize as an 3 |
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| 91 | 91 | | agent or attorney under this section any individual on the 4 |
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| 92 | 92 | | basis that such individual, before the date of the enact-5 |
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| 93 | 93 | | ment of this subparagraph— 6 |
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| 94 | 94 | | ‘‘(i) charged a claimant a fee for services ren-7 |
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| 95 | 95 | | dered in the preparation, presentation, or prosecu-8 |
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| 96 | 96 | | tion of an initial claim; or 9 |
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| 97 | 97 | | ‘‘(ii) charged a claimant a fee for such services 10 |
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| 98 | 98 | | while such individual was not recognized under this 11 |
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| 99 | 99 | | section.’’; and 12 |
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| 100 | 100 | | (B) by adding at the end the following new 13 |
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| 101 | 101 | | paragraph: 14 |
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| 102 | 102 | | ‘‘(7)(A) The Secretary may charge and collect an as-15 |
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| 103 | 103 | | sessment from an individual who— 16 |
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| 104 | 104 | | ‘‘(i) seeks recognition under this section as an 17 |
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| 105 | 105 | | agent or attorney for the preparation, presentation, 18 |
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| 106 | 106 | | and prosecution of an initial claim under the laws 19 |
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| 107 | 107 | | administered by the Secretary; and 20 |
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| 108 | 108 | | ‘‘(ii) charges or collects fees from a claimant for 21 |
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| 109 | 109 | | services rendered in such preparation, presentation, 22 |
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| 110 | 110 | | and prosecution. 23 |
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| 111 | 111 | | ‘‘(B) An assessment described in subparagraph (A)— 24 |
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| 114 | 114 | | •HR 1656 IH |
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| 115 | 115 | | ‘‘(i) shall be in such amount as the Secretary 1 |
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| 116 | 116 | | prescribes in regulations and determines appro-2 |
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| 117 | 117 | | priate; and 3 |
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| 118 | 118 | | ‘‘(ii) may not exceed $500. 4 |
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| 119 | 119 | | ‘‘(C) Amounts collected under this paragraph shall 5 |
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| 120 | 120 | | be deposited in a revolving fund in the Treasury of the 6 |
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| 121 | 121 | | United States. Such amounts shall be available to the Sec-7 |
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| 122 | 122 | | retary for the administration of this section.’’; 8 |
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| 123 | 123 | | (2) in subsection (b)— 9 |
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| 124 | 124 | | (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1) 10 |
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| 125 | 125 | | through (9) as subparagraphs (A) through (I), 11 |
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| 126 | 126 | | respectively; 12 |
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| 127 | 127 | | (B) in the matter preceding subparagraph 13 |
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| 128 | 128 | | (A), as so redesignated, by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ be-14 |
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| 129 | 129 | | fore ‘‘The Secretary’’; and 15 |
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| 130 | 130 | | (C) in paragraph (1), as designated by 16 |
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| 131 | 131 | | paragraph (2)— 17 |
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| 132 | 132 | | (i) in subparagraph (H), as so redes-18 |
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| 133 | 133 | | ignated, by striking ‘‘in accordance with 19 |
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| 134 | 134 | | subsection (c)(3)(A) ; or’’ and inserting 20 |
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| 135 | 135 | | ‘‘subsection (c)(2)(A)’’; 21 |
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| 136 | 136 | | (ii) in subparagraph (I), as so redesig-22 |
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| 137 | 137 | | nated, by striking the period at the end 23 |
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| 138 | 138 | | and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 24 |
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| 141 | 141 | | •HR 1656 IH |
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| 142 | 142 | | (iii) by adding at the end the fol-1 |
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| 143 | 143 | | lowing new subparagraph: 2 |
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| 144 | 144 | | ‘‘(J) has failed to keep claimant data and 3 |
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| 145 | 145 | | personally identifiable information in accord-4 |
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| 146 | 146 | | ance with applicable provisions of the Health 5 |
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| 147 | 147 | | Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 6 |
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| 148 | 148 | | 1996 (Public Law 104–191; 42 U.S.C. 1301 et 7 |
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| 149 | 149 | | seq.), including the data security requirements 8 |
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| 150 | 150 | | and implementing regulations of such Act.’’; 9 |
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| 151 | 151 | | and 10 |
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| 152 | 152 | | (D) by adding at the end the following new 11 |
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| 153 | 153 | | paragraph: 12 |
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| 154 | 154 | | ‘‘(2) Not later than one year after the date of the 13 |
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| 155 | 155 | | enactment of the Preserving Lawful Utilization of Services 14 |
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| 156 | 156 | | for Veterans Act of 2025 and annually thereafter, the Sec-15 |
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| 157 | 157 | | retary shall submit to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs 16 |
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| 158 | 158 | | of the Senate and House of Representatives a report re-17 |
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| 159 | 159 | | garding the number of individuals suspended under this 18 |
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| 160 | 160 | | subsection or denied recognition under subsection (a), 19 |
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| 161 | 161 | | disaggregated by the reasons for such suspension or denial 20 |
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| 162 | 162 | | and whether the individual is— 21 |
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| 163 | 163 | | ‘‘(A) a representative of an organization recog-22 |
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| 164 | 164 | | nized under section 5902 of this title; 23 |
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| 165 | 165 | | ‘‘(B) an agent; or 24 |
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| 166 | 166 | | ‘‘(C) an attorney.’’; and 25 |
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| 169 | 169 | | •HR 1656 IH |
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| 170 | 170 | | (3) in subsection (c)— 1 |
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| 171 | 171 | | (A) by inserting ‘‘F |
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| 172 | 172 | | LATFEEAGREE-2 |
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| 173 | 173 | | MENTS.—’’ after ‘‘(c)’’; 3 |
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| 174 | 174 | | (B) by striking paragraph (1) and insert-4 |
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| 175 | 175 | | ing the following: 5 |
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| 176 | 176 | | ‘‘(1)(A) In connection with a proceeding before the 6 |
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| 177 | 177 | | Department with respect to benefits under laws adminis-7 |
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| 178 | 178 | | tered by the Secretary, a fee agreement between a claim-8 |
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| 179 | 179 | | ant and an agent or attorney for the preparation, presen-9 |
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| 180 | 180 | | tation, or prosecution of an initial claim for such benefits 10 |
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| 181 | 181 | | shall be a fee agreement described in subparagraph (B). 11 |
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| 182 | 182 | | ‘‘(B)(i) A fee agreement described in this subpara-12 |
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| 183 | 183 | | graph is a fee agreement— 13 |
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| 184 | 184 | | ‘‘(I) that does not require payment from a 14 |
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| 185 | 185 | | claimant to the agent or attorney before the date on 15 |
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| 186 | 186 | | which the claimant is provided notice of the agency 16 |
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| 187 | 187 | | of original jurisdiction’s initial decision under section 17 |
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| 188 | 188 | | 5104 of this title with respect to the initial claim; 18 |
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| 189 | 189 | | ‘‘(II) under which the total amount payable by 19 |
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| 190 | 190 | | the claimant to the agent or attorney with respect 20 |
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| 191 | 191 | | to the initial claim— 21 |
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| 192 | 192 | | ‘‘(aa) is contingent on whether the initial 22 |
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| 193 | 193 | | claim is resolved in a manner favorable to the 23 |
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| 194 | 194 | | claimant; 24 |
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| 195 | 195 | | ‘‘(bb) does not exceed the lesser of— 25 |
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| 198 | 198 | | •HR 1656 IH |
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| 199 | 199 | | ‘‘(AA) $12,500 (as adjusted from 1 |
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| 200 | 200 | | time to time under subparagraph (C)); or 2 |
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| 201 | 201 | | ‘‘(BB) the amount equal to the prod-3 |
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| 202 | 202 | | uct of five and the amount of the monthly 4 |
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| 203 | 203 | | increase of benefits awarded to the claim-5 |
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| 204 | 204 | | ant pursuant to the claim; and 6 |
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| 205 | 205 | | ‘‘(III) that contains an attestation by the claim-7 |
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| 206 | 206 | | ant that the agent or attorney provided to the claim-8 |
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| 207 | 207 | | ant the standard form under clause (iii). 9 |
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| 208 | 208 | | ‘‘(ii) For purposes of this subparagraph, an initial 10 |
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| 209 | 209 | | claim shall be considered to have been resolved in a man-11 |
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| 210 | 210 | | ner favorable to the claimant if all or any part of the relief 12 |
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| 211 | 211 | | sought pursuant to the claim is granted. 13 |
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| 212 | 212 | | ‘‘(iii) For use in fee agreements described in this sub-14 |
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| 213 | 213 | | paragraph, the Secretary shall develop a standard form 15 |
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| 214 | 214 | | that includes the following notices: 16 |
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| 215 | 215 | | ‘‘(I) That organizations recognized under sec-17 |
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| 216 | 216 | | tion 5902 of this title furnish services with respect 18 |
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| 217 | 217 | | to initial claims under laws administered by the Sec-19 |
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| 218 | 218 | | retary at no cost to claimants. 20 |
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| 219 | 219 | | ‘‘(II) That a claimant may select a private phy-21 |
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| 220 | 220 | | sician for a medical examination described in section 22 |
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| 221 | 221 | | 5125 of this title regarding the initial claim. 23 |
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| 222 | 222 | | ‘‘(III) That the agent or attorney with whom 24 |
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| 223 | 223 | | the claimant is entering such fee agreement may not 25 |
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| 226 | 226 | | •HR 1656 IH |
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| 227 | 227 | | refer the claimant to a private physician described in 1 |
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| 228 | 228 | | such section with whom the agent or attorney has a 2 |
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| 229 | 229 | | business relationship. 3 |
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| 230 | 230 | | ‘‘(C) Effective on October 1 of each year (beginning 4 |
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| 231 | 231 | | in the first fiscal year after the date of the enactment of 5 |
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| 232 | 232 | | the Preserving Lawful Utilization of Services for Veterans 6 |
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| 233 | 233 | | Act of 2025), the Secretary shall increase the dollar 7 |
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| 234 | 234 | | amount in effect under clause (i) of subparagraph (B) by 8 |
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| 235 | 235 | | a percentage equal to the percentage by which the Con-9 |
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| 236 | 236 | | sumer Price Index for all urban consumers (U.S. city aver-10 |
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| 237 | 237 | | age) increased during the 12-month period ending with 11 |
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| 238 | 238 | | the last month for which Consumer Price Index data is 12 |
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| 239 | 239 | | available. In the event that such Consumer Price Index 13 |
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| 240 | 240 | | does not increase during such period, the Secretary shall 14 |
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| 241 | 241 | | maintain the dollar amount in effect under such clause 15 |
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| 242 | 242 | | during the previous fiscal year.’’; and 16 |
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| 243 | 243 | | (C) in paragraph (2)— 17 |
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| 244 | 244 | | (i) by striking ‘‘in a case referred to 18 |
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| 245 | 245 | | in paragraph (1) of this subsection’’; and 19 |
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| 246 | 246 | | (ii) by inserting ‘‘in a case’’ after 20 |
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| 247 | 247 | | ‘‘represents a person’’; 21 |
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| 248 | 248 | | (D) in paragraph (3)(A), by striking 22 |
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| 249 | 249 | | ‘‘paragraph (2)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph (1) 23 |
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| 250 | 250 | | or (2)’’. 24 |
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| 253 | 253 | | •HR 1656 IH |
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| 254 | 254 | | (b) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 180 days after 1 |
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| 255 | 255 | | the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 2 |
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| 256 | 256 | | prescribe regulations to carry out the amendments made 3 |
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| 257 | 257 | | by this section. 4 |
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| 258 | 258 | | SEC. 4. REINSTATEMENT OF PENALTIES FOR CHARGING 5 |
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| 259 | 259 | | VETERANS UNAUTHORIZED FEES RELATING 6 |
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| 260 | 260 | | TO CLAIMS UNDER LAWS ADMINISTERED BY 7 |
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| 261 | 261 | | THE SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 8 |
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| 262 | 262 | | (a) I |
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| 263 | 263 | | NGENERAL.—Section 5905 of title 38, United 9 |
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| 264 | 264 | | States Code, is amended— 10 |
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| 265 | 265 | | (1) in the heading, by striking ‘‘Penalty’’ and 11 |
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| 266 | 266 | | inserting ‘‘Penalties’’; 12 |
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| 267 | 267 | | (2) by inserting ‘‘(a) W |
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| 268 | 268 | | ITHHOLDING OFBENE-13 |
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| 269 | 269 | | FITS.—’’ before ‘‘Whoever’’; and 14 |
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| 270 | 270 | | (3) by adding at the end the following new sub-15 |
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| 271 | 271 | | section: 16 |
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| 272 | 272 | | ‘‘(b) C |
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| 273 | 273 | | HARGING OFUNAUTHORIZEDFEES.—Except 17 |
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| 274 | 274 | | as provided in sections 5904 or 1984 of this title, whoever 18 |
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| 275 | 275 | | directly or indirectly solicits, contracts for, charges, or re-19 |
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| 276 | 276 | | ceives, or attempts to solicit, contract for, charge, or re-20 |
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| 277 | 277 | | ceive, any fee or compensation with respect to the prepara-21 |
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| 278 | 278 | | tion, presentation, or prosecution of any claim for benefits 22 |
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| 279 | 279 | | under the laws administered by the Secretary shall be 23 |
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| 280 | 280 | | fined as provided in title 18, or imprisoned not more than 24 |
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| 281 | 281 | | one year, or both. 25 |
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| 284 | 284 | | •HR 1656 IH |
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| 285 | 285 | | ‘‘(c) VIOLATIONSDURINGCONDITIONAL AND TEM-1 |
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| 286 | 286 | | PORARYRECOGNITION.—If an individual recognized as an 2 |
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| 287 | 287 | | agent or attorney on a conditional and temporary basis 3 |
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| 288 | 288 | | pursuant to clause (ii) or (iii) of section 5904(a)(1)(B) 4 |
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| 289 | 289 | | of this title violates any law or regulation administered 5 |
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| 290 | 290 | | by the Secretary under this chapter on or after the date 6 |
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| 291 | 291 | | on which such individual is so recognized— 7 |
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| 292 | 292 | | ‘‘(1) the Secretary shall, after notice, revoke the 8 |
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| 293 | 293 | | conditional and temporary recognition of the indi-9 |
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| 294 | 294 | | vidual; and 10 |
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| 295 | 295 | | ‘‘(2) such individual, after notice and oppor-11 |
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| 296 | 296 | | tunity for a hearing, shall be— 12 |
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| 297 | 297 | | ‘‘(A) fined $50,000; and 13 |
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| 298 | 298 | | ‘‘(B) barred from recognition under section 14 |
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| 299 | 299 | | 5904 of this title— 15 |
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| 300 | 300 | | ‘‘(i) for a period of one year beginning 16 |
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| 301 | 301 | | on the date of the first violation; and 17 |
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| 302 | 302 | | ‘‘(ii) for a period of 10 years begin-18 |
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| 303 | 303 | | ning on the date of each subsequent viola-19 |
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| 304 | 304 | | tion. 20 |
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| 305 | 305 | | ‘‘(d) D |
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| 306 | 306 | | EPOSIT OFFINES.—Any amount received by 21 |
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| 307 | 307 | | the Federal Government from a fine imposed under sub-22 |
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| 308 | 308 | | section (b) or (c) shall be deposited in the fund established 23 |
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| 309 | 309 | | by section 5904(a)(7)(C) of this title.’’. 24 |
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| 312 | 312 | | •HR 1656 IH |
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| 313 | 313 | | (b) CLERICALAMENDMENT.—The table of sections 1 |
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| 314 | 314 | | at the beginning of chapter 59 of such title is amended 2 |
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| 315 | 315 | | by striking the item relating to section 5905 and inserting 3 |
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| 316 | 316 | | the following new item: 4 |
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| 317 | 317 | | ‘‘5905. Penalties for certain acts.’’. |
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| 318 | 318 | | (c) EFFECTIVEDATE.—The amendments made by 5 |
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| 319 | 319 | | this section shall take effect on the date that is 90 days 6 |
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| 320 | 320 | | after the date on which the Secretary prescribes the regu-7 |
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| 321 | 321 | | lations required by subsection (b) of section 3. 8 |
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| 322 | 322 | | SEC. 5. FEDERAL PREEMPTION. 9 |
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| 323 | 323 | | This Act, and the amendments made by this Act, su-10 |
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| 324 | 324 | | persede any State law that is inconsistent with the statu-11 |
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| 325 | 325 | | tory rights established by this Act, or such amendments, 12 |
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| 326 | 326 | | and preclude the implementation of such a law, whether 13 |
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| 327 | 327 | | statutory, common law, or otherwise, and whether adopted 14 |
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| 328 | 328 | | before or after the date of enactment of this Act. 15 |
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| 329 | 329 | | Æ |
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| 330 | 330 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:51 Mar 14, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1656.IH H1656 |
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| 331 | 331 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS |
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