I
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 2278
To amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Veterans
Affairs to improve equitable access to certain benefits under the laws
administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and to improve certain
outreach to individuals who served uniformed services and dependents
of such individuals, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH21, 2025
Mr. T
AKANOintroduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Veterans’ Affairs
A BILL
To amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Sec-
retary of Veterans Affairs to improve equitable access
to certain benefits under the laws administered by the
Secretary of Veterans Affairs and to improve certain
outreach to individuals who served uniformed services
and dependents of such individuals, and for other pur-
poses.
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 ‘‘Survivor Benefits De-4
livery Improvement Act of 2025’’. 5
VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:04 Mar 26, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2278.IH H2278
ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 2
•HR 2278 IH
SEC. 2. EQUITABLE ACCESS TO CERTAIN BENEFITS OF DE-1
PARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS FOR SUR-2
VIVORS OF VETERANS. 3
(a) S
HORTTITLE.—This section may be cited as the 4
‘‘Survivor Benefits Data Collection Act of 2025’’. 5
(b) C
OLLECTION OFDEMOGRAPHICDATA.— 6
(1) C
OLLECTION.—Chapter 53 of title 38, 7
United States Code, is amended by adding at the 8
end the following new section (and conforming the 9
table of sections at the beginning of such chapter ac-10
cordingly): 11
‘‘§ 5322. Demographic data of certain beneficiaries 12
‘‘(a) C
OLLECTION.—The Secretary, in consultation 13
with the entities described in subsection (b), shall— 14
‘‘(1) develop a method to collect the demo-15
graphic data of— 16
‘‘(A) each covered survivor receiving dis-17
ability and indemnity compensation under chap-18
ter 13 of this title, pension under chapter 15 of 19
this title, or increased pension (or additional 20
compensation or allowances) under this title 21
based on the need of regular aid and attend-22
ance or by reason of being permanently house-23
bound; and 24
‘‘(B) each person who receives burial bene-25
fits under chapter 23 of this title; and 26
VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:04 Mar 26, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2278.IH H2278
ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 3
•HR 2278 IH
‘‘(2) collect demographic data pursuant to the 1
method developed under paragraph (1). 2
‘‘(b) E
NTITIES FORCONSULTATION.—The entities 3
described in this subsection are the following: 4
‘‘(1) The Advisory Committee on Minority Vet-5
erans established under section 544 of this title. 6
‘‘(2) The Advisory Committee on Women Vet-7
erans established under section 542 of this title. 8
‘‘(3) The Veterans’ Family, Caregiver, and Sur-9
vivor Advisory Committee of the Department of Vet-10
erans Affairs, or successor advisory committee. 11
‘‘(4) Veterans service organizations. 12
‘‘(c) D
ESIGNATION OF UNDERSERVED DEMO-13
GRAPHICS.—The Secretary shall— 14
‘‘(1) designate as an underserved demographic 15
any demographic the Secretary determines, taking 16
into account the demographic data collected under 17
subsection (a), is underserved with respect to the 18
benefits specified in such subsection; and 19
‘‘(2) review such designations on at least a bi-20
ennial basis and update as appropriate. 21
‘‘(d) I
NCLUSION INANNUALREPORTS.—For each 22
annual benefits report of the Veterans Benefits Adminis-23
tration, the Secretary shall include as part of the report 24
information concerning the demographic data collected 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:04 Mar 26, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2278.IH H2278
ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 4
•HR 2278 IH
under subsection (a) during the fiscal year covered by the 1
report. 2
‘‘(e) E
FFECT ONAPPLICATION.—Nothing in this sec-3
tion shall be construed as requiring any person to submit 4
demographic data or as authorizing the Secretary to con-5
sider whether a person submits demographic data in eval-6
uating any claim for benefits under the laws administered 7
by the Secretary. 8
‘‘(f) D
EFINITIONS.—In this section: 9
‘‘(1) The term ‘covered survivor’ means a sur-10
viving spouse, child, or parent of a veteran. 11
‘‘(2) The term ‘demographic data’ includes, 12
with respect to an individual, the following: 13
‘‘(A) Race. 14
‘‘(B) Ethnicity. 15
‘‘(C) Tribal affiliation, if any. 16
‘‘(D) LGBTQIA+ status. 17
‘‘(E) Geographic location. 18
‘‘(3) The term ‘veterans service organization’ 19
means any organization recognized by the Secretary 20
under section 5902 of this title.’’. 21
(2) D
EADLINES; APPLICABILITY.— 22
(A) D
EADLINE FOR COLLECTION .—The 23
Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall develop the 24
data collection method under subsection (a) of 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:04 Mar 26, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2278.IH H2278
ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 5
•HR 2278 IH
section 5322 of title 38, United States Code (as 1
added by paragraph (1)), and commence the 2
collection of data pursuant to such method, by 3
not later than 180 days after the date of the 4
enactment of this Act. 5
(B) D
EADLINE FOR INITIAL DESIGNA -6
TIONS.—The Secretary shall make the initial 7
designation of any underserved demographics 8
under subsection (c) of such section 5322 by 9
not later than one year after the date on which 10
the Secretary commences the collection of data 11
under subsection (a) of such section. 12
(C) A
PPLICABILITY REGARDING ANNUAL 13
REPORTS.—The requirement under subsection 14
(d) of such section 5322 shall apply with re-15
spect to annual benefits reports of the Veterans 16
Benefits Administration submitted on or after 17
the date that is one year after the date on 18
which the Secretary commences the collection of 19
data under subsection (a) of such section. 20
(c) O
UTREACH ANDEDUCATION.— 21
(1) S
TRATEGY FOR UNDERSERVED DEMO -22
GRAPHICS.—Not later than one year after the date 23
of initial designation, the Secretary shall develop and 24
submit to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:04 Mar 26, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2278.IH H2278
ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 6
•HR 2278 IH
the Senate and House of Representatives an out-1
reach and education strategy for raising awareness 2
regarding the benefits specified in section 5322(a) of 3
title 38, United States Code (as added by subsection 4
(b)), among covered survivors who belong to an un-5
derserved demographic. 6
(2) E
LIGIBILITY OF VETERANS FOR CERTAIN 7
BURIAL BENEFITS.— 8
(A) O
UTREACH PLAN.—Not later than 180 9
days after the date of initial designation, the 10
Under Secretary for Memorial Affairs shall de-11
velop and submit to the Committees on Vet-12
erans’ Affairs of the House of Representatives 13
and the Senate an outreach strategy for raising 14
awareness regarding eligibility for burial in a 15
national cemetery under section 2303 of title 16
38, United States Code, among veterans and 17
beneficiaries who belong to an underserved de-18
mographic. 19
(B) E
DUCATION ACTIVITIES.—The Under 20
Secretary shall carry out education activities 21
pursuant to the plan developed under subpara-22
graph (A) to ensure that the veterans and bene-23
ficiaries specified in such paragraph are made 24
VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:04 Mar 26, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2278.IH H2278
ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 7
•HR 2278 IH
aware of any eligibility specified in such sub-1
paragraph. 2
(C) R
EPORTS.—Not later than one year 3
after the date of initial designation, and annu-4
ally thereafter for five years, the Under Sec-5
retary shall submit to the Committees on Vet-6
erans’ Affairs of the House of Representatives 7
and the Senate a report on the efforts taken by 8
the Under Secretary pursuant to this para-9
graph. 10
(3) D
EFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 11
(A) The term ‘‘covered survivor’’ has the 12
meanings given that term in section 5322(e) of 13
title 38, United States Code (as added by sub-14
section (b)). 15
(B) The term ‘‘date of initial designation’’ 16
means the date on which the Secretary makes 17
the initial designation of any underserved demo-18
graphics. 19
(C) The term ‘‘underserved demographic’’ 20
means a demographic designated as an under-21
served demographic by the Secretary of Vet-22
erans Affairs under section 5322(c) of title 38, 23
United States Code (as added by subsection 24
(b)). 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:04 Mar 26, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2278.IH H2278
ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 8
•HR 2278 IH
(d) ASSESSMENT AND STRATEGY FOR OFFICE OF 1
S
URVIVORSASSISTANCE.—Not later than one year after 2
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 3
shall— 4
(1) conduct an assessment of the resources of 5
the Office of Survivors Assistance of the Department 6
of Veterans Affairs, or any successor office; and 7
(2) develop a strategy to ensure the availability 8
of resources necessary for the function of such of-9
fice, as determined by the Secretary as a result of 10
the assessment. 11
SEC. 3. IMPROVEMENTS TO OUTREACH SERVICES PRO-12
VIDED BY SECRETARY OF VETERANS AF-13
FAIRS TO INDIVIDUALS WHO SERVED IN THE 14
UNIFORMED SERVICES AND DEPENDENTS OF 15
SUCH INDIVIDUALS. 16
(a) S
HORTTITLE.—This section may be cited as the 17
‘‘Survivor Solid Start Act of 2025’’. 18
(b) E
XPANSION OF OUTREACHSERVICES.—Sub-19
chapter I of chapter 63 of title 38, United States Code, 20
is amended— 21
(1) in section 6301(b)— 22
(A) by redesignating paragraphs (1) 23
through (3) as paragraphs (2) through (4), re-24
spectively; 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:04 Mar 26, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2278.IH H2278
ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 9
•HR 2278 IH
(B) by inserting before paragraph (2) (as 1
so redesignated) the following new paragraph: 2
‘‘(1) the term ‘covered individual’ means— 3
‘‘(A) a veteran; or 4
‘‘(B) an individual who served in the uni-5
formed services (as defined in section 1965(6) 6
of this title);’’; 7
(C) in paragraph (2) (as so redesignated), 8
by striking ‘‘veterans’’ each place it appears 9
and inserting ‘‘covered individuals’’; and 10
(D) in paragraph (4) (as so redesignated), 11
by striking ‘‘a person who served in the active 12
military, naval, air, or space service’’ and in-13
serting ‘‘a covered individual’’; 14
(2) in section 6302(b), by striking ‘‘eligible vet-15
erans’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘covered 16
individuals’’; 17
(3) in section 6303— 18
(A) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘eligible 19
veterans’’ and inserting ‘‘covered individuals’’; 20
(B) in subsection (c)(1)(A), by striking 21
‘‘eligible veterans’’ and inserting ‘‘covered indi-22
viduals’’; 23
(C) in subsection (c)(2), by striking ‘‘vet-24
eran or dependent’’ each place it appears and 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:04 Mar 26, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2278.IH H2278
ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 10
•HR 2278 IH
inserting ‘‘covered individual or eligible depend-1
ent’’; and 2
(D) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘vet-3
erans’’ and inserting ‘‘covered individuals’’; 4
(4) in section 6306— 5
(A) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘eligible 6
veteran’’ and inserting ‘‘covered individual’’; 7
and 8
(B) in subsection (b)— 9
(i) by striking ‘‘opportunities for vet-10
erans’’ and inserting ‘‘opportunities for 11
covered individuals’’; and 12
(ii) by striking ‘‘eligible veterans’’ and 13
inserting ‘‘covered individuals’’; and 14
(5) in section 6308, by adding at the end the 15
following new subsection: 16
‘‘(c) O
UTREACHSERVICES FORSURVIVINGELIGIBLE 17
D
EPENDENTS.—(1)(A) Upon receipt of notification of the 18
death of a covered individual, the Secretary, acting 19
through the Under Secretary for Benefits, shall provide 20
outreach services, by mail, email, and telephone, to each 21
eligible dependent of such individual not less than once 22
each quarter calendar year until the eligible dependent 23
files a claim for a benefit under laws administered by the 24
Secretary. 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:43 Apr 02, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2278.IH H2278
ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 11
•HR 2278 IH
‘‘(B) In the case of an eligible dependent described 1
in subparagraph (A) who is a minor child, the Secretary 2
shall provide such outreach services to the legal guardian 3
of the eligible dependent. 4
‘‘(C) If the Secretary does not have the contact infor-5
mation of an eligible dependent or legal guardian de-6
scribed in subparagraph (A) or (B), the Secretary shall 7
make reasonable efforts to obtain such contact informa-8
tion to carry out this subsection. 9
‘‘(D) An eligible dependent or legal guardian de-10
scribed in subparagraph (A) or (B) may elect to not re-11
ceive, or to receive fewer, outreach services under this sub-12
section. Not less than once each calendar year, the Sec-13
retary shall notify each such eligible dependent or legal 14
guardian of the option to make such an election. 15
‘‘(2) Outreach services under this subsection shall 16
provide an eligible dependent with information including 17
the following: 18
‘‘(A) Contact information for the Office of Sur-19
vivors Assistance established under section 321 of 20
this title. 21
‘‘(B) Information regarding assistance in filing 22
a claim for a benefit under laws administered by the 23
Secretary furnished by— 24
VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:04 Mar 26, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2278.IH H2278
ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 12
•HR 2278 IH
‘‘(i) a veterans service organization recog-1
nized under section 5902 of this title; or 2
‘‘(ii) an attorney, agent, or other entity 3
recognized under section 5904 of this title. 4
‘‘(C) How to find an entity— 5
‘‘(i) described in clause (i) or (ii) of sub-6
paragraph (B); and 7
‘‘(ii) located near the residence of the eligi-8
ble dependent. 9
‘‘(3) In developing and revising materials used in out-10
reach services under this subsection, the Secretary shall 11
consult with entities including the following: 12
‘‘(A) Veterans service organizations recognized 13
under section 5902 of this title. 14
‘‘(B) The Advisory Committee on Women Vet-15
erans established under section 542 of this title. 16
‘‘(C) The Advisory Committee on Minority Vet-17
erans established under section 544 of this title. 18
‘‘(D) The Veterans’ Family, Caregiver, and 19
Survivor Advisory Committee of the Department, or 20
successor advisory committee.’’. 21
(c) P
ERSONNEL.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 22
shall establish at least 5, but not more than 10, full-time 23
equivalent positions at call centers of the Department of 24
VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:04 Mar 26, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2278.IH H2278
ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 13
•HR 2278 IH
Veterans Affairs to carry out subsection (c) of section 1
6308 of such title, as added by subsection (b). 2
Æ
VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:04 Mar 26, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2278.IH H2278
ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS