| 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. 2970 |
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| 5 | 5 | | To amend title 38, United States Code, to make certain improvements to |
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| 6 | 6 | | the laws relating to advocacy for veterans who receive health care and |
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| 7 | 7 | | other benefits furnished by the Department of Veterans Affairs, and |
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| 8 | 8 | | for other purposes. |
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| 9 | 9 | | IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
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| 10 | 10 | | APRIL17, 2025 |
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| 11 | 11 | | Mr. Y |
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| 12 | 12 | | AKYMintroduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee |
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| 13 | 13 | | on Veterans’ Affairs |
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| 14 | 14 | | A BILL |
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| 15 | 15 | | To amend title 38, United States Code, to make certain |
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| 16 | 16 | | improvements to the laws relating to advocacy for vet- |
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| 17 | 17 | | erans who receive health care and other benefits fur- |
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| 18 | 18 | | nished by the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for |
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| 19 | 19 | | other purposes. |
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| 20 | 20 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
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| 21 | 21 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
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| 22 | 22 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
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| 23 | 23 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Veterans Ad-4 |
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| 24 | 24 | | vocate Act of 2025’’. 5 |
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| 26 | 26 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2 |
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| 27 | 27 | | •HR 2970 IH |
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| 28 | 28 | | SEC. 2. INDEPENDENT OFFICE OF THE NATIONAL VET-1 |
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| 29 | 29 | | ERANS’ ADVOCATE IN DEPARTMENT OF VET-2 |
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| 30 | 30 | | ERANS AFFAIRS. 3 |
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| 31 | 31 | | (a) I |
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| 32 | 32 | | NGENERAL.—Section 7309A of title 38, United 4 |
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| 33 | 33 | | States Code, is amended— 5 |
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| 34 | 34 | | (1) by striking the section heading and insert-6 |
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| 35 | 35 | | ing the following new section heading: 7 |
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| 36 | 36 | | ‘‘§ 7309A. Office of the National Veterans’ Advocate’’; 8 |
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| 37 | 37 | | (2) in subsection (a)— 9 |
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| 38 | 38 | | (A) by striking ‘‘within the Office of the 10 |
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| 39 | 39 | | Under Secretary for Health’’; 11 |
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| 40 | 40 | | (B) by striking ‘‘an office’’ and inserting 12 |
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| 41 | 41 | | ‘‘an independent office’’; and 13 |
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| 42 | 42 | | (C) by striking ‘‘‘Office of Patient Advo-14 |
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| 43 | 43 | | cacy’’’ and inserting ‘‘‘Office of the National 15 |
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| 44 | 44 | | Veterans’ Advocate’’’; 16 |
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| 45 | 45 | | (3) by striking ‘‘patient advocate’’ each place it 17 |
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| 46 | 46 | | appears and inserting ‘‘veteran advocate’’; 18 |
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| 47 | 47 | | (4) in subsection (b)— 19 |
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| 48 | 48 | | (A) by striking paragraph (1) and insert-20 |
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| 49 | 49 | | ing the following new paragraph (1): 21 |
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| 50 | 50 | | ‘‘(1) The Office of the National Veterans’ Advocate 22 |
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| 51 | 51 | | shall be under the supervision and direction of an official 23 |
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| 52 | 52 | | to be known as the ‘‘National Veterans’ Advocate’’. The 24 |
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| 53 | 53 | | National Veterans’ Advocate shall report directly to the 25 |
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| 54 | 54 | | Secretary and shall be entitled to compensation at the 26 |
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| 56 | 56 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3 |
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| 57 | 57 | | •HR 2970 IH |
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| 58 | 58 | | same rate as the highest rate of basic pay established for 1 |
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| 59 | 59 | | the Senior Executive Service under section 5382 of title 2 |
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| 60 | 60 | | 5, United States Code.’’; and 3 |
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| 61 | 61 | | (B) in paragraph (2)— 4 |
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| 62 | 62 | | (i) by striking ‘‘Office of Patient Ad-5 |
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| 63 | 63 | | vocacy’’ and inserting ‘‘Office of the Na-6 |
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| 64 | 64 | | tional Veterans’ Advocate’’; 7 |
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| 65 | 65 | | (ii) by striking ‘‘by the Under Sec-8 |
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| 66 | 66 | | retary for Health’’ and inserting ‘‘by the 9 |
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| 67 | 67 | | Secretary’’; and 10 |
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| 68 | 68 | | (iii) by striking ‘‘shall report directly 11 |
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| 69 | 69 | | to the Under Secretary for Health’’ and in-12 |
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| 70 | 70 | | serting ‘‘shall be independent of the Sec-13 |
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| 71 | 71 | | retary’’; 14 |
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| 72 | 72 | | (5) by striking ‘‘Director’’ each place it appears 15 |
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| 73 | 73 | | and inserting ‘‘National Veterans’ Advocate’’; 16 |
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| 74 | 74 | | (6) in subsection (c)— 17 |
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| 75 | 75 | | (A) by striking the subsection heading and 18 |
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| 76 | 76 | | inserting ‘‘(c) F |
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| 77 | 77 | | UNCTIONS.—’’; 19 |
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| 78 | 78 | | (B) in paragraph (1)— 20 |
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| 79 | 79 | | (i) by striking ‘‘function’’ and insert-21 |
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| 80 | 80 | | ing ‘‘functions’’; 22 |
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| 81 | 81 | | (ii) by striking ‘‘is’’ and inserting 23 |
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| 82 | 82 | | ‘‘are’’; and 24 |
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| 85 | 85 | | •HR 2970 IH |
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| 86 | 86 | | (iii) by inserting before the period at 1 |
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| 87 | 87 | | the end the following: ‘‘and to monitor De-2 |
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| 88 | 88 | | partment processes and make rec-3 |
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| 89 | 89 | | ommendations to Congress on how to im-4 |
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| 90 | 90 | | prove the Department’s efficiency and care 5 |
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| 91 | 91 | | for veterans’’; 6 |
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| 92 | 92 | | (C) in paragraph (2)— 7 |
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| 93 | 93 | | (i) in subparagraph (B), by striking 8 |
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| 94 | 94 | | ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; 9 |
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| 95 | 95 | | (ii) in subparagraph (C), by striking 10 |
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| 96 | 96 | | the period and inserting a semicolon; and 11 |
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| 97 | 97 | | (iii) by adding at the end the fol-12 |
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| 98 | 98 | | lowing new subparagraphs: 13 |
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| 99 | 99 | | ‘‘(D) identify areas in which veterans have 14 |
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| 100 | 100 | | problems in dealings with the Department; 15 |
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| 101 | 101 | | ‘‘(E) to the extent possible, propose changes in 16 |
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| 102 | 102 | | the administrative practices of the Department to 17 |
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| 103 | 103 | | mitigate problems identified under subparagraph 18 |
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| 104 | 104 | | (D); and 19 |
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| 105 | 105 | | ‘‘(F) identify potential legislative changes which 20 |
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| 106 | 106 | | may be appropriate to mitigate such problems.’’; 21 |
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| 107 | 107 | | (D) in paragraph (3)— 22 |
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| 108 | 108 | | (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 23 |
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| 109 | 109 | | ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; 24 |
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| 112 | 112 | | •HR 2970 IH |
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| 113 | 113 | | (ii) by redesignating subparagraph 1 |
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| 114 | 114 | | (B) as subparagraph (C); 2 |
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| 115 | 115 | | (iii) by inserting after subparagraph 3 |
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| 116 | 116 | | (A) the following new subparagraph (B): 4 |
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| 117 | 117 | | ‘‘(B) fill out forms to relating to casework prob-5 |
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| 118 | 118 | | lem that facilitate the rapid assignment of a local 6 |
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| 119 | 119 | | veteran advocate caseworker who can directly inter-7 |
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| 120 | 120 | | face with the veteran if needed; and’’; and 8 |
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| 121 | 121 | | (iv) in subparagraph (C), as redesig-9 |
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| 122 | 122 | | nated by clause (ii), by inserting ‘‘or 10 |
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| 123 | 123 | | forms’’ after ‘‘complaint’’ both times it ap-11 |
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| 124 | 124 | | pears; 12 |
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| 125 | 125 | | (E) by adding at the end the following new 13 |
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| 126 | 126 | | paragraphs: 14 |
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| 127 | 127 | | ‘‘(4) The Office shall have the authority to manage 15 |
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| 128 | 128 | | casework issues across the Department. 16 |
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| 129 | 129 | | ‘‘(5)(A) Not later than March 30 and September 30 17 |
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| 130 | 130 | | of each year, the National Veterans’ Advocate shall submit 18 |
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| 131 | 131 | | to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and 19 |
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| 132 | 132 | | House of Representatives a report on the operations of 20 |
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| 133 | 133 | | the Office of the National Veterans’ Advocate. Each such 21 |
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| 134 | 134 | | report shall include— 22 |
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| 135 | 135 | | ‘‘(i) a description of the activities of the Office 23 |
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| 136 | 136 | | carried out pursuant so subsection (c)(2)(D) 24 |
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| 137 | 137 | | through (F); and 25 |
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| 140 | 140 | | •HR 2970 IH |
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| 141 | 141 | | ‘‘(ii) independent legislative recommendations 1 |
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| 142 | 142 | | for the improvement of health outcomes for veterans, 2 |
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| 143 | 143 | | the quality of health care and benefits provided by 3 |
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| 144 | 144 | | the Department, and the cost efficiency of the De-4 |
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| 145 | 145 | | partment. 5 |
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| 146 | 146 | | ‘‘(B) Recommendations included in a report under 6 |
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| 147 | 147 | | this paragraph may not be reviewed by the Secretary or 7 |
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| 148 | 148 | | by any other official of the Department prior to submis-8 |
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| 149 | 149 | | sion. 9 |
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| 150 | 150 | | ‘‘(C) Each report under this paragraph shall be 10 |
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| 151 | 151 | | transmitted to the Secretary and made publicly available 11 |
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| 152 | 152 | | on the website the National Veterans’ Advocate. 12 |
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| 153 | 153 | | ‘‘(6) The Office shall have a designated publicly ac-13 |
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| 154 | 154 | | cessible website that includes access to the information 14 |
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| 155 | 155 | | technology system required under paragraph (3).’’; 15 |
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| 156 | 156 | | (7) in subsection (d)— 16 |
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| 157 | 157 | | (A) in the subsection heading, by striking 17 |
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| 158 | 158 | | ‘‘P |
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| 159 | 159 | | ATIENTADVOCACY’’ and inserting ‘‘VET-18 |
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| 160 | 160 | | ERANADVOCACY’’; and 19 |
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| 161 | 161 | | (B) by adding at the end the following new 20 |
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| 162 | 162 | | paragraph: 21 |
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| 163 | 163 | | ‘‘(15) In coordination with the recommendation 22 |
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| 164 | 164 | | team, to identify problems experienced within the 23 |
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| 165 | 165 | | Department in the course of providing hospital care, 24 |
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| 166 | 166 | | medical services, and nursing home care and burial 25 |
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| 169 | 169 | | •HR 2970 IH |
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| 170 | 170 | | and interment benefits to veterans and to develop 1 |
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| 171 | 171 | | recommendations to address such problems.’’; 2 |
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| 172 | 172 | | (8) in subsection (e)— 3 |
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| 173 | 173 | | (A) by striking ‘‘shall ensure that such 4 |
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| 174 | 174 | | training is consistent throughout the Depart-5 |
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| 175 | 175 | | ment.’’ and inserting ‘‘shall—’’; 6 |
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| 176 | 176 | | (B) by adding at the end the following new 7 |
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| 177 | 177 | | subparagraphs: 8 |
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| 178 | 178 | | ‘‘(A) develop the curriculum for such train-9 |
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| 179 | 179 | | ing in coordination with the Under Secretary 10 |
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| 180 | 180 | | for Benefits, the Under Secretary for Health, 11 |
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| 181 | 181 | | the Director of each of the Veterans Integrated 12 |
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| 182 | 182 | | Service Networks, and veterans service organi-13 |
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| 183 | 183 | | zations; 14 |
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| 184 | 184 | | ‘‘(B) ensure that each veteran advocate is 15 |
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| 185 | 185 | | required to receive such training on an annual 16 |
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| 186 | 186 | | basis; 17 |
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| 187 | 187 | | ‘‘(C) ensure that such training includes up- 18 |
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| 188 | 188 | | to-date information on Department policy, crisis 19 |
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| 189 | 189 | | management, health care, and such other mat-20 |
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| 190 | 190 | | ters as the Secretary determines appropriate; 21 |
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| 191 | 191 | | and 22 |
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| 192 | 192 | | ‘‘(D) ensure that such training is con-23 |
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| 193 | 193 | | sistent throughout the Department.’’; 24 |
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| 196 | 196 | | •HR 2970 IH |
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| 197 | 197 | | (9) by redesignating subsection (f) as sub-1 |
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| 198 | 198 | | section (l); and 2 |
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| 199 | 199 | | (10) by inserting after subsection (e) the fol-3 |
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| 200 | 200 | | lowing new subsections: 4 |
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| 201 | 201 | | ‘‘(f) D |
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| 202 | 202 | | EPUTYNATIONALVETERANS’ ADVOCATES.— 5 |
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| 203 | 203 | | (1) There is in each Veterans Integrated Service Network 6 |
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| 204 | 204 | | (hereinafter referred to as a ‘VISN’) a Deputy National 7 |
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| 205 | 205 | | Veterans’ Advocate who shall have responsibility for man-8 |
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| 206 | 206 | | aging the employees of the Office with primary responsi-9 |
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| 207 | 207 | | bility for casework. 10 |
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| 208 | 208 | | ‘‘(2) The Deputy National Veterans’ Advocate for a 11 |
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| 209 | 209 | | VISN shall ensure that for the geographic area served by 12 |
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| 210 | 210 | | that VISN, the Department employs at least one veteran 13 |
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| 211 | 211 | | advocate for every 12,000 veterans who reside in such area 14 |
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| 212 | 212 | | and are enrolled in the patient enrollment system under 15 |
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| 213 | 213 | | section 1705 of this title. 16 |
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| 214 | 214 | | ‘‘(g) O |
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| 215 | 215 | | FFICEEMPLOYEES.—The Office of the Na-17 |
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| 216 | 216 | | tional Veterans’ Advocate shall have employees in the 18 |
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| 217 | 217 | | Washington, D.C., office in the Department. Such employ-19 |
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| 218 | 218 | | ees shall carry out the responsibilities under subsection 20 |
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| 219 | 219 | | (c)(2)(D) through (F), coordinate with Deputy National 21 |
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| 220 | 220 | | Veterans’ Advocates and veteran advocates, and carry out 22 |
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| 221 | 221 | | such other responsibilities as the National Veterans’ Advo-23 |
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| 222 | 222 | | cate determines appropriate. 24 |
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| 225 | 225 | | •HR 2970 IH |
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| 226 | 226 | | ‘‘(h) CASEWORKREQUESTPORTAL.—The National 1 |
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| 227 | 227 | | Veterans’ Advocate shall establish, on the website of the 2 |
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| 228 | 228 | | National Veterans’ Advocate, a casework request portal 3 |
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| 229 | 229 | | that veterans can use to request assistance with casework. 4 |
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| 230 | 230 | | ‘‘(i) O |
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| 231 | 231 | | UTREACH.—The Secretary shall conduct out-5 |
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| 232 | 232 | | reach to veterans receiving benefits under the laws admin-6 |
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| 233 | 233 | | istrated by the Secretary to provide information to such 7 |
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| 234 | 234 | | veterans about the Office and the assistance available to 8 |
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| 235 | 235 | | veterans through the Office. 9 |
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| 236 | 236 | | ‘‘(j) C |
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| 237 | 237 | | OORDINATIONTOIMPROVEPOLICIES.—The 10 |
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| 238 | 238 | | Secretary, the National Veterans’ Advocate, the Under 11 |
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| 239 | 239 | | Secretary for Health, and the Under Secretary for Bene-12 |
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| 240 | 240 | | fits shall— 13 |
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| 241 | 241 | | ‘‘(1) work closely together on a continual basis 14 |
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| 242 | 242 | | to improve the policies of the Department without 15 |
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| 243 | 243 | | the necessity for congressional action; and 16 |
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| 244 | 244 | | ‘‘(2) communicate frequently to ensure such im-17 |
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| 245 | 245 | | provement. 18 |
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| 246 | 246 | | ‘‘(k) A |
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| 247 | 247 | | UTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 19 |
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| 248 | 248 | | is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 20 |
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| 249 | 249 | | $25,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2030.’’. 21 |
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| 250 | 250 | | (b) C |
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| 251 | 251 | | LERICALAMENDMENT.—The table of sections 22 |
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| 252 | 252 | | at the beginning of chapter 73 of such title is amended 23 |
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| 254 | 254 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 10 |
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| 255 | 255 | | •HR 2970 IH |
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| 256 | 256 | | by striking the item relating to section 7309A and insert-1 |
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| 257 | 257 | | ing the following new item: 2 |
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| 258 | 258 | | ‘‘7309A. Office of the National Veterans’ Advocate.’’. |
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| 259 | 259 | | Æ |
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