Simplifying Forms for Veterans Claims Act

[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8880 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 8880

 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 forms that the Secretary sends to claimants for 
   benefits under laws administered by the Secretary, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 28, 2024

  Mr. Duarte (for himself, Mr. Davis of North Carolina, Mr. Bost, Mr. 
  Panetta, Mr. Valadao, and Mr. Harder of California) introduced the 
   following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans' 
                                Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 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 forms that the Secretary sends to claimants for 
   benefits under laws administered by the Secretary, and for other 
                               purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Simplifying Forms for Veterans 
Claims Act''.

SEC. 2. INDEPENDENT ASSESSMENT OF FORMS THAT THE SECRETARY OF VETERANS 
              AFFAIRS SENDS TO CLAIMANTS.

    (a) Agreement.--Not later than 30 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall seek to 
enter into an agreement with an FFRDC for an assessment of forms that 
the Secretary sends to claimants.
    (b) Assessment.--An FFRDC that enters to an agreement under 
subsection (a) shall submit to the Secretary a written assessment, made 
in consultation with covered entities, of such forms. The assessment 
shall include the recommendations of the FFRDC regarding how the 
Secretary may make such forms clearer to claimants and better 
organized.
    (c) Report; Implementation.--Not later than 90 days after the 
Secretary receives the assessment under subsection (b), the Secretary 
shall--
            (1) submit to the Committees on Veterans' Affairs of the 
        Senate and House of Representatives a copy of such assessment; 
        and
            (2) implement the recommendations in the assessment that 
        are in compliance with the laws administered by the Secretary.
    (d) Deadline for Implementation.--The Secretary shall complete the 
implementation of such recommendations pursuant to subsection (c)(2) by 
not later than two years after the date on which the Secretary 
commences such implementation.
    (e) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) The term ``FFRDC'' means a federally funded research 
        and development center.
            (2) The term ``covered entities'' includes--
                    (A) the Secretary of Veterans Affairs;
                    (B) an expert in laws administered by the Secretary 
                of Veterans Affairs;
                    (C) a veterans service organization recognized 
                under section 5902 of title 38, United States Code; and
                    (D) an entity that advocates for veterans and 
                survivors of veterans.
            (3) The term ``claimant'' has the meaning given such term 
        in section 5100 of title 38, United States Code.
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