118th CONGRESS 2d Session |
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 purposes.
March 26, 2024
Mr. Duarte (for himself, Mr. Bost, Mr. Valadao, Ms. Salazar, Mr. D'Esposito, and Ms. Budzinski) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs
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 purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
This Act may be cited as the “Clear Communication for Veterans Claims Act”.
SEC. 2. Independent assessment of notices 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 notices 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 of such notices. The assessment shall include the following:
(1) The determination of the FFRDC whether each such notice may be feasibly altered to reduce paper consumption by, and costs to, the Federal Government.
(2) The recommendations of the FFRDC regarding how the Secretary may, in compliance with laws administered by the Secretary, make such notices clearer to claimants, better organized, and more concise.
(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.
(d) Definitions.—In this section:
(1) The term “FFRDC” means a federally funded research and development center.
(2) The terms “claimant” and “notice” have the meanings given such terms in section 5100 of title 38, United States Code.