<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><BillSummaries>
    <item congress="118" measure-type="hr" measure-number="2971" measure-id="id118hr2971" originChamber="HOUSE" orig-publish-date="2023-04-27" update-date="2023-12-08">
        <title>Veterans Claims Education Act of 2023</title>
        <summary summary-id="id118hr2971v00" currentChamber="HOUSE" update-date="2023-12-08">
            <action-date>2023-04-27</action-date>
            <action-desc>Introduced in House</action-desc>
            <summary-text><![CDATA[ <p><b>Veterans Claims Education Act of 2023</b></p> <p>This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to, upon receipt of an initial claim for benefits from a claimant that is not represented by an accredited person (i.e., a veterans service organization, attorney, or agent recognized by the VA) provide (1) notice that an accredited person may assist the claimant, (2) notice that a veterans service organization may represent the claimant for free, (3) information regarding a search tool to find an accredited person to assist in the filing of claims, and (4) information on how and where to report a person who is not accredited and charged a fee to assist with a claim.</p> <p>In its web portal, the VA must provide a warning regarding fees an agent or attorney may charge for assistance in filing benefits claims. (Under current law, fees are generally prohibited for filing an initial claim.)</p>]]></summary-text>
        </summary>
    </item>
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        <dc:language>EN</dc:language>
        <dc:rights>Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.</dc:rights>
        <dc:contributor>Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress</dc:contributor>
        <dc:description>This file contains bill summaries for federal legislation. A bill summary describes the most significant provisions of a piece of legislation and details the effects the legislative text may have on current law and federal programs. Bill summaries are authored by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) of the Library of Congress. As stated in Public Law 91-510 (2 USC 166 (d)(6)), one of the duties of CRS is "to prepare summaries and digests of bills and resolutions of a public general nature introduced in the Senate or House of Representatives". For more information, refer to the User Guide that accompanies this file.</dc:description>
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</BillSummaries>
