[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1905 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

103d CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 1905

   To improve the processing of benefits claims by the Department of 
                           Veterans Affairs.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

              March 8 (legislative day, February 22), 1994

  Mr. Rockefeller (for himself, Mr. DeConcini, Mr. Graham, Mr. Akaka, 
Mr. Daschle, and Mr. Campbell) introduced the following bill; which was 
     read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To improve the processing of benefits claims by the Department of 
                           Veterans Affairs.

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

SECTION 1. ELIMINATION OF REQUIREMENT FOR ANNUAL INCOME QUESTIONNAIRES.

    Section 1506 of title 38, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (2), by striking out ``shall'' and 
        inserting in lieu thereof ``may''; and
            (2) in paragraph (3), by striking out ``file a revised 
        report'' and inserting in lieu thereof ``notify the 
        Secretary''.

SEC. 2. STATEMENTS TO BE ACCEPTED AS PROOF OF RELATIONSHIPS.

    Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary of 
Veterans Affairs shall accept the written statement of a claimant as 
proof of the existence of a marriage, the dissolution of a marriage, 
the birth of a child, or the death of any family member for the purpose 
of acting on such individual's claim for benefits under any law 
administered by the Secretary. The Secretary may require the submission 
of documentation in support of such statement if the statement on its 
face raises a question as to its validity.

SEC. 3. ACCEPTANCE OF PRIVATE PHYSICIAN EXAMINATIONS.

    Notwithstanding any other provision of law, for purposes of 
establishing a claim for disability compensation under chapter 11 of 
title 38, United States Code, or a claim for pension under chapter 15 
of such title, a medical examination report of a private physician 
provided by a claimant in support of a claim for benefits shall be 
accepted without confirmation by an examination by a physician employed 
by the Veterans Health Administration if such report contains 
sufficient clinical data to support the diagnosis of a disability or to 
provide a reliable basis for an evaluation of the degree of any such 
disability.

SEC. 4. TRANSFER OF MILITARY SERVICE MEDICAL RECORDS.

    Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall submit to the Committees on 
Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and House of Representatives a report 
setting forth the status of an agreement between the Secretary and the 
Secretary of Defense to provide for the immediate transfer from the 
Department of Defense to the Department of Veterans Affairs of the 
medical records of members of the Armed Forces upon the separation of 
such members from active duty.

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