[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3735 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 3735

     To amend title 38, United States Code, to extend the time for 
   application for a waiver of recovery of claims of overpayments of 
   veterans benefits and to otherwise improve the administration of 
                   overpayments of veterans benefits.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 13, 2002

Mr. Reyes (for himself, Mr. Evans, and Ms. Brown of Florida) introduced 
 the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans' 
                                Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     To amend title 38, United States Code, to extend the time for 
   application for a waiver of recovery of claims of overpayments of 
   veterans benefits and to otherwise improve the administration of 
                   overpayments of veterans benefits.

    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 ``Department of Veterans Affairs 
Overpayment Administration Improvement Act of 2002''.

SEC. 2. TIME FOR APPLICATION FOR WAIVER OF RECOVERY OF OVERPAYMENTS.

    (a) Period for Application When Appeal of Overpayment Decision Is 
Pending.--Subsection (a) of section 5302 of title 38, United States 
Code, is amended--
            (1) by inserting ``(1)'' after ``(a)'';
            (2) by designating the second sentence as paragraph (2); 
        and
            (3) in paragraph (1), as designated by paragraph (1) of 
        this subsection, by striking ``is made'' and all that follows 
        through the period and inserting ``is made--
            ``(A) within 180 days from the date of notification of the 
        indebtedness by the Secretary to the payee (except that, in a 
        case in which the payee demonstrates to the satisfaction of the 
        Secretary that notification of the indebtedness was not 
        actually received by the payee within a reasonable period after 
        such date, within such longer period as the Secretary 
        determines is reasonable); or
            ``(B) within 180 days from the date of final determination 
        of the amount of the overpayment, in a case in which a timely 
        appeal of the overpayment decision is filed, if later than the 
        limit otherwise applicable under subparagraph (A).''.
    (b) Administrative Convenience Waivers.--Such subsection is further 
amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
    ``(3) Pursuant to regulations that the Secretary shall prescribe, 
the Secretary may for the convenience of the Government waive any 
overpayment of any benefit under laws administered by the Secretary if 
the Secretary determines that recovery of the amount of the overpayment 
would impede the efficient or effective administration of veterans 
benefits due to the small amount involved and the costs of assessment 
and collection of the overpayment.''.
    (c) Effective Dates.--(1) The amendment made by subsection (a) 
shall apply to overpayment determinations made by the Secretary of 
Veterans Affairs on or after the date of the enactment of this Act.
    (2) The amendment made by subsection (b) shall apply to any 
overpayment determination made by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, 
whether made before, on, or after the date of the enactment of this 
Act.
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