[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1394 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1394

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to acknowledge the receipt 
  of medical, disability, and pension claims and other communications 
            submitted by claimants, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              July 6, 2009

Mrs. Gillibrand introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
             referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to acknowledge the receipt 
  of medical, disability, and pension claims and other communications 
            submitted by claimants, 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 ``Veterans Entitlement to Service Act 
of 2009'' or the ``VETS Act of 2009''.

SEC. 2. ACKNOWLEDGMENT BY SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS OF RECEIPT OF 
              MEDICAL, DISABILITY, AND PENSION CLAIMS AND OTHER 
              COMMUNICATIONS SUBMITTED BY CLAIMANTS.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 51 of title 38, United States Code, is 
amended by inserting after section 5102 the following new section:
``Sec. 5102A. Acknowledgment of claims
    ``(a) In General.--The Secretary shall acknowledge the receipt of 
any claim for medical services, disability compensation, or pension 
under the laws administered by the Secretary, or other communication 
relating to such services, compensation, or pension, submitted to the 
Secretary by a claimant within 30 days of receiving the claim or other 
communication.
    ``(b) Record of Date Received.--The acknowledgment required by 
subsection (a) shall specify the date on which the Secretary received 
the claim or other communication described in such subsection.
    ``(c) Manner of Acknowledgment.--The acknowledgment required by 
subsection (a) shall be communicated via written or electronic means, 
as the Secretary considers appropriate. Such electronic means may 
include communication via email.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections at the beginning of 
chapter 51 of such title is amended by inserting after the item related 
to section 5102 the following new item:

``5102A. Acknowledgment of claims.''.
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