[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2654 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

113th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2654

  To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to conduct outreach to 
   veterans regarding the effect of certain delayed payments by the 
  Secretary, to require the Secretary to submit to Congress an annual 
    report regarding such delayed payments, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 24, 2014

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to conduct outreach to 
   veterans regarding the effect of certain delayed payments by the 
  Secretary, to require the Secretary to submit to Congress an annual 
    report regarding such delayed payments, 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' Credit Protection Act''.

SEC. 2. OUTREACH TO VETERANS REGARDING EFFECT OF DELAYED PAYMENTS BY 
              VETERANS INTEGRATED SERVICE NETWORKS.

    (a) Outreach.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall 
        conduct outreach, including through national and local veterans 
        service organizations, to inform veterans of how to resolve 
        credit issues caused by a delayed payment.
            (2) Ability to report issues.--The Secretary shall 
        establish a toll-free telephone number for veterans to report 
        credit issues described in paragraph (1) to the Veterans 
        Integrated Service Networks of the Department of Veterans 
        Affairs.
    (b) Annual Report.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than one year after the date of 
        the enactment of this Act, and not less frequently than 
        annually thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a 
        report on the effectiveness of each Veterans Integrated Service 
        Network in providing timely payment of a proper invoice by the 
        required payment date during both the five-year period 
        preceding the date of the report and the one-year period 
        preceding such date.
            (2) Elements.--Each report required by paragraph (1) shall 
        include, for each period covered by the report, the following:
                    (A) The number of veterans who contacted the 
                Secretary regarding a delayed payment that negatively 
                affected, or will potentially negatively affect, the 
                credit of the veteran.
                    (B) The total amount of interest penalties paid by 
                the Secretary under section 3902 of title 31, United 
                States Code, by reason of a delayed payment.
                    (C) The number of proper invoices submitted, listed 
                in a table for each quarter and fiscal year of each 
                such period that includes the following:
                            (i) The total amount owed by the Secretary 
                        under the proper invoices.
                            (ii) The payment status of each proper 
                        invoice, as of the date of the report.
                            (iii) The period that elapsed until each 
                        proper invoice was paid, including an 
                        explanation of any delayed payment.
                    (D) Such comments made by medical providers 
                regarding delayed payments to such medical providers 
                that the Secretary has received and considers relevant.
                    (E) An identification of the Veterans Integrated 
                Service Network with the least number of delayed 
                payments and the Veterans Integrated Service Network 
                with the most number of delayed payments.
                    (F) A description of the best practices that a 
                Veterans Integrated Service Network can carry out to 
                provide timely payment of a proper invoice, including a 
                plan for underperforming Veterans Integrated Service 
                Networks to improve such timely payments.
    (c) Comptroller General Study.--
            (1) In general.--The Comptroller General of the United 
        States shall conduct a study that assesses the effectiveness of 
        each Veterans Integrated Service Network in providing timely 
        payment of a proper invoice by the required payment date.
            (2) Submittal.--The Comptroller General shall submit to 
        Congress a report on the study conducted under paragraph (1), 
        including the total amount of interest penalties paid by the 
        Secretary under section 3902 of title 31, United States Code, 
        by reason of a delayed payment.
    (d) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Delayed payment.--The term ``delayed payment'' means a 
        proper invoice that is not paid by the Secretary of Veterans 
        Affairs until after the required payment date.
            (2) Proper invoice.--The term ``proper invoice'' has the 
        meaning given that term in section 3901(a) of title 31, United 
        States Code.
            (3) Required payment date.--The term ``required payment 
        date'' means the date that payment is due for a contract 
        pursuant to section 3903(a) of title 31, United States Code.
            (4) Veterans service organization.--The term ``veterans 
        service organization'' means an organization recognized by the 
        Secretary for the representation of veterans under section 5902 
        of title 38, United States Code.
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