[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3081 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3081

 To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide certain employees of 
  Members of Congress with access to case-tracking information of the 
                    Department of Veterans Affairs.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 21, 2016

  Mr. Cassidy (for himself, Mr. Kirk, Ms. Klobuchar, and Mr. Johnson) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
                     Committee on Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide certain employees of 
  Members of Congress with access to case-tracking information of 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. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Working to Integrate Networks 
Guaranteeing Member Access Now Act'' or the ``WINGMAN Act''.

SEC. 2. PROVISION OF ACCESS BY EMPLOYEES OF MEMBERS OF CONGRESS TO 
              CASE-TRACKING INFORMATION TO CASE-TRACKING INFORMATION OF 
              DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 59 of title 38, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 5906. Provision of access by employees of Members of Congress to 
              case-tracking information
    ``(a) In General.--(1) Beginning not later than the date that is 
180 days after the date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary 
shall provide to accredited, permanent Congressional employees who have 
successfully completed the certification process described in 
subsection (b)(1), upon election by the Member of Congress for which 
the employee works, read-only remote access to the electronic VBA 
claims records system of veterans who reside in the area represented by 
the Member, regardless of whether such employee is acting under a power 
of attorney executed by such veteran.
    ``(2) The Secretary shall ensure that access provided to an 
accredited, permanent Congressional employee under paragraph (1) is 
provided in a manner that does not allow the employee to modify the 
data contained in the electronic VBA claims records system.
    ``(b) Certification Required.--(1) The certification process 
described in this paragraph is the certification process that the 
Secretary requires an agent or attorney under this chapter to complete 
before the agent or attorney may access the electronic VBA claims 
records system.
    ``(2) Each Member of Congress who elects to have an accredited, 
permanent Congressional employee of the Member have access under 
subsection (a)(1) shall bear the cost of the certification process 
described in paragraph (1), to be paid from the Member's 
Representational Allowance.
    ``(c) Treatment of Disclosure.--The access to information by an 
accredited, permanent Congressional employee pursuant to subsection 
(a)(1) shall be deemed to be--
            ``(1) a disclosure permitted under section 552a(b) of title 
        5; and
            ``(2) a disclosure permitted under regulations promulgated 
        under section 264(c) of the Health Insurance Portability and 
        Accountability Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-191; 42 U.S.C. 
        1320d-2 note).
    ``(d) Nonrecognition.--The Secretary may not recognize an 
accredited, permanent Congressional employee for the preparation, 
presentation, and prosecution of claims under laws administered by the 
Secretary by reason of the Secretary providing the employee with access 
to the electronic VBA claims records system under subsection (a). An 
accredited, permanent Congressional employee who is provided such 
access may not use such access to act as such a recognized individual.
    ``(e) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) The term `electronic VBA claims records system' means 
        the system of the Department of Veterans Affairs that provides 
        information regarding the status of a claim submitted by a 
        veteran, including information regarding medical records, 
        compensation and pension exams records, rating decisions, 
        statement of the case (SOC), supplementary statement of the 
        case (SSOC), notice of disagreement (NOD), and Form-9.
            ``(2) The term `accredited, permanent Congressional 
        employee' means an employee of a Member of Congress who assists 
        the constituents of the Member with issues regarding 
        departments or agencies of the Federal Government.
            ``(3) The term `Member of Congress' means a Representative, 
        a Senator, a Delegate to Congress, or the Resident Commissioner 
        of Puerto Rico.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections at the beginning of 
chapter 59 of such title is amended by adding at the end the following 
new item:

``5906. Provision of access by employees of Members of Congress to 
                            case-tracking information.''.
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