[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5559 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 5559

 To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish certain rules of 
evidence in certain claims under laws administered by the Secretary of 
                           Veterans Affairs.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 19, 2023

   Mr. Bost introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish certain rules of 
evidence in certain claims under laws administered by the Secretary 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 ``Protecting Veterans Claim Options 
Act''.

SEC. 2. CERTAIN RULES OF EVIDENCE IN CERTAIN CLAIMS UNDER LAWS 
              ADMINISTERED BY THE SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.

    (a) Evidence in Supplemental Claims.--
            (1) In general.--Subsection (a) of section 5108 of title 
        38, United States Code, is amended to read as follows:
    ``(a) In General.--(1)(A) The Secretary shall readjudicate a claim 
if the claimant files a supplemental claim before the date that is one 
year after the date on which the agency of original jurisdiction issues 
a decision with respect to such claim.
    ``(B) In readjudicating a claim under subparagraph (A), the 
Secretary shall consider all of the evidence of record.
    ``(2)(A) The Secretary shall readjudicate a claim if the claimant 
presents new and relevant evidence with respect to a supplemental 
claim--
            ``(i) more than one year after the date of the decision of 
        the agency of original jurisdiction with respect to such claim;
            ``(ii) after the Board of Veterans' Appeals issues a 
        decision with respect to such claim; or
            ``(iii) after the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims 
        issues a decision with respect to such claim.
    ``(B) In readjudicating a claim under subparagraph (A), the 
Secretary shall consider all of the evidence of record and the new and 
relevant evidence described in such subparagraph.''.
            (2) Conforming amendments.--
                    (A) Options following decision by agency of 
                original jurisdiction.--Section 5104C of such title is 
                amended--
                            (i) in subsection (a)(1)(B), by striking 
                        ``section 5108'' and inserting ``section 
                        5108(a)(1)''; and
                            (ii) in subsection (b), by striking 
                        ``section 5108'' and inserting ``section 
                        5108(a)(2)''.
                    (B) Effective dates of awards.--Section 5110(a)(2) 
                of such title is amended--
                            (i) in subparagraph (B), by striking 
                        ``section 5108'' and inserting ``section 
                        5108(a)(1)''; and
                            (ii) in subparagraphs (D) and (E), by 
                        striking ``section 5108'' both places it 
                        appears and inserting ``section 5108(a)(2)''.
                    (C) Jurisdiction of the board of veterans' 
                appeals.--Section 7104(b) of such title is amended by 
                striking ``section 5108'' and inserting ``section 
                5108(a)(2)''.
            (3) Retroactivity.--The amendments made by this subsection 
        shall apply to supplemental claims filed on or after August 23, 
        2017.
            (4) Regulations.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall 
        prescribe regulations to carry out the amendments made by this 
        subsection not later than 180 days after the date of the 
        enactment of this Act.
    (b) Evidence in Cases Remanded by the Court of Appeals for Veterans 
Claims.--Section 7113 of title 38, United States Code, is amended by 
adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(d) Cases Remanded by the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims.--
(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), for cases remanded to the 
Board by the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, the evidentiary 
record before the Board shall be limited to the evidence previously 
considered by the Board in such case.
    ``(2) The evidentiary record before the Board for cases described 
in paragraph (1) shall include evidence submitted by the appellant and 
his or her representative, if any, within 90 days following such 
remand, which the Board shall consider in the first instance.''.
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