[House Report 116-158]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
116th Congress } { Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
1st Session } { 116-158
======================================================================
PROVIDING BENEFITS INFORMATION IN SPANISH AND TAGALOG FOR VETERANS AND
FAMILIES ACT
_______
July 18, 2019.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the
State of the Union and ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Takano, from the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, submitted the
following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 2943]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Veterans' Affairs, to whom was referred
the bill (H.R. 2943) to direct the Secretary of Veterans
Affairs to make all fact sheets of the Department of Veterans
Affairs in English and Spanish, having considered the same,
report favorably thereon with amendments and recommend that the
bill as amended do pass.
CONTENTS
Page
Purpose and Summary.............................................. 2
Background and Need for Legislation.............................. 2
Hearings......................................................... 3
Subcommittee Consideration....................................... 4
Committee Consideration.......................................... 4
Committee Votes.................................................. 5
Committee Oversight Findings..................................... 5
Statement of General Performance Goals and Objectives............ 5
New Budget Authority, Entitlement Authority, and Tax Expenditures 5
Earmarks and Tax and Tariff Benefits............................. 6
Committee Cost Estimate.......................................... 6
Congressional Budget Office Estimate............................. 6
Federal Mandates Statement....................................... 7
Advisory Committee Statement..................................... 7
Constitutional Authority Statement............................... 7
Applicability to Legislative Branch.............................. 7
Statement on Duplication of Federal Programs..................... 7
Section-by-Section Analysis of the Legislation.................. 8
Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill as Reported.............
The amendments are as follows:
Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the
following:
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Providing Benefits Information in
Spanish and Tagalog for Veterans and Families Act''.
SEC. 2. FACT SHEETS.
(a) Languages.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall make versions
of all fact sheets of the Department of Veterans Affairs in English,
Spanish, and Tagalog.
(b) Website.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall establish and
maintain a publicly available website of the Department of Veterans
Affairs that contains links to all fact sheets of the Veterans Benefits
Administration, Veterans Health Administration, and of the National
Cemetery Administration. The website shall be accessible by a clearly
labelled hyperlink on the homepage of the Department.
(c) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment
of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall submit a report to
Congress regarding fact sheets described in subsection (a) and details
of the Language Access Plan of the Department of Veteran Affairs. The
report shall include the following:
(1) What the Secretary determines constitutes a fact sheet of
the Department for purposes of this Act.
(2) How such fact sheets are utilized and distributed other
than on and through the website of the Department.
(3) How such Language Access Plan is communicated to
veterans, family members of veterans, and caregivers.
(4) The roles and responsibilities of patient advocates in
the coordination of care for veterans with limited English
proficiency, family members of such veterans, and caregivers.
(5) Other demographic information that the Secretary
determines appropriate regarding veterans with limited English
proficiency.
Amend the title so as to read:
A bill to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to make
all fact sheets of the Department of Veterans Affairs in
English, Spanish, and Tagalog.
PURPOSE AND SUMMARY
H.R. 2943, was introduced by Representative Gilbert
Cisneros on May 23, 2019. H.R. 2943 as amended, directs the
Secretary of Veterans Affairs to make all fact sheets of the
Department of Veterans Affairs in English, Spanish and Tagalog.
BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION
Veterans deserve the highest level of customer service from
the Department of Veterans Affairs when attempting to access
the benefits they have earned. VA has facilities in Puerto Rico
and the Philippines where English is not the predominant
language. A language barrier should not stand in the way of
veterans' access to benefits, and the burden should not be
placed on veterans or their spouses, dependents, and caregivers
to request and then wait for a translator to be provided by the
Department of Veterans Affairs. Unless understandable
information is readily available for these veterans, they and
their spouses, dependents, and caregivers will lose out on GI
bill benefits, VA home loans, healthcare programs, and their
survivors will not be able to receive their burial benefits if
they do not understand English.
With the changing demographics of the U.S. population
overall trending towards a more racially and ethnic diverse
majority, the veteran population is diversifying at a similar
rate. The Pew Research Center reports that the share of
veterans who are Hispanic is expected to nearly double from 7
to 13 percent between 2016 and 2045. According to the U.S.
Census Bureau, Filipino Americans make up the third largest
Asian American subgroup, with an estimated 4 million living in
the U.S.
A recent example of how VA is not using its current
authority to provide easily understandable communications for
veterans whose first language is not English, came to the
attention of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs when staff
visited Puerto Rico on July 6, 2019 to study and observe
disaster preparedness. What they found was disappointing; many
veteran facing fact sheets were not available in Spanish, the
predominant language there. The following are excerpts are from
the report filed for the Committee record:
``In separate meetings with veterans service
organizations (VSOs), Committee staff heard harrowing
stories about the lack of support veterans had received
from the San Juan VAMC in the wake of Hurricane Maria.
HVAC staff also discovered a lack of emergency response
plans, little to no outreach to ``high-risk'' veterans
who could be stranded during the next natural disaster,
an absence of senior leadership familiarity with the
readiness of the emergency
medical cache, nonexistent marketing materials in
Spanish provided by VA Headquarters, a Spanish suicide
prevention hotline that is not consistently staffed,
and an under staffed facility due to issues with
recruitment and
retention . . .
At the time of the visit, veterans had not received
any information-- written or verbal--to be better
prepared for a future disaster after Hurricane Maria.
Medical Center staff reported that Spanish language
materials are rarely mailed or emailed, especially
materials produced by VA headquarters. Veterans
reported they had not been contacted by VA for their
safety plan or asked where they plan to shelter, who
will know their whereabouts, or asked to provide other
key data for making contact with them following a
storm. The facility created its own Spanish language
Suicide Hotline but when HVAC staff called the number
at different times during the day, staff were not
consistently able to speak with a responder. These
inconsistent results raise concerns about how well the
number is staffed and monitored by the facility. San
Juan has only two Suicide Prevention Coordinators
despite statistics showing that suicides increase after
natural disasters.''\1\
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\1\``SAN JUAN VAMC FACES SIGNIFICANT READINESS CHALLENGES IN
PROVIDING EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS AND DISASTER ASSISTANCE,'' Staff
Report, U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Veterans' Affairs,
June 6, 2019.
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HEARINGS
On June 20, 2019, the Committee on Veterans' Affairs
conducted a legislative hearing on various bills introduced
during the 116th Congress, including H.R. 2943.
The following witnesses testified: The Honorable Phil Roe,
U.S. House of Representatives, the First Congressional District
of Tennessee, The Honorable Luis Correa, U.S. House of
Representatives, the 46th Congressional District of California;
The Honorable Gilbert R. Cisneros, U.S. House of
Representatives, the 39th Congressional District of California,
The Honorable Gus Bilirakis, U.S. House of Representatives, the
12th Congressional District of Florida; Mr. Adrian Atizado,
Deputy National Legislative Director, Disabled American
Veterans; Mr. Travis Horr, Director, Government Affairs, Iraq
and Afghanistan Veterans of America; Dr. Igor Grant, Director,
Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research, University of
California, San Diego; Mr. Carlos Fuentes, Director, National
Legislative Service, Veterans of Foreign Wars; Mr. Derek
Fronabarger, Director, Government Affairs, Wounded Warrior
Project; Larry Mole, Pharm.D., Chief Consultant, Population
Health. Veteran Health Administration; U.S. Department of
Veterans Affairs.
Statements for the record were submitted by: Ms. Thelma
Roach-Serry, BSN, RN, NE-BC, President, Nurses Organization of
Veterans Affairs (NOVA); Mr. Eric Goepel, Founder & CEO,
Veterans Cannabis Coalition (VCC); Mr. Morgan D. Brown,
National Legislative Director, Paralyzed Veterans of America
(PVA); Mr. J. David Cox, Sr., National President, American
Federation of Government Employees (AFGE); Mr. Randy Erwin,
National President, National Federation of Federal Employees
(NFFE); Mr. William Attig, Executive Director, Union Veterans
Council, AFL-CIO; Mr. Brett W. Copeland, Executive Director,
Veterans Healthcare Policy Institute; Mr. David J. Holway,
National Association of Government Employees (NAGE); Mr. Justin
Strekal, Political Director, National Organization for the
Reform of Marijuana Laws--(NORML).
SUBCOMMITTEE CONSIDERATION
There was no Subcommittee consideration of H.R. 2943.
COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION
On June 11, 2019, the Full Committee met in an open markup
session, a quorum being present, and ordered H.R. 2943 as
amended, reported favorably to the House of Representatives by
voice vote.
During Full Committee consideration on June 11, 2019, an
Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute to H.R. 2943 offered by
Representative Cisneros of California was adopted by voice
vote. The ANS adds Tagalog to the requirement in the original
bill that all Department of Veterans Affairs fact sheets be
available in English and Spanish. The reason for this amendment
is that Tagalog is the official language of U.S. veterans and
their families in the Republic of the Philippines, where there
is a large U.S. military presence and where the Department of
Veterans Affairs maintains a VA Health Clinic and a Regional
Office to process the claims of veterans living there.
Ranking Member of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, David
P. Roe of Tennessee, offered an amendment to the amendment in
the nature of a substitute. Dr. Roe's amendment requires that
the Secretary of Veterans Affairs establish and maintain a
single location on its publicly available website of the
Department of Veterans Affairs that contains links to all fact
sheets of the Veterans Benefits Administration, Veterans Health
Administration and the NationalCemetery Administration. The
website is to be accessible by a clearly labelled hyperlink to the
homepage of the Department. In addition, the amendment requires that
the Secretary of Veterans Affairs submit to Congress a report no later
than 180 days after enactment regarding the fact sheets described
above, and the details of the VA Language Access Plan. This report will
include how the Secretary determines what constitutes a VA fact sheet;
how such fact sheets are utilized and distributed other than on and
through the website of the Department; how the Language Access Plan is
communicated to veterans, family members and caregivers; the roles and
responsibilities of patient advocates in the coordination of care for
veterans with limited English proficiency, family members of such
veterans, and caregivers; and other demographic information that the
Secretary determines appropriate regarding veterans with limited
English proficiency. The amendment to the amendment in the nature of a
substitute offered by Representative Roe of Tennessee passed by voice
vote.
COMMITTEE VOTES
Clause 3(b) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of
Representatives requires the Committee to list the recorded
votes on the motion to report the legislation and amendments
thereto. There were no recorded votes taken on amendments or in
connection with ordering H.R. 2943 as amended reported to the
House. A motion by Ranking Member David P. Roe of Tennessee to
report H.R. 2943 as amended favorably to the House of
Representatives was agreed to by voice vote.
COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS
In compliance with clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII and clause
(2)(b)(1) of rule X of the Rules of the House of
Representatives, the Committee's oversight findings and
recommendations are reflected in the descriptive portions of
this report.
STATEMENT OF GENERAL PERFORMANCE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
In accordance with clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII of the Rules
of the House of Representatives, the Committee establishes the
following performance goals and objectives for this legislation
as amended: to remove barriers to accessing benefits for
veterans, spouses, dependents and caregivers whose first
language is not English by requiring that the Department of
Veterans Affairs provide all fact sheets of the Department in
English and Spanish and Tagalong and provide a report to
Congress regarding details of the fact sheets and the Language
Access Plan of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
NEW BUDGET AUTHORITY, ENTITLEMENT AUTHORITY, AND TAX EXPENDITURES
In compliance with clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules
of the House of Representatives, the Committee adopts as its
own the estimate of new budget authority, entitlement
authority, or tax expenditures or revenues contained in the
cost estimate prepared by the Director of the Congressional
Budget Office pursuant to section 402 of the Congressional
Budget Act of 1974.
EARMARKS AND TAX AND TARIFF BENEFITS
H.R. 2943 as amended does not contain any Congressional
earmarks, limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as
defined in clause 9 of rule XXI of the Rules of the House of
Representatives.
COMMITTEE COST ESTIMATE
The Committee adopts as its own the cost estimate on H.R.
2943 as amended prepared by the Director of the Congressional
Budget Office pursuant to section 402 of the Congressional
Budget Act of 1974.
CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE COST ESTIMATE
Pursuant to clause 3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the
House of Representatives, the following is the cost estimate
for H.R. 2943 as amended provided by the Director of the
Congressional Budget Office pursuant to section 402 of the
Congressional Budget Act of 1974:
U.S. Congress,
Congressional Budget Office,
Washington, DC, July 17, 2019.
Hon. Mark Takano,
Chairman, Committee on Veterans' Affairs,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 2943, the
Providing Benefits Information in Spanish and Tagalog for
Veterans and Families Act.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Logan Smith.
Sincerely,
Phillip L. Swagel,
Director.
Enclosure.
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
H.R. 2943 would require the Department of Veterans Affairs
(VA) to provide on its website all departmental fact sheets in
English, Spanish, and Tagalog. The bill also would require VA
to report to the Congress on how veterans obtain the
department's fact sheets other than on its websites and on VA's
efforts to communicate with veterans whose proficiency in
English is limited.
Many of the VA's fact sheets are already available in
Spanish, and several are available in Tagalog. VA provides most
of the information from its fact sheets in Spanish and Tagalog
to veterans at VA's regional offices in Puerto Rico and the
Philippines, respectively. In addition, the department
currently provides its various fact sheets on several webpages.
Because the department has satisfied most of the requirements
of the bill, CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 2943 would
cost less than $500,000 over the 2019-2024 period; any spending
would be subject to availability of appropriated funds.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Logan Smith. The
estimate was reviewed by Leo Lex, Deputy Assistant Director for
Budget Analysis.
FEDERAL MANDATES STATEMENT
The Committee adopts as its own the estimate of Federal
mandates regarding H.R. 2943 as amended prepared by the
Director of the Congressional Budget Office pursuant to section
423 of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act.
ADVISORY COMMITTEE STATEMENT
No advisory committees within the meaning of section 5(b)
of the Federal Advisory Committee Act would be created by H.R.
2943 as amended.
CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY STATEMENT
Pursuant to Article I, section 8 of the United States
Constitution, H.R. 2943 as amended is authorized by Congress'
power to ``provide for the common Defense and general Welfare
of the United States.''
APPLICABILITY TO LEGISLATIVE BRANCH
The Committee finds that H.R. 2943 as amended does not
relate to the terms and conditions of employment or access to
public services or accommodations within the legislative
branch.
STATEMENT ON DUPLICATION OF FEDERAL PROGRAMS
Pursuant to clause 3(c)(5) of rule XIII of the Rules of the
House of Representatives, the Committee finds that no provision
of H.R. 2943 as amended establishes or reauthorizes a program
of the Federal Government known to be duplicative of another
Federal program, a program that was included in any report from
the Government Accountability Office to Congress pursuant to
section 21 of Public Law 111-139, or a program related to a
program identified in the most recent Catalog of Federal
Domestic Assistance.
SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS OF THE LEGISLATION
Sec.1--Short title
Section 1 would establish the ``Providing Benefits
Information in Spanish and Tagalog for Veterans and Families
Act''.
Section 2--Fact sheets
Section 2 requires that the Secretary of Veterans Affairs
make versions of all fact sheets of the Department of Veterans
Affairs in English, Spanish, and Tagalog.
Section 2(b) requires that the Secretary of Veterans
Affairs establish and maintain a publicly available website of
the Department of Veterans Affairs with links to all fact
sheets of the Veterans Benefits Administration, Veterans Health
Administration, and of the National Cemetery Administration.
The website shall be accessible by a clearly labelled hyperlink
on the homepage of the Department.
Section 2(c) not later than 180 days after the date of
enactment of the Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall
submit a report to Congress regarding the fact sheets described
in subsection (a) and details of the Language Access Plan of
the Department. The report shall include the following:
(1) What the Secretary determines constitutes a fact
sheet of the Department for purposes of this Act.
(2) How such fact sheets are utilized and distributed
other than on and through the website of the Department
(3) How such Language Access Plan is communicated to
veterans, family members of veterans, and caregivers.
(4) The roles and responsibilities of patient
advocates in the coordination of care for veterans with
limited English proficiency, family members of such
veterans, and caregivers.
(5) Other demographic information that the Secretary
determines appropriate regarding veterans with limited
English proficiency.
[all]