[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3450 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3450

 To direct the Inspector General of the Department of Veterans Affairs 
      to submit to Congress a report on the backlog of disability 
  compensation claims submitted to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 17, 2023

  Mrs. Torres of California introduced the following bill; which was 
             referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To direct the Inspector General of the Department of Veterans Affairs 
      to submit to Congress a report on the backlog of disability 
  compensation claims submitted to 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 ``Veterans Administration Backlog 
Accountability Act of 2023''.

SEC. 2. INSPECTOR GENERAL REPORT ON BACKLOG OF DISABILITY COMPENSATION 
              CLAIMS SUBMITTED TO DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.

    (a) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Inspector General of the Department of 
Veterans Affairs shall submit to Congress a report on the backlog of 
disability compensation claims submitted to the Secretary of Veterans 
Affairs pursuant to chapter 11 of title 38, United States Code, pending 
before the Veterans Benefits Administration or the Board of Veterans' 
Appeals.
    (b) Matters Included.--The report under subsection (a) shall 
include the following:
            (1) A description of the status of the backlog described in 
        such subsection.
            (2) An assessment of how the Secretary is addressing such 
        backlog, including how the Secretary is recruiting staff to 
        fill open positions within the Department using authorities or 
        amounts available under the Honoring our PACT Act of 2022 
        (Public Law 117-168).
            (3) An assessment of how such backlog affects the average 
        amount of time claimants who have submitted disability 
        compensation claims pursuant to chapter 11 of title 38, United 
        States Code, wait for the Secretary to adjudicate those claims.
            (4) An assessment of how the Secretary is preparing to 
        address the predicted 50 percent increase in such claims 
        resulting from the Honoring our PACT Act of 2022 (Public Law 
        117-168).
            (5) An overview of how new technologies, such as automated 
        decision support technology, have contributed to the reduction 
        of such backlog.
            (6) Recommendations by the Inspector General to further 
        reduce such backlog.
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