[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4480 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4480

     To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 
Assistance Act to direct the President to designate a Veteran Advocate 
  of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and for other purposes.


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                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 17, 2025

 Mr. Barrett introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
             Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

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                                 A BILL


 
     To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 
Assistance Act to direct the President to designate a Veteran Advocate 
  of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, 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 ``Improving Disaster Assistance for 
Veterans Act''.

SEC. 2. DESIGNATION OF VETERANS ADVOCATE.

    (a) In General.--Title III of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster 
Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (15 U.S.C. 5141 et seq.) is amended 
by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 328. DESIGNATION OF VETERAN ADVOCATE.

    ``(a) In General.--The President shall designate in the Federal 
Emergency Management Agency a Veteran Advocate.
    ``(b) Responsibilities.--The Veterans Advocate shall be an advocate 
for the fair treatment of veterans in the provision of assistance under 
this Act.
    ``(c) Duties.--The Veterans Advocate shall--
            ``(1) participate in the disaster declaration process under 
        section 401 and the emergency declaration process under section 
        501 to ensure that the needs of veterans are being addressed;
            ``(2) serve as the primary point of contact between 
        veterans service organizations and the Federal Emergency 
        Management Agency;
            ``(3) identify opportunities for expanded veteran 
        recruitment for Federal Emergency Management Agency employment, 
        including Federal Emergency Management Agency reservist 
        positions; and
            ``(4) conduct such other activities as the Administrator of 
        the Federal Emergency Management Agency considers 
        appropriate.''.
    (b) Statutory Construction.--Nothing in this section or the 
amendment made by this section shall be construed to authorize major 
disaster or emergency assistance under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster 
Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.) that is 
not authorized as of the date of enactment of this Act.
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