[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6033 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 6033
To direct the Comptroller General of the United States and the
Secretary of Veterans Affairs to each report on certain disparities
that affect the receipt of certain benefits administered by the
Secretary, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
November 12, 2025
Mr. Horsford introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Veterans' Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To direct the Comptroller General of the United States and the
Secretary of Veterans Affairs to each report on certain disparities
that affect the receipt of certain benefits administered by the
Secretary, 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 ``Strengthening Transparent Reporting
to Improve Veteran Equality Act of 2025'' or the ``STRIVE Act of
2025''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS.
(a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
(1) According to an internal report of the Department of
Defense, Black members of the Armed Forces are more likely than
White members to be the subject of--
(A) an administrative action, including an
investigation into alleged misconduct;
(B) a nonjudicial punishment; or
(C) a trial by court-martial.
(2) Certain administrative actions, nonjudicial
punishments, and court-martial sentences may adversely affect
the eligibility of a former member of the Armed Forces to
receive disability benefits administered by the Secretary of
Veterans Affairs.
(3) According to the report titled ``VA Disability
Benefits: Actions Needed to Further Examine Racial and Ethnic
Disparities in Compensation'' (GAO-23-106097), published on
July 26, 2023--
(A) Black, non-Hispanic applicants for such
benefits experience the lowest rate of approval for
such benefits compared to applicants of other races or
ethnicities;
(B) a Black, non-Hispanic applicant is 14 percent
less likely to be approved for such benefits than a
White, non-Hispanic applicant; and
(C) the rates of approval for such benefits for
Black, male applicants are between 3 and 22 percent
lower than the rates of approval for applicants of
other races or genders.
(4) Female former members of the Armed Forces are less
likely to apply for such benefits than male former members.
(b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) each former member of the Armed Forces made heroic
sacrifices while serving in the Armed Forces, such as risking
the life of the former member, to preserve the freedom of the
United States; and
(2) the collection and publication by the Secretary of
accurate data regarding the race, ethnicity, and gender of all
applicants for, and recipients of, disability benefits
administered by the Secretary would enable the Secretary and
Congress to identify and address any disparity based on the
race, ethnicity, or gender of a former member of the Armed
Forces, with respect to the receipt of such benefits.
SEC. 3. REPORTS ON RACIAL, ETHNIC, AND GENDER DISPARITIES WITH RESPECT
TO DISABILITY BENEFITS ADMINISTERED BY THE SECRETARY OF
VETERANS AFFAIRS.
(a) Government Accountability Office Report.--Not later than 180
days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller
General of the United States shall submit to the appropriate
congressional committees a report that includes the following elements:
(1) Statistics for the 15-year period immediately prior to
the date of the enactment of this Act that describe--
(A) the characterization of discharge or dismissal
of each former member of the Armed Forces who separated
from the Armed Forces during such period, disaggregated
by the race, ethnicity, and gender of the former
member; and
(B) the number of such former members,
disaggregated by the race, ethnicity, and gender of
each such former member, who--
(i) requested review of the
characterization of discharge or dismissal by
an appropriate board;
(ii) received review of the
characterization of discharge or dismissal by
an appropriate board;
(iii) received a change to the
characterization of discharge or dismissal as a
result of a decision by an appropriate board;
(iv) applied for disability benefits
administered by the Secretary of Veterans
Affairs;
(v) applied for and received such benefits;
and
(vi) applied for and were denied such
benefits for reason of characterization of
discharge or dismissal.
(2) The determination of the Comptroller General whether
there is a disparity based on the race, ethnicity, or gender of
a former member, with respect to the receipt of--
(A) review of the characterization of discharge or
dismissal by an appropriate board; or
(B) a change to the characterization of discharge
or dismissal as a result of a decision by an
appropriate board.
(3) The assessment of the Comptroller General whether there
is a relationship between--
(A) any disparity determined under paragraph (2);
and
(B) any disparity determined by the Comptroller
General in the covered report, with respect to
disability benefits administered by the Secretary.
(b) Secretary of Veterans Affairs: Reports; Plan; Implementation.--
(1) Initial report.--Not later than 365 days after the date
of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs
shall submit to the Committees on Veterans' Affairs of the
Senate and the House of Representatives, and make available on
a publicly accessible website of the Department of Veterans
Affairs, a report that includes the following elements:
(A) A description of any specific actions taken or
processes implemented by the Secretary to address the
limitations identified by the Comptroller General in
the covered report, with respect to the collection and
availability of data regarding each racial and ethnic
group to which a former member of the Armed Forces
belongs.
(B) An identification by the Secretary, based on
information in the covered report, of every significant
cause of a racial, ethnic, or gender disparity with
respect to disability benefits administered by the
Secretary.
(C) The three-year plan of the Secretary to address
each significant cause identified under subparagraph
(B).
(2) Implementation of plan; annual report.--The Secretary
shall--
(A) implement the plan under paragraph (1)(C) not
later than one day after the submission of the report
under paragraph (1); and
(B) annually for each year during which the
Secretary is carrying out such plan, make available on
a publicly accessible website of the Department a
report summarizing, for the period covered by the
report, the actions of the Secretary pursuant to such
plan.
(c) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) The term ``appropriate board'' means--
(A) a board for the correction of military records
under section 1552 of title 10, United States Code; or
(B) a board of review under section 1553 of such
title.
(2) The term ``appropriate congressional committees''
means--
(A) the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate;
(B) the Committee on Armed Services of the House of
Representatives;
(C) the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the
Senate; and
(D) the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the House
of Representatives.
(3) The term ``covered report'' means the report titled
``VA Disability Benefits: Actions Needed to Further Examine
Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Compensation'' (GAO-23-
106097), published on July 26, 2023.
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