119-hr2828

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2828 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

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119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 2828

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to restrict the access and 
 use of veterans' data by the US DOGE Service and special Government 
 employees, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 April 10, 2025

 Mr. Conaway (for himself, Mr. Carbajal, and Ms. Houlahan) introduced 
 the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans' 
 Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to restrict the access and 
 use of veterans' data by the US DOGE Service and special Government 
 employees, 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 ``VA DATA Access Transparency and 
Accountability Act of 2025'' or the ``VA DATA Act of 2025''.

SEC. 2. RESTRICTIONS ON ACCESS OF DOGE SERVICE TO PERSONAL INFORMATION 
 ABOUT VETERANS.

    (a) Restriction on Access.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs may 
not provide to the Administrator of the United States DOGE Service 
(commonly referred to as the ``Department of Government Efficiency'' or 
``DOGE'') access to any veteran's data in the possession of the 
Department of Veterans Affairs.

    (b) Restriction on Use of Information.--No special Government 
employee may access or exfiltrate any veteran's data in the possession 
of the Department of Veterans Affairs for the purpose of using such 
data--

    (1) for commercial gain; or

    (2) for any reason other than a governmental purpose 
 authorized by the Secretary.
            (c) Termination of Access.--If any special Government employee 
acquires access to any system of the Department of Veterans Affairs 
that contains any veteran's data, the Secretary shall ensure that upon 
the termination of the period of service of the special Government 
employee, such employee--

    (1) returns all such data to the Department of Veterans 
 Affairs; and

    (2) does not retain a copy of any such data.
            (d) === Definitions. ===
-In this section:

    (1) The term ``special Government employee'' has the 
 meaning given such term in 

section 202

    (a) of title 18, United 
 States Code.

    (2) The term ``veteran's data'' mean data relating to an 
 individual veteran, including personal health information, 
 personal identifying information, and financial information.

    (3) The term ``personal health information'' means, with 
 respect to a veteran, any information, whether oral or recorded 
 in any form or medium, that is related to--
        (A) the health of the veteran, including past, 
 present, or future health;
        (B) the medical treatment of the veteran, including 
 past, present or future such treatment; or
            (C) any payment made or charged to a veteran 
 related to the health or medical treatment of the 
 veteran, including any past, present or future such 
 payment.

    (4) The term ``personal identifying information'' means, 
 with respect to a veteran, any information, whether oral or 
 recorded in any form or medium, that can be used to uncover the 
 identity of the veteran, including--
        (A) the name, signature, or initials of the 
 veteran;
        (B) the social security number of the veteran;
            (C) the drivers license number or passport number 
 of the veteran;
            (D) the home or mailing address of the veteran;
        (E) the date of birth of the veteran;
        (F) any medical record of the veteran;
        (G) any financial account or credit card number of 
 the veteran; and
        (H) any biometric records.
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