119-hr3571

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3571 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 3571

 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 21, 2025

 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 2025''.

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 the effect of any reduction in 
 staffing at the Department since January 20, 2025, affects such 
 backlog.

    (4) 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.

    (5) 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).

    (6) An overview of how new technologies, such as automated 
 decision support technology, have contributed to the reduction 
 of such backlog.

    (7) Recommendations by the Inspector General to further 
 reduce such backlog.
 <all>