119-hr3578

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3578 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 3578

 To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish the Office of 
 Veterans Experience, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 May 23, 2025

Ms. Budzinski (for herself, Ms. Brownley, and Mr. McGarvey) introduced 
 the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans' 
 Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish the Office of 
 Veterans Experience, 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 Veterans' Experience Act 
of 2025''.

SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF VETERANS EXPERIENCE OFFICE.

    (a) Establishment.--

    (1) In general.--Chapter 3 of title 38, United States Code, 
 is amended by adding at the end the following new section:
``

Sec. 325. Veterans Experience Office
 ``

    (a) Establishment.--There is established in the Department within 
the Office of the Secretary an office to be known as the `Veterans 
Experience Office' (in this section referred to as the `Office').
 ``

    (b) Head of Office.--

    (1) The head of the Office shall be the 
Chief Veterans Experience Officer.
 ``

    (2) The Chief Veterans Experience Officer shall--
 ``
        (A) be appointed by the Secretary from among individuals 
 the Secretary considers qualified to perform the duties of the 
 position;
 ``
        (B) report directly to the Secretary; and
 ``
            (C) be responsible for carrying out the functions of the 
 Office set forth under subsection
            (c) .
 ``
            (c) Function.--The functions of the Office are as follows:
 ``

    (1) Carrying out the key customer experience initiatives 
 of the Department relating to veterans' and other 
 beneficiaries' satisfaction with and usage of benefits and 
 services furnished under laws administered by the Secretary for 
 which they are eligible, including setting the strategy, 
 framework, policy, and other guidance for the Department 
 relating to customer experience, including ensuring the 
 activities of the Office and those of other organizations and 
 offices within the Department are coordinated and not 
 duplicative.
 ``

    (2) Requiring the heads of other organizations and 
 offices within the Department to report regularly on customer 
 experience metrics, action plans, and other customer experience 
 improvement efforts to the Chief Veterans Experience Officer.
 ``

    (3) Collecting veteran-derived data--
 ``
        (A) to determine veteran and beneficiary 
 satisfaction with and usage of the benefits and 
 services furnished under laws administered by the 
 Secretary for which they are eligible; and
 ``
        (B) to be considered during policymaking.
 ``

    (4) Providing strategic guidance and strategies to 
 Department entities for engaging with veterans and 
 beneficiaries regarding benefits and services furnished under 
 laws administered by the Secretary, including those not using 
 such benefits and services.
 ``

    (5) Assessing and advising the Secretary on the accuracy 
 and helpfulness of the websites and other customer-facing 
 information of the Department, be it available electronically 
 or in any other format.
 ``

    (6) Assessing and advising the Secretary on the status 
 and opportunities for improvement of the customer service 
 efforts of the Department.
 ``
            (d) Reports.--

    (1) Each year, the Chief Veterans Experience 
Officer shall submit to the Secretary a summary of the data received by 
the Chief Veterans Experience Officer under subsection
            (c) (2) .
 ``

    (2) Each year, not later than 180 days after the date on which 
the Secretary receives the summary under paragraph

    (1) , the Secretary 
shall submit to Congress an annual summary and analysis of the matters 
summarized pursuant to such paragraph.
 ``

    (3) Each annual summary submitted pursuant to paragraph

    (2) shall 
include the following:
 ``
        (A) Data regarding customer service and experience 
 feedback, disaggregated by benefit or service furnished under 
 laws administered by the Secretary, and relevant demographic 
 data of the veterans and beneficiaries providing the feedback.
 ``
        (B) Data regarding veteran and beneficiary satisfaction 
 with and usage of benefits or services, disaggregated by 
 benefit or service furnished under laws administered by the 
 Secretary, and relevant demographic data of the veterans and 
 beneficiaries providing the feedback, including--
 ``
            (i) potential reasons for not using the benefits 
 or services, such as--
 ``
            (I) eligibility;
 ``
            (II) lack of knowledge or awareness of 
 existence of benefit or service;
 ``
            (III) barriers of technology, 
 information, or time; and
 ``
            (IV) other related reasons; and
 ``
            (ii) an analysis of how such reasons may be 
 addressed.
 ``

    (e) Staff and Resources.--

    (1) The Secretary shall ensure that--
 ``
        (A) the Office has such staff, resources, and access to 
 customer service and experience information as may be necessary 
 to carry out the functions of the Office; and
 ``
        (B) any information provided to the Office does not 
 include personally identifiable information of an individual 
 veteran, survivor, dependent, or other beneficiary unless such 
 individual provides appropriate consent to allow such 
 information to be shared with the Office.
 ``

    (2) Funds available for basic pay and other administrative 
expenses of other Department organizations and offices may be available 
to reimburse the Office for all services provided at rates which will 
recover actual costs for services provided to such organizations if the 
Secretary determines that contributing to such costs will not undermine 
the ability of any such organization or office to provide services 
required by such office.
 ``

    (3) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to authorize an 
increase in the number of full-time employees otherwise authorized for 
the Department.
 ``

    (f) Privacy.--Nothing in this section shall be construed to 
authorize the Chief Veterans Experience Officer to disclose any record 
in contravention of 

section 552a of title 5 (commonly referred to as 
the `Privacy Act of 1974').
 ``

    (g) Sunset.--The requirements and authorities of this section 
shall terminate on September 30, 2028.''.

    (2) Clerical amendment.--The table of sections at the 
 beginning of chapter 3 of such title is amended by adding at 
 the end the following new item:

``325. Veterans Experience Office.''.

    (b) Comptroller General of the United States Review of Veterans 
Experience Office and Customer Service Improvement Efforts.--Not later 
than 540 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 
Comptroller General of the United States shall--

    (1) complete an analysis of the methodology, effectiveness, 
 and implementation of findings and feedback of veterans and 
 beneficiaries used by the Department of Veterans Affairs, 
 including the Veterans Experience Office, to improve veteran 
 and beneficiary customer experience and satisfaction, including 
 through the use of what are known as ``trust-scores'', Veteran 
 Signals also known as ``VSignals'', and related survey and data 
 collection activities, processes, and initiatives; and

    (2) submit to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the 
 Senate and the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the House of 
 Representatives a report setting forth the findings of the 
 Comptroller General with respect to the analysis completed 
 pursuant to paragraph

    (1) .
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