119-hr4480

[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.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 July 17, 2025

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

_______________________________________________________________________

 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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