,i  #aacth ,,congress  #ast ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #agci  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,april #be1 #bjac    
,mr4 ,enyart 7for himself and ,mr4      
,israel7 introduced the following bill2 
which was referred to the ,committee on 
,veterans' ,affairs  ,a ,,bill  ,to     
amend title #ch1 ,united ,states ,code1 
to direct the ,secretary of ,veterans   
,affairs to pay provisional benefits for
 certain nonadjudicated claims1 and for 
other purposes4  #a4 ,short title ,this 
,act may be cited as the ,veterans      
,backlog ,reduction ,act4  #b4          
,provisional payment of certain         
nonadjudicated claims for benefits under
 the laws administered by the ,secretary
 of ,veterans ,affairs  7a7 ,authority  
,to make payments  7#a7 ,in general     
,subchapter ,,iii of chapter #ea of     
title #ch1 ,united ,states ,code1 is    
amended by adding at the end the        
following new section3  #eabg4 ,payment 
of provisional benefits for certain     
nonadjudicated claims  7a7 ,in general  

,in the case of any claim for disability
 compensation under chapter #aa of this 
title that is not adjudicated before the
 date that is #abe days after the date  
of the submittal of the claim1 the      
,secretary shall pay to the claimant    
provisional benefits under this section 
for the period beginning on the date    
that is #abe days after the date of the 
submittal of the claim and ending on the
 date on which a final decision is made 
with respect to the claim4  7b7 ,amount 
of benefits ,the amount of the          
provisional benefits payable to a       
claimant under this section is an amount
 equal to the lesser of the following3  
7#a7 ,the average amount payable to a   
person who receives payments of         
compensation for the type of disability 
for which the claimant submitted the    
claim4  7#b7 ,the amount payable to a   
person who receives payments of         
compensation for a disability rated at  
#dj percent under the schedule for      
rating disabilities under section #aaee 

of this title4  7c7 ,adjudication  7#a7 
,upon the adjudication of a claim for   
which the claimant receives payments of 
provisional benefits under this section1
 the ,secretary shall reduce the amount 
owed to the claimant for the period     
between the effective date of the award 
of the benefits and the date of the     
adjudication of the claim by the amount 
of provisional benefits paid to the     
claimant under this section4  7#b7 ,if1 
upon the adjudication of such a claim1  
the claim is denied or the monthly      
amount of the disability compensation   
benefits awarded to the claimant is less
 than the monthly amount of provisional 
benefits paid to the claimant under this
 section1 there shall be no recovery of 
the overpayments unless the ,secretary  
determines that there exists in         
connection with the claim an indication 
of fraud1 misrepresentation1 or bad     
faith on the part of the claimant4  4   
7#b7 ,clerical amendment ,the table of  
sections at the beginning of such       

chapter is amended by adding at the end 
of the items relating to such subchapter
 the following new item3  #eabg4        
,payment of provisional benefits for    
certain nonadjudicated claims4  4  7b7  
,effective date ,section #eabg of title 
#ch1 ,united ,states ,code1 as added by 
subsection 7a71 shall apply with respect
 to a new claim for benefits submitted  
after the date of the enactment of this 
,act4