,i  #aacth ,,congress  #ast ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #gcc  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of   
,,representatives  ,february #ad1 #bjac 
,mr4 ,runyan 7for himself and ,mr4      
,walz7 introduced the following bill2   
which was referred to the ,committee on 
,veterans' ,affairs  ,a ,,bill  ,to     
amend title #ch1 ,united ,states ,code1 
to provide certain employees of ,members
 of ,congress and certain employees of  
,state or local governmental agencies   
with access to case-tracking information
 of the ,department of ,veterans        
,affairs4  #a4 ,short title ,this ,act  
may be cited as the ,access to ,veterans
 ,benefits ,improvement ,act4  #b4      
,provision of access to case-tracking   
information  7a7 ,in general ,chapter   
#ei of title #ch1 ,united ,states ,code1
 is amended by adding at the end the    
following3  #eijf4 ,provision of access 
to case-tracking information  7a7 ,in   
general  7#a7 ,in accordance with       
subsection 7b71 the ,secretary shall    
provide a covered employee with access  

to the case-tracking system to provide a
 veteran with information regarding the 
status of a claim submitted by such     
veteran1 regardless of whether such     
employee is acting under a power of     
attorney executed by such veteran4  7#b7
 ,in providing a covered employee with  
access to the case-tracking system under
 paragraph 7#a71 the ,secretary shall   
ensure--  7,a7 that such access--  7i7  
is provided in a manner that does not   
allow such employee to modify the data  
contained in such system2 and  7ii7 does
 not include access to medical records2 
and  7,b7 that each time a covered      
employee accesses such system1 the      
employee must certify that such access  
is for official purposes only4  7b7     
,privacy certification course ,the      
,secretary may not provide a covered    
employee with access to the             
case-tracking system under subsection   
7a77#a7 unless the covered employee has 
successfully completed a certification  
course on privacy issues provided by the

 ,secretary4  7c7 ,treatment of         
disclosure ,the access to information by
 a covered employee pursuant to         
subsection 7a77#a7 shall be deemed to   
be--  7#a7 a covered disclosure under   
section #eeb;a7b7 of title #e2 and  7#b7
 a permitted disclosure under           
regulations promulgated under section   
#bfd7;c7 of the ,health ,insurance      
,portability and ,accountability ,act of
 #aiif 7#db ,u4,s4,c4 #acbj;d-#b note74 
7d7 ,definitions ,in this section3  7#a7
 ,the term case-tracking system means   
the system of the ,department of        
,veterans ,affairs that provides        
information regarding the status of a   
claim submitted by a veteran4  7#b7 ,the
 term covered employee means--  7,a7 an 
employee of a ,member of ,congress who  
assists the constituents of the ,member 
with issues regarding departments or    
agencies of the ,federal ,government2 or
  7,b7 an employee of a ,state or local 
governmental agency 7including a        
veterans service officer7 who1 in the   

course of carrying out the              
responsibilities of such employment1    
assists veterans with claims for any    
benefit under the laws administered by  
the ,secretary4  4  7b7 ,clerical       
amendment ,the table of sections at the 
beginning of such chapter is amended by 
adding at the end the following new     
item3  #eijf4 ,provision of access to   
case-tracking information4  4