S. 1295 — Introduced in Senate

II 113th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 1295 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES July 15, 2013 Mr. Brown introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs A BILL To amend title 38, United States Code, to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to provide veterans with notice, when veterans electronically file claims for benefits under laws administered by the Secretary, that relevant services may be available from veterans service organizations, and for other purposes. 1. Notice to veterans filing claims electronically of availability of services from veterans service organizations (a) In general Subchapter I of chapter 51 of title 38, United States Code, is amended by inserting after section 5103A the following new section: 5103B. Notice to claimants filing claims electronically of availability of services from veterans service organizations (a) In general (1) To the degree practicable, the Secretary shall, during and as part of any electronic filing process established by the Secretary for the filing of applications for benefits under laws administered by the Secretary— (A) notify each claimant, or a representative of the claimant, who is filing an application for a benefit under a law administered by the Secretary using such electronic filing process that services may be available to the claimant from veterans service organizations with respect to the application or the benefit for which the claimant is applying; and (B) provide such claimant or representative with a list of veterans service organizations that provide such services. (2) When providing a list of veterans service organizations to a claimant or representative under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall include contact information for each veterans service organization and, whenever applicable, the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) for the Internet website of each organization. (b) Collaboration To the degree practicable, the Secretary shall collaborate with veterans service organizations in carrying out this section. (c) Veterans service organization defined In this section, the term veterans service organization means any organization recognized by the Secretary for the representation of veterans under section 5902 of this title. . (b) Clerical amendment The table of sections at the beginning of chapter 51 of such title is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 5103A the following new item: 5103B. Notice to claimants filing claims electronically of availability of services from veterans service organizations. .