,i  #aaith ,,congress  #ast ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #cihc  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,june #ab1 #bjbe,mr4 
,luttrell introduced the following bill2
 which was referred to the ,committee on
 ,veterans' ,affairs  ,a ,,bill  ,to    
amend title #ch1 ,united ,states ,code1 
to improve the quality of the           
adjudication of claims for benefits     
under the laws administered by the      
,secretary of ,veterans ,affairs1 and   
for other purposes4  #a4 ,short title   
,this ,act may be cited as the ,veterans
 ,claims ,quality ,improvement ,act of  
#bjbe4  #b4 ,notice of avoidable        
deferrals of claims for benefits under  
laws administered by the ,secretary of  
,veterans ,affairs2 study and report on 
certain opinions of ,department of      
,veterans ,affairs ,office of ,general  
,counsel  7a7 ,notice of avoidable      
deferrals ,not later than one year after
 the date of the enactment of this ,act1
 the ,secretary of ,veterans ,affairs   
shall develop policies1 procedures1 and 

technological capabilities to ensure    
that each employee of the ,veterans     
,benefits ,administration that commits  
an avoidable deferral with respect to a 
claim for benefits under the laws       
administered by the ,secretary of       
,veterans ,affairs in the ,national     
,work ,queue is notified of any         
avoidable deferrals that such employee  
commits with respect to the same claim4 
7b7 ,study and report on certain ,,ogc  
opinions  7#a7 ,study ,not later than   
one year after the date of the enactment
 of this ,act1 the ,secretary of        
,veterans ,affairs1 in consultation with
 the ,office of the ,general ,counsel of
 the ,department of ,veterans ,affairs  
and the ,chairman of the ,board of      
,veterans' ,appeals1 shall complete a   
study to identify--  7,a7 issues about  
which an opinion from the ,office of the
 ,general ,counsel of the ,department   
would foster consistency in the         
decisions of the ,secretary with respect
 to claims for benefits under the laws  

administered by the ,secretary2 and     
7,b7 issues raised in appeals of such   
decisions to the ,united ,states ,court 
of ,appeals for ,veterans ,claims before
 the date of the enactment of this ,act 
about which the ,office of the ,general 
,counsel has had inconsistent opinions  
in matters involving substantially      
similar questions of law or fact4  7#b7 
,report ,not later than one year after  
the date of the enactment of this ,act1 
the ,secretary of ,veterans ,affairs    
shall submit to the ,committees on      
,veterans' ,affairs of the ,house of    
,representatives a report that          
includes-- 7,a7 the findings of the     
study required by paragraph 7#a72  7,b7 
a statement of which issues identified  
pursuant to such study about which the  
,office of the ,general ,counsel of the 
,department intends to publish an       
opinion2 and  7,c7 a timeline for the   
publication of any such opinion4  #c4   
,improvements to system for adjudication
 of claims for benefits under laws      

administered by ,secretary of ,veterans 
,affairs  7a7 ,program for quality      
assurance in decisions of ,board of     
,veterans' ,appeals2 performance reviews
  7#a7 ,in general ,section #gaja of    
title #ch1 ,united ,states ,code1 is    
amended by adding at the end the        
following new subsection3  7f7 7#a7 ,the
 ,chairman shall carry out a program to 
ensure quality in the decisions of the  
,board4 ,under such program1 the        
,chairman shall--  7,a7 develop policies
 and procedures for-- 7i7 measuring     
quality in such decisions2  7ii7        
maintaining data and identifying trends 
with respect to-- 7,i7 errors in such   
decisions2  7,,ii7 errors in decisions  
remanded or returned to the ,board by   
the ,court of ,appeals for ,veterans    
,claims2 and  7,,iii7 specific members  
of the ,board that issued decisions that
 were subsequently vacated by the ,court
 of ,appeals for ,veterans ,claims2 and 
7iii7 ensuring any such decision of the 
,board to remand a claim for a benefit  

under a law administered by the         
,secretary is necessary under any       
applicable law or regulation2  7,b7 with
 respect to a claim for such a benefit  
that is remanded to the ,board by the   
,court of ,appeals for ,veterans        
,claims--  7i7 inform any employee of   
the ,board responsible for drafting the 
decision of the ,board with respect to  
such claim that such decision was       
remanded2  7ii7 provide any such        
employee with a copy of the relevant    
order of the ,court of ,appeals for     
,veterans ,claims 7including a copy of  
any accompanying joint motion for       
remand72 and  7iii7 provide incentives  
to such employees to review such        
relevant orders and joint motions for   
remand2 and  7,c7 ensure1 to the maximum
 extent practicable1 that any error     
identified by the ,board under such     
program is corrected before the date on 
which the ,board issues the final       
decision associated with such error4    
7#b7 ,in developing policies and        

procedures to measure quality in        
decisions of the ,board pursuant to     
clause 7i7 of subparagraph 7,a7 of      
paragraph 7#a71 the ,chairman shall     
consider the data and trends maintained 
and identified pursuant to clause 7ii7  
of such subparagraph4  7#c7 ,the        
,chairman may use technology1 including 
artificial intelligence1 to maintain    
such data and identify such trends4     
7#d7 ,the ,secretary shall submit to the
 ,committees on ,veterans' ,affairs of  
the ,house of ,representatives and the  
,senate an annual report on the program 
required by this subsection that        
includes1 with respect to the period    
covered by the report1 an identification
 of-- 7,a7 elements1 if any of the      
process of the ,board for reviewing an  
appeal under this chapter that lead to  
errors in decisions of the ,board2 and  
7,b7 the most common reasons that a     
claim for a benefit under a law         
administered by the ,secretary was      
remanded to such ,board by the ,court of

 ,appeals for ,veterans ,claims4  4     
7#b7 ,deadline ,the ,secretary shall    
submit the first report required by     
paragraph 7#b7 of such section 7as added
 by paragraph 7#a77 by not later than   
one year after the date of the enactment
 of this ,act4  7b7 ,training program   
for certain employees of ,board of      
,veterans' ,appeals2 performance reviews
  7#a7 ,training program  7,a7 ,in      
general ,chapter #ga of such title 7as  
amended by subsection 7a77 is further   
amended by inserting after section      
#gaja;,a the following new section3     
#gaja;,b4 ,training program for ,members
 of ,board on timely and correct        
adjudication of appeals  7a7 ,in general
 ,the ,secretary1 in conjunction with   
the ,chairman of the ,board of          
,veterans' ,appeals1 shall develop and  
carry out a program to provide ,members 
of the ,board training on timely and    
correct adjudication of appeals under   
this chapter4  7b7 ,required            
considerations ,in carrying out the     

program required by subsection 7a71 the 
,secretary shall consider the following3
 7#a7 ,feedback1 if any1 from members of
 the ,board and covered employees with  
respect to such program4  7#b7 ,data on 
errors in decisions of the ,board       
maintained pursuant to the program for  
quality assurance required by subsection
 7f7 of section #gaja of this title4    
7#c7 ,any decision of the ,court of     
,appeals for ,veterans ,claims to remand
 a claim for benefits under the laws    
administered by the ,secretary to the   
,board for further action1 including a  
joint motion to remand such claim4  7c7 
,assessments of effectiveness ,the      
,secretary1 in conjunction with the     
,chairman of the ,board of ,veterans'   
,appeals1 shall develop a method to     
assess1 on an annual basis1 the         
effectiveness of the training program   
under this section4 ,in developing such 
method1 the ,secretary shall consider   
best practices for assessing the        
effectiveness of training programs1     

including the ,kirkpatrick evaluation   
model4  7d7 ,report ,the ,secretary     
shall submit to the ,committees on      
,veterans' ,affairs of the ,house of    
,representatives and the ,senate an     
annual report on the program required by
 subsection 7a7 that includes1 with     
respect to the period covered by the    
report--  7#a7 a statement of the topics
 of the training provided pursuant to   
this section1 disaggregated by-- 7,a7   
mandatory training2 and  7,b7           
non-mandatory training2 and  7#b7 the   
results of the assessment of the        
effectiveness of such program required  
under subsection 7b74  7e7 ,covered     
employee defined ,in this section1 the  
term covered employee means an employee 
of the ,board who is-- 7#a7 not a member
 of the ,board2 and  7#b7 responsible   
for drafting decisions of the ,board4  4
  7,b7 ,clerical amendment ,the table of
 sections at the beginning of such      
chapter is amended by inserting after   
the item relating to section #gaja;,a   

the following new item3  #gaja;,b4      
,training program for ,members of ,board
 on timely and correct adjudication of  
appeals4  4  7#b7 ,performance reviews  
of ,members of the ,board ,section      
#gaja;,a of such title 7as amended by   
paragraph 7#a77 is amended-- 7,a7 in    
subparagraph 7,b7 of subsection 7c77#a7 
by striking not less often than once    
every three years and inserting not less
 often than annually2 and  7,b7 by      
adding at the end the following new     
subsection3  7h7 7#a7 ,with respect to  
any performance review of a covered     
employee1 the ,secretary may not        
consider the timeliness or quality of   
work of any ,member of the ,board4  7#b7
 ,in this subsection1 the term covered  
employee has the meaning given such term
 in section #gaja;,b of this title4  4  
7c7 ,decisions of ,board to remand  7#a7
 ,information relating to decisions to  
remand ,section #gajd of such title is  
amended in subsection 7d7--  7,a7 by    
redesignating paragraphs 7#a7 through   

7#c7 as paragraphs 7#b7 through 7#d71   
respsectively2 and  7,b7 by inserting   
before paragraph 7#b7 7as so            
redesignated71 the following new        
paragraph3  7#a7 with respect to a claim
 that the ,board remands for further    
action1 a statement of the specific     
reasons such claim was remanded1        
including any failure on the part of the
 ,secretary to comply with-- 7,a7 the   
,secretary's duty to assist under       
section #eajc;,a of this title2 and     
7,b7 the ,secretary's duty to notify    
under section #eajc of this title2  4   
7#b7 ,notice of remanded decision for   
certain employees ,such section is      
further amended in--  7,a7 subsection   
7e7-- 7i7 by redesignating paragraphs   
7#a7 through 7#c7 as subparagraphs 7,a7 
through 7,c71 respectively2  7ii7 by    
striking ,after and inserting 7#a7      
,after2 and  7iii7 by adding at the end 
the following new paragraph3  7#b7 ,if1 
pursuant to a decision on an appeal1 the
 ,board remands a claim for a benefit   

under a law administered by the         
,secretary for further action1 the      
,secretary shall1 to the maximum extent 
practicable1 issue a copy of such       
decision to each employee of the        
,veterans ,benefits ,administration who 
committed the error resulting in the    
decision of the ,board to remand1 when  
applicable4  2 and  7,b7 in subsection  
7f71 by striking under subsection 7e7   
and inserting under paragraph 7#a7 of   
subsection 7e74  7d7 ,annual reports for
 ,board of ,veterans' ,appeals  7#a7 ,in
 general ,chapter #ga of title #ch1     
,united ,states ,code1 is amended by    
inserting after section #gaad the       
following new section3  #gaae4 ,annual  
report on ,board of ,veterans' ,appeals 
,the ,chairman of the ,board shall      
submit to the ,committees on ,veterans' 
,affairs of the ,house of               
,representatives and the ,senate an     
annual report that includes1 for each   
decision of the ,board to remand a claim
 for a benefit under a law administered 

by the ,secretary to the ,secretary for 
further adjudication during the period  
covered by the report1 a statement of   
the reasons for such decision of the    
,board1 disaggregated by decisions on-- 
7#a7 claims with a rating decision dated
 on or after ,february #ai1 #bjai2 and  
7#b7 claims with a rating decision dated
 before such date4  4  7#b7 ,deadlines  
,the ,secretary shall submit the first  
reports required by subsections 7a7 and 
7b7 of section #gaae of such title 7as  
added by paragraph 7#a77 by not later   
than one year after the date of the     
enactment of this ,act4  7#c7 ,clerical 
amendment ,the table of sections at the 
beginning of such chapter is amended by 
inserting after the item relating to    
section #gaad the following new item3   
#gaae4 ,annual report on ,board of      
,veterans' ,appeals  4  7e7 ,plan for   
improvements to quality in decisions of 
,board  7#a7 ,in general ,not later than
 six months after the date of the       
enactment of this ,act1 the ,secretary  

of ,veterans ,affairs1 in consultation  
with the ,chairman of the ,board of     
,veterans' ,appeals and the head of the 
,office of ,administrative ,review of   
the ,veterans ,benefits ,administration1
 shall develop a plan to-- 7,a7 improve 
the quality of decisions of the ,board  
to remand1 pursuant to section #gajd of 
title #ch1 ,united ,states ,code1 claims
 for a benefit under a law administered 
by the ,secretary to the ,secretary for 
further action2 and  7,b7 mitigate the  
number of such decisions that are       
unnecessary under any applicable law or 
regulation4  7#b7 ,report ,the          
,secretary shall submit to the          
,committees on ,veterans' ,affairs of   
the ,house of ,representatives and the  
,senate a report on such plan by not    
later than six months after the date of 
the enactment of this ,act4