,i  #aaith ,,congress  #ast ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #fjcc  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,november #ab1       
#bjbe,mr4 ,horsford introduced the      
following bill2 which was referred to   
the ,committee on ,veterans' ,affairs   
,a ,,bill  ,to direct the ,comptroller  
,general of the ,united ,states and the 
,secretary of ,veterans ,affairs to each
 report on certain disparities that     
affect the receipt of certain benefits  
administered by the ,secretary1 and for 
other purposes4  #a4 ,short title ,this 
,act may be cited as the ,strengthening 
,transparent ,reporting to ,improve     
,veteran ,equality ,act of #bjbe or the 
,,strive ,act of #bjbe4  #b4 ,findings2 
sense of ,congress  7a7 ,findings       
,congress makes the following findings3 
7#a7 ,according to an internal report of
 the ,department of ,defense1 ,black    
members of the ,armed ,forces are more  
likely than ,white members to be the    
subject of-- 7,a7 an administrative     
action1 including an investigation into 

alleged misconduct2  7,b7 a nonjudicial 
punishment2 or  7,c7 a trial by         
court-martial4  7#b7 ,certain           
administrative actions1 nonjudicial     
punishments1 and court-martial sentences
 may adversely affect the eligibility of
 a former member of the ,armed ,forces  
to receive disability benefits          
administered by the ,secretary of       
,veterans ,affairs4  7#c7 ,according to 
the report titled ,,va ,disability      
,benefits3 ,actions ,needed to ,further 
,examine ,racial and ,ethnic            
,disparities in ,compensation           
7,,gao-#bc-ajfjig71 published on ,july  
#bf1 #bjbc--  7,a7 ,black1 non-,hispanic
 applicants for such benefits experience
 the lowest rate of approval for such   
benefits compared to applicants of other
 races or ethnicities2  7,b7 a ,black1  
non-,hispanic applicant is #ad percent  
less likely to be approved for such     
benefits than a ,white1 non-,hispanic   
applicant2 and  7,c7 the rates of       
approval for such benefits for ,black1  

male applicants are between #c and #bb  
percent lower than the rates of approval
 for applicants of other races or       
genders4  7#d7 ,female former members of
 the ,armed ,forces are less likely to  
apply for such benefits than male former
 members4  7b7 ,sense of ,congress ,it  
is the sense of ,congress that-- 7#a7   
each former member of the ,armed ,forces
 made heroic sacrifices while serving in
 the ,armed ,forces1 such as risking the
 life of the former member1 to preserve 
the freedom of the ,united ,states2 and 
7#b7 the collection and publication by  
the ,secretary of accurate data         
regarding the race1 ethnicity1 and      
gender of all applicants for1 and       
recipients of1 disability benefits      
administered by the ,secretary would    
enable the ,secretary and ,congress to  
identify and address any disparity based
 on the race1 ethnicity1 or gender of a 
former member of the ,armed ,forces1    
with respect to the receipt of such     
benefits4  #c4 ,reports on racial1      

ethnic1 and gender disparities with     
respect to disability benefits          
administered by the ,secretary of       
,veterans ,affairs  7a7 ,government     
,accountability ,office report ,not     
later than #ahj days after the date of  
the enactment of this ,act1 the         
,comptroller ,general of the ,united    
,states shall submit to the appropriate 
congressional committees a report that  
includes the following elements3  7#a7  
,statistics for the #ae-year period     
immediately prior to the date of the    
enactment of this ,act that describe--  
7,a7 the characterization of discharge  
or dismissal of each former member of   
the ,armed ,forces who separated from   
the ,armed ,forces during such period1  
disaggregated by the race1 ethnicity1   
and gender of the former member2 and    
7,b7 the number of such former members1 
disaggregated by the race1 ethnicity1   
and gender of each such former member1  
who-- 7i7 requested review of the       
characterization of discharge or        

dismissal by an appropriate board2  7ii7
 received review of the characterization
 of discharge or dismissal by an        
appropriate board2  7iii7 received a    
change to the characterization of       
discharge or dismissal as a result of a 
decision by an appropriate board2  7iv7 
applied for disability benefits         
administered by the ,secretary of       
,veterans ,affairs2  7v7 applied for and
 received such benefits2 and  7vi7      
applied for and were denied such        
benefits for reason of characterization 
of discharge or dismissal4  7#b7 ,the   
determination of the ,comptroller       
,general whether there is a disparity   
based on the race1 ethnicity1 or gender 
of a former member1 with respect to the 
receipt of--  7,a7 review of the        
characterization of discharge or        
dismissal by an appropriate board2 or   
7,b7 a change to the characterization of
 discharge or dismissal as a result of a
 decision by an appropriate board4  7#c7
 ,the assessment of the ,comptroller    

,general whether there is a relationship
 between-- 7,a7 any disparity determined
 under paragraph 7#b72 and  7,b7 any    
disparity determined by the ,comptroller
 ,general in the covered report1 with   
respect to disability benefits          
administered by the ,secretary4  7b7    
,secretary of ,veterans ,affairs3       
reports2 plan2 implementation  7#a7     
,initial report ,not later than #cfe    
days after the date of the enactment of 
this ,act1 the ,secretary of ,veterans  
,affairs shall submit to the ,committees
 on ,veterans' ,affairs of the ,senate  
and the ,house of ,representatives1 and 
make available on a publicly accessible 
website of the ,department of ,veterans 
,affairs1 a report that includes the    
following elements3  7,a7 ,a description
 of any specific actions taken or       
processes implemented by the ,secretary 
to address the limitations identified by
 the ,comptroller ,general in the       
covered report1 with respect to the     
collection and availability of data     

regarding each racial and ethnic group  
to which a former member of the ,armed  
,forces belongs4  7,b7 ,an              
identification by the ,secretary1 based 
on information in the covered report1 of
 every significant cause of a racial1   
ethnic1 or gender disparity with respect
 to disability benefits administered by 
the ,secretary4  7,c7 ,the three-year   
plan of the ,secretary to address each  
significant cause identified under      
subparagraph 7,b74  7#b7 ,implementation
 of plan2 annual report ,the ,secretary 
shall--  7,a7 implement the plan under  
paragraph 7#a77;,c7 not later than one  
day after the submission of the report  
under paragraph 7#a72 and  7,b7 annually
 for each year during which the         
,secretary is carrying out such plan1   
make available on a publicly accessible 
website of the ,department a report     
summarizing1 for the period covered by  
the report1 the actions of the          
,secretary pursuant to such plan4  7c7  
,definitions ,in this section3 7#a7 ,the

 term appropriate board means--  7,a7 a 
board for the correction of military    
records under section #aeeb of title    
#aj1 ,united ,states ,code2 or  7,b7 a  
board of review under section #aeec of  
such title4  7#b7 ,the term appropriate 
congressional committees means-- 7,a7   
the ,committee on ,armed ,services of   
the ,senate2  7,b7 the ,committee on    
,armed ,services of the ,house of       
,representatives2  7,c7 the ,committee  
on ,veterans' ,affairs of the ,senate2  
and  7,d7 the ,committee on ,veterans'  
,affairs of the ,house of               
,representatives4  7#c7 ,the term       
covered report means the report titled  
,,va ,disability ,benefits3 ,actions    
,needed to ,further ,examine ,racial and
 ,ethnic ,disparities in ,compensation  
7,,gao-#bc-ajfjig71 published on ,july  
#bf1 #bjbc4