,,ii  #aaith ,,congress  #ast ,session  
,s4 #hib  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of ,,the
 ,,united ,,states  ,march #f1 #bjbe,ms4
 ,hirono 7for herself1 ,mr4 ,boozman1   
,mr4 ,gallego1 and ,mr4 ,tuberville7    
introduced the following bill2 which was
 read twice and referred to the         
,committee on ,veterans' ,affairs  ,a   
,,bill  ,to amend title #ch1 ,united    
,states ,code1 to improve the repayment 
by the ,secretary of ,veterans ,affairs 
of benefits misused by a fiduciary1 and 
for other purposes4  #a4 ,short title   
,this ,act may be cited as the ,veteran 
,fraud ,reimbursement ,act of #bjbe4    
#b4 ,improvement to repayment by        
,secretary of ,veterans ,affairs of     
certain misused benefits ,section #fajg 
of title #ch1 ,united ,states ,code1 is 
amended to read as follows3  #fajg4     
,reissuance of benefits  7a7 ,reissuance
 of misused benefits  7#a7 ,in any case 
in which a fiduciary misuses all or part
 of an individual's benefit paid to such
 fiduciary1 the ,secretary shall pay to 

the beneficiary or the beneficiary's    
successor fiduciary an amount equal to  
the amount of such benefit so misused4  
7#b7 ,in any case in which the          
,secretary reissues a benefit payment   
7in whole or in part7 under paragraph   
7#a71 the ,secretary shall make a good  
faith effort to obtain recoupment from  
the fiduciary to whom the payment was   
originally made4  7#c7 ,in any case in  
which the ,secretary obtains recoupment 
from a fiduciary who has misused        
benefits1 the ,secretary shall promptly 
remit payment of the recouped amounts to
 the beneficiary or the beneficiary's   
successor fiduciary1 as the case may be1
 to the extent that such amounts have   
not been paid under paragraph 7#a74  7b7
 ,reissuance of amounts in the case of a
 deceased beneficiary  7#a7 ,if a       
beneficiary described in subsection     
7a77#a7 predeceases a payment under such
 subsection1 the ,secretary shall pay   
such amount1 subject to paragraph 7#b71 
to an individual or entity in accordance

 with section #eaba of this title4  7#b7
 ,the ,secretary may not make a payment 
under this subsection to a fiduciary who
 misused benefits of the beneficiary4   
7c7 ,limitation on total amount paid    
,the total of the amounts paid to a     
beneficiary or the beneficiary's        
successor fiduciary under this section  
may not exceed the total benefit amount 
misused by the fiduciary with respect to
 that beneficiary4  7d7 ,oversight of   
negligence  7#a7 ,the ,secretary shall  
establish methods and timing with       
respect to determining whether an       
instance of misuse by a fiduciary1 of   
all or part of an individual's benefit  
paid to such fiduciary1 is the result of
 negligence by the ,secretary4  7#b7    
,the ,secretary may not withhold the    
reissuing of a benefit payment under    
subsection 7a77#a7 by reason of a       
pending determination under paragraph   
7#a74  7#c7 ,the ,secretary is not      
required to make a determination under  
paragraph 7#a7 for each instance of     

misuse by a fiduciary1 of all or part of
 an individual's benefit paid to such   
fiduciary4  4