HR 3949 IH
111th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3949
To amend title 38, United States Code, and the Servicemember Civil Relief Act, to make certain improvements in the laws relating to benefits administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
October 28, 2009
Mr. FILNER (for himself, Mr. BUYER, Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida, Mr. BROWN of South Carolina, Mr. SNYDER, Mr. MILLER of Florida, Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN, Mr. BOOZMAN, Mr. MITCHELL, Mr. BUCHANAN, Mr. HALL of New York, Mr. ROE of Tennessee, Mrs. HALVORSON, Mr. PERRIELLO, Mr. TEAGUE, Mr. RODRIGUEZ, Mr. MCNERNEY, Mr. WALZ, Mr. ADLER of New Jersey, Mrs. KIRKPATRICK of Arizona, Mr. NYE, Mr. MCINTYRE, and Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs
A BILL
To amend title 38, United States Code, and the Servicemember Civil Relief Act, to make certain improvements in the laws relating to benefits administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) Short Title- This Act may be cited as the ‘Veterans’ Small Business Assistance and Servicemembers Protection Act of 2009’.
(b) Table of Contents- The table of contents for this Act is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. References to title 38, United States Code.
TITLE I--SMALL BUSINESS AND EDUCATION MATTERS
Sec. 101. Clarification of responsibility of Secretary of Veterans Affairs to verify small business ownership.
Sec. 102. Improvement of Department of Veterans Affairs contracting goals and preferences for small business concerns owned and controlled by veterans.
Sec. 103. Reauthorization of Veterans’ Advisory Committee on Education.
TITLE II--SERVICEMEMBERS CIVIL RELIEF ACT MATTERS
Sec. 201. Termination of service contracts.
Sec. 202. Residential and motor vehicle leases.
Sec. 203. Enforcement by the Attorney General and by private right of action.
TITLE III--OTHER BENEFITS MATTERS
Sec. 301. Improvement of outreach activities within Department of Veterans Affairs.
Sec. 302. Visual impairment and orientation and mobility professionals education assistance program.
Sec. 303. Interment in national cemeteries of parents of certain deceased veterans.
SEC. 2. REFERENCES TO TITLE 38, UNITED STATES CODE.
Except as otherwise expressly provided, whenever in this Act an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms of an amendment to, or repeal of, a section or other provision, the reference shall be considered to be made to a section or other provision of title 38, United States Code.
TITLE I--SMALL BUSINESS AND EDUCATION MATTERS
SEC. 101. CLARIFICATION OF RESPONSIBILITY OF SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS TO VERIFY SMALL BUSINESS OWNERSHIP.
(a) Short Title- This section may be cited as the ‘Veterans Small Business Verification Act’.
(b) Clarification of Responsibility of Secretary of Veterans Affairs To Verify Small Business Ownership-
(1) CLARIFICATION- Section 8127(f) is amended--
(A) in paragraph (2)--
(i) by inserting ‘(A)’ before ‘To be eligible’;
(ii) by inserting after ‘or the veteran.’ the following new sentence: ‘Application for inclusion in the database shall constitute permission under section 552a of title 5 (commonly referred to as the Privacy Act) for the Secretary to access such personal information maintained by the Secretary as may be necessary to verify the information contained in the application.’; and
(iii) by inserting after the sentence added by subparagraph (B) the following new subparagraph:
‘(B) If the Secretary receives an application for inclusion in the database from an individual whose status as a veteran cannot be verified because the Secretary does not maintain information with respect to the veteran status of the individual, the Secretary may not include the small business concern owned or controlled by the individual in the database maintained by the Secretary until the Secretary receives such information as may be necessary to verify that the individual is a veteran.’; and
‘(4) No small business concern may be listed in the database until the Secretary has verified that--
‘(A) the small business concern is owned and controlled by veterans; and
‘(B) in the case of a small business concern for which the person who owns or controls the concern indicates that the person is a veteran with a service-connected disability, that the person is a veteran with a service-connected disability.’.
(2) APPLICABILITY- In the case of a small business concern included in the database as of the date of the enactment of this Act for which, as of such date, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs has not verified the status of such concern in accordance with paragraph (4) of subsection (f) of section 8127 of title 38, United States Code, as amended by subsection (a), not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall notify the person who owns or controls the concern that--
(A) the Secretary is required to verify the status of the concern in accordance with such paragraph;
(B) verification of such status shall require that the person who owns or controls the concern apply for inclusion in the database in accordance with such subsection, as so amended;
(C) application for inclusion in the database shall constitute permission under section 552a of title 5, United States Code (commonly referred to as the Privacy Act), for the Secretary to access such personal information maintained by the Secretary as may be necessary to verify the information contained in the application; and
(D) the person who owns or controls the concern must submit to the Secretary an affirmative acknowledgment of the requirement under paragraph (3) within 90 days of receiving the Secretary’s notice of such requirement or the concern shall be removed from the database.
SEC. 102. IMPROVEMENT OF DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS CONTRACTING GOALS AND PREFERENCES FOR SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS OWNED AND CONTROLLED BY VETERANS.
(a) In General- Section 8127, as amended by section 101, is further amended in subsection (c), by striking ‘may’ and inserting ‘shall’.
(b) Deadline for Interim Policy Guidance- By not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall issue interim policy guidance to carry out the amendment made by subsection (a).
SEC. 103. REAUTHORIZATION OF VETERANS’ ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION.
Section 3692(c) is amended by striking ‘December 31, 2009’ and inserting ‘December 31, 2015’.
TITLE II--SERVICEMEMBERS CIVIL RELIEF ACT MATTERS
SEC. 201. TERMINATION OF SERVICE CONTRACTS.
(a) In General- Section 305A of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (50 U.S.C. App. 535a) is amended to read as follows:
‘SEC. 305A. TERMINATION OF SERVICE CONTRACTS.
Full Text of Legislation