S.Amdt. 4580

SA 4580. Mr. CASSIDY submitted an amendment intended to be proposed
by him to the bill S. 2943, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year
2017 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military
construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy,
to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for
other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

At the end of subtitle I of title X, add the following:

SEC. 1097. PROVISION OF ACCESS BY EMPLOYEES OF MEMBERS OF
CONGRESS TO CASE-TRACKING INFORMATION TO CASE-
TRACKING INFORMATION OF DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS
AFFAIRS.

(a) In General.--Chapter 59 of title 38, United States
Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:

``Sec. 5906. Provision of access by employees of members of
Congress to case-tracking information

``(a) In General.--(1) Beginning not later than the date
that is 180 days after the date of the enactment of this
section, the Secretary shall provide to accredited, permanent
Congressional employees who have successfully completed the
certification process described in subsection (b)(1), upon
election by the Member of Congress for which the employee
works, read-only remote access to the electronic VBA claims
records system of veterans who reside in the area represented
by the Member, regardless of whether such employee is acting
under a power of attorney executed by such veteran.
``(2) The Secretary shall ensure that access provided to an
accredited, permanent Congressional employee under paragraph
(1) is provided in a manner that does not allow the employee
to modify the data contained in the electronic VBA claims
records system.
``(b) Certification Required.--(1) The certification
process described in this paragraph is the certification
process that the Secretary requires an agent or attorney
under this chapter to complete before the agent or attorney
may access the electronic VBA claims records system.
``(2) Each Member of Congress who elects to have an
accredited, permanent Congressional employee of the Member
have access under subsection (a)(1) shall bear the cost of
the certification process described in paragraph (1), to be
paid from the Member's Representational Allowance.
``(c) Treatment of Disclosure.--The access to information
by an accredited, permanent Congressional employee pursuant
to subsection (a)(1) shall be deemed to be--
``(1) a disclosure permitted under section 552a(b) of title
5; and
``(2) a disclosure permitted under regulations promulgated
under section 264(c) of the Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-191; 42 U.S.C.
1320d-2 note).
``(d) Nonrecognition.--The Secretary may not recognize an
accredited, permanent Congressional employee for the
preparation, presentation, and prosecution of claims under
laws administered by the Secretary by reason of the Secretary
providing the employee with access to the electronic VBA
claims records system under subsection (a). An accredited,
permanent Congressional employee who is provided such access
may not use such access to act as such a recognized
individual.
``(e) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) The term `electronic VBA claims records system' means
the system of the Department of Veterans Affairs that
provides information regarding the status of a claim
submitted by a veteran, including information regarding
medical records, compensation and pension exams records,
rating decisions, statement of the case (SOC), supplementary
statement of the case (SSOC), notice of disagreement (NOD),
and Form-9.
``(2) The term `accredited, permanent Congressional
employee' means an employee of a Member of Congress who
assists the constituents of the Member with issues regarding
departments or agencies of the Federal Government.
``(3) The term `Member of Congress' means a Representative,
a Senator, a Delegate to Congress, or the Resident
Commissioner of Puerto Rico.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections at the
beginning of chapter 59 of such title is amended by adding at
the end the following new item:

``5906. Provision of access by employees of members of Congress to
case-tracking information.''.

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