Every Veteran Counts Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 5689 To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to conduct a national survey of veterans. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 28, 2020 Ms. BROWNLEY of California introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to conduct a national survey of veterans. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Every Veteran Counts 4 Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 (1) The Department of Veterans Affairs pro- 8 vides a variety of benefits and services to over 9 20,000,000 veterans who have served the Nation. 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:34 Jan 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5689.IH H5689 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 5689 IH (2) Pursuant to section 527 of title 38, United 1 States Code, the Department of Veterans Affairs 2 has conducted the National Survey of Veterans to 3 assess the status of all veterans. 4 (3) The Department of Veterans Affairs has 5 conducted this National Survey of Veterans in the 6 late 1970s, 1987, 1993, 2001, and 2010. 7 (4) The last survey conducted in 2010 included 8 veterans and other beneficiary groups such as mem- 9 bers of the Armed Forces serving on active duty, de- 10 mobilized National Guard and Reserve members, 11 spouses, and surviving spouses. 12 (5) The 2010 survey included information on 13 demographics, awareness and utilization of benefits, 14 health status, military service, and employment. 15 (6) These surveys provide the Department of 16 Veterans Affairs, Congress, State and local govern- 17 ments, and various organizations that serve veterans 18 valuable information on the veteran population. 19 (7) This information is utilized to inform pol- 20 icymaking efforts and to ensure the needs of the 21 ever-changing veteran population are met. 22 (8) As the data from the 2010 survey is nearly 23 a decade old, conducting a new survey will provide 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:34 Jan 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5689.IH H5689 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 5689 IH more current and accurate data on veterans and 1 other beneficiaries. 2 SEC. 3. NATIONAL SURVEY OF VETERANS. 3 (a) SURVEY.—Not later than 365 days after the date 4 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans 5 Affairs shall conduct a national survey of veterans in a 6 manner to include a statistically valid sample of veterans 7 by— 8 (1) gender identity (including male, woman, 9 transgender, gender diverse); 10 (2) age; 11 (3) educational level; 12 (4) race and ethnicity; 13 (5) sexual orientation; 14 (6) marital status; 15 (7) whether the veteran has dependent children; 16 (8) income amount and source of income; 17 (9) living arrangement; 18 (10) employment; 19 (11) reasons for not seeking employment, if ap- 20 plicable; 21 (12) branch of service; 22 (13) period of service; 23 (14) whether the veteran served in the National 24 Guard or a reserve component; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:34 Jan 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5689.IH H5689 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 5689 IH (15) whether the veteran served in a combat 1 theater of operations or war zone; 2 (16) whether the veteran was exposed to dead, 3 dying, or wounded people while serving on active 4 duty; 5 (17) prisoner of war status; 6 (18) whether the veteran was definitely or prob- 7 ably exposed to environment hazards while in mili- 8 tary service; 9 (19) whether the veteran is enrolled in the pa- 10 tient enrollment system of the Department of Vet- 11 erans Affairs under section 1705 of title 38, United 12 States Code; 13 (20) whether the veteran is in receipt of De- 14 partment of Veterans Affairs benefits and services 15 and if not, why; 16 (21) whether the veteran has participated in 17 veterans treatment courts; 18 (22) whether the veteran is a justice-involved 19 veteran; 20 (23) disability rating; and 21 (24) whether the veteran experienced military 22 sexual trauma. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:34 Jan 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5689.IH H5689 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 5689 IH (b) GROUPS OF VETERANS.—The survey conducted 1 pursuant to subsection (a) shall include the following 2 groups: 3 (1) World War II veterans. 4 (2) Korean conflict era veterans. 5 (3) Vietnam era veterans. 6 (4) Persian Gulf era veterans. 7 (5) Veterans of the conflicts in Lebanon in 8 1982 and 1983, Grenada in 1983, and Panama in 9 1989 and 1990. 10 (6) Post-9/11 era veterans. 11 (7) Veterans who served during peacetime. 12 (8) Members of the Armed Forces serving on 13 active duty. 14 (9) National Guard and Reserve members acti- 15 vated under title 10, United States Code. 16 (10) Family members and survivors of veterans 17 and members of the Armed Forces. 18 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the com- 19 pletion of the survey conducted pursuant to subsection (a), 20 the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall— 21 (1) submit to Congress a report on the results 22 of the survey; and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:34 Jan 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5689.IH H5689 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 5689 IH (2) publish such report on a publicly accessible 1 website of the Department of Veterans Affairs. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:34 Jan 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H5689.IH H5689 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS