H.R. 6033

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6033 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 6033

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 
Secretary, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

November 12, 2025

Mr. Horsford introduced the following bill; 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 
Secretary, 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.

This Act may be cited as the ``Strengthening Transparent Reporting 
to Improve Veteran Equality Act of 2025'' or the ``STRIVE Act of 
2025''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS.

(a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
(1) According to an internal report of the Department of 
Defense, Black members of the Armed Forces are more likely than 
White members to be the subject of--
(A) an administrative action, including an 
investigation into alleged misconduct;
(B) a nonjudicial punishment; or
(C) a trial by court-martial.
(2) Certain administrative actions, nonjudicial 
punishments, 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 Affairs.
(3) According to the report titled ``VA Disability 
Benefits: Actions Needed to Further Examine Racial and Ethnic 
Disparities in Compensation'' (GAO-23-106097), published on 
July 26, 2023--
(A) Black, non-Hispanic applicants for such 
benefits experience the lowest rate of approval for 
such benefits compared to applicants of other races or 
ethnicities;
(B) a Black, non-Hispanic applicant is 14 percent 
less likely to be approved for such benefits than a 
White, non-Hispanic applicant; and
(C) the rates of approval for such benefits for 
Black, male applicants are between 3 and 22 percent 
lower than the rates of approval for applicants of 
other races or genders.
(4) Female former members of the Armed Forces are less 
likely to apply for such benefits than male former members.
(b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) each former member of the Armed Forces made heroic 
sacrifices while serving in the Armed Forces, such as risking 
the life of the former member, to preserve the freedom of the 
United States; and
(2) the collection and publication by the Secretary of 
accurate data regarding the race, ethnicity, and gender of all 
applicants for, and recipients of, disability benefits 
administered by the Secretary would enable the Secretary and 
Congress to identify and address any disparity based on the 
race, ethnicity, or gender of a former member of the Armed 
Forces, with respect to the receipt of such benefits.

SEC. 3. REPORTS ON RACIAL, ETHNIC, AND GENDER DISPARITIES WITH RESPECT 
TO DISABILITY BENEFITS ADMINISTERED BY THE SECRETARY OF 
VETERANS AFFAIRS.

(a) Government Accountability Office Report.--Not later than 180 
days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller 
General of the United States shall submit to the appropriate 
congressional committees a report that includes the following elements:
(1) Statistics for the 15-year period immediately prior to 
the date of the enactment of this Act that describe--
(A) the characterization of discharge or dismissal 
of each former member of the Armed Forces who separated 
from the Armed Forces during such period, disaggregated 
by the race, ethnicity, and gender of the former 
member; and
(B) the number of such former members, 
disaggregated by the race, ethnicity, and gender of 
each such former member, who--
(i) requested review of the 
characterization of discharge or dismissal by 
an appropriate board;
(ii) received review of the 
characterization of discharge or dismissal by 
an appropriate board;
(iii) received a change to the 
characterization of discharge or dismissal as a 
result of a decision by an appropriate board;
(iv) applied for disability benefits 
administered by the Secretary of Veterans 
Affairs;
(v) applied for and received such benefits; 
and
(vi) applied for and were denied such 
benefits for reason of characterization of 
discharge or dismissal.
(2) The determination of the Comptroller General whether 
there is a disparity based on the race, ethnicity, or gender of 
a former member, with respect to the receipt of--
(A) review of the characterization of discharge or 
dismissal by an appropriate board; or
(B) a change to the characterization of discharge 
or dismissal as a result of a decision by an 
appropriate board.
(3) The assessment of the Comptroller General whether there 
is a relationship between--
(A) any disparity determined under paragraph (2); 
and
(B) any disparity determined by the Comptroller 
General in the covered report, with respect to 
disability benefits administered by the Secretary.
(b) Secretary of Veterans Affairs: Reports; Plan; Implementation.--
(1) Initial report.--Not later than 365 days after the date 
of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
shall submit to the Committees on Veterans' Affairs of the 
Senate and the House of Representatives, and make available on 
a publicly accessible website of the Department of Veterans 
Affairs, a report that includes the following elements:
(A) 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 report, with respect to the collection and 
availability of data regarding each racial and ethnic 
group to which a former member of the Armed Forces 
belongs.
(B) An identification by the Secretary, based on 
information in the covered report, of every significant 
cause of a racial, ethnic, or gender disparity with 
respect to disability benefits administered by the 
Secretary.
(C) The three-year plan of the Secretary to address 
each significant cause identified under subparagraph 
(B).
(2) Implementation of plan; annual report.--The Secretary 
shall--
(A) implement the plan under paragraph (1)(C) not 
later than one day after the submission of the report 
under paragraph (1); and
(B) annually for each year during which the 
Secretary is carrying out such plan, make available on 
a publicly accessible website of the Department a 
report summarizing, for the period covered by the 
report, the actions of the Secretary pursuant to such 
plan.
(c) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) The term ``appropriate board'' means--
(A) a board for the correction of military records 
under section 1552 of title 10, United States Code; or
(B) a board of review under section 1553 of such 
title.
(2) The term ``appropriate congressional committees'' 
means--
(A) the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate;
(B) the Committee on Armed Services of the House of 
Representatives;
(C) the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the 
Senate; and
(D) the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the House 
of Representatives.
(3) The term ``covered report'' means the report titled 
``VA Disability Benefits: Actions Needed to Further Examine 
Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Compensation'' (GAO-23-
106097), published on July 26, 2023.
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