H.R. 7280

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7280 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 7280

To amend title 38, United States Code, to prohibit the Secretary of 
Veterans Affairs from entering into a contract pursuant to which the 
contractor may sell sensitive personal information maintained by the 
Secretary and to ensure the protection of personal information in 
certain contracts of the Department.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

January 30, 2026

Ms. Budzinski (for herself and Mr. Barrett) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To amend title 38, United States Code, to prohibit the Secretary of 
Veterans Affairs from entering into a contract pursuant to which the 
contractor may sell sensitive personal information maintained by the 
Secretary and to ensure the protection of personal information in 
certain contracts of the Department.

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 ``Veteran Data Accountability for 
Third-party Actors Act'' or the ``Veteran DATA Act''.

SEC. 2. PROHIBITION OF THE SALE OF SENSITIVE PERSONAL INFORMATION 
MAINTAINED BY THE SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.

Section 5725 of title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding 
at the end the following new subsection:
``(d) Prohibition of Sale of Sensitive Personal Information.--The 
Secretary may not enter into a contract that permits the contractor to 
sell (or otherwise disclose for consideration) sensitive personal 
information to another entity.''.

SEC. 3. PROTECTION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION IN CONTRACTS OF THE 
DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.

(a) In General.--Not later than one year after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall--
(1) ensure that each covered contract includes, or is 
modified to include, a clause prohibiting covered information 
from being monetized, sold, or otherwise misused by any 
contractor, including any subcontractor or affiliate thereof, 
or other non-Department of Veterans Affairs entity; and
(2) issue a directive or other policy providing guidance to 
employees and contractors of the Department on how to identify 
the monetization, sale, or misuse of covered information in 
order to ensure contractors are in compliance with clauses in 
covered contracts included pursuant to paragraph (1).
(b) Report.--Not later than one year after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the appropriate 
congressional committees a report that includes--
(1) a copy of the contract clause required by subsection 
(a)(1);
(2) the guidance required by subsection (a)(2); and
(3) a summary of any other actions taken to comply with 
subsection (a).
(c) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) The term ``appropriate congressional committees'' means 
the Committees on Veterans' Affairs of the House of 
Representatives and the Senate.
(2) The term ``covered contract'' means a contract of the 
Department of Veterans Affairs that provides for the handling 
of covered information and is entered into--
(A) after the date of the enactment of this Act; or
(B) before the date of the enactment of this Act 
and does not expire before the date of the enactment of 
this Act.
(3) The term ``covered information''--
(A) means protected health information or 
personally identifiable information, including such 
information that has been anonymized; and
(B) includes information protected under--
(i) section 552a of title 5, United States 
Code;
(ii) section 5701 or 7332 of title 38 
United States Code;
(iii) parts 160, 161, and 164 of title 45, 
Code of Federal Regulations; and
(iv) any other provision of law, as 
determined by the Secretary.
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