38 U.S.C. § 525 — Publication of laws relating to veterans

Page 90 TITLE 38—VETERANS’ BENEFITS § 525 ‘‘(B) An assessment of the benefits to veterans of the pilot program. ‘‘(C) The recommendations of the Secretary as to the advisability of continuing the pilot program.’’ § 525. Publication of laws relating to veterans (a) The Secretary may compile and publish all Federal laws relating to veterans’ relief, includ- ing laws administered by the Department as well as by other agencies of the Government. Such compilation and publication shall be in such form as the Secretary considers advisable for the purpose of making currently available in convenient form for the use of the Department and full-time representatives of the several serv- ice organizations an annotated, indexed, and cross-referenced statement of the laws providing veterans’ relief. (b) The Secretary may maintain such compila- tion on a current basis either by the publication, from time to time, of supplementary documents or by complete revision of the compilation. (c) The distribution of the compilation to the representatives of the several service organiza- tions shall be as determined by the Secretary. (Added Pub. L. 102–83, § 2(a), Aug. 6, 1991, 105 Stat. 391.) Editorial Notes PRIOR PROVISIONS Prior section 525 was renumbered section 1525 of this title. Provisions similar to those in this section were con- tained in section 215 of this title prior to repeal by Pub. L. 102–83, § 2(a). § 527. Evaluation and data collection (a) The Secretary, pursuant to general stand- ards which the Secretary shall prescribe in regu- lations, shall measure and evaluate on a con- tinuing basis the effect of all programs author- ized under this title, in order to determine their effectiveness in achieving stated goals in gen- eral, and in achieving such goals in relation to their cost, their effect on related programs, and their structure and mechanisms for delivery of services. Such information as the Secretary may consider necessary for purposes of such evalua- tions shall be made available to the Secretary, upon request, by all departments, agencies, and instrumentalities of the executive branch. (b) In carrying out this section, the Secretary shall collect, collate, and analyze on a con- tinuing basis full statistical data regarding par- ticipation (including the duration thereof), pro- vision of services, categories of beneficiaries, planning and construction of facilities, acquisi- tion of real property, proposed excessing of land, accretion and attrition of personnel, and cat- egorized expenditures attributable thereto, under all programs carried out under this title. (c) The Secretary shall make available to the public, and on a regular basis provide to the ap- propriate committees of the Congress, copies of all completed evaluative research studies and summaries of evaluations of program impact and effectiveness carried out, and tabulations and analyses of all data collected, under this section. (Added Pub. L. 102–83, § 2(a), Aug. 6, 1991, 105 Stat. 391.) Editorial Notes PRIOR PROVISIONS Provisions similar to those in this section were con- tained in section 219 of this title prior to repeal by Pub. L. 102–83, § 2(a). Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries ANALYSIS AND REPORT ON TREATMENT OF VETERANS FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS RELATED TO TOXIC EXPOSURE Pub. L. 117–168, title V, § 502, Aug. 10, 2022, 136 Stat. 1786, provided that: ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall analyze, on a continuous basis, all clinical data that— ‘‘(1) is obtained by the Department of Veterans Af- fairs in connection with hospital care, medical serv- ices, and nursing home care furnished under section 1710(a)(2)(F) of title 38, United States Code; and ‘‘(2) is likely to be scientifically useful in deter- mining the association, if any, between the medical condition of a veteran and a toxic exposure. ‘‘(b) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act [Aug. 10, 2022], and annually thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Representatives a report containing the following: ‘‘(1) The aggregate data compiled under subsection (a). ‘‘(2) An analysis of such data. ‘‘(3) A description of the types and incidences of medical conditions identified by the Department under such subsection. ‘‘(4) The explanation of the Secretary for the inci- dence of such medical conditions and other expla- nations for the incidence of such conditions as the Secretary considers reasonable. ‘‘(5) The views of the Secretary on the scientific va- lidity of drawing conclusions from the incidence of such medical conditions, as evidenced by the data compiled under subsection (a), regarding any associa- tion between such conditions and toxic exposures. ‘‘(c) TOXIC EXPOSURE DEFINED.—In this section, the term ‘toxic exposure’ has the meaning given such term in section 101 of title 38, United States Code, as amend- ed by section 102(b).’’ DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS PUBLIC WEBSITE FOR TOXIC EXPOSURE RESEARCH Pub. L. 117–168, title V, § 509, Aug. 10, 2022, 136 Stat. 1791, provided that: ‘‘(a) WEBSITE.—Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act [Aug. 10, 2022], the Sec- retary of Veterans Affairs shall establish, and maintain thereafter, a publicly accessible internet website of the Department of Veterans Affairs that serves as a clear- inghouse for the publication of all toxic exposure re- search carried out or funded by the executive branch of the Federal Government. ‘‘(b) COORDINATION.—In carrying out subsection (a), the Secretary shall coordinate with— ‘‘(1) the heads of each Federal agency carrying out or funding toxic exposure research; ‘‘(2) the War Related Illness and Injury Study Cen- ter of the Department of Veterans Affairs, or suc- cessor center; and ‘‘(3) any working group of the Department of Vet- erans Affairs or other similar entity responsible for coordinating toxic exposure research. ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: ‘‘(1) TOXIC EXPOSURE.—The term ‘toxic exposure’ has the meaning given that term in section 101 of title 38, United States Code, as added by section 102(b). ‘‘(2) TOXIC EXPOSURE RESEARCH.—The term ‘toxic exposure research’ means research on the health con- sequences of toxic exposures experienced during serv- ice in the Armed Forces.’’