HR 3627119th CongressIn Committee

Justice for America’s Veterans and Survivors Act of 2025

Introduced: May 29, 2025

HealthcareVeterans Affairs

Standard Summary

Comprehensive overview in 1-2 paragraphs

The Justice for America’s Veterans and Survivors Act of 2025 would require the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to deliver an annual report to Congress on the causes of death among veterans. The new requirement would be added to title 38, United States Code, and would direct the VA Secretary to include, for every veteran who died in the covered period, whether the veteran had a total service-connected disability, the primary and any secondary causes of death, and whether the death was a suicide related to a total service-connected disability. Additionally, the report would tally the number of deaths by each primary cause. A clerical change would insert Sec. 534 into the table of sections. The bill’s intent appears to be to improve transparency and allow Congress to analyze mortality patterns and potential links to service-connected disabilities and veteran mental health.

Key Points

1Creates a new Sec. 534 in title 38 requiring an annual VA report on causes of death among veterans for Congress.
2For each veteran who died in the reporting period, the report must identify: (A) whether the veteran had a total service-connected disability (rated 100%), (B) the primary cause of death, and (C) any secondary cause of death; and (D) whether the death was a suicide secondary to a total service-connected disability.
3For each identified primary cause of death, the report must state the total number of veterans who died from that cause during the period.
4Adds the new Sec. 534 to the table of sections at the beginning of chapter 5 of title 38.
5The bill was introduced in the House by Rep. Edwards (with Rep. Morrison) and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs; it is titled the “Justice for America’s Veterans and Survivors Act of 2025.”

Impact Areas

Primary group/area affected- Veterans, especially those with a 100% service-connected disability rating; families and communities affected by veteran deaths; agencies tracking veteran health outcomes.Secondary group/area affected- U.S. Congress (Senate and House) and the VA’s policy and oversight functions; researchers and policymakers analyzing mortality causes, suicide risk, and the relationship between disability compensation and health outcomes.Additional impacts- Data transparency and accountability: Provides a recurring, standardized data source to evaluate trends in veteran mortality and potential links to service-connected conditions.- Mental health and suicide prevention: By explicitly capturing suicides related to total disability, the bill could influence discussions and policy decisions around mental health services for severely disabled veterans.- Privacy and data considerations: Collecting and reporting per-veteran information on causes of death and disability status raises privacy concerns and data-collection challenges; the bill does not specify de-identification or safeguards beyond congressional reporting.- Resource and implementation needs: Implementing the annual report would require VA data integration across death records, disability ratings, and cause-of-death data, along with consistent categorization of primary and secondary causes.

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