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Board of Veterans' Appeals Administrative Procedures Improvement Act of 1994

Public Law 103-271 · S. 1904 · 103rd Congress · began in the Senate

Signed by Bill Clinton (D) on Jul 1, 1994 · Armed Forces and National Security

Sponsor: Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV)

Cosponsors (9): Sen. Frank Murkowski,

Passage votes

  • HouseVoice vote
  • SenateVoice vote
Data notes

The final version of the law, as each chamber passed it. A chamber that passed it by voice vote or unanimous consent has no count. “Method not stated” means the record does not say how the chamber voted. Where the record has a member-by-member vote, the “Who voted for it” section shows who voted yea.

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Summary

The Congressional Research Service’s plain-language summary of what the law does.

Board of Veterans' Appeals Administrative Procedures Improvement Act of 1994 - Amends Federal law pertaining to the Board of Veterans' Appeals to: (1) remove the 65-person limitation for the Board; (2) subject the Chairman of the Board to the same limitations and restrictions concerning involvement in political activities as currently apply to judges of the U.S. Court of Veterans Appeals; (3) allow the Chairman to designate employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs to serve as acting members of the Board for up to 90 days (with other limitations); and (4) include information concerning such acting members and the number of cases they handled in a required report on Board activities.

Allows proceedings assigned to the Board to be assigned to an individual member or a three-member panel for decision. (Current law requires such decisions by a minimum three-member panel.) Sets forth revised provisions relating to: (1) decision reconsideration as ordered by the Chairman; (2) the correction of obvious errors upon Board motion; and (3) appeals procedures.

Allows (current law requires) the Secretary to require a parents' dependency and indemnity compensation recipient or applicant to file an annual income statement. Requires the applicant to notify the Secretary (current law requires a revised report) when there is a material change in the applicant's estimated income for that year. Makes identical changes with respect to a recipient or applicant for veterans' pension benefits.

Committees

The committees the bill was sent to, and what each did with it.

Data notes

A committee links to its page only where it exists in the current Congress; older and renamed committees are named without a link.

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Timeline

From introduction to signing, newest first: the committees, the floor and the president. 14 actions.

  1. Jul 1, 1994Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 103-271.
  2. Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
  3. Jun 22, 1994PresidentPresident · Presented to President.
  4. Jun 15, 1994Resolving differencesResolving differences · Senate agreed to the House amendment by Voice Vote.
  5. Jun 13, 1994FloorFloor · Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
  6. FloorFloor · On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote.
  7. FloorFloor · Mr. Montgomery moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended.
  8. Apr 26, 1994CommitteeCommittee · Referred to House Veterans' Affairs Committee
  9. Apr 21, 1994FloorFloor · Passed Senate with amendments by Voice Vote.
  10. Apr 14, 1994CommitteeCommittee · Reported by Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee
  11. CommitteeCommittee · Markup by Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee
  12. Mar 24, 1994CommitteeCommittee · Hearings by Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee
  13. Mar 8, 1994CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee
  14. IntroducedIntroduced · Introduced in the Senate
Data notes

Shows the introduction, each committee and subcommittee step the source dates (referral, hearings, markup, report, discharge), and the floor, conference, presidential and became-law steps. Calendar placements, messages between the chambers, amendments and committee report numbers are not shown for laws before the 108th Congress. Two entries the source lists twice are shown once.

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Official record

The bill’s full text and every action, including introduction and committee steps, are on Congress.gov. Data through Oct 7, 2026.