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H.R. 553

U.S. House•In House Committee

Summary

H.R. 553, the BRAVE Act, was introduced in the House on Jan 16, 2025 by Rep. Robert Wittman (R) with 8 co-sponsors. It was referred to Subcommittee on Health, and last saw action on Feb 20, 2025: Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.

Record

Text

H.R. 553 has 8 co-sponsors.

hb553/introduced-in-house.txt
119 HR 553 IH: Be Ready to Assist Veterans in Extremis Act
 U.S. House of Representatives
 2025-01-16
 text/xml
 EN
 Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.
 I  119th CONGRESS  1st Session  H. R. 553  IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES   January 16, 2025   Mr. Wittman  (for himself and  Mr. Case ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the  Committee on Veterans' Affairs    A BILL
To amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a patient outreach system relating to mental health care, and for other purposes.
1.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the   Be Ready to Assist Veterans in Extremis Act   or the   BRAVE Act  .
2.
Establishment of Department of Veterans Affairs system for patient outreach relating to mental health care
(a)
Establishment of system
 Chapter 17  of title 38, United States Code, is amended by inserting after  section 1720J  the following new section (and conforming the table of sections at the beginning of such chapter accordingly):
1720K.
Mental health care: patient outreach system
The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall establish a patient outreach system under which the Secretary shall ensure that veterans who are enrolled in the system of annual patient enrollment established and operated under section 1705 of this title and have experienced a traumatic or other highly stressful event, may elect to receive from the Secretary information relating to mental health and resources relating to the mental health care services available to the veteran.
 .
(b)
Administration of system
In administering the patient outreach system established under section 1720K of title 38, United States Code (as added by subsection (a)), the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall seek to coordinate such system with the Transition Assistance Program of the Department of Defense.
(c)
Deadline for establishment
The Secretary shall establish the patient outreach system under such section 1720K by not later than two years after the date of the enactment of this Act.

Tracker

The tracker indicates the progress of this legislation as it moves through the legislative process.

  1. Introduced2025-01-16
  2. Passed House
  3. Passed Senate
  4. Conference
  5. To President
  6. Became Law

CRS Summary

The summaries are the Congressional Research Service’s, one per stage. Read them in full.

Introduced in House Jan 16, 2025

hb553/introduced-in-house.md

Shown Here:
Introduced in House (01/16/2025)

Be Ready to Assist Veterans in Extremis Act or the BRAVE Act

This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to establish a patient outreach system under which it must ensure that veterans who are enrolled in the VA health care system and have experienced a traumatic or highly stressful event may elect to receive information and resources relating to mental health and available mental health care services.

The VA must coordinate the system with the Transition Assistance Program of the Department of Defense.

Sponsors

Rep. Robert Wittman (R) sponsors H.R. 553, and 8 members have co-sponsored it, 1 of them from the day it was introduced.

Committees

H.R. 553 went before 2 committees: Health Subcommittee and Veterans' Affairs.

Health Subcommittee
Health Subcommittee
Referred to · Feb 20, 2025 · 143 Bills
Veterans' Affairs
Veterans' Affairs
Referred To · Jan 16, 2025 · 285 Bills

Actions

H.R. 553 has taken 3 actions since Jan 16, 2025, the latest on Feb 20, 2025.

ChamberAction
Feb 20, 2025
House
Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.Health Subcommittee
Jan 16, 2025
House
Introduced in House
Jan 16, 2025
House
Referred to the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs.Veterans' Affairs Committee

Votes

H.R. 553 has not gone to a roll call.

Titles

H.R. 553 goes by 4 titles, 2 of them short titles.

  • BRAVE Act — Display Title
  • BRAVE Act — Short Title(s) as Introduced
  • Be Ready to Assist Veterans in Extremis Act — Short Title(s) as Introduced
  • To amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a patient outreach system relating to mental health care, and for other purposes. — Official Title as Introduced

Lobbying

3 clients hired 3 firms and 22 registered lobbyists who named H.R. 553 in 17 quarterly filings, 2025 to 2026. Reported under the Lobbying Disclosure Act; a filing’s income covers everything its registrant worked that quarter, so the amounts below are the filings’, not this bill’s.

Filed under Veterans, Budget/Appropriations, Medicare/Medicaid, Taxation/Internal Revenue Code, Health Issues, Housing, Education, Civil Rights/Civil Liberties.

Clients

Who paid to be heard, by how many filings named the bill.

ClientBusinessStateFirmsFilingsReported
DISABLED AMERICAN VETERANS—District of Columbia16—
PARALYZED VETERANS OF AMERICA—District of Columbia16—
NATIONAL ALLIANCE ON MENTAL ILLNESS—Virginia15—

Firms

Registrants who filed on the bill, by filings.

RegistrantClientsFilingsReported
DISABLED AMERICAN VETERANS16—
PARALYZED VETERANS OF AMERICA16—
NATIONAL ALLIANCE ON MENTAL ILLNESS15—

Lobbyists

Named on the filings that cite the bill. The 20 named most often, of 22.

LobbyistFirmsClientsFilings
HEATHER ANSLEY116
JEREMY VILLANUEVA116
JON RETZER116
JULIE HOWELL116
MORGAN BROWN116
NAOMI MATHIS116
PETER DICKINSON116
SHAMALA CAPIZZI116
HANNAH WESOLOWSKI115
JOANNA ROSEN115
JOSEPH LEMAY115
MICHAEL LINSKEY115
SHANE LIERMANN115
ANTHONYA JAMES114
JOY ILEM114
LISA ELIJAH114
ANTHONYA HOLLINS112
DANICA GONZALVES112
JENNIFER HUNT112
KEVIN MILLER112

Filings

The documents themselves, on the Senate’s Lobbying Disclosure site, largest reported first.

ClientRegistrantPeriodReportedDocument
DISABLED AMERICAN VETERANSDISABLED AMERICAN VETERANS2026 first_quarter$175.9K1st Quarter - Report
DISABLED AMERICAN VETERANSDISABLED AMERICAN VETERANS2025 fourth_quarter$161.3K4th Quarter - Report
DISABLED AMERICAN VETERANSDISABLED AMERICAN VETERANS2026 second_quarter$149.2K2nd Quarter - Report
DISABLED AMERICAN VETERANSDISABLED AMERICAN VETERANS2025 third_quarter$141.4K3rd Quarter - Report
DISABLED AMERICAN VETERANSDISABLED AMERICAN VETERANS2025 second_quarter$141.4K2nd Quarter - Report
DISABLED AMERICAN VETERANSDISABLED AMERICAN VETERANS2025 first_quarter$141.4K1st Quarter - Report
PARALYZED VETERANS OF AMERICAPARALYZED VETERANS OF AMERICA2026 second_quarter$112.1K2nd Quarter - Report
PARALYZED VETERANS OF AMERICAPARALYZED VETERANS OF AMERICA2026 first_quarter$108.2K1st Quarter - Report
PARALYZED VETERANS OF AMERICAPARALYZED VETERANS OF AMERICA2025 second_quarter$89.2K2nd Quarter - Report
PARALYZED VETERANS OF AMERICAPARALYZED VETERANS OF AMERICA2025 first_quarter$88.6K1st Quarter - Report
PARALYZED VETERANS OF AMERICAPARALYZED VETERANS OF AMERICA2025 fourth_quarter$87.2K4th Quarter - Report
PARALYZED VETERANS OF AMERICAPARALYZED VETERANS OF AMERICA2025 third_quarter$87.2K3rd Quarter - Report
NATIONAL ALLIANCE ON MENTAL ILLNESSNATIONAL ALLIANCE ON MENTAL ILLNESS2026 second_quarter$20K2nd Quarter - Report
NATIONAL ALLIANCE ON MENTAL ILLNESSNATIONAL ALLIANCE ON MENTAL ILLNESS2025 second_quarter$20K2nd Quarter - Report
NATIONAL ALLIANCE ON MENTAL ILLNESSNATIONAL ALLIANCE ON MENTAL ILLNESS2026 first_quarter$10K1st Quarter - Report
NATIONAL ALLIANCE ON MENTAL ILLNESSNATIONAL ALLIANCE ON MENTAL ILLNESS2025 fourth_quarter$10K4th Quarter - Report
NATIONAL ALLIANCE ON MENTAL ILLNESSNATIONAL ALLIANCE ON MENTAL ILLNESS2025 third_quarter$10K3rd Quarter - Report

Classification

The Congressional Research Service files H.R. 553 under Armed Forces and National Security, one of its 31 policy areas, and gives it 3 legislative subjects.

CRS Subjects

CRS assigns every bill one policy area from its 31; H.R. 553’s is Armed Forces and National Security.

hr553/policy-areas.txt
Armed Forces and National SecurityAgriculture and FoodAnimalsArts, Culture, ReligionCivil Rights and Liberties, Minority IssuesCommerceCongressCrime and Law EnforcementEconomics and Public FinanceEducationEmergency ManagementEnergyEnvironmental ProtectionFamiliesFinance and Financial SectorForeign Trade and International FinanceGovernment Operations and PoliticsHealthHousing and Community DevelopmentImmigrationInternational AffairsLabor and EmploymentLawNative AmericansPublic Lands and Natural ResourcesScience, Technology, CommunicationsSocial WelfareSports and RecreationTaxationTransportation and Public WorksWater Resources Development

Legislative Subjects

H.R. 553 carries 3 of CRS’s legislative subjects, from Health promotion and preventive care to Veterans' medical care.

hr553/subjects.txt
Health promotion and preventive careMental healthVeterans' medical care

Constitutional authority

The clause the sponsor cites as Congress’s power to enact H.R. 553, as entered in the Congressional Record.

[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 9 (Thursday, January 16, 2025)][House]From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]By Mr. WITTMAN:H.R. 553.Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuantto the following:Article 1, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution[Page H223]

Source: congress.gov · legiscan.com