H.R. 6033 — STRIVE Act of 2025

This section states congressional findings that, per a Department of Defense report, Black service members are more likely than White members to face administrative actions, nonjudicial punishment, or court-martial; that such actions may affect VA disability benefits eligibility; that a July 26, 2023, GAO report shows Black non-Hispanic applicants have the lowest approval rates (14% less likely than White non-Hispanic applicants, with Black male rates 3-22% lower than others); and that female veterans are less likely to apply. It expresses the sense of Congress that all former service members made heroic sacrifices and that collecting and publishing data on the race, ethnicity, and gender of VA disability benefits applicants and recipients would help identify and address disparities.

This section requires the Comptroller General of the United States to submit a report to specified congressional committees within 180 days of enactment analyzing racial, ethnic, and gender disparities over the prior 15 years in Armed Forces discharge characterizations, board reviews and changes under 10 U.S.C. §§1552–1553 (i.e., Boards for Correction of Military Records and discharge review boards), and VA disability benefits applications, awards, and denials due to discharge characterization; determining disparities in board reviews and changes; and assessing links to disparities identified in GAO report GAO–23–106097 (“VA Disability Benefits: Actions Needed to Further Examine Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Compensation”). It further requires the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to submit a public report to the Senate and House Committees on Veterans’ Affairs within 365 days of enactment describing actions addressing data limitations in the covered GAO report, identifying significant causes of disparities in VA disability benefits, and providing a three-year plan to address those causes; to implement the plan the day after report submission; and to publish annual reports on plan implementation.