U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) recently unveiled a bipartisan bill that aims to end the backlog of United States military veterans’ records requests at the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC).
“The current backlog is unacceptable and impedes veterans’ ability to access the services they have earned,” Sen. Rounds said. “This bill would work to reform the National Personnel Records Center so our veterans can acquire their records in a timely manner.”
Sen. Rounds on Sept. 12 cosponsored the Access for Veterans to Records Act of 2022, S. 4816, with bill sponsor U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA). The bill would require the Archivist of the United States to submit to Congress a comprehensive plan for reducing the backlog of requests for records at the NPRC, which is within the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), according to the text of the bill.
As of July, the NPRC still had a backlog of 499,000 records requests from veterans, according to information provided by Sen. Rounds’ staff.
If enacted, S. 4816 would direct NARA to submit the plan, which would have to include timeframes for reducing the backlog, as well as steps to improve customer service and upgrade technology infrastructure to prevent future backlogs, the information says.
S. 4816 is the companion bill to the same-named bipartisan H.R. 7337, which U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) sponsored on March 31. The U.S. House of Representatives in July voted 406-21 to approve H.R. 7337, which the U.S. Senate received on July 18 and referred to the U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee for consideration. The committee is also reviewing S. 4816.
“I am pleased my colleagues on both sides of the aisle are coming together to introduce this common-sense legislation,” said Sen. Rounds.