I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 984 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to authorize the Secretary of Veterans 

Affairs to award grants to States to improve outreach to veterans, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 10, 2023 

Mr. LEVIN (for himself, Mrs. RODGERS of Washington, Mr. PAPPAS, and Mr. 

FINSTAD) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to authorize the 

Secretary of Veterans Affairs to award grants to States 

to improve outreach to veterans, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Commitment to Vet5 eran Support and Outreach Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. AUTHORITY FOR SECRETARY OF VETERANS AF2 FAIRS TO AWARD GRANTS TO STATES AND IN3 DIAN TRIBES TO IMPROVE OUTREACH TO 

4 VETERANS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 63 of title 38, United 

6 States Code, is amended— 

7 (1) by redesignating sections 6307 and 6308 

8 and sections 6308 and 6309, respectively; and 

9 (2) by inserting after section 6306 the following 

10 new section 6307: 

11 ‘‘§ 6307. Grants to States and Indian Tribes to im12 prove outreach to veterans 

13 ‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this section to 

14 provide for assistance by the Secretary to States and In15 dian Tribes to carry out programs that— 

16 ‘‘(1) improve outreach and assistance to vet17 erans and the spouses, children, and parents of vet18 erans, to ensure that such individuals are fully in19 formed about any veterans and veterans-related ben20 efits and programs (including veterans programs of 

21 a State or Indian Tribe) for which they may be eligi22 ble; and 

23 ‘‘(2) facilitate opportunities for such individuals 

24 to receive competent, qualified services in the prepa25 ration, presentation, and prosecution of veterans 

26 benefits claims. 


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1 ‘‘(b) AUTHORITY.—The Secretary may award grants 

2 under this section to States and Indian Tribes— 

3 ‘‘(1) to carry out, coordinate, improve, or other4 wise enhance outreach activities; 

5 ‘‘(2) to increase the number of county or Tribal 

6 veterans service officers serving in the State or In7 dian Tribe by hiring new, additional such officers; or 

8 ‘‘(3) to expand, carry out, coordinate, improve, 

9 or otherwise enhance existing programs, activities, 

10 and services of the existing organization of the State 

11 or Indian Tribe that has been recognized by the De12 partment of Veterans Affairs pursuant to section 

13 5902, in the preparation, presentation, and prosecu14 tion of claims for veterans benefits through rep15 resentatives who hold positions as county or Tribal 

16 veterans service officers. 

17 ‘‘(c) APPLICATION.—(1) To be eligible for a grant 

18 under this section, a State or Indian Tribe shall submit 

19 to the Secretary an application therefor at such time, in 

20 such manner, and containing such information as the Sec21 retary may require. 

22 ‘‘(2) Each application submitted under paragraph (1) 

23 shall include the following: 

24 ‘‘(A) A detailed plan for the use of the grant. 


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1 ‘‘(B) A description of the programs through 

2 which the State or Indian Tribe will meet the out3 come measures developed by the Secretary under 

4 subsection (i). 

5 ‘‘(C) A description of how the State or Indian 

6 Tribe will distribute grant amounts equitably among 

7 counties (or Tribal lands, as the case may be) with 

8 varying levels of urbanization. 

9 ‘‘(D) A plan for how the grant will be used to 

10 meet the unique needs of American Indian or Alaska 

11 Native veterans, elderly veterans, women veterans, 

12 and veterans from other underserved communities. 

13 ‘‘(d) DISTRIBUTION.—The Secretary shall seek to en14 sure that grants awarded under this section are equitably 

15 distributed among States and Indian Tribes with varying 

16 levels of urbanization. 

17 ‘‘(e) PRIORITY.—The Secretary shall prioritize 

18 awarding grants under this section that will serve the fol19 lowing areas: 

20 ‘‘(1) Areas with a critical shortage of county or 

21 Tribal veterans service officers. 

22 ‘‘(2) Areas with high rates of— 

23 ‘‘(A) suicide among veterans; or 

24 ‘‘(B) referrals to the Veterans Crisis Line. 


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1 ‘‘(f) USE OF COUNTY OR TRIBAL VETERANS SERV2 ICE OFFICERS.—A State or Indian Tribe that receives a 

3 grant under this section to carry out an activity described 

4 in subsection (b)(1) may only carry out the activity 

5 through— 

6 ‘‘(1) a county or Tribal veterans service officer 

7 of the State or Indian Tribe; or 

8 ‘‘(2) if the State or Indian Tribe does not have 

9 a county or Tribal veterans service officer, or if the 

10 county or Tribal veterans service officers of the 

11 State or Indian Tribe cover only a portion of that 

12 State or Indian Tribe, an appropriate entity of a 

13 State, local, or Tribal government, as determined by 

14 the Secretary. 

15 ‘‘(g) REQUIRED ACTIVITIES.—Any grant awarded 

16 under this section shall be used— 

17 ‘‘(1) to expand existing programs, activities, 

18 and services; 

19 ‘‘(2) to hire and maintain new, additional coun20 ty or Tribal veterans service officers; or 

21 ‘‘(3) for travel and transportation to facilitate 

22 carrying out paragraph (1) or (2). 

23 ‘‘(h) OTHER PERMISSIBLE ACTIVITIES.—A grant 

24 under this section may be used to provide education and 

25 training, including on-the-job training, for State, county, 


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1 local, and Tribal government employees who provide (or 

2 when trained will provide) veterans outreach services in 

3 order for those employees to obtain and maintain accredi4 tation in accordance with procedures approved by the Sec5 retary. 

6 ‘‘(i) OUTCOME MEASURES.—(1) The Secretary shall 

7 develop and provide to each State or Indian Tribe that 

8 receives a grant under this section written guidance on 

9 the following: 

10 ‘‘(A) Outcome measures. 

11 ‘‘(B) Policies of the Department. 

12 ‘‘(2) In developing outcome measures under para13 graph (1), the Secretary shall consider the following goals: 

14 ‘‘(A) Increasing the use of veterans and vet15 erans-related benefits, particularly among vulnerable 

16 populations. 

17 ‘‘(B) Increasing the number of county and 

18 Tribal veterans service officers recognized by the 

19 Secretary for the representation of veterans under 

20 chapter 59 of this title. 

21 ‘‘(j) TRACKING REQUIREMENTS.—(1) With respect 

22 to each grant awarded under this section, the Secretary 

23 shall track the use of veterans benefits among the popu24 lation served by the grant, including the average period 

25 of time between the date on which a veteran or other eligiVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:53 Mar 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H984.IH H984

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1 ble claimant applies for such a benefit and the date on 

2 which the veteran or other eligible claimant receives the 

3 benefit, disaggregated by type of benefit. 

4 ‘‘(2) Not less frequently than annually during the life 

5 of the grant program established under this section, the 

6 Secretary shall submit to Congress a report on— 

7 ‘‘(A) the information tracked under paragraph 

8 (1); 

9 ‘‘(B) how the grants awarded under this section 

10 serve the unique needs of American Indian or Alaska 

11 Native veterans, elderly veterans, women veterans, 

12 and veterans from other underserved communities; 

13 and 

14 ‘‘(C) other information provided by States and 

15 Indian Tribes pursuant to the grant reporting re16 quirements. 

17 ‘‘(k) PERFORMANCE REVIEW.—(1) The Secretary 

18 shall— 

19 ‘‘(A) review the performance of each State or 

20 Indian Tribe that receives a grant under this sec21 tion; and 

22 ‘‘(B) make information regarding such perform23 ance publicly available. 

24 ‘‘(l) REMEDIATION PLAN.—(1) In the case of a State 

25 or Indian Tribe that receives a grant under this section 


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1 and does not meet the outcome measures developed by the 

2 Secretary under subsection (i), the Secretary shall require 

3 the State or Indian Tribe to submit a remediation plan 

4 under which the State or Indian Tribe shall describe how 

5 and when it plans to meet such outcome measures. 

6 ‘‘(2) The Secretary may not award a subsequent 

7 grant under this section to a State or Indian Tribe de8 scribed in paragraph (1) unless the Secretary approves the 

9 remediation plan submitted by the State of Indian Tribe. 

10 ‘‘(m) MAXIMUM AMOUNT.—The amount of a grant 

11 awarded under this section may not exceed 10 percent of 

12 amounts made available for grants under this section for 

13 the fiscal year in which the grant is awarded. 

14 ‘‘(n) SUPPLEMENT, NOT SUPPLANT.—Any grant 

15 awarded under this section shall be used to supplement 

16 and not supplant State and local funding that is otherwise 

17 available. 

18 ‘‘(o) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

19 ‘‘(1) The term ‘county or Tribal veterans serv20 ice officer’ includes a local equivalent veterans serv21 ice officer. 

22 ‘‘(2) The term ‘Indian Tribe’ has the meaning 

23 given such term in section 4 of the Indian Self-De24 termination and Education Assistance Act (25 

25 U.S.C. 5304). 


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1 ‘‘(3) The term ‘State’ includes the District of 

2 Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the 

3 Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, 

4 and any territory or possession of the United States. 

5 ‘‘(4) The term ‘Veterans Crisis Line’ means the 

6 toll-free hotline for veterans established under sec7 tion 1720F(h) of this title.’’. 

8 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

9 at the beginning of chapter 63 of such title is amended 

10 by striking the items relating to sections 6307 and 6308 

11 and inserting the following new items: 

‘‘6307. Grants to States and Indian Tribes to improve outreach to veterans. 

‘‘6308. Outreach for eligible dependents. 

‘‘6309. Biennial report to Congress.’’. 

12 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

13 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of Veterans 

14 Affairs for each of fiscal years 2024 through 2028, 

15 $50,000,000 to carry out section 6307 of title 38, United 

16 States Code, as added by subsection (a). 

17 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF ADDITIONAL FULL-TIME

18 EQUIVALENT EMPLOYEE.—During fiscal years 2024 

19 through 2028, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs may hire 

20 two or more additional full-time equivalent employees in 

21 the Office of the General Counsel of the Department of 

22 Veterans Affairs, as compared to the number of full-time 

23 equivalent employees that would otherwise be authorized 


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1 for such office, to carry out duties under the accreditation, 

2 discipline, and fees program. 

Æ 


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