I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 733 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to improve mental health care 

for veterans through the establishment of a minimum requirement for 

the number of Vet Centers per State. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 1, 2023 

Ms. SHERRILL (for herself, Mr. KEAN of New Jersey, Mr. SABLAN, Mr. 

FITZPATRICK, Mr. COHEN, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. TRONE, Mr. 

RUPPERSBERGER, Ms. ROSS, Mr. VAN DREW, Ms. LOIS FRANKEL of 

Florida, Ms. HOULAHAN, and Mr. CASTEN) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to improve mental health care for veterans through the establishment 

of a minimum requirement for the number of Vet Centers per State. 

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 ‘‘Veterans Census-En5 abled National Treatment Equitable Resource Supplement 

6 for Mental Health Act of 2023’’ or the ‘‘Vet CENTERS 

7 for Mental Health Act of 2023’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. MINIMUM REQUIREMENT FOR NUMBER OF VET 

2 CENTERS PER STATE. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 

4 shall ensure that, by not later than one year after the date 

5 of enactment of this Act, the number of covered Vet Cen6 ters located in each State is at least the minimum required 

7 number described in subsection (b) with respect to that 

8 State. 

9 (b) MINIMUM REQUIRED NUMBER.—The minimum 

10 required number described in this subsection is the fol11 lowing: 

12 (1) With respect to each State that is one of 

13 the several States not located in the contiguous 

14 United States, the District of Columbia, the Com15 monwealth of Puerto Rico, or any other territory or 

16 possession of the United States that is not one of 

17 the several States, the greater of the following: 

18 (A) One covered Vet Center per State. 

19 (B) The total number of covered Vet Cen20 ters that were located in the State on January 

21 1, 2020. 

22 (2) With respect to each of the several States 

23 located in the contiguous United States and not re24 ferred to in paragraph (1), the greater of the fol25 lowing: 


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1 (A) One covered Vet Center per every 

2 30,000 square miles of land area in the State. 

3 (B) One covered Vet Center per every 

4 55,000 veterans located in the State (calculated 

5 by using the number of veterans in the State as 

6 determined by the Director of the United States 

7 Census Bureau for the most recent census). 

8 (c) ESTABLISHMENT OF ADDITIONAL VET CEN9 TERS.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out subsection 

11 (a), the Secretary shall establish such additional cov12 ered Vet Centers in each State as may be necessary 

13 to meet the minimum required number described in 

14 subsection (b) with respect to the State. 

15 (2) EXISTING FACILITIES.—In establishing ad16 ditional covered Vet Centers pursuant to paragraph 

17 (1), the Secretary may establish such covered Vet 

18 Centers at facilities made available to the Secretary 

19 by the head of a State, local government, or feder20 ally recognized Indian tribe to carry out this section, 

21 regardless of whether such facility is made available 

22 at a cost to the Secretary. 

23 (3) VET CENTER OUTSTATIONS.—If the estab24 lishment of more than one additional covered Vet 

25 Center in a State is necessary to meet the minimum 


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1 required number described in subsection (b) with re2 spect to the State, the Secretary— 

3 (A) shall establish at least one additional 

4 covered Vet Center to meet such number; and 

5 (B) for each remaining covered Vet Center 

6 necessary to meet such number, may establish 

7 a covered Vet Center outstation in lieu of a cov8 ered Vet Center. 

9 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 

10 (1) The term ‘‘covered Vet Center’’ means a 

11 Vet Center, as such term is defined in section 1712A 

12 of title 38, United States Code, that is scheduled to 

13 be open for the provision of services under such sec14 tion for a minimum of eight hours per day during 

15 five days of the week, except that the Vet Center 

16 may be open for less than such minimum on a tem17 porary basis as a result of a Federal holiday, weath18 er concern, safety concern, pandemic, or for such 

19 other reasons as may be determined appropriate by 

20 the Secretary. 

21 (2) The term ‘‘covered Vet Center outstation’’ 

22 means a Vet Center outstation that— 

23 (A) provides similar child care services as 

24 the child care services provided at a Vet Center; 

25 and 


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1 (B) is scheduled to be open in accordance 

2 with the minimum hours and days specified in 

3 paragraph (1). 

4 (3) The term ‘‘State’’ has the meaning given 

5 such term in section 101 of title 38, United States 

6 Code. 

Æ 


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