I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2257 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the outreach activities 

of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 5, 2009 

Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

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

outreach activities of the Department of Veterans Affairs, 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 ‘‘Veterans Outreach Im5 provement Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITION OF OUTREACH. 

7 Section 101 of title 38, United States Code, is 

8 amended by adding at the end the following new para9 graph: 


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1 ‘‘(34) The term ‘outreach’ means the act or 

2 process of reaching out in a systematic manner to 

3 proactively provide information, services, and bene4 fits counseling to veterans, and to the spouses, chil5 dren, and parents of veterans who may be eligible to 

6 receive benefits under the laws administered by the 

7 Secretary, to ensure that such individuals are fully 

8 informed about, and assisted in applying for, any 

9 benefits and programs under such laws.’’. 

10 SEC. 3. AUTHORITIES AND REQUIREMENTS FOR ENHANCE11 MENT OF OUTREACH OF ACTIVITIES DEPART12 MENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 

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

14 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol15 lowing new subchapter: 

16 ‘‘SUBCHAPTER IV—OUTREACH 

17 ‘‘§ 561. Outreach activities: Funding 

18 ‘‘(a) SEPARATE ACCOUNT FOR OUTREACH ACTIVI19 TIES.—The Secretary shall establish a separate account 

20 for the funding of the outreach activities of the Depart21 ment, and shall establish within such account a separate 

22 subaccount for the funding of the outreach activities of 

23 each element of the Department specified in subsection 

24 (c). 


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1 ‘‘(b) SEPARATE STATEMENT OF AMOUNT FOR OUT2 REACH ACTIVITIES.—In the budget justification materials 

3 submitted to Congress in support of the Department 

4 budget for any fiscal year (as submitted with the budget 

5 of the President under section 1105(a) of title 31), the 

6 Secretary shall include a separate statement of the 

7 amount requested for such fiscal year for activities as fol8 lows: 

9 ‘‘(1) For outreach activities of the Department 

10 in aggregate. 

11 ‘‘(2) For outreach activities of each element of 

12 the Department specified in subsection (c). 

13 ‘‘(c) ELEMENTS SPECIFIED.—The elements of the 

14 Department specified in this subsection are as follows: 

15 ‘‘(1) The Veterans Health Administration. 

16 ‘‘(2) The Veterans Benefits Administration. 

17 ‘‘(3) The National Cemetery Administration. 

18 ‘‘§ 562. Outreach activities: Coordination of activities 

19 within Department 

20 ‘‘(a) COORDINATION.—The Secretary shall establish 

21 and maintain procedures for ensuring the effective coordi22 nation of the outreach activities of the Department be23 tween and among the following: 

24 ‘‘(1) The Office of the Secretary. 

25 ‘‘(2) The Office of Public Affairs. 


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1 ‘‘(3) The Veterans Health Administration. 

2 ‘‘(4) The Veterans Benefits Administration. 

3 ‘‘(5) The National Cemetery Administration. 

4 ‘‘(b) REVIEW AND MODIFICATION OF PROCE5 DURES.—The Secretary shall— 

6 ‘‘(1) periodically review the procedures main7 tained under subsection (a) for the purpose of ensur8 ing that such procedures meet the requirement in 

9 that subsection; and 

10 ‘‘(2) make such modifications to such proce11 dures as the Secretary considers appropriate in light 

12 of such review in order to better achieve that pur13 pose. 

14 ‘‘§ 563. Outreach activities: Cooperative activities 

15 with States; grants to States for improve16 ment of outreach 

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

18 assist States in carrying out programs that offer a high 

19 probability of improving outreach and assistance to vet20 erans, and to the spouses, children, and parents of vet21 erans who may be eligible to receive veterans’ or veterans22 related benefits, to ensure that such individuals are fully 

23 informed about, and assisted in applying for, any veterans 

24 and veterans-related benefits and programs (including 

25 under State veterans programs). 


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1 ‘‘(b) PROXIMITY TO VETERAN POPULATIONS.—The 

2 Secretary shall ensure that outreach and assistance is pro3 vided under programs referred to in subsection (a) in loca4 tions proximate to populations of veterans and other indi5 viduals referred to in that subsection, as determined uti6 lizing criteria for determining the proximity of such popu7 lations to veterans health care services. 

8 ‘‘(c) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS AND ARRANGE9 MENTS.—The Secretary may enter into cooperative agree10 ments and arrangements with veterans agencies of the 

11 States in order to carry out, coordinate, improve, or other12 wise enhance outreach by the Department and the States 

13 (including outreach with respect to State veterans’ pro14 grams). 

15 ‘‘(d) GRANTS TO STATE AGENCIES.—(1) The Sec16 retary may award grants to veterans agencies of States 

17 in order to achieve purposes as follows: 

18 ‘‘(A) To carry out, coordinate, improve, or oth19 erwise enhance outreach, including activities pursu20 ant to cooperative agreements and arrangements 

21 under subsection (c). 

22 ‘‘(B) To carry out, coordinate, improve, or oth23 erwise enhance activities to assist in the development 

24 and submittal of claims for veterans’ and veterans25 related benefits, including activities pursuant to coVerDate Nov 24 2008 21:43 May 06, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2257.IH H2257

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1 operative agreements and arrangements under sub2 section (c). 

3 ‘‘(2) A veterans agency of a State receiving a grant 

4 under this subsection may use the grant amount for pur5 poses described in paragraph (1) or award all or any por6 tion of such grant amount to local governments in such 

7 State, other public entities in such State, or private non8 profit organizations in such State for such purposes. 

9 ‘‘(e) AVAILABILITY OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Amounts 

10 available for the Department for outreach in the account 

11 under section 561 of this title shall be available for activi12 ties under this section, including grants under subsection 

13 (d).’’. 

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

15 at the beginning of chapter 5 of such title is amended by 

16 adding at the end the following new items: 

‘‘SUBCHAPTER IV—OUTREACH

‘‘561. Outreach activities: Funding. 

‘‘562. Outreach activities: Coordination of activities within Department. 

‘‘563. Outreach activities: Cooperative activities with States; grants to States for 

improvement of outreach.’’. 

Æ 


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