II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1342 

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

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

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 30, 2005 

Mr. FEINGOLD (for himself and Mrs. LINCOLN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and 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 2005’’. 

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 process 

2 of reaching out in a systematic manner to proactively pro3 vide information, services, and benefits counseling to vet4 erans, and to the spouses, children, and parents of vet5 erans who may be eligible to receive benefits under the 

6 laws administered by the Secretary, to ensure that such 

7 individuals are fully informed about, and assisted in apply8 ing for, any benefits and programs under such laws.’’. 

9 SEC. 3. AUTHORITIES AND REQUIREMENTS FOR ENHANCE10 MENT OF OUTREACH OF ACTIVITIES DEPART11 MENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 

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

13 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol14 lowing new subchapter: 

15 ‘‘SUBCHAPTER IV—OUTREACH 

16 ‘‘§ 561. Outreach activities: funding 

17 ‘‘(a) SEPARATE ACCOUNT FOR OUTREACH ACTIVI18 TIES.—The Secretary shall establish a separate account 

19 for the funding of the outreach activities of the Depart20 ment, and shall establish within such account a separate 

21 subaccount for the funding of the outreach activities of 

22 each element of the Department specified in subsection 

23 (c). 

24 ‘‘(b) BUDGET REQUIREMENTS.—In the budget jus25 tification materials submitted to Congress in support of 
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1 the Department budget for any fiscal year (as submitted 

2 with the budget of the President under section 1105(a) 

3 of title 31), the Secretary shall include a separate state4 ment of the amount requested for such fiscal year for ac5 tivities as follows: 

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

7 in aggregate. 

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

9 the Department specified in subsection (c). 

10 ‘‘(c) COVERED ELEMENTS.—The elements of the De11 partment specified in this subsection are as follows: 

12 ‘‘(1) The Veterans Health Administration. 

13 ‘‘(2) The Veterans Benefits Administration. 

14 ‘‘(3) The National Cemetery Administration. 

15 ‘‘§ 562. Outreach activities: coordination of activities 

16 within Department 

17 ‘‘(a) PROCEDURES FOR EFFECTIVE COORDINA18 TION.—The Secretary shall establish and maintain proce19 dures for ensuring the effective coordination of the out20 reach activities of the Department between and among the 

21 following: 

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

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

24 ‘‘(3) The Veterans Health Administration. 

25 ‘‘(4) The Veterans Benefits Administration. 
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1 ‘‘(5) The National Cemetery Administration. 

2 ‘‘(b) REVIEW AND MODIFICATION.—The Secretary 

3 shall— 

4 ‘‘(1) periodically review the procedures main5 tained under subsection (a) for the purpose of ensur6 ing that such procedures meet the requirement in 

7 that subsection; and 

8 ‘‘(2) make such modifications to such proce9 dures as the Secretary considers appropriate in light 

10 of such review in order to better achieve that pur11 pose. 

12 ‘‘§ 563. Outreach activities: cooperative activities 

13 with States; grants to States for improve14 ment of outreach 

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

16 assist States in carrying out programs that offer a high 

17 probability of improving outreach and assistance to vet18 erans, and to the spouses, children, and parents of vet19 erans who may be eligible to receive veterans’ or veterans’-

20 related benefits, to ensure that such individuals are fully 

21 informed about, and assisted in applying for, any veterans’ 

22 and veterans’-related benefits and programs (including 

23 under State veterans’ programs). 

24 ‘‘(b) LOCATION OF PROVISION OF OUTREACH.—The 

25 Secretary shall ensure that outreach and assistance is pro-
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1 vided under programs referred to in subsection (a) in loca2 tions proximate to populations of veterans and other indi3 viduals referred to in that subsection, as determined uti4 lizing criteria for determining the proximity of such popu5 lations to veterans health care services. 

6 ‘‘(c) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS WITH STATES.—

7 The Secretary may enter into cooperative agreements and 

8 arrangements with veterans agencies of the States in order 

9 to carry out, coordinate, improve, or otherwise enhance 

10 outreach by the Department and the States (including 

11 outreach with respect to State veterans’ programs). 

12 ‘‘(d) GRANTS.—(1) The Secretary may award grants 

13 to veterans agencies of States in order to achieve purposes 

14 as follows: 

15 ‘‘(A) To carry out, coordinate, improve, or oth16 erwise enhance outreach, including activities pursu17 ant to cooperative agreements and arrangements 

18 under subsection (c). 

19 ‘‘(B) To carry out, coordinate, improve, or oth20 erwise enhance activities to assist in the development 

21 and submittal of claims for veterans’ and veterans’-

22 related benefits, including activities pursuant to co23 operative agreements and arrangements under sub24 section (c). 
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1 ‘‘(2) A veterans agency of a State receiving a grant 

2 under this subsection may use the grant amount for pur3 poses described in paragraph (1) or award all or any por4 tion of such grant amount to local governments in such 

5 State, other public entities in such State, or private non6 profit organizations in such State for such purposes. 

7 ‘‘(e) FUNDING.—Amounts available for the Depart8 ment for outreach in the account under section 561 of this 

9 title shall be available for activities under this section, in10 cluding grants under subsection (d).’’. 

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

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

13 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.’’.

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