II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1990 

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 

NOVEMBER 10, 2005 

Mr. BURR 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. IMPROVEMENT OF OUTREACH ACTIVITIES WITHIN 

7 DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 

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

9 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol10 lowing new subchapter: 
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1 ‘‘SUBCHAPTER IV—OUTREACH ACTIVITIES 

2 ‘‘§ 561. Purpose 

3 ‘‘It is the purpose of this subchapter to provide as4 sistance to States for carrying out programs that— 

5 ‘‘(1) improve outreach and assistance to vet6 erans and the spouses, children, and parents of vet7 erans; and 

8 ‘‘(2) ensure that the individuals described in 

9 paragraph (1) are fully informed about, and assisted 

10 in applying for, any veterans and veterans-related 

11 benefits and programs (including State veterans pro12 grams) for which such individuals may be eligible. 

13 ‘‘§ 562. Coordination within Department 

14 ‘‘(a) The Secretary shall establish procedures to en15 sure the effective coordination of the outreach activities 

16 of the Department among— 

17 ‘‘(1) the Office of the Secretary; 

18 ‘‘(2) the Office of Public Affairs; 

19 ‘‘(3) the Veterans Health Administration; 

20 ‘‘(4) the Veterans Benefits Administration; and 

21 ‘‘(5) the National Cemetery Administration. 

22 ‘‘(b) The Secretary shall— 

23 ‘‘(1) annually review the procedures established 

24 under subsection (a) to ensure that such procedures 
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1 accomplish the objective described in subsection (a); 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(2) modify those procedures, as the Secretary 

4 considers appropriate, based upon the review under 

5 paragraph (1), to improve the attainment of the ob6 jective described in subsection (a). 

7 ‘‘§ 563. Cooperative agreements with States 

8 ‘‘(a) The Secretary shall ensure that assistance is 

9 provided by the Secretary for outreach and assistance 

10 under State and county veteran service programs referred 

11 to in section 561 of this title in locations— 

12 ‘‘(1) that have relatively large concentrations of 

13 populations of veterans and other individuals re14 ferred to in section 561 of this title; or 

15 ‘‘(2) that are experiencing growth in the popu16 lation of veterans and other individuals referred to 

17 in section 561 of this title. 

18 ‘‘(b) The Secretary may enter into cooperative agree19 ments with State veterans agencies to carry out, coordi20 nate, improve, or otherwise enhance outreach by the De21 partment and the States, including outreach with respect 

22 to State veterans programs. 
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1 ‘‘§ 564. Grants to States for outreach improvement 

2 ‘‘(a) The Secretary may award grants to State vet3 erans agencies, which grants may be used to carry out, 

4 coordinate, improve, or otherwise enhance— 

5 ‘‘(1) outreach, including activities under a coop6 erative agreement described in section 563(b) of this 

7 title; and 

8 ‘‘(2) activities to assist in the development and 

9 submittal of claims for veterans and veterans-related 

10 benefits, including activities under a cooperative 

11 agreement described in section 563(b) of this title. 

12 ‘‘(b) The Secretary shall allocate grant funds to 

13 States under this section based on the percentage of the 

14 veteran population residing in the respective States. 

15 ‘‘(c) A State veterans agency receiving grant funds 

16 under this section shall allocate— 

17 ‘‘(1) a portion of such grant funds to local gov18 ernments of that State that are providing veterans 

19 outreach services, based on the number of veterans 

20 residing within the jurisdiction of each such local 

21 government; 

22 ‘‘(2) a portion of such grant funds to local gov23 ernments of that State that are seeking to establish 

24 a program of veterans outreach services; and 

25 ‘‘(3) the remaining grant funds for outreach ac26 tivities by that State veterans agency. 
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1 ‘‘(d) Grant funds awarded to a State under this sec2 tion— 

3 ‘‘(1) may not be used by the State for adminis4 trative costs; 

5 ‘‘(2) may not be used to provide more than 50 

6 percent of the total cost of the activities described 

7 in subsection (a); and 

8 ‘‘(3) shall be used to expand existing outreach 

9 programs and services and not to supplant existing 

10 State and local funding for such programs and serv11 ices. 

12 ‘‘(e) Grant funds awarded under this section may be 

13 used to provide State and local government employees 

14 with— 

15 ‘‘(1) sufficient training regarding veterans out16 reach services to allow such employees to obtain ac17 creditation, in accordance with procedures approved 

18 by the Secretary; and 

19 ‘‘(2) continuing education regarding veterans 

20 outreach services, if such employees have been ac21 credited, as described in paragraph (1). 

22 ‘‘(f)(1) If a unit of local government does not have 

23 a veteran services program, grant funds under this sub24 section may be used to establish such a program. 
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1 ‘‘(2) If a unit of local government does not have a 

2 veteran services program and does not seek to use grant 

3 funds under this section to establish such a program, the 

4 State veterans agency may use grant funds under this sub5 section to provide outreach services for veterans residing 

6 within the jurisdiction of such local government. 

7 ‘‘(3) If State and local government veteran service 

8 programs in a State do not seek to receive a grant amount 

9 under this section, the allocation calculated for that State 

10 under subsection (b) shall be reallocated to those States 

11 with local government veteran service programs that are 

12 seeking grant funds under this section. 

13 ‘‘§ 565. Funding 

14 ‘‘(a) Amounts for outreach activities of the Depart15 ment under this subchapter shall be budgeted and appro16 priated through a separate appropriation account. 

17 ‘‘(b) The Secretary shall include, in the budget jus18 tification materials submitted to Congress in support of 

19 the Department budget for each fiscal year, a separate 

20 statement describing the amount requested to be appro21 priated for that fiscal year for the account specified in 

22 subsection (a). 

23 ‘‘§ 566. Definitions 

24 ‘‘In this subchapter: 
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1 ‘‘(1) The term ‘outreach’ means the act or 

2 process of taking steps in a systematic manner to 

3 provide information, services, and benefits coun4 seling to veterans, and the survivors of veterans, who 

5 may be eligible to receive benefits under the laws ad6 ministered by the Secretary to ensure that those in7 dividuals are fully informed about, and assisted in 

8 applying for, any benefits and programs under such 

9 laws for which they may be eligible. 

10 ‘‘(2) The term ‘state veterans agency’ means 

11 the department or agency of the government of a 

12 State that is responsible for programs and activities 

13 of that State government relating to veterans bene14 fits.’’. 

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

16 at the beginning of such chapter is amended by adding 

17 at the end the following: 

‘‘SUBCHAPTER IV—OUTREACH ACTIVITIES

‘‘561. Purpose. 

‘‘562. Coordination within Department. 

‘‘563. Cooperative agreements with States. 

‘‘564. Grants to States for outreach improvement. 

‘‘565. Funding. 

‘‘566. Definitions.’’. 

18 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

19 are authorized to be appropriated $25,000,000 for each 

20 of the fiscal years 2006, 2007, and 2008 to carry out the 
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1 provisions of subchapter IV of chapter 5 of title 38, United 

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

Æ