I

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1226

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 12, 1994

Referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs

AN ACT

To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for the

organization and administration of the Readjustment

Counseling Service, to improve eligibility for readjustment counseling and related counseling, 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 ‘‘Readjustment Counsel5 ing Service Amendments of 1994’’.

6 SEC. 2. ORGANIZATION OF THE READJUSTMENT COUNSEL7 ING SERVICE IN THE DEPARTMENT OF VET8 ERANS AFFAIRS.

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 7305 of title 38, United

10 States Code, is amended—
2

•S 1226 RFH

1 (1) by redesignating paragraph (7) as para2 graph (8); and

3 (2) by inserting after paragraph (6) the follow4 ing new paragraph (7):

5 ‘‘(7) A Readjustment Counseling Service.’’.

6 (b) ORGANIZATION.—The Readjustment Counseling

7 Service shall have the organizational structure and admin8 istrative structure of that service as such structures were

9 in existence on January 1, 1993.

10 (c) REVISION OF ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE.—

11 (1) The Secretary of Veterans Affairs may not alter or

12 revise the organizational structure or the administrative

13 structure of the Readjustment Counseling Service until—

14 (A) the Secretary has submitted to the Commit15 tees on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and House

16 of Representatives a report containing a full and

17 complete statement of the proposed alteration or re18 vision; and

19 (B) a period of 60 days has elapsed after the

20 date on which the report is received by the commit21 tees.

22 (2) In the computation of the 60-day period under

23 paragraph (1)(B), there shall be excluded any day on

24 which either House of Congress is not in session because
3

•S 1226 RFH

1 of an adjournment of more than 3 calendar days to a day

2 certain.

3 (d) BUDGET INFORMATION RELATING TO THE SERV4 ICE.—Each budget submitted to Congress by the Presi5 dent under section 1105 of title 31, United States Code,

6 shall set forth the amount requested in the budget for the

7 operation of the Readjustment Counseling Service in the

8 fiscal year covered by the budget and shall set forth sepa9 rately the amount requested for administrative oversight

10 of the activities of the service (including the amount re11 quested for funding of the Advisory Committee on Read12 justment of Veterans).

13 SEC. 3. DIRECTOR OF THE READJUSTMENT COUNSELING

14 SERVICE.

15 (a) DIRECTOR.—Section 7306(b) of title 38, United

16 States Code, is amended—

17 (1) by striking out ‘‘and’’ at the end of para18 graph (2);

19 (2) by striking out the period at the end of

20 paragraph (3) and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘; and’’;

21 and

22 (3) by adding at the end the following:

23 ‘‘(4) one shall be a person who (A)(i) is a quali24 fied psychiatrist, (ii) is a qualified psychologist hold25 ing a diploma as a doctorate in clinical or counseling
4

•S 1226 RFH

1 psychology from an authority approved by the Amer2 ican Psychological Association and has successfully

3 undergone an internship approved by that associa4 tion, (iii) is a qualified holder of a master in social

5 work degree, or (iv) is a registered nurse holding a

6 master of science in nursing degree in psychiatric

7 nursing or any other mental-health related degree

8 approved by the Secretary, and (B) has at least 3

9 years of clinical experience and 2 years of adminis10 trative experience in the Readjustment Counseling

11 Service or other comparable mental health care

12 counseling service (as determined by the Secretary),

13 who shall be the director of the Readjustment Coun14 seling Service.’’.

15 (b) STATUS OF DIRECTOR.—Section 7306(a)(3) of

16 such title is amended by striking out ‘‘eight’’ and inserting

17 in lieu thereof ‘‘nine’’.

18 (c) ORGANIZATIONAL REQUIREMENT.—The Director

19 of the Readjustment Counseling Service shall report to the

20 Under Secretary for Health of the Department of Veter21 ans Affairs through the Associate Deputy Under Secretary

22 for Health for Clinical Programs.
5

•S 1226 RFH

1 SEC. 4. EXPANSION OF ELIGIBILITY FOR READJUSTMENT

2 COUNSELING AND CERTAIN RELATED COUN3 SELING SERVICES.

4 (a) READJUSTMENT COUNSELING.—(1) Subsection

5 (a) of section 1712A of title 38, United States Code, is

6 amended to read as follows:

7 ‘‘(a)(1)(A) Upon the request of any veteran referred

8 to in subparagraph (B) of this paragraph, the Secretary

9 shall furnish counseling to the veteran to assist the vet10 eran in readjusting to civilian life.

11 ‘‘(B) A veteran referred to in subparagraph (A) of

12 this paragraph is any veteran who—

13 ‘‘(i) served on active duty during the Vietnam

14 era; or

15 ‘‘(ii) served on active military, naval, or air

16 service in a theater of combat operations (as deter17 mined by the Secretary, in consultation with the

18 Secretary of Defense) during a period of war or in

19 any other area during a period in which hostilities

20 (as defined in subparagraph (D) of this paragraph)

21 occurred in such area.

22 ‘‘(C) Upon the request of any veteran other than a

23 veteran referred to in subparagraph (A) of this paragraph,

24 the Secretary may furnish counseling to the veteran to as25 sist the veteran in readjusting to civilian life.
6

•S 1226 RFH

1 ‘‘(D) For the purposes of subparagraph (A) of this

2 paragraph, the term ‘hostilities’ means an armed conflict

3 in which the members of the Armed Forces are subjected

4 to danger comparable to the danger to which members of

5 the Armed Forces have been subjected in combat with

6 enemy armed forces during a period of war, as determined

7 by the Secretary in consultation with the Secretary of De8 fense.

9 ‘‘(2) The counseling referred to in paragraph (1)

10 shall include a general mental and psychological assess11 ment of a covered veteran to ascertain whether such vet12 eran has mental or psychological problems associated with

13 readjustment to civilian life.’’.

14 (2) Subsection (c) of such section is repealed.

15 (b) OTHER COUNSELING.—Such section is further

16 amended by inserting after subsection (b) the following

17 new subsection (c):

18 ‘‘(c)(1) The Secretary shall provide the counseling

19 services described in section 1701(6)(B)(ii) of this title to

20 the surviving parents, spouse, and children of any member

21 of the Armed Forces who is killed during service on active

22 military, naval, or air service in a theater of combat oper23 ations (as determined by the Secretary, in consultation

24 with the Secretary of Defense) during a period of war or

25 in any other area during a period in which hostilities (as
7

•S 1226 RFH

1 defined in subsection (a)(1)(D) of this section) occurred

2 in such area.

3 ‘‘(2) The Secretary may provide the counseling serv4 ices referred to in paragraph (1) to the surviving parents,

5 spouse, and children of any member of the Armed Forces

6 who dies while serving on active duty or from a condition

7 (as determined by the Secretary) incurred in or aggra8 vated by such service.

9 ‘‘(3) The Secretary may provide to the parents,

10 spouse, and children of any member of the Armed Forces

11 who (as determined by the Secretary) is a prisoner of war,

12 or is missing in action, such counseling as the Secretary

13 determines appropriate to assist such persons with the

14 mental or psychological problems associated with the sta15 tus of such member as a prisoner of war or as missing

16 in action, as the case may be.’’.

17 (c) AUTHORITY TO CONTRACT FOR COUNSELING

18 SERVICES.—Subsection (e) of such section is amended by

19 striking out ‘‘subsections (a) and (b)’’ each place it ap20 pears and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘subsections (a), (b),

21 and (c)’’.
8

•S 1226 RFH

1 SEC. 5. ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON THE READJUSTMENT OF

2 VETERANS.

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—(1) Subchapter II of chapter 17

4 of title 38, United States Code, is amended by inserting

5 after section 1712B the following:

6 ‘‘§ 1712C. Advisory Committee on the Readjustment

7 of Veterans

8 ‘‘(a)(1) There is in the Department the Advisory

9 Committee on the Readjustment of Veterans (hereafter in

10 this section referred to as the ‘Committee’).

11 ‘‘(2) The Committee shall consist of not more than

12 18 members appointed by the Secretary from among vet13 erans who—

14 ‘‘(A) have demonstrated significant civic or pro15 fessional achievement; and

16 ‘‘(B) have experience with the provision of vet17 erans benefits and services by the Department.

18 ‘‘(3) The Secretary shall seek to ensure that members

19 appointed to the Committee include persons from a wide

20 variety of geographic areas and ethnic backgrounds, per21 sons from veterans service organizations, and women.

22 ‘‘(4) The Secretary shall determine the terms of serv23 ice and pay and allowances of the members of the Commit24 tee, except that a term of service may not exceed 2 years.

25 The Secretary may reappoint any member for additional

26 terms of service.
9

•S 1226 RFH

1 ‘‘(b)(1) The Secretary shall, on a regular basis, con2 sult with and seek the advice of the Committee with re3 spect to the provision by the Department of benefits and

4 services to veterans in order to assist veterans in the read5 justment to civilian life.

6 ‘‘(2)(A) In providing advice to the Secretary under

7 this subsection, the Committee shall—

8 ‘‘(i) assemble and review information relating to

9 the needs of veterans in readjusting to civilian life;

10 ‘‘(ii) provide information relating to the nature

11 and character of psychological problems arising from

12 service in the Armed Forces;

13 ‘‘(iii) provide an on-going assessment of the ef14 fectiveness of the policies, organizational structures,

15 and services of the Department in assisting veterans

16 in readjusting to civilian life; and

17 ‘‘(iv) provide on-going advice on the most ap18 propriate means of responding to the readjustment

19 needs of veterans in the future.

20 ‘‘(B) In carrying out its duties under subparagraph

21 (A), the Committee shall take into special account veter22 ans of the Vietnam era, and the readjustment needs of

23 such veterans.

24 ‘‘(c)(1) Not later than March 31 of each year, the

25 Committee shall submit to the Secretary a report on the
10

•S 1226 RFH

1 programs and activities of the Department that relate to

2 the readjustment of veterans to civilian life. Each such

3 report shall include—

4 ‘‘(A) an assessment of the needs of veterans

5 with respect to readjustment to civilian life;

6 ‘‘(B) a review of the programs and activities of

7 the Department designed to meet such needs; and

8 ‘‘(C) such recommendations (including rec9 ommendations for administrative and legislative ac10 tion) as the Committee considers appropriate.

11 ‘‘(2) Not later than 90 days after the receipt of each

12 report under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall transmit

13 to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and

14 House of Representatives a copy of the report, together

15 with any comments and recommendations concerning the

16 report that the Secretary considers appropriate.

17 ‘‘(3) The Committee may also submit to the Sec18 retary such other reports and recommendations as the

19 Committee considers appropriate.

20 ‘‘(4) The Secretary shall submit with each annual re21 port submitted to the Congress pursuant to section 529

22 of this title a summary of all reports and recommendations

23 of the Committee submitted to the Secretary since the pre24 vious annual report of the Secretary submitted pursuant

25 to that section.
11

•S 1226 RFH

1 ‘‘(d)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), the pro2 visions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C.

3 App.) shall apply to the activities of the Committee under

4 this section.

5 ‘‘(2) Section 14 of such Act shall not apply to the

6 Committee.’’.

7 (2) The table of sections at the beginning of chapter

8 17 of such title is amended by inserting after the item

9 relating to section 1712B the following:

‘‘1712C. Advisory Committee on the Readjustment of Veterans.’’.

10 (b) ORIGINAL MEMBERS.—(1) Notwithstanding sub11 section (a)(2) of section 1712C of such title (as added by

12 subsection (a)), the members of the Advisory Committee

13 on the Readjustment of Vietnam and Other War Veterans

14 on the date of the enactment of this Act shall be the origi15 nal members of the advisory committee recognized under

16 such section.

17 (2) The original members shall so serve until the Sec18 retary of Veterans Affairs carries out appointments under

19 such subsection (a)(2). The Secretary shall carry out such

20 appointments as soon after such date as is practicable.

21 The Secretary may make such appointments from among

22 such original members.
12

•S 1226 RFH

1 SEC. 6. PLAN FOR EXPANSION OF VIETNAM VETERAN RE2 SOURCE CENTER PILOT PROGRAM.

3 (a) REQUIREMENT.—(1) The Secretary of Veterans

4 Affairs shall submit to the Committees on Veterans’ Af5 fairs of the Senate and House of Representatives a plan

6 for the expansion of the Vietnam Veteran Resource Center

7 program established pursuant to the amendment made by

8 section 105 of the Veterans’ Administration Health-Care

9 Amendments of 1985 (Public Law 99–166; 99 Stat. 944).

10 The plan shall include a schedule for, and an assessment

11 of the cost of, the implementation of the program at or

12 through all Department of Veterans Affairs readjustment

13 counseling centers.

14 (2) The Secretary shall submit the plan not later

15 than 4 months after the date of the enactment of this Act.

16 (b) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘Depart17 ment of Veterans Affairs readjustment counseling cen18 ters’’ has the same meaning given the term ‘‘center’’ in

19 section 1712A(i)(1) of title 38, United States Code.

20 SEC. 7. REPORT ON COLLOCATION OF VET CENTERS AND

21 DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS OUT22 PATIENT CLINICS.

23 (a) REQUIREMENT.—(1) The Secretary of Veterans

24 Affairs shall submit to the Committees on Veterans’ Af25 fairs of the Senate and House of Representatives a report

26 on the feasibility and desirability of the collocation of Vet
13

•S 1226 RFH

1 Centers and outpatient clinics (including rural mobile clin2 ics) of the Department of Veterans Affairs as current

3 leases for such centers and clinics expire.

4 (2) The Secretary shall submit the report not later

5 than 6 months after the date of the enactment of this Act.

6 (b) COVERED MATTERS.—The report under this sec7 tion shall include an assessment of the following:

8 (1) The results of any collocation of Vet Cen9 ters and outpatient clinics carried out by the Sec10 retary before the date of the enactment of this Act,

11 including the effects of such collocation on the qual12 ity of care provided at such centers and clinics.

13 (2) The effect of such collocation on the capac14 ity of such centers to carry out their primary mis15 sion.

16 (3) The extent to which such collocation will

17 impair the operational independence or administra18 tive integrity of such centers.

19 (4) The feasibility of combining the services

20 provided by such centers and clinics in the course of

21 the collocation of such centers and clinics.

22 (5) The advisability of the collocation of centers

23 and clinics of significantly different size.
14

•S 1226 RFH

1 (6) The effect of the locations (including urban

2 and rural locations) of the centers and clinics on the

3 feasibility and desirability of such collocation.

4 (7) The amount of any costs savings to be

5 achieved by Department as a result of such colloca6 tion.

7 (8) The desirability of such collocation in light

8 of plans for the provision of health care services by

9 the Department under national health care reform.

10 (9) Any other matters that the Secretary deter11 mines appropriate.

12 SEC. 8. VET CENTER HEALTH CARE PILOT PROGRAM.

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

14 shall carry out a pilot program for the provision of health15 related services to eligible veterans at readjustment coun16 seling centers. The Secretary shall carry out the pilot pro17 gram in accordance with this section.

18 (b) SERVICES.—(1) In carrying out the pilot pro19 gram, the Secretary shall provide the services referred to

20 in paragraph (2) at not less than 10 readjustment counsel21 ing centers in existence on the date of the enactment of

22 this Act.

23 (2) The Secretary shall provide basic ambulatory

24 services and health care screening services by such person25 nel as the Secretary considers appropriate at each read-
15

•S 1226 RFH

1 justment counseling center under the pilot program. The

2 Secretary shall assign not less than one-half of a full-time

3 employee equivalent at each such center in order to pro4 vide such services under the pilot program.

5 (3) In determining the location of the readjustment

6 counseling centers at which to provide services under the

7 pilot program, the Secretary shall select centers that are

8 located in a variety of geographic areas and that serve vet9 erans of a variety of economic, social, and ethnic back10 grounds.

11 (c) PERIOD OF OPERATION.—(1) The Secretary shall

12 commence the provision of health-related services at read13 justment counseling centers under the pilot program not

14 later than 4 months after the date of the enactment of

15 this Act.

16 (2) The pilot program shall terminate 2 years after

17 the date on which the Secretary commences the provision

18 of services under paragraph (1).

19 (d) REPORT.—(1) The Secretary shall submit to Con20 gress a report on the pilot program established under this

21 section. The report shall include the following:

22 (A) A description of the program, including in23 formation on—
16

•S 1226 RFH

1 (i) the number of veterans provided basic

2 ambulatory services and health care screening

3 services under the pilot program;

4 (ii) the number of such veterans referred

5 to Department of Veterans Affairs general

6 health-care facilities in order to provide such

7 services to such veterans; and

8 (iii) the cost to the Department of Veter9 ans Affairs of the pilot program.

10 (B) An analysis of the effectiveness of the serv11 ices provided to veterans under the pilot program.

12 (C) The recommendations of the Secretary for

13 means of improving the pilot program, and an esti14 mate of the cost to the Department of implementing

15 such recommendations.

16 (D) An assessment of the desirability of ex17 panding the type or nature of services provided

18 under the pilot program in light of plans for the pro19 vision of health care services by the Department

20 under national health care reform.

21 (E) An assessment of the extent to which the

22 provision of services under the pilot program impairs

23 the operational or administrative independence of

24 the readjustment counseling centers at which such

25 services are provided.
17

•S 1226 RFH

1 (F) An assessment of the effect of the location

2 of the centers on the effectiveness for the Depart3 ment and for veterans of the services provided under

4 the pilot program.

5 (G) Such other information as the Secretary

6 considers appropriate.

7 (2) The Secretary shall submit the report not later

8 than 18 months after the date of the enactment of this

9 Act.

10 (e) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this section:

11 (1) The term ‘‘Department of Veterans Affairs

12 general health-care facility’’ has the meaning given

13 such term in section 1712A(i)(2) of title 38, United

14 States Code.

15 (2) The term ‘‘eligible veteran’’ means any vet16 eran eligible for outpatient services under paragraph

17 (1), (2), or (3) of section 1712(a) of such title.

18 (3) The term ‘‘readjustment counseling center’’

19 has the same meaning given the term ‘‘center’’ in

20 section 1712A(i)(1) of such title.

Passed the Senate March 24 (legislative day, February 22), 1994.

Attest: WALTER J. STEWART,

Secretary.

S 1226 RFH