II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1682 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to make certain clarifications and 

improvements in the academic and vocational counseling programs administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 12, 2013 

Mr. CASEY 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 make certain 

clarifications and improvements in the academic and vocational counseling programs administered by the Secretary 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 Education 

5 Counseling Act of 2013’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. CLARIFICATION AND IMPROVEMENT OF THE PRO2 VISION OF ACADEMIC AND VOCATIONAL 

3 COUNSELING TO ELIGIBLE VETERANS BY 

4 THE SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 

5 (a) ACADEMIC COUNSELING AND EDUCATIONAL IN6 FORMATION SERVICE.—Section 3697A of title 38, United 

7 States Code, is amended— 

8 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘counseling 

9 services, including’’ and inserting ‘‘a program of 

10 counseling services, to be known as the ‘Academic 

11 Counseling and Educational Information Service’. 

12 Such counseling services shall include’’; 

13 (2) in subsection (e)— 

14 (A) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ before ‘‘The Sec15 retary shall’’; and 

16 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(2) In making such information available under this 

18 subsection, the Secretary shall make available information 

19 about the definitions, eligibility requirements, and services 

20 provided under this section and information about how the 

21 counseling services provided under this section differ from 

22 the services provided under section 3104(a)(2) of this title. 

23 ‘‘(3) At a minimum, the Secretary shall make such 

24 information available to an individual described in sub25 section (b) before the individual applies for educational as26 sistance described in subsection (b)(1).’’; and 


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1 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub2 sections: 

3 ‘‘(f) The Secretary shall maintain an Internet website 

4 on which— 

5 ‘‘(1) a person is able to request counseling serv6 ices under this section in such a manner that clearly 

7 distinguishes such services from counseling services 

8 available under section 3104(a)(2) of this title; and 

9 ‘‘(2) an individual receiving counseling services 

10 under this section is able to receive such services 

11 using a web-based counseling tool and to confiden12 tially access aptitude tests. 

13 ‘‘(g) The primary goal of the counseling services pro14 vided under this section is to provide to individuals assist15 ance in— 

16 ‘‘(1) pursuing postsecondary education and 

17 training opportunities; 

18 ‘‘(2) obtaining information regarding available 

19 postsecondary educational and training opportuni20 ties; 

21 ‘‘(3) obtaining career-related information and 

22 data on available postsecondary educational and 

23 training opportunities; 

24 ‘‘(4) selecting a program of education or train25 ing; and 


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1 ‘‘(5) addressing other needs relating to edu2 cation. 

3 ‘‘(h) Services provided under this section are different 

4 from the services provided under section 3104(a)(2) of 

5 this title and do not involve rehabilitation services.’’. 

6 (b) VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION COUNSELING.— 

7 (1) ELECTRONIC APPLICATION.—Section 3102 

8 of such title is amended by adding at the end the 

9 following new subsection: 

10 ‘‘(c) ELECTRONIC APPLICATION FOR BENEFITS.— 

11 The Secretary shall maintain an Internet website on which 

12 a person is able to submit an application for benefits 

13 under this chapter.’’. 

14 (2) CLARIFICATION REGARDING ELIGIBILITY.— 

15 Veterans are only eligible for counseling services pro16 vided under section 3104(a)(2) of title 38, United 

17 States Code, if they are entitled to a rehabilitation 

18 program under chapter 31 of such title. Not all vet19 erans who are transitioning from service on active 

20 duty in the Armed Forces are eligible for such serv21 ices. 

22 (3) GOAL OF PROGRAM.—The primary goal of 

23 the counseling services provided under section 

24 3104(a)(2) of title 38, United States Code, is to help 


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1 veterans eligible for such services to prepare for, ob2 tain, and retain employment. 

Æ 


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