I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4028 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve services for veterans 

residing in rural areas. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 5, 2009 

Mr. WU (for himself, Mr. ALTMIRE, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. BORDALLO, Mr. 

CHILDERS, Mr. COURTNEY, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. GORDON of Tennessee, 

Mr. HILL, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. HINOJOSA, Mr. KAGEN, Mr. MINNICK, Mr. 

PETERSON, Mr. PIERLUISI, Mr. ROSS, Mr. SALAZAR, Mr. SCHRADER, 

Mr. WALZ, and Mr. WILSON of Ohio) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

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

for veterans residing in rural areas. 

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 ‘‘Rural Veterans Serv5 ices Outreach and Training Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITION OF OUTREACH. 

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

3 amended by adding at the end the following new para4 graph: 

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

6 process of reaching out in a systematic manner to 

7 proactively provide information, services, and bene8 fits counseling to veterans, and to the spouses, chil9 dren, and parents of veterans, who may be eligible 

10 to receive benefits under the laws administered by 

11 the Secretary, and to ensure that such individuals 

12 are fully informed about, and assisted in applying 

13 for, any benefits and programs under such laws.’’. 

14 SEC. 3. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS GRANT PRO15 GRAM FOR RURAL COUNTY VETERAN SERV16 ICE OFFICERS. 

17 (a) GRANTS.—Chapter 5 of title 38, United States 

18 Code, is amended by inserting after section 532 the fol19 lowing new section: 

20 ‘‘§ 533. Grants to assist certain rural counties in em21 ploying veteran service officers; profes22 sional qualifications 

23 ‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to im24 prove outreach and assistance to veterans, and to the 

25 spouses, children, and parents of veterans, who may be 

26 eligible to receive veterans’ or veterans-related benefits 


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1 and who are residing in rural counties through the train2 ing of covered veteran service officers to serve in rural 

3 counties. 

4 ‘‘(b) GRANT PROGRAM.—The Secretary shall carry 

5 out a program to make competitive grants in accordance 

6 with this section to provide financial assistance to State 

7 departments of veterans affairs for the purpose stated in 

8 subsection (a). 

9 ‘‘(c) AMOUNT OF GRANT.—The amount of a grant 

10 under this section shall be determined by the Secretary, 

11 but may not exceed $2,000,000. 

12 ‘‘(d) USE OF FUNDS.—A State department of vet13 erans affairs that receives a grant under this section may 

14 distribute any amount of the grant funds to qualified 

15 State, county, or local agencies and qualified non-profit 

16 veterans service organizations that provide casework serv17 ices to rural veterans. Grant funds distributed under this 

18 subsection shall be used for the purpose stated in sub19 section (a). 

20 ‘‘(e) ELIGIBILITY.—For purposes of this section, a 

21 State is eligible for a grant under this section if it can 

22 demonstrate any of the following: 

23 ‘‘(1) That it has at least one county, in which 

24 veterans reside, that does not have a covered vet25 erans service officer. 


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1 ‘‘(2) That it has at least one county, in which 

2 veterans reside, that has a covered veterans service 

3 officer who performs covered veterans service officer 

4 functions on less than a full-time basis and that 

5 county is able to demonstrate a need for additional 

6 services by a covered veterans service officer. 

7 ‘‘(3) That it has at least one county, in which 

8 not fewer than 1,000 veterans reside, that currently 

9 has a full-time covered veterans service officer, but 

10 only if the county is able to demonstrate a need for 

11 additional services by a covered veterans service offi12 cer. 

13 ‘‘(f) COMPETITION FOR GRANT.—An eligible State 

14 seeking a grant under this section shall submit to the Sec15 retary an application for the grant. The application shall 

16 be in such form and shall contain such information as the 

17 Secretary may require, including information establishing 

18 that the State is an eligible State under this section. From 

19 the applications submitted the Secretary shall approve 

20 those applications that the Secretary determines to be the 

21 most promising in carrying out the purposes of the grant 

22 program. Each State whose application is selected by the 

23 Secretary to receive a grant under the grant program shall 

24 receive funds in an amount determined by the Secretary 

25 under subsection (c). In making such determination, the 


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1 Secretary shall take into consideration the amount of the 

2 total appropriation for the grant program, the relative size 

3 of the State’s veteran population, and the funding nec4 essary to improve training and outreach of covered veteran 

5 service officers in rural counties. Such funds shall go to 

6 the State department of veterans affairs. 

7 ‘‘(g) REQUIREMENTS FOR STATE RECEIPT OF FED8 ERAL FUNDS.—Each State receiving a grant under this 

9 section shall— 

10 ‘‘(1) provide to the Secretary information and 

11 assurances that the funds received under the grant 

12 program for the training of covered veteran service 

13 officers will go to assist counties described in para14 graph (1), (2), or (3) of subsection (e); 

15 ‘‘(2) provide an assurance that the State agency 

16 shall match the Federal funds provided under this 

17 section by providing at least 20 percent of the total 

18 cost of the grant program; and 

19 ‘‘(3) use funds received under this section only 

20 to supplement the amount of funds that would, in 

21 the absence of such Federal funds, be made avail22 able from non-Federal sources for the purposes of 

23 this section, and not to supplant such funds. 

24 ‘‘(h) GRANT FREQUENCY.—Grants under this section 

25 shall be made on an annual basis. 


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1 ‘‘(i) COVERED VETERAN SERVICE OFFICER DE2 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘covered veteran service 

3 officer’ means a qualified employee (regardless of job 

4 title)— 

5 ‘‘(1) who is an employee of a State, county, 

6 local government, or a veterans service organization 

7 recognized under section 5902 of this title; 

8 ‘‘(2) whose duties include providing to veterans 

9 advice and casework services related to benefits pro10 vided under laws administered by the Secretary; and 

11 ‘‘(3) who is accredited by the Department to 

12 file a claim with the Veterans Benefits Administra13 tion on behalf of a claimant who is a veteran or a 

14 veteran’s survivor. 

15 ‘‘(j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

16 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

17 $100,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2010 through 

18 2013.’’. 

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

20 at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting 

21 after the item relating to section 531 the following new 

22 item: 

‘‘532. Grants to assist certain rural counties in employing veteran service officers; professional qualifications.’’. 

23 (c) COMPTROLLER GENERAL REPORT.—The Comp24 troller General shall conduct a review of the grant proVerDate Nov 24 2008 02:03 Nov 06, 2009 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4028.IH H4028

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1 gram under section 533 of title 38, United States Code, 

2 as added by subsection (a), and shall submit to Congress 

3 a report on the results of such review. In carrying out 

4 the review, the Comptroller General shall examine the ef5 fectiveness of the grant program in improving the rep6 resentation of veterans living in rural areas by trained in7 dividuals who assist the veterans in understanding and re8 ceiving access to the benefits to which they are entitled. 

Æ 


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