II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 3368 

To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to submit to Congress a report 

on the Veterans Integration to Academic Leadership program of the 

Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 9, 2021 

Mr. CORNYN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to submit to 

Congress a report on the Veterans Integration to Academic Leadership program 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 ‘‘VITAL Assessment 

5 Act of 2021’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. VETERANS INTEGRATION TO ACADEMIC LEADER2 SHIP PROGRAM OF THE DEPARTMENT OF 

3 VETERANS AFFAIRS. 

4 (a) REPORT.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year 

6 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec7 retary of Veterans Affairs shall submit to the Com8 mittee on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and the 

9 Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of 

10 Representatives a report on the Veterans Integration 

11 to Academic Leadership program of the Department 

12 of Veterans Affairs. 

13 (2) CONTENTS.—The report required by para14 graph (1) shall include the following: 

15 (A) The number of medical centers of the 

16 Department, institutions of higher learning, 

17 noncollege degree programs, and student vet18 erans supported by the program, and relevant 

19 trends since the program began. 

20 (B) The staff and resources allocated to 

21 the program, and relevant trends since the pro22 gram began. 

23 (C) An assessment of the outcomes and ef24 fectiveness of the program in— 

25 (i) supporting student veterans; 


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1 (ii) connecting student veterans to 

2 needed services of the Department or serv3 ices provided by non-Department entities; 

4 (iii) addressing the mental health 

5 needs of student veterans; 

6 (iv) lowering the suicide risk of stu7 dent veterans; and 

8 (v) helping student veterans achieve 

9 educational goals. 

10 (D) An assessment of barriers to expand11 ing the program and how the Secretary intends 

12 to address such barriers. 

13 (E) An assessment of whether the program 

14 should be expanded outside of the Office of 

15 Mental Health and Suicide Prevention to sup16 port student veterans with needs unrelated to 

17 mental health or suicide. 

18 (b) UNIFORM BEST PRACTICES, GOALS, AND MEAS19 URES.—The Secretary shall establish best practices, goals, 

20 and measures for the Veterans Integration to Academic 

21 Leadership program of the Department that are uniform 

22 among the medical centers of the Department. 

23 (c) OUTREACH.—The Secretary shall conduct out24 reach among the Armed Forces, veterans service organiza25 tions, institutions of higher learning, and non-college deVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:04 Dec 16, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3368.IS S3368

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1 gree programs with respect to the Veterans Integration 

2 to Academic Leadership program of the Department. 

3 (d) ASSESSMENT.—The Secretary shall assess the 

4 feasibility and advisability of including the suicide rate for 

5 student veterans in the National Veteran Suicide Preven6 tion Annual Report of the Office of Mental Health and 

7 Suicide Prevention of the Department. 

8 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

9 (1) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER LEARNING.—The 

10 term ‘‘institution of higher learning’’ has the mean11 ing given that term in section 3452 of title 38, 

12 United States Code. 

13 (2) STUDENT VETERAN.—The term ‘‘student 

14 veteran’’ means the following: 

15 (A) A veteran or member of the Armed 

16 Forces using educational assistance under any 

17 of the following provisions of law: 

18 (i) Chapter 30, 31, 32, or 33 of title 

19 38, United States Code, or chapter 1606 

20 or 1607 of title 10, United States Code. 

21 (ii) Section 116 of the Harry W. 

22 Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance 

23 Act of 2017 (Public Law 115–48; 38 

24 U.S.C. 3001 note). 


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1 (iii) Section 8006 of the American 

2 Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 

3 117–2; 38 U.S.C. 3001 note prec.). 

4 (B) A veteran who is enrolled in an institu5 tion of higher learning or other training pro6 gram, without regard to whether the veteran is 

7 using educational assistance specified in sub8 paragraph (A). 

Æ 


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