II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1672 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a scholarship program 

for students seeking a degree or certificate in the areas of visual impairment and orientation and mobility. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 21, 2007 

Mr. HAGEL (for himself, Mr. OBAMA, and Mr. BROWN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a 

scholarship program for students seeking a degree or 

certificate in the areas of visual impairment and orientation and mobility. 

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 VA Vision Scholars 

5 Act of 2007’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. VISUAL IMPAIRMENT AND ORIENTATION AND MO2 BILITY PROFESSIONALS EDUCATION ASSIST3 ANCE PROGRAM. 

4 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—Part V of title 

5 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end 

6 the following new chapter: 

7 ‘‘CHAPTER 80—VISUAL IMPAIRMENT AND 

8 ORIENTATION AND MOBILITY PROFES9 SIONALS EDUCATION ASSISTANCE 

10 PROGRAM 

‘‘Sec. 

‘‘8001. Establishment of scholarship program; purpose. 

‘‘8002. Application and acceptance. 

‘‘8003. Amount of assistance; duration. 

‘‘8004. Agreement. 

‘‘8005. Repayment for failure to satisfy requirements of agreement. 

11 ‘‘§ 8001. Establishment of scholarship program; pur12 pose 

13 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Subject to the availability of 

14 appropriations, the Secretary shall establish and carry out 

15 a scholarship program to provide financial assistance in 

16 accordance with this chapter to an individual— 

17 ‘‘(1) who is accepted for enrollment or currently 

18 enrolled in a program of study leading to a degree 

19 or certificate in visual impairment or orientation and 

20 mobility, or a dual degree or certification in both 

21 such areas, at an accredited (as determined by the 


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1 Secretary) educational institution that is in a State; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(2) who enters into an agreement with the 

4 Secretary as described in section 8004 of this title. 

5 ‘‘(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the scholarship pro6 gram established under this chapter is to increase the sup7 ply of qualified blind rehabilitation specialists for the De8 partment and the Nation. 

9 ‘‘(c) OUTREACH.—The Secretary shall publicize the 

10 scholarship program established under this chapter to edu11 cational institutions throughout the United States, with 

12 an emphasis on disseminating information to such institu13 tions with high numbers of Hispanic students and to His14 torically Black Colleges and Universities. 

15 ‘‘§ 8002. Application and acceptance 

16 ‘‘(a) APPLICATION.—(1) To apply and participate in 

17 the scholarship program under this chapter, an individual 

18 shall submit to the Secretary an application for such par19 ticipation together with an agreement described in section 

20 8004 of this title under which the participant agrees to 

21 serve a period of obligated service in the Department as 

22 provided in the agreement in return for payment of edu23 cational assistance as provided in the agreement. 

24 ‘‘(2) In distributing application forms and agreement 

25 forms to individuals desiring to participate in the scholarVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:17 Jun 22, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1672.IS S1672

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1 ship program, the Secretary shall include with such forms 

2 the following: 

3 ‘‘(A) A fair summary of the rights and liabil4 ities of an individual whose application is approved 

5 (and whose agreement is accepted) by the Secretary. 

6 ‘‘(B) A full description of the terms and condi7 tions that apply to participation in the scholarship 

8 program and service in the Department. 

9 ‘‘(b) APPROVAL.—(1) Upon the Secretary’s approval 

10 of an individual’s participation in the scholarship program, 

11 the Secretary shall, in writing, promptly notify the indi12 vidual of that acceptance. 

13 ‘‘(2) An individual becomes a participant in the schol14 arship program upon such approval by the Secretary. 

15 ‘‘§ 8003. Amount of assistance; duration 

16 ‘‘(a) AMOUNT OF ASSISTANCE.—The amount of the 

17 financial assistance provided for an individual under this 

18 chapter shall be the amount determined by the Secretary 

19 as being necessary to pay the tuition and fees of the indi20 vidual. In the case of an individual enrolled in a program 

21 of study leading to a dual degree or certification in both 

22 the areas of study described in section 8001(a)(1) of this 

23 title, the tuition and fees shall not exceed the amounts 

24 necessary for the minimum number of credit hours to 

25 achieve such dual certification or degree. 


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1 ‘‘(b) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER ASSISTANCE.—Fi2 nancial assistance may be provided to an individual under 

3 this chapter to supplement other educational assistance to 

4 the extent that the total amount of educational assistance 

5 received by the individual during an academic year does 

6 not exceed the total tuition and fees for such academic 

7 year. 

8 ‘‘(c) MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF ASSISTANCE.—(1) In no 

9 case may the total amount of assistance provided under 

10 this chapter for an academic year to an individual who 

11 is a full-time student exceed $15,000. 

12 ‘‘(2) In the case of an individual who is a part-time 

13 student, the total amount of assistance provided under 

14 this chapter shall bear the same ratio to the amount that 

15 would be paid under paragraph (1) if the participant were 

16 a full-time student in the program of study being pursued 

17 by the individual as the coursework carried by the indi18 vidual to full-time coursework in that program of study. 

19 ‘‘(3) In no case may the total amount of assistance 

20 provided to an individual under this chapter exceed 

21 $45,000. 

22 ‘‘(d) MAXIMUM DURATION OF ASSISTANCE.—The 

23 Secretary may provide financial assistance to an individual 

24 under this chapter for not more than six years. 


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1 ‘‘§ 8004. Agreement 

2 ‘‘An agreement between the Secretary and a partici3 pant in the scholarship program under this chapter shall 

4 be in writing, shall be signed by the participant, and shall 

5 include the following: 

6 ‘‘(1) The Secretary’s agreement to provide the 

7 participant with financial assistance as authorized 

8 under this chapter. 

9 ‘‘(2) The participant’s agreement— 

10 ‘‘(A) to accept such financial assistance; 

11 ‘‘(B) to maintain enrollment and attend12 ance in the program of study described in sec13 tion 8001(a)(1) of this chapter; 

14 ‘‘(C) while enrolled in such program, to 

15 maintain an acceptable level of academic stand16 ing (as determined by the educational institu17 tion offering such program under regulations 

18 prescribed by the Secretary); and 

19 ‘‘(D) after completion of the program, to 

20 serve as a full-time employee in the Department 

21 for a period of three years, to be served within 

22 the first six years after the participant has com23 pleted such program and received a degree or 

24 certificate described in section 8001(a)(1) of 

25 this chapter. 


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1 ‘‘(3) Such other terms and conditions that the 

2 Secretary determines appropriate for carrying out 

3 this chapter. 

4 ‘‘§ 8005. Repayment for failure to satisfy require5 ments of agreement 

6 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—An individual who receives edu7 cational assistance under this chapter shall repay to the 

8 Secretary an amount equal to the unearned portion of 

9 such assistance if the individual fails to satisfy the require10 ments of the agreement entered into under section 8004 

11 of this title, except in circumstances authorized by the 

12 Secretary. 

13 ‘‘(b) AMOUNT OF REPAYMENT.—The Secretary shall 

14 establish, by regulations, procedures for determining the 

15 amount of the repayment required under this section and 

16 the circumstances under which an exception to the re17 quired repayment may be granted. 

18 ‘‘(c) WAIVER OR SUSPENSION OF COMPLIANCE.— 

19 The Secretary shall prescribe regulations providing for the 

20 waiver or suspension of any obligation of an individual for 

21 service or payment under this chapter (or an agreement 

22 under this chapter) whenever noncompliance by the indi23 vidual is due to circumstances beyond the control of the 

24 individual or whenever the Secretary determines that the 


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1 waiver or suspension of compliance is in the best interest 

2 of the United States. 

3 ‘‘(d) OBLIGATION AS DEBT TO UNITED STATES.— 

4 An obligation to repay the Secretary under this section 

5 is, for all purposes, a debt owed the United States. A dis6 charge in bankruptcy under title 11 does not discharge 

7 a person from such debt if the discharge order is entered 

8 less than five years after the date of the termination of 

9 the agreement or contract on which the debt is based.’’. 

10 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.—The tables of chap11 ters at the beginning of title 38, and of part V of title 

12 38, are each amended by inserting after the item relating 

13 to chapter 79 the following new item: 

‘‘80. Visual Impairment and Orientation and Mobility Professionals 

Education Assistance Program ..................................... 8001.’’. 

14 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The Secretary of Veterans 

15 Affairs shall implement chapter 80 of title 38, United 

16 States Code, as added by subsection (a), not later than 

17 six months after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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