IB 

Union Calendar No. 168 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1315 

[Report No. 110–266] 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide specially adaptive housing 

assistance to certain disabled members of the Armed Forces residing 

temporarily in housing owned by a family member. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 5, 2007 

Ms. HERSETH introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

JULY 27, 2007 

Reported with amendments, committed to the Committee of the Whole House 

on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide specially 

adaptive housing assistance to certain disabled members 

of the Armed Forces residing temporarily in housing 

owned by a family member. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. PROVISION OF SPECIALLY ADAPTIVE HOUSING 

2 ASSISTANCE TO DISABLED MEMBERS OF THE 

3 ARMED FORCES RESIDING TEMPORARILY IN 

4 HOUSING OWNED BY A FAMILY MEMBER. 

5 Section 2102A of title 38, United States Code, is 

6 amended— 

7 (1) by redesignating subsections (d) and (e) as 

8 subsections (e) and (f), respectively; and 

9 (2) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol10 lowing new subsection (d): 

11 ‘‘(c) ASSISTANCE FOR MEMBERS OF THE ARMED

12 FORCES.—The Secretary may provide assistance under 

13 subsection (a) to a member of the Armed Forces serving 

14 on active duty who is suffering from a disability described 

15 in subsection (a)(2) or (b)(2) of section 2101 of this title 

16 if such disability is the result of an injury incurred or dis17 ease contracted in or aggravated in the line of duty in 

18 the active military, naval, or air service. Such assistance 

19 shall be provided to the same extent as assistance is pro20 vided under subsection (a) to veterans eligible for assist21 ance under that subsection and subject to the limitation 

22 under subsection (c).’’. 

23 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

24 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Veterans’ Benefits Im25 provement Act of 2007’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PROVISION OF SPECIALLY ADAPTIVE HOUSING AS2 SISTANCE TO DISABLED MEMBERS OF THE 

3 ARMED FORCES RESIDING TEMPORARILY IN 

4 HOUSING OWNED BY A FAMILY MEMBER. 

5 Section 2102A of title 38, United States Code, is 

6 amended— 

7 (1) by redesignating subsections (d) and (e) as 

8 subsections (e) and (f), respectively; and 

9 (2) by inserting after subsection (c) the following 

10 new subsection (d): 

11 ‘‘(d) ASSISTANCE FOR MEMBERS OF THE ARMED

12 FORCES.—The Secretary may provide assistance under 

13 subsection (a) to a member of the Armed Forces serving on 

14 active duty who is suffering from a disability described in 

15 subsection (a)(2) or (b)(2) of section 2101 of this title if 

16 such disability is the result of an injury incurred or disease 

17 contracted in or aggravated in line of duty in the active 

18 military, naval, or air service. Such assistance shall be pro19 vided to the same extent as assistance is provided under 

20 subsection (a) to veterans eligible for assistance under that 

21 subsection and subject to the limitation under subsection 

22 (c).’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. EXTENSION OF PERIOD OF MORTGAGE FORE2 CLOSURE PROTECTION UNDER 

3 SERVICEMEMBERS CIVIL RELIEF ACT. 

4 (a) EXTENSION TO 6 MONTHS.—Subsection (c) of sec5 tion 303 of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (50 U.S.C. 

6 App. 533(c)) is amended by striking ‘‘90 days’’ and insert7 ing ‘‘180 days’’. 

8 (b) EXTENSION OF PERIOD OF INTEREST RATE LIMI9 TATION.—Such section is further amended by adding at the 

10 end the following new subsection: 

11 ‘‘(e) APPLICABILITY OF INTEREST RATE LIMITA12 TION.—Section 207 shall apply with respect to an obliga13 tion described in subsection (a) during the 180-day period 

14 beginning on the last day of the period of the 

15 servicemember’s military service in the same manner that 

16 section applies with respect to such an obligation during 

17 the period of the servicemember’s military service.’’. 

18 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by sub19 sections (a) and (b) shall apply with respect to any person 

20 performing a period of military service (as such term is 

21 defined in section 101(2) of such Act (50 U.S.C. App. 

22 511(2))) that begins on or after the date that is 90 days 

23 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 


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1 SEC. 4. VISUAL IMPAIRMENT AND ORIENTATION AND MO2 BILITY PROFESSIONALS EDUCATION ASSIST3 ANCE PROGRAM. 

4 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—Chapter 76 of 

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

6 end the following new subchapter: 

7 ‘‘SUBCHAPTER VIII—VISUAL IMPAIRMENT AND 

8 ORIENTATION AND MOBILITY PROFES9 SIONALS SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM 

10 ‘‘§ 7691. Authority for program 

11 ‘‘As part of the Educational Assistance Program and 

12 subject to the availability of appropriations for such pur13 pose, the Secretary shall carry out a scholarship program 

14 under this subchapter. The program shall be known as the 

15 Department of Veterans Affairs Visual Impairment and 

16 Orientation and Mobility Professionals Scholarship Pro17 gram (hereinafter in this subchapter referred to as the ‘Pro18 gram’). The purpose of the Program is to increase the sup19 ply of qualified blind rehabilitation specialists for the De20 partment and the Nation. 

21 ‘‘§ 7692. Eligibility; agreement 

22 ‘‘(a) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to participate in the 

23 Program, an individual must be accepted for enrollment or 

24 enrolled (as described in section 7602 of this title) as a full25 time or part-time student in a field of education or training 

26 described in subsection (b). 


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1 ‘‘(b) QUALIFYING FIELDS OF EDUCATION OR TRAIN2 ING.—A field of education or training described in this sub3 section is education or training leading to— 

4 ‘‘(1) a degree or certificate in visual impairment 

5 or orientation and mobility, or a dual degree or cer6 tification in both such areas; and 

7 ‘‘(2) appointment or retention in a position 

8 under section 7401 of this title. 

9 ‘‘(c) AGREEMENT.—(1) An agreement between the Sec10 retary and a participant in the Program shall (in addition 

11 to the requirements set forth in section 7604 of this title) 

12 include the following: 

13 ‘‘(A) The Secretary’s agreement to provide the 

14 participant with a scholarship under the Program for 

15 a specified number (from one to three) of school years 

16 during which the participant pursues a course of edu17 cation or training described in subsection (b) that 

18 meets the requirements set forth in section 7602(a) of 

19 this title. 

20 ‘‘(B) The participant’s agreement to serve as a 

21 full-time employee in the Veterans Health Adminis22 tration for a period of three years (hereinafter in this 

23 subchapter referred to as the ‘period of obligated serv24 ice’) during the six-year period beginning on the date 

25 the participant completes the education or training 


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1 and receives a degree or certificate described in sub2 section (b)(1). 

3 ‘‘(C) The participant’s agreement to serve under 

4 subparagraph (B) in a Department facility selected 

5 by the Secretary. 

6 ‘‘(2) In a case in which an extension is granted under 

7 section 7673(c)(2) of this title, the number of years for 

8 which a scholarship may be provided under the Program 

9 shall be the number of school years provided for as a result 

10 of the extension. 

11 ‘‘(3) In the case of a participant who is a part-time 

12 student, the period of obligated service shall be reduced in 

13 accordance with the proportion that the number of credit 

14 hours carried by such participant in any such school year 

15 bears to the number of credit hours required to be carried 

16 by a full-time student in the course of training being pur17 sued by the participant, but in no event to less than one 

18 year. 

19 ‘‘§ 7693. Scholarship 

20 ‘‘(a) SCHOLARSHIP.—A scholarship provided to a par21 ticipant in the Program for a school year shall consist of 

22 payment of the tuition (or such portion of the tuition as 

23 may be provided under subsection (b)) of the participant 

24 for that school year and payment of other reasonable eduVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:40 Jul 27, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1315.RH H1315

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1 cational expenses (including fees, books, and laboratory ex2 penses) for that school year. 

3 ‘‘(b) AMOUNTS.—The total amount of the scholarship 

4 payable under subsection (a)— 

5 ‘‘(1) in the case of a participant in the Program 

6 who is a full-time student, may not exceed $15,000 for 

7 the equivalent of one year of full-time coursework; and 

8 ‘‘(2) in the case of a participant in the Program 

9 who is a part-time student, shall bear the same ratio 

10 to the amount that would be paid under paragraph 

11 (1) if the participant were a full-time student in the 

12 course of education or training being pursued by the 

13 participant as the coursework carried by the partici14 pant to full-time coursework in that course of edu15 cation or training. 

16 ‘‘(c) LIMITATIONS ON PERIOD OF PAYMENT.—(1) The 

17 maximum number of school years for which a scholarship 

18 may be paid under subsection (a) to a participant in the 

19 Program shall be six school years. 

20 ‘‘(2) A participant in the Program may not receive 

21 a scholarship under subsection (a) for more than the equiva22 lent of three years of full-time coursework. 

23 ‘‘(d) PAYMENT OF EDUCATIONAL EXPENSES BY EDU24 CATIONAL INSTITUTIONS.—The Secretary may arrange 

25 with an educational institution in which a participant in 


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1 the Program is enrolled for the payment of the educational 

2 expenses described in subsection (a). Such payments may 

3 be made without regard to subsections (a) and (b) of section 

4 3324 of title 31. 

5 ‘‘(e) FULL-TIME COURSEWORK.—For purposes of this 

6 section, full-time coursework shall consist of the following: 

7 ‘‘(1) In the case of undergraduate coursework, 30 

8 semester hours per undergraduate school year. 

9 ‘‘(2) In the case of graduate coursework, 18 se10 mester hours per graduate school year. 

11 ‘‘§ 7694. Obligated service 

12 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Each participant in the Program 

13 shall provide service as a full-time employee of the Depart14 ment for the period of obligated service provided in the 

15 agreement of the participant entered into under section 

16 7604 of this title. Such service shall be provided in the full17 time clinical practice of such participant’s profession or in 

18 another health-care position in an assignment or location 

19 determined by the Secretary. 

20 ‘‘(b) DETERMINATION OF SERVICE COMMENCEMENT

21 DATE.—(1) Not later than 60 days before a participant’s 

22 service commencement date, the Secretary shall notify the 

23 participant of that service commencement date. That date 

24 is the date for the beginning of the participant’s period of 

25 obligated service. 


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1 ‘‘(2) As soon as possible after a participant’s service 

2 commencement date, the Secretary shall— 

3 ‘‘(A) in the case of a participant who is not a 

4 full-time employee in the Veterans Health Adminis5 tration, appoint the participant as such an employee; 

6 and 

7 ‘‘(B) in the case of a participant who is an em8 ployee in the Veterans Health Administration but is 

9 not serving in a position for which the participant’s 

10 course of education or training prepared the partici11 pant, assign the participant to such a position. 

12 ‘‘(3)(A) In the case of a participant receiving a degree 

13 from a school of medicine, osteopathy, dentistry, optometry, 

14 or podiatry, the participant’s service commencement date 

15 is the date upon which the participant becomes licensed to 

16 practice medicine, osteopathy, dentistry, optometry, or po17 diatry, as the case may be, in a State. 

18 ‘‘(B) In the case of a participant receiving a degree 

19 from a school of nursing, the participant’s service com20 mencement date is the later of— 

21 ‘‘(i) the participant’s course completion date; or 

22 ‘‘(ii) the date upon which the participant be23 comes licensed as a registered nurse in a State. 


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1 ‘‘(C) In the case of a participant not covered by sub2 paragraph (A) or (B), the participant’s service commence3 ment date is the later of— 

4 ‘‘(i) the participant’s course completion date; or 

5 ‘‘(ii) the date the participant meets any applica6 ble licensure or certification requirements. 

7 ‘‘(4) The Secretary shall by regulation prescribe the 

8 service commencement date for participants who were part9 time students. Such regulations shall prescribe terms as 

10 similar as practicable to the terms set forth in paragraph 

11 (3). 

12 ‘‘(c) COMMENCEMENT OF OBLIGATED SERVICE.—(1) 

13 Except as provided in paragraph (2), a participant in the 

14 Program shall be considered to have begun serving the par15 ticipant’s period of obligated service— 

16 ‘‘(A) on the date, after the participant’s course 

17 completion date, on which the participant (in accord18 ance with subsection (b)) is appointed as a full-time 

19 employee in the Veterans Health Administration; or 

20 ‘‘(B) if the participant is a full-time employee in 

21 the Veterans Health Administration on such course 

22 completion date, on the date thereafter on which the 

23 participant is assigned to a position for which the 

24 participant’s course of training prepared the partici25 pant. 


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1 ‘‘(2) A participant in the Program who on the partici2 pant’s course completion date is a full-time employee in the 

3 Veterans Health Administration serving in a capacity for 

4 which the participant’s course of training prepared the par5 ticipant shall be considered to have begun serving the par6 ticipant’s period of obligated service on such course comple7 tion date. 

8 ‘‘(d) COURSE COMPLETION DATE DEFINED.—In this 

9 section, the term ‘course completion date’ means the date 

10 on which a participant in the Program completes the par11 ticipant’s course of education or training under the Pro12 gram. 

13 ‘‘§ 7695. Repayment for failure to satisfy requirements 

14 of agreement 

15 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—An individual who receives edu16 cational assistance under this subchapter shall repay to the 

17 Secretary an amount equal to the unearned portion of such 

18 assistance if the individual fails to satisfy the requirements 

19 of the agreement entered into under section 7604 of this 

20 title, except in circumstances authorized by the Secretary. 

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

22 establish, by regulations, procedures for determining the 

23 amount of the repayment required under this subsection 

24 and the circumstances under which an exception to the re25 quired repayment may be granted. 


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1 ‘‘(c) WAIVER OR SUSPENSION OF COMPLIANCE.—The 

2 Secretary shall prescribe regulations providing for the 

3 waiver or suspension of any obligation of an individual for 

4 service or payment under this subchapter (or an agreement 

5 under this subchapter) whenever noncompliance by the in6 dividual is due to circumstances beyond the control of the 

7 individual or whenever the Secretary determines that the 

8 waiver or suspension of compliance is in the best interest 

9 of the United States. 

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

11 obligation to repay the Secretary under this section is, for 

12 all purposes, a debt owed the United States. A discharge 

13 in bankruptcy under title 11 does not discharge a person 

14 from such debt if the discharge order is entered less than 

15 five years after the date of the termination of the agreement 

16 or contract on which the debt is based.’’. 

17 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The tables of sections at 

18 the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting after 

19 the items relating to subchapter VII the following new 

20 items: 

‘‘SUBCHAPTER VIII—VISUAL IMPAIRMENT AND ORIENTATION AND MOBILITY

PROFESSIONALS SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM

‘‘7691. Authority for program. 

‘‘7692. Eligibility; agreement. 

‘‘7693. Scholarship. 

‘‘7694. Obligated service. 

‘‘7695. Repayment for failure to satisfy requirements of agreement.’’. 

21 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Such chapter is fur22 ther amended— 


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1 (1) in section 7601(a)— 

2 (A) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

3 the end; 

4 (B) in paragraph (5), by striking the period 

5 and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

6 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

7 paragraph: 

8 ‘‘(6) the Visual Impairment and Orientation 

9 and Mobility Professionals Scholarship Program pro10 vided for in subchapter VIII of this chapter.’’; 

11 (2) in section 7602— 

12 (A) in subsection (a)(1)— 

13 (i) by striking ‘‘or VI’’ and inserting 

14 ‘‘VI, or VIII’’; and 

15 (ii) by striking ‘‘or for which a schol16 arship may be awarded under subchapter 

17 VI of this chapter’’ and inserting ‘‘for which 

18 a scholarship may be awarded under sub19 chapter VI of this chapter, or for which a 

20 scholarship may be awarded under sub21 chapter VIII of this chapter’’; and 

22 (B) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘or VI’’ 

23 and inserting ‘‘VI, or VIII’’; 

24 (3) in section 7603(a)(1), by striking ‘‘or VI’’ 

25 and inserting ‘‘VI, or VIII’’; and 


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1 (4) in section 7604, by striking ‘‘or VI’’ each 

2 place it appears and inserting ‘‘VI, or VIII’’. 

3 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The Secretary of Veterans Af4 fairs shall implement subchapter VIII of chapter 76 of title 

5 38, United States Code, as added by section 1, not later 

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

7 SEC. 5. VETERANS’ REEMPLOYMENT RIGHTS REPORT IM8 PROVEMENT. 

9 (a) ADDITIONAL REPORT REQUIREMENTS.—Section 

10 4332 of title 38, United States Code, is amended— 

11 (1) by striking ‘‘The Secretary shall’’ and insert12 ing ‘‘(a) REPORT REQUIRED.—The Secretary shall’’; 

13 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (4) through (6) 

14 as paragraphs (5) through (7), respectively, and in15 serting after paragraph (3) the following new para16 graph (4): 

17 ‘‘(4) The number of cases reviewed by the Sec18 retary of Defense under the National Committee for 

19 Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve of the 

20 Department of Defense during the fiscal year for 

21 which the report is made.’’; 

22 (3) in paragraph (5), as so redesignated, by 

23 striking ‘‘or (3)’’ and inserting ‘‘(3), or (4)’’; 


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1 (4) by redesignating paragraph (7), as so redes2 ignated, as paragraph (8), and inserting after para3 graph (6) the following new paragraph (7): 

4 ‘‘(7) An indication of which of the cases reported 

5 on pursuant to paragraphs (1), (2), (3), and (4) are 

6 disability-related.’’; and 

7 (5) by adding at the end the following new sub8 sections: 

9 ‘‘(b) UNIFORM CATEGORIZATION OF DATA.—The Sec10 retary shall coordinate with the Secretary of Defense, the 

11 Secretary of Veterans Affairs, the Attorney General, and the 

12 Special Counsel to ensure that the information required to 

13 be submitted as part of the report under subsection (a) is 

14 categorized in a uniform way. 

15 ‘‘(c) PROVISION OF INFORMATION.—The Secretary 

16 shall provide the information contained in the report re17 quired under subsection (a) to the Secretary of Defense, the 

18 Secretary of Veterans Affairs, the Attorney General, and the 

19 Special Counsel.’’. 

20 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by this 

21 section shall apply with respect to a report submitted after 

22 the date of the enactment of this Act. 


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1 SEC. 6. INCREASE IN NUMBER OF MEMBERS OF ADVISORY 

2 COMMITTEE ON VETERANS EMPLOYMENT, 

3 TRAINING, AND EMPLOYER OUTREACH. 

4 Section 4110(c)(1) of title 38, United States Code, is 

5 amended by striking ‘‘15’’ and inserting ‘‘16’’. 

Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘A bill to amend title 

38, United States Code, to make certain improvements in 

the benefits provided to veterans under laws administered 

by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes.’’. 


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Union Calendar No. 168 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1315 

[Report No. 110

–266] 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide 

ber. temporarily in housing owned by a family memdisabled members of the Armed Forces residing specially adaptive housing assistance to certain 

JULY 27, 2007 

Reported with amendments, committed to the Committee 

dered to be printed of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and orVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:40 Jul 27, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00018 Fmt 6651 Sfmt 6651 E:\BILLS\H1315.RH H1315

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