IIB 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1315 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 31, 2007 

Received 

AUGUST 3, 2007 

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

AN ACT 

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. 

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. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Veterans’ Benefits Im3 provement Act of 2007’’. 

4 SEC. 2. PROVISION OF SPECIALLY ADAPTIVE HOUSING AS5 SISTANCE TO DISABLED MEMBERS OF THE 

6 ARMED FORCES RESIDING TEMPORARILY IN 

7 HOUSING OWNED BY A FAMILY MEMBER. 

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

9 amended— 

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

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

12 (2) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol13 lowing new subsection (d): 

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

15 FORCES.—The Secretary may provide assistance under 

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

17 on active duty who is suffering from a disability described 

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

19 if such disability is the result of an injury incurred or dis20 ease contracted in or aggravated in line of duty in the 

21 active military, naval, or air service. Such assistance shall 

22 be provided to the same extent as assistance is provided 

23 under subsection (a) to veterans eligible for assistance 

24 under that subsection and subject to the limitation under 

25 subsection (c).’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. 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 

18 ‘Program’). The purpose of the Program is to increase the 

19 supply of qualified blind rehabilitation specialists for the 

20 Department and the Nation. 

21 ‘‘§ 7692. Eligibility; agreement 

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

23 the Program, an individual must be accepted for enroll24 ment or enrolled (as described in section 7602 of this title) 

25 as a full-time or part-time student in a field of education 

26 or training 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 

3 subsection 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 

10 Secretary and a participant in the Program shall (in addi11 tion to the requirements set forth in section 7604 of this 

12 title) include the following: 

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

14 participant with a scholarship under the Program 

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

16 years during which the participant pursues a course 

17 of education or training described in subsection (b) 

18 that meets the requirements set forth in section 

19 7602(a) of 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 

23 this subchapter referred to as the ‘period of obli24 gated service’) during the six-year period beginning 

25 on the date the participant completes the education 


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1 or training and receives a degree or certificate de2 scribed in subsection (b)(1). 

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

4 under subparagraph (B) in a Department facility se5 lected 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 

13 in accordance with the proportion that the number of cred14 it hours carried by such participant in any such school 

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

16 carried by a full-time student in the course of training 

17 being pursued by the participant, but in no event to less 

18 than one year. 

19 ‘‘§ 7693. Scholarship 

20 ‘‘(a) SCHOLARSHIP.—A scholarship provided to a 

21 participant in the Program for a school year shall consist 

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

23 as may be provided under subsection (b)) of the partici24 pant for that school year and payment of other reasonable 


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1 educational expenses (including fees, books, and labora2 tory expenses) 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 

7 for the equivalent of one year of full-time 

8 coursework; and 

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

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

11 to the amount that would be paid under paragraph 

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

13 course of education or training being pursued by the 

14 participant as the coursework carried by the partici15 pant to full-time coursework in that course of edu16 cation or training. 

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

18 The maximum number of school years for which a scholar19 ship may be paid under subsection (a) to a participant 

20 in the Program shall be six school years. 

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

22 a scholarship under subsection (a) for more than the 

23 equivalent of three years of full-time coursework. 

24 ‘‘(d) PAYMENT OF EDUCATIONAL EXPENSES BY

25 EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS.—The Secretary may arVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:16 Aug 06, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1315.RFS H1315

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1 range with an educational institution in which a partici2 pant in the Program is enrolled for the payment of the 

3 educational expenses described in subsection (a). Such 

4 payments may be made without regard to subsections (a) 

5 and (b) of section 3324 of title 31. 

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

7 this section, full-time coursework shall consist of the fol8 lowing: 

9 ‘‘(1) In the case of undergraduate coursework, 

10 30 semester hours per undergraduate school year. 

11 ‘‘(2) In the case of graduate coursework, 18 se12 mester hours per graduate school year. 

13 ‘‘§ 7694. Obligated service 

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

15 shall provide service as a full-time employee of the Depart16 ment for the period of obligated service provided in the 

17 agreement of the participant entered into under section 

18 7604 of this title. Such service shall be provided in the 

19 full-time clinical practice of such participant’s profession 

20 or in another health-care position in an assignment or lo21 cation determined by the Secretary. 

22 ‘‘(b) DETERMINATION OF SERVICE COMMENCEMENT

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

24 service commencement date, the Secretary shall notify the 

25 participant of that service commencement date. That date 


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

2 of obligated service. 

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

4 commencement date, the Secretary shall— 

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

6 full-time employee in the Veterans Health Adminis7 tration, appoint the participant as such an employee; 

8 and 

9 ‘‘(B) in the case of a participant who is an em10 ployee in the Veterans Health Administration but is 

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

12 course of education or training prepared the partici13 pant, assign the participant to such a position. 

14 ‘‘(3)(A) In the case of a participant receiving a de15 gree from a school of medicine, osteopathy, dentistry, op16 tometry, or podiatry, the participant’s service commence17 ment date is the date upon which the participant becomes 

18 licensed to practice medicine, osteopathy, dentistry, op19 tometry, or podiatry, as the case may be, in a State. 

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

21 from a school of nursing, the participant’s service com22 mencement date is the later of— 

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

24 ‘‘(ii) the date upon which the participant be25 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 

9 part-time students. Such regulations shall prescribe terms 

10 as similar as practicable to the terms set forth in para11 graph (3). (c) 

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 

15 participant’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 

21 in the Veterans Health Administration on such 

22 course completion date, on the date thereafter on 

23 which the participant is assigned to a position for 

24 which the participant’s course of training prepared 

25 the participant. 


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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 

3 the Veterans Health Administration serving in a capacity 

4 for which the participant’s course of training prepared the 

5 participant shall be considered to have begun serving the 

6 participant’s period of obligated service on such course 

7 completion 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 require14 ments of agreement 

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

17 the Secretary an amount equal to the unearned portion 

18 of such assistance if the individual fails to satisfy the re19 quirements of the agreement entered into under section 

20 7604 of this title, except in circumstances authorized by 

21 the Secretary. 

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

23 establish, by regulations, procedures for determining the 

24 amount of the repayment required under this subsection 


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1 and the circumstances under which an exception to the 

2 required repayment may be granted. 

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

4 The Secretary shall prescribe regulations providing for the 

5 waiver or suspension of any obligation of an individual for 

6 service or payment under this subchapter (or an agree7 ment under this subchapter) whenever noncompliance by 

8 the individual is due to circumstances beyond the control 

9 of the individual or whenever the Secretary determines 

10 that the waiver or suspension of compliance is in the best 

11 interest of the United States. 

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

13 An obligation to repay the Secretary under this section 

14 is, for all purposes, a debt owed the United States. A dis15 charge in bankruptcy under title 11 does not discharge 

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

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

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

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

20 at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting 

21 after the items relating to subchapter VII the following 

22 new 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.’’. 


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1 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Such chapter is 

2 further amended— 

3 (1) in section 7601(a)— 

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

5 the end; 

6 (B) in paragraph (5), by striking the pe7 riod and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

9 paragraph: 

10 ‘‘(6) the Visual Impairment and Orientation 

11 and Mobility Professionals Scholarship Program pro12 vided for in subchapter VIII of this chapter.’’; 

13 (2) in section 7602— 

14 (A) in subsection (a)(1)— 

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

16 ‘‘VI, or VIII’’; and 

17 (ii) by striking ‘‘or for which a schol18 arship may be awarded under subchapter 

19 VI of this chapter’’ and inserting ‘‘for 

20 which a scholarship may be awarded under 

21 subchapter VI of this chapter, or for which 

22 a scholarship may be awarded under sub23 chapter VIII of this chapter’’; and 

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

25 and inserting ‘‘VI, or VIII’’; 


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

2 and inserting ‘‘VI, or VIII’’; and 

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

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

5 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The Secretary of Veterans 

6 Affairs shall implement subchapter VIII of chapter 76 of 

7 title 38, United States Code, as added by subsection (a), 

8 not later than six months after the date of the enactment 

9 of this Act. 

10 SEC. 4. VETERANS’ REEMPLOYMENT RIGHTS REPORT IM11 PROVEMENT. 

12 (a) ADDITIONAL REPORT REQUIREMENTS.—Section 

13 4332 of title 38, United States Code, is amended— 

14 (1) by striking ‘‘The Secretary shall’’ and in15 serting ‘‘(a) REPORT REQUIRED.—The Secretary 

16 shall’’; 

17 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (4) through 

18 (6) as paragraphs (5) through (7), respectively, and 

19 inserting after paragraph (3) the following new 

20 paragraph (4): 

21 ‘‘(4) The number of cases reviewed by the Sec22 retary of Defense under the National Committee for 

23 Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve of the 

24 Department of Defense during the fiscal year for 

25 which the report is made.’’. 


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

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

3 (4) by redesignating paragraph (7), as so redes4 ignated, as paragraph (8), and inserting after para5 graph (6) the following new paragraph (7): 

6 ‘‘(7) An indication of which of the cases re7 ported on pursuant to paragraphs (1), (2), (3), and 

8 (4) are disability-related.’’. 

9 (5) by adding at the end the following new sub10 sections: 

11 ‘‘(b) UNIFORM CATEGORIZATION OF DATA.—The 

12 Secretary shall coordinate with the Secretary of Defense, 

13 the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, the Attorney General, 

14 and the Special Counsel to ensure that the information 

15 required to be submitted as part of the report under sub16 section (a) is categorized in a uniform way. 

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

18 shall provide the information contained in the report re19 quired under subsection (a) to the Secretary of Defense, 

20 the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, the Attorney General, 

21 and the Special Counsel.’’. 

22 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

23 this section shall apply with respect to a report submitted 

24 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 


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1 SEC. 5. 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, 

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

Passed the House of Representatives July 30, 2007. 

Attest: LORRAINE C. MILLER, 

Clerk. 


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