I 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5332 

To provide improved benefits and procedures for the transition of members 

of the Armed Forces from combat zones to noncombat zones and for 

the transition of veterans from service in the Armed Forces to civilian 

life. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 8, 2004 

Mr. MEEHAN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on Armed 

Services and Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To provide improved benefits and procedures for the transition of members of the Armed Forces from combat zones 

to noncombat zones and for the transition of veterans 

from service in the Armed Forces to civilian life. 

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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Matthew Boisvert Help Extend Respect Owed to Every 

6 Soldier (HEROES) Act’’. 
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1 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

2 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

TITLE I—INITIAL CARE 

Sec. 101. Access of veterans service organizations and military service organizations to veterans at military and veterans hospitals. 

Sec. 102. Authority to provide civilian clothing to members traveling in connection with medical evacuation. 

TITLE II—HEALTH CARE 

Sec. 201. Minimum standards for postdeployment medical examinations. 

Sec. 202. Requirement for vouchers for psychiatric services not offered in Department of Veterans Affairs clinics. 

Sec. 203. Health registry for veterans of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. 

Sec. 204. Rescission of Department of Veterans Affairs memorandum. 

TITLE III—TRANSITION ASSISTANCE 

Sec. 301. Disabled Servicemembers Support System. 

Sec. 302. Reauthorization of Service Members Occupational Conversion and 

Training Act. 

Sec. 303. Sense of Congress on DoD/VA information sharing. 

TITLE IV—HOMEOWNERSHIP 

Sec. 401. Mortgage assistance. 

TITLE V—EDUCATION 

Sec. 501. Repeal of $1,200 reduction in basic pay required for participation by 

members of the Armed Forces in the Montgomery GI Bill educational assistance program. 

3 TITLE I—INITIAL CARE 

4 SEC. 101. ACCESS OF VETERANS SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS 

5 AND MILITARY SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS TO 

6 VETERANS AT MILITARY AND VETERANS 

7 HOSPITALS. 

8 (a) ACCESS TO VA FACILITIES.—The Secretary of 

9 Veterans Affairs shall allow access by representatives of 

10 military and veterans’ service organizations and by rep11 resentatives of veterans’ services agencies of States to vet-
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1 erans being furnished hospital care and medical services 

2 by the Secretary in order to provide information and coun3 seling to those veterans on the care and services author4 ized to be provided under laws administered by the Sec5 retary. Access to veterans under this subsection shall be 

6 provided at each facility of the Department at which the 

7 Secretary furnishes care and services to veterans and at 

8 each non-Department facility at which the Secretary fur9 nishes such care and services. 

10 (b) ACCESS TO DOD FACILITIES.—The Secretary of 

11 Defense shall allow access by representatives of military 

12 and veterans’ service organizations and by representatives 

13 of veterans’ services agencies of States to members of the 

14 Armed Forces being furnished hospital care and medical 

15 services by the Secretary in order to provide information 

16 and counseling to those veterans on the care and services 

17 authorized to be provided under laws administered by the 

18 Secretary of Defense and under laws administered by the 

19 Secretary of Veterans Affairs. Access to servicemembers 

20 under this subsection shall be provided at each military 

21 treatment facility at each other facility at which the Sec22 retary furnishes such care and services. 

23 (c) CONSENT REQUIRED.— Access to a veteran 

24 under this section is subject to the consent of the veteran. 
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1 SEC. 102. AUTHORITY TO PROVIDE CIVILIAN CLOTHING TO 

2 MEMBERS TRAVELING IN CONNECTION WITH 

3 MEDICAL EVACUATION. 

4 Section 1047 of title 10, United States Code, is 

5 amended—

6 (1) by inserting ‘‘(b) CERTAIN ENLISTED MEM7 BERS.—’’ before ‘‘The Secretary’’; and 

8 (2) by inserting after the section heading the 

9 following: 

10 ‘‘(a) MEMBERS TRAVELING IN CONNECTION WITH

11 MEDICAL EVACUATION.—The Secretary of the military 

12 department concerned may furnish civilian clothing and 

13 personal care products to a member at a cost not to exceed 

14 $250, or reimburse a member for the purchase of civilian 

15 clothing in an amount not to exceed $250, in the case of 

16 a member who—

17 ‘‘(1) is medically evacuated for treatment in a 

18 medical facility by reason of an illness or injury in19 curred or aggravated while on active duty; or 

20 ‘‘(2) after being medically evacuated as de21 scribed in paragraph (1), is in an authorized travel 

22 status from a medical facility to another location ap23 proved by the Secretary.’’. 
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1 TITLE II—HEALTH CARE 

2 SEC. 201. MINIMUM STANDARDS FOR POSTDEPLOYMENT 

3 MEDICAL EXAMINATIONS. 

4 (a) QUALITY ASSURANCE.—The Secretary of De5 fense, acting through the Assistant Secretary of Defense 

6 for Health Affairs, shall establish an effective quality as7 surance program that will help ensure that the Armed 

8 Forces comply with the requirements of section 1074f(d) 

9 of title 10, United States Code. 

10 (b) UNIFORM APPLICABILITY.—The Secretary shall 

11 ensure that the content and standards prescribed for 

12 predeployment and postdeployment medical examinations 

13 are applied uniformly at all installations and medical fa14 cilities of the Armed Forces where medical examinations 

15 required under this section are performed for members of 

16 the Armed Forces returning from a deployment as part 

17 of Operation Iraqi Freedom or Operation Enduring Free18 dom. 

19 (c) INCLUSION OF SCREENING FOR MENTAL

20 HEALTH DISORDERS.—Any such postdeployment exam21 ination shall include content and standards for screening 

22 for mental health disorders. In the case of acute post-trau23 matic stress disorder and delayed onset post-traumatic 

24 stress disorder, such examination shall specifically include 

25 a personal evaluation to identify stressors experienced by 
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1 servicemembers that have the potential to lead to post2 traumatic stress disorders. An examination consisting 

3 solely or primarily of an assessment questionnaire com4 pleted by a member does not meet the requirements of 

5 this subsection for a medical examination and does not 

6 meet the requirements of this section for an assessment. 

7 An examination of a member required under this section 

8 may not be waived by the Secretary (or any official exer9 cising the Secretary’s authority under this section) or by 

10 the member. 

11 SEC. 202. REQUIREMENT FOR VOUCHERS FOR PSY12 CHIATRIC SERVICES NOT OFFERED IN DE13 PARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS CLINICS. 

14 The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall provide 

15 vouchers to veterans entitled to psychiatric and mental 

16 health services at medical facilities of the Department of 

17 Veterans Affairs for use at non-Department facilities in 

18 the case of eligible veterans who reside more than 50 miles 

19 from the nearest such facility of the Department. 

20 SEC. 203. HEALTH REGISTRY FOR VETERANS OF OPER21 ATION IRAQI FREEDOM AND OPERATION EN22 DURING FREEDOM. 

23 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Veterans 

24 Affairs shall establish and maintain a special record con25 taining health status information concerning individuals 
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1 who as members of the Armed Forces served during Oper2 ation Iraqi Freedom or Operation Enduring Freedom. The 

3 registry shall be used to record demographic information 

4 on those individuals and their mental and physical health 

5 history, including signs of post-traumatic stress disorder. 

6 (b) CLAIMS FOR COMPENSATION.—The Secretary 

7 shall include in the information maintained in the record 

8 under subsection (a) information on claims for veterans’ 

9 disability compensation due to ill health. 

10 (c) COMPATIBILITY WITH DOD REGISTRY.—The 

11 Secretary shall ensure that the information in the record 

12 under this section be collected and maintained so as to 

13 enable easy cross-reference with a registry for the Depart14 ment of Defense established under this Act. 

15 (d) NOTIFICATION OF RESEARCH DEVELOPMENTS.— 

16 The Secretary shall notify individuals in the Registry from 

17 time to time on significant developments in research on 

18 the health consequences of military service during the op19 erations specified in subsection (a). 

20 SEC. 204. RESCISSION OF DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AF21 FAIRS MEMORANDUM. 

22 (a) RESCISSION OF MEMORANDUM.—The memo23 randum of the Department of Veterans Affairs dated July 

24 18, 2002, from the Deputy Under Secretary for Health 

25 for Operations and Management with the subject ‘‘Status 
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1 of VHA Enrollment and Associated Issues’’ is hereby re2 scinded. Marketing activities of Directors of health service 

3 networks (known as ‘‘Veterans Integrated Service Net4 works’’) of the Department of Veterans Affairs to enroll 

5 new veterans within their respective networks shall be car6 ried out without regard to such memorandum. 

7 (b) FUNDING LIMITATION.—No funds available to 

8 the Department of Veterans Affairs may be used to carry 

9 out the memorandum referred to in subsection (a) or oth10 erwise to implement the policy contained in that memo11 randum. 

12 TITLE III—TRANSITION 

13 ASSISTANCE 

14 SEC. 301. DISABLED SERVICEMEMBERS SUPPORT SYSTEM. 

15 (a) DSSS PROGRAM.—The Secretary of each military 

16 department shall carry out a program to provide a support 

17 system for members of the Armed Forces who incur severe 

18 disabilities on or after September 11, 2001. The program 

19 shall include a system of advocacy and follow-up with per20 sonal support to assist those members as they transition 

21 from military service to the civilian community. 

22 (b) SERVICE EXECUTIVE AGENT.—The Secretary of 

23 each military department shall designate an executive 

24 agent for each of the Armed Forces under that Secretary’s 

25 jurisdiction to have the authority and responsibility to 
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1 carry out the program under this section throughout that 

2 Armed Force and, in cooperation with the Secretary of 

3 Homeland Security, for members of the Coast Guard with 

4 severe disabilities. 

5 (c) PERSONNEL.—The Secretary shall ensure that 

6 there are sufficient personnel assigned to the program so 

7 that the the ratio of severely disabled members or former 

8 members eligible for the program at any time to the num9 ber of personnel assigned to the program with specific re10 sponsibility for advocacy and follow-up for assigned mem11 bers and former members is not greater than 30:1. 

12 (d) AUTHORIZATION.—There are authorized to be ap13 propriated for fiscal years 2005 through 2009 such sums 

14 as may be necessary to carry out the programs under this 

15 section. 

16 SEC. 302. REAUTHORIZATION OF SERVICE MEMBERS OCCU17 PATIONAL CONVERSION AND TRAINING ACT. 

18 (a) EMPLOYMENT TRAINING ASSISTANCE.—The Sec19 retary of Defense shall carry out a program to assist eligi20 ble persons in obtaining employment through participation 

21 in programs of significant training for employment in sta22 ble and permanent positions. The program shall be carried 

23 out through payments to employers who employ and train 

24 eligible persons in such positions, to defray the costs of 

25 necessary training. 
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1 (b) AGREEMENTS WITH STATE AGENCIES.—The 

2 Secretary (or other implementing official) may enter into 

3 contracts or agreements with State approving agencies (as 

4 designated pursuant to section 3671 of title 38, United 

5 States Code) or other State agencies to carry out duties 

6 under the program. The Secretary (or other implementing 

7 official) shall require each such State approving agency 

8 or other State agency to submit to the Secretary (or other 

9 official) a monthly certification of charges submitted for 

10 expenses under the program. 

11 (c) ELIGIBLE PERSONS.—For purposes of the pro12 gram under this section, a person is an eligible person if 

13 the person is an eligible person under the Service Members 

14 Occupational Conversion and Training Act of 1992 (10 

15 U.S.C. 1143 note) or if the person, while a member of 

16 the Armed Forces on active duty, served in Operation En17 during Freedom or Operation Iraqi Freedom. 

18 (d) INCORPORATION OF PROVISIONS OF 1992 ACT.—

19 In carrying out the program under this section, the Sec20 retary shall, to the maximum extent practicable, incor21 porate the provisions of the Service Members Occupational 

22 Conversion and Training Act of 1992 (10 U.S.C. 1143 

23 note). 
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1 SEC. 303. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON DOD/VA INFORMATION 

2 SHARING. 

3 It is the sense of Congress that the Secretary of De4 fense and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs—

5 (1) should jointly identify ways to improve the 

6 coordination and cooperation between the two de7 partments to support the provision of veterans’ ben8 efits to members and former members of the Armed 

9 Forces who have been deployed as described in sec10 tion 1074f(a) of title 10, United States Code, as well 

11 as to other members and former members of the 

12 Armed Forces; and 

13 (2) in particular, should specifically address 

14 compatibility of health care filing systems, consist15 ency of claims forms, consistency of medical exami16 nations, and shared electronic databases with appro17 priate privacy protections. 

18 TITLE IV—HOMEOWNERSHIP 

19 SEC. 401. MORTGAGE ASSISTANCE. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 230 of the National 

21 Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1715u) is amended by adding at 

22 the end the following new subsection: 

23 ‘‘(g)(1) The Secretary shall provide assistance and 

24 supplemental assistance under this subsection with respect 

25 to mortgages of members of the Armed Forces who are 
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1 seriously injured during service in the Armed Forces, for 

2 the purpose of avoiding foreclosure on the mortgages. 

3 ‘‘(2) An individual shall be eligible for assistance 

4 under this subsection only if— 

5 ‘‘(A) the individual has been seriously injured 

6 while on active duty in the Armed Forces; and 

7 ‘‘(B) the income of the individual is materially 

8 reduced (in the determination of the Secretary) be9 cause of such injury. 

10 ‘‘(3) A mortgage shall be eligible for assistance under 

11 this subsection only if— 

12 ‘‘(A) the mortgagor is an eligible member of the 

13 Armed Forces; and 

14 ‘‘(B) the dwelling that secures the loan subject 

15 to the mortgage is the primary residence of the eligi16 ble member of the Armed Forces. 

17 ‘‘(4)(A) Subject only to the availability of amounts 

18 provided under appropriations Acts, the Secretary shall 

19 provide assistance under this subsection in the form of 

20 monthly payments made by the Secretary to the mort21 gagee of an eligible mortgage on behalf of any eligible 

22 member of the Armed Forces. 

23 ‘‘(B) Assistance payments under this paragraph shall 

24 be made for the 2-year period beginning upon the serious 

25 injury of the eligible member of the Armed Forces. 
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1 ‘‘(C) Assistance payments under this paragraph shall 

2 be in the amount determined by the Secretary to be nec3 essary to pay any monthly charges during such period for 

4 principal, interest, taxes, assessments, ground rents, haz5 ard insurance, and mortgage insurance premiums (unless 

6 otherwise provided under section 222(c)), and may include 

7 an amount necessary to make the payments on the mort8 gage current. 

9 ‘‘(5)(A) Subject only to the availability of amounts 

10 provided under appropriations Acts, the Secretary shall 

11 provide supplemental assistance under this subsection in 

12 the form of monthly supplemental payments made by the 

13 Secretary to the mortgagee of an eligible mortgage on be14 half of any eligible member of the Armed Forces. 

15 ‘‘(B) Supplemental assistance payments under this 

16 paragraph shall be made for the period beginning upon 

17 the expiration of the 2-year period under paragraph 

18 (4)(B) and ending upon payment in full of the obligation 

19 under the eligible mortgage. 

20 ‘‘(C) Supplemental assistance payments under this 

21 paragraph shall be made in the amount equal to the dif22 ference between— 

23 ‘‘(i) the amount determined by the Secretary to 

24 be necessary to pay any monthly charges for prin25 cipal, interest, taxes, assessments, ground rents, 
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1 hazard insurance, and mortgage insurance premiums 

2 (unless otherwise provided under section 222(c)); 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(ii) 30 percent of the monthly income of the 

5 household of the mortgagor. 

6 ‘‘(D) Supplemental assistance payments under this 

7 paragraph may include an amount necessary to make the 

8 payments on the mortgage current. 

9 ‘‘(6) The Secretary may prescribe additional require10 ments to carry out this subsection. 

11 ‘‘(7) For purposes of this subsection: 

12 ‘‘(A) The term ‘active duty’ means full-time 

13 duty in the active military service of the United 

14 States. The term includes full-time training duty, 

15 annual training duty, and attendance, while in the 

16 active military service, at a school designated as a 

17 service school by law or by the Secretary of the mili18 tary department concerned. 

19 ‘‘(B) The term ‘Armed Forces’ means the 

20 Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Coast 

21 Guard, and includes members of the National Oce22 anic and Atmospheric Administration and the Public 

23 Health Service when assigned to and serving with 

24 the Armed Forces. 
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1 ‘‘(C) The term ‘eligible member of the Armed 

2 Forces’ means an individual who meets the require3 ments under paragraph (2). 

4 ‘‘(D) The term ‘eligible mortgage’ means a 

5 mortgage that meets the requirements under para6 graph (3). The term ‘mortgage’ means all first mort7 gages and includes mortgages not insured under this 

8 title. 

9 ‘‘(E) The term ‘income’ means income from all 

10 sources and members of the household, including 

11 any benefits and annuities, as determined in accord12 ance with criteria prescribed by the Secretary. 

13 ‘‘(8) There are authorized to be appropriated such 

14 sums as may be necessary to carry out this subsection.’’. 

15 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Assistance may be provided 

16 under the amendments made by subsection (a) only with 

17 respect to eligible members of the Armed Forces seriously 

18 injured on or after September 11, 2001. 
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1 TITLE V—EDUCATION 

2 SEC. 501. REPEAL OF $1,200 REDUCTION IN BASIC PAY RE3 QUIRED FOR PARTICIPATION BY MEMBERS 

4 OF THE ARMED FORCES IN THE MONT5 GOMERY GI BILL EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE 

6 PROGRAM. 

7 Any reduction in the basic pay of an individual re8 ferred to in section 3011(b) of title 38, United States 

9 Code, by reason of such section 3011(b), or of any indi10 vidual referred to in section 3012(c) of such title by reason 

11 of such section 3012(c), as of the date of the enactment 

12 of this Act shall cease, commencing with the first month 

13 beginning after such date, and any obligation of such indi14 vidual under such section 3011(b) or 3012(c), as the case 

15 may be, as of the day before such date shall be considered 

16 to be fully satisfied as of such date.

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