I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3016 

To direct the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 

to jointly operate the Federal Recovery Coordination Program, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011 

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

Affairs, 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 direct the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of 

Veterans Affairs to jointly operate the Federal Recovery 

Coordination Program, 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. JOINT OPERATION OF FEDERAL RECOVERY CO4 ORDINATION PROGRAM. 

5 (a) FEDERAL RECOVERY COORDINATION PRO6 GRAM.—In carrying out the Federal Recovery Coordina7 tion Program (in this section referred to as the ‘‘ProVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:21 Sep 27, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3016.IH H3016

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1 gram’’), the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of 

2 Veterans Affairs shall ensure that— 

3 (1) the program is operated jointly by the Sec4 retaries; 

5 (2) the administration of the Program is not 

6 delegated to an individual outside the respective of7 fice of each Secretary; 

8 (3) the program assists— 

9 (A) members of the Armed Forces with se10 vere or catastrophic injuries or illnesses who are 

11 unlikely to return to active duty and will most 

12 likely be medically separated under chapter 61 

13 of title 10, United States Code; and 

14 (B) members of the Armed Forces and vet15 erans whose individual circumstances (including 

16 illness, injury, mental health, family situation, 

17 and unique benefit needs) are determined by 

18 the Secretary concerned to cause difficulties to 

19 the member or veteran in transitioning to civil20 ian life; 

21 (4) in referring members and veterans de22 scribed in paragraph (3) to the Program, the Sec23 retary of each military department and the Sec24 retary of Veterans Affairs makes such referrals at 

25 the earliest time feasible, including by the date that 


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1 is 180 days before the last day of the month in 

2 which a member is expected to be retired or sepa3 rated from the Armed Forces; and 

4 (5) each department and agency of the Federal 

5 Government, including the Department of Defense 

6 and the Department of Veterans Affairs, provides a 

7 Federal Recovery Coordinator of the Program with 

8 the information, coordination, and cooperation nec9 essary for the Coordinator to assist members and 

10 veterans participating in the Program, including the 

11 maximum amount of information, coordination, and 

12 cooperation available to allow the Coordinator to— 

13 (A) ensure the efficient recovery, transi14 tion, and reintegration of such members and 

15 veterans; 

16 (B) act as a liaison between such members 

17 and veterans and the team of care providers 

18 and other personnel involved with the recovery, 

19 transition, and reintegration of the member or 

20 veteran, regardless of whether such team is 

21 under the Secretary of Defense or the Secretary 

22 of Veterans Affairs; and 

23 (C) work closely with case and care-man24 agement programs that assist such members 

25 and veterans. 


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1 (b) PLAN AND MEMORANDUM OF UNDER2 STANDING.—Not later than 180 days after the date of the 

3 enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense and the 

4 Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall— 

5 (1) jointly develop a plan to carry out sub6 section (a); 

7 (2) enter into a memorandum of understanding 

8 to jointly carry out the plan beginning 90 days after 

9 the date on which the memorandum is entered into; 

10 and 

11 (3) jointly submit to the appropriate congres12 sional committees such plan and memorandum. 

13 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 

14 on which the memorandum of understanding under para15 graph (2) of subsection (b) goes into effect, the Secretary 

16 of Defense and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall 

17 jointly submit to the appropriate congressional committees 

18 a report describing and evaluating the implementation of 

19 such memorandum and plan under paragraph (1) of such 

20 subsection. 

21 (d) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES

22 DEFINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate con23 gressional committees’’ means the following: 

24 (1) The Committees on Armed Services of the 

25 House of Representatives and Senate. 


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1 (2) The Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of the 

2 House of Representatives and Senate. 

Æ 


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