I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 32 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the outreach activities 

of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 6, 2009 

Mr. MCINTYRE (for himself, Mr. KISSELL, and Mr. ETHERIDGE) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the 

outreach activities of the Department 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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Veterans Outreach Im5 provement Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. IMPROVEMENT OF OUTREACH ACTIVITIES WITHIN 

7 DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 5 of title 38, United 

9 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol10 lowing new subchapter: 


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1 ‘‘SUBCHAPTER IV—OUTREACH ACTIVITIES 

2 ‘‘§ 561. Outreach activities: coordination of activities 

3 within the Department 

4 ‘‘(a) COORDINATION PROCEDURES.—The Secretary 

5 shall establish and maintain procedures for ensuring the 

6 effective coordination of the outreach activities of the De7 partment between and among the following: 

8 ‘‘(1) The Office of the Secretary. 

9 ‘‘(2) The Office of Public Affairs. 

10 ‘‘(3) The Veterans Health Administration. 

11 ‘‘(4) The Veterans Benefits Administration. 

12 ‘‘(5) The National Cemetery Administration. 

13 ‘‘(b) ANNUAL REVIEW OF PROCEDURES.—The Sec14 retary shall— 

15 ‘‘(1) annually review the procedures in effect 

16 under subsection (a) for the purpose of ensuring 

17 that those procedures meet the requirements of that 

18 subsection; and 

19 ‘‘(2) make such modifications to those proce20 dures as the Secretary considers appropriate in light 

21 of such review in order to better achieve that pur22 pose. 


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1 ‘‘§ 562. Outreach activities: cooperative activities 

2 with States; grants to States for improve3 ment of outreach 

4 ‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this section to 

5 provide for assistance by the Secretary to State and coun6 ty veterans agencies to carry out programs in locations 

7 within the respective jurisdictions of such agencies that 

8 offer a high probability of improving outreach and assist9 ance to veterans, and to the spouses, children, and parents 

10 of veterans, to ensure that such individuals are fully in11 formed about, and assisted in applying for, any veterans’ 

12 and veterans-related benefits and programs (including 

13 State veterans’ programs) for which they may be eligible. 

14 ‘‘(b) PRIORITY FOR AREAS WITH HIGH CONCENTRA15 TION OF ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUALS.—In providing assist16 ance under this section, the Secretary shall give priority 

17 to State and county veteran agencies in locations— 

18 ‘‘(1) that have relatively large concentrations of 

19 populations of veterans and other individuals re20 ferred to in subsection (a); or 

21 ‘‘(2) that are experiencing growth in the popu22 lation of veterans and other individuals referred to 

23 in subsection (a). 

24 ‘‘(c) CONTRACTS FOR OUTREACH SERVICES.—The 

25 Secretary may enter into a contract with a State or county 

26 veterans agency in order to carry out, coordinate, improve, 


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1 or otherwise enhance outreach by the Department and the 

2 State or county (including outreach with respect to a State 

3 or county veterans program). As a condition of entering 

4 into any such contract, the Secretary shall require the 

5 agency to submit annually to the Secretary a three-year 

6 plan for the use of any funds provided to the agency pur7 suant to the contract and to meet the annual outcome 

8 measures developed by the Secretary under subsection 

9 (d)(4). 

10 ‘‘(d) GRANTS.—(1) The Secretary may make a grant 

11 to a State or county veterans agency to be used to carry 

12 out, coordinate, improve, or otherwise enhance— 

13 ‘‘(A) outreach activities, including activities car14 ried out pursuant to a contract entered into under 

15 subsection (c); and 

16 ‘‘(B) activities to assist in the development and 

17 submittal of claims for veterans and veterans-related 

18 benefits, including activities carried out pursuant to 

19 a contract entered into under subsection (c). 

20 ‘‘(2) A State veterans agency that receives a grant 

21 under this subsection may award all or a portion of the 

22 grant to county veterans agencies within the State to pro23 vide outreach services for veterans, on the basis of the 

24 number of veterans residing in the jurisdiction of each 

25 county. 


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1 ‘‘(3) To be eligible for a grant under this subsection, 

2 a State or county veterans agency shall submit to the Sec3 retary an application containing such information and as4 surances as the Secretary may require. The Secretary 

5 shall require a State or county veterans agency to include, 

6 as part of the agency’s application— 

7 ‘‘(A) a three-year plan for the use of the grant; 

8 and 

9 ‘‘(B) a description of the programs through 

10 which the agency will meet the annual outcome 

11 measures developed by the Secretary under para12 graph (4). 

13 ‘‘(4)(A) The Secretary shall develop and provide to 

14 the recipient of a grant under this subsection written guid15 ance on annual outcome measures, Department policies, 

16 and procedures for applying for grants under this section. 

17 ‘‘(B) The Secretary shall annually review the per18 formance of each State or county veterans agency that re19 ceives a grant under this section. 

20 ‘‘(C) In the case of a State or county veterans agency 

21 that is a recipient of a grant under this subsection that 

22 does not meet the annual outcome measures developed by 

23 the Secretary, the Secretary shall require the agency to 

24 submit a remediation plan under which the agency shall 

25 describe how and when it plans to meet such outcome 


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1 measures. The Secretary must approve such plan before 

2 the Secretary may make a subsequent grant to that agen3 cy under this subsection. 

4 ‘‘(5) No portion of any grant awarded under this sub5 section may be used for the purposes of administering the 

6 grant funds or to subsidize the salaries of State or county 

7 veterans service officers or other employees of a State or 

8 county veterans agency that receives a grant under this 

9 subsection. 

10 ‘‘(6) Federal funds provided to a State or county vet11 erans agency under this subsection may not be used to 

12 provide more than 50 percent of the total cost of the State 

13 or county government activities described in paragraph (1) 

14 and shall be used to expand existing outreach programs 

15 and services and not to supplant State and local funding 

16 that is otherwise available. 

17 ‘‘(7) In awarding grants under this subsection, the 

18 Secretary shall give priority to State and county veterans 

19 agencies that serve the largest populations of veterans. 

20 ‘‘(8)(A) In a case in which a county government does 

21 not have a county veterans agency, the county government 

22 may be awarded a grant under this subsection to establish 

23 such an agency. 

24 ‘‘(B) In a case in which a county government does 

25 not have a county veterans agency and does not seek to 


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1 establish such an agency through the use of a grant under 

2 this subsection, the State veterans agency for the State 

3 in which the county is located may use a grant under this 

4 section to provide outreach services for that county. 

5 ‘‘(C) In the case of a State in which no State or coun6 ty veterans agency seeks to receive a grant under this sub7 section, the funds that would otherwise be allocated for 

8 that State shall be reallocated to those States in which 

9 county veterans agencies exist and have sought grants 

10 under this subsection. 

11 ‘‘(9) A grant under this subsection may be used to 

12 provide education and training, including on-the-job train13 ing, for State, county, and local government employees 

14 who provide (or when trained will provide) veterans out15 reach services in order for those employees to obtain ac16 creditation in accordance with procedures approved by the 

17 Secretary and, for employees so accredited, for purposes 

18 of continuing education. 

19 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this section: 

20 ‘‘(1) The term ‘State veterans agency’ means 

21 the element of the government of a State that has 

22 responsibility for programs and activities of that 

23 State government relating to veterans benefits. 

24 ‘‘(2) The term ‘county veterans agency’ means 

25 the element of the government of a county or muVerDate Nov 24 2008 18:12 Jan 10, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H32.IH H32

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1 nicipality that has responsibility for programs and 

2 activities of that county or municipal government re3 lating to veterans benefits. 

4 ‘‘§ 563. Outreach activities: funding 

5 ‘‘(a) SEPARATE ACCOUNT.—Amounts for the out6 reach activities of the Department under this subchapter 

7 shall be budgeted and appropriated through a separate ap8 propriation account. 

9 ‘‘(b) SEPARATE STATEMENT OF AMOUNT.—In the 

10 budget justification materials submitted to Congress in 

11 support of the Department budget for any fiscal year (as 

12 submitted with the budget of the President under section 

13 1105(a) of title 31), the Secretary shall include a separate 

14 statement of the amount requested to be appropriated for 

15 that fiscal year for the account specified in subsection (a). 

16 ‘‘§ 564. Definition of outreach 

17 ‘‘For purposes of this subchapter, the term ‘outreach’ 

18 means the act or process of taking steps in a systematic 

19 manner to provide information, services, and benefits 

20 counseling to veterans, and the survivors of veterans, who 

21 may be eligible to receive benefits under the laws adminis22 tered by the Secretary to ensure that those individuals are 

23 fully informed about, and assisted in applying for, any 

24 benefits and programs under such laws for which they may 

25 be eligible. 


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1 ‘‘§ 565. Authorization of appropriations 

2 ‘‘There is authorized to be appropriated to the Sec3 retary for each of fiscal years 2010, 2011, and 2012, 

4 $25,000,000 to carry out this subchapter, including mak5 ing grants under section 562(d) of this title.’’. 

6 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

7 at the beginning of such chapter is amended by adding 

8 at the end the following new items: 

‘‘SUBCHAPTER IV—OUTREACH ACTIVITIES

‘‘561. Outreach activities: coordination of activities within the Department. 

‘‘562. Outreach activities: cooperative activities with States; grants to States for 

improvement of outreach. 

‘‘563. Outreach activities: funding. 

‘‘564. Definition of outreach. 

‘‘565. Authorization of appropriations.’’. 

9 (c) DEADLINE FOR IMPLEMENTATION.—The Sec10 retary of Veterans Affairs shall implement the outreach 

11 activities required under subchapter IV of chapter 5 of 

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

13 by not later than 120 days after the date of the enactment 

14 of this Act. 

Æ 


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