I
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 336
To amend title 38, United States Code, to enhance outreach programs carried
out by the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide for more fully
informing eligible surviving spouses and dependents of deceased veterans
of benefits available to them under the laws administered by the Sec-
retary of Veterans Affairs and to improve assistance provided at local
levels by providing for staff with specific responsibilities to assist those
individuals in obtaining benefits under those laws.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY 31, 2001
Mr. DOYLE (for himself, Mr. BALDACCI, Mr. BORSKI, Mr. BRADY of Pennsyl-
vania, Mr. COYNE, Mr. EVANS, Mr. GEKAS, Mr. HOLDEN, Mr. KAN-
JORSKI, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Mr. MASCARA, Mr. MURTHA, and
Mr. PASCRELL) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Veterans’ Affairs
A BILL
To amend title 38, United States Code, to enhance outreach
programs carried out by the Department of Veterans
Affairs to provide for more fully informing eligible sur-
viving spouses and dependents of deceased veterans of
benefits available to them under the laws administered
by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and to improve
assistance provided at local levels by providing for staff
with specific responsibilities to assist those individuals
in obtaining benefits under those laws.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Surviving Spouses and
Dependents Outreach Enhancement and Veterans Case-
work Improvement Act’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) The Department of Veterans Affairs by law
provides benefits not only to veterans of service in
the Armed Forces but also to eligible surviving
spouses and dependents of deceased veterans.
(2) There are over 600,000 surviving spouses
and dependents receiving dependency and indemnity
compensation (DIC) or death pensions from the De-
partment of Veterans Affairs.
(3) Presently, the Department of Veterans Af-
fairs does not target this population with specific
outreach efforts, nor does it provide program out-
reach coordinators designated at each regional office
of the Department to assist this population and
other survivors who may be eligible for benefits from
the Department.
(4) Approximately 1,600 veterans die daily,
many survived by widows and dependents who may
not be fully informed as to their eligibility for bene-
fits under laws administered by the Secretary of
Veterans Affairs.
(5) There is no formal program for coordination
of benefits for surviving spouses and dependents at
any level within the Department of Veterans Affairs.
(6) Due to insufficient outreach efforts, infor-
mational updates targeted specifically to surviving
spouses and dependents are not provided. Outreach
efforts to provide information concerning changes in
service-connection for disabilities presumed associ-
ated with exposure to herbicides and ionizing radi-
ation and former prisoners of war have been insuffi-
cient to inform survivors of benefits to which they
may now be entitled.
SEC. 3. NATIONAL GOAL TO FULLY INFORM AND ASSIST
SURVIVING SPOUSES AND DEPENDENTS RE-
GARDING ELIGIBILITY FOR BENEFITS AND
HEALTH CARE SERVICES.
(a) NATIONAL GOAL.—Congress hereby declares it to
be a national goal to fully inform surviving spouses and
dependents regarding their eligibility for benefits and
health care services under laws administered by the Sec-
retary of Veterans Affairs.
(b) COOPERATIVE EFFORTS ENCOURAGED.—Con-
gress hereby encourages all elements within the Depart-
ment of Veterans Affairs and private and public sector en-
tities (including veterans service organizations and vet-
erans widows organizations) to work cooperatively to fully
inform the surviving spouses and dependents of veterans
regarding their eligibility for benefits and health care serv-
ices under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans
Affairs.
SEC. 4. REQUIREMENT FOR OUTREACH EFFORTS AND
DEDICATED STAFF AT EACH REGIONAL OF-
FICE.
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress and the Department of
Veterans Affairs have historically targeted certain specific
populations for outreach efforts concerning benefits under
laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs.
Groups currently targeted for such outreach efforts and
for which program outreach coordinators have been des-
ignated at each regional office of the Department of Vet-
erans Affairs are the following:
(1) Former prisoners of war.
(2) Women veterans.
(3) Minority veterans.
(4) Active duty personnel.
(5) Homeless veterans.
(6) Elderly veterans.
(7) Recently separated veterans.
(b) ELIGIBLE DEPENDENT DEFINED.—Paragraph
(2) of section 7721(b) of title 38, United States Code, is
amended to read as follows:
‘‘(2) the term ‘eligible dependent’ means a
spouse, surviving spouse (whether or not remarried),
child (regardless of age or marital status), or parent
of a person who served in the active military, naval,
or air service.’’.
(c) IMPROVED
OUTREACH
PROGRAM.—(1) Sub-
chapter II of chapter 77 of title 38, United States Code,
is amended by adding at the end the following new section:
‘‘§ 7727. Outreach for eligible dependents
‘‘(a) In carrying out this subchapter, the Secretary
shall ensure that the needs of eligible dependents are fully
addressed.
‘‘(b)(1) In order to carry out subsection (a), the Sec-
retary shall assign such employees of the Veterans Bene-
fits Administration as the Secretary considers appropriate
to conduct outreach programs and provide outreach serv-
ices for eligible dependents. In areas where the number
of eligible dependents warrant doing so, the Secretary
shall assign at least one employee in the Veterans Benefits
Administration regional office to serve as a full-time coor-