I
106TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 5552
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 surviving spouses and dependents of benefits available to them
under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and to
improve local assistance levels by providing dedicated staff to assist
surviving spouses and dependents in obtaining benefits under those laws.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
OCTOBER 25, 2000
Mr. DOYLE (for himself, Mr. EVANS, Mr. FILNER, Mr. MURTHA, Mr.
BALDACCI, Mr. HOLDEN, Mr. BORSKI, Mr. LARSON, Mr. KANJORSKI,
Mr. MASCARA, Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, Mr. FATTAH, Mr. FORBES,
Mr. COYNE, Mr. KLINK, Mr. PASCRELL, Mr. BARCIA, Ms. BROWN of
Florida, and Ms. DEGETTE) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred 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 surviving
spouses and dependents of benefits available to them
under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans
Affairs, and to improve local assistance levels by pro-
viding dedicated staff to assist surviving spouses and
dependents 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) 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.
(2) The Department of Veterans Affairs does
not target this population for specific outreach ef-
forts, nor does it provide program outreach coordi-
nators designated at each regional office of the De-
partment to assist this population and other sur-
vivors who may be eligible for benefits from the De-
partment.
(3) Approximately 1,000 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.
(4) There is no formal program for coordination
of benefits for surviving spouses and dependents at
any level within the Department of Veterans Affairs.
(5) 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 adequately 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, private and public sector entities
(including veterans service organizations), and veterans
widows and surviving spouses organizations to work coop-
eratively to fully inform the surviving spouses and depend-
ents of veterans regarding their eligibility for benefits and
health care services under laws administered by the Sec-
retary 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-
dinator of outreach programs and services for eligible de-
pendents in that region.
‘‘(2) Responsibilities of employees assigned to out-
reach functions under paragraph (1) shall include pro-
viding eligible dependents with information about benefits
under laws administered by the Secretary and with assist-
ance in claims preparation and inquiry resolution.
‘‘(2) Information about outreach efforts di-
rected toward eligible dependents.
‘‘(3) Information about emerging needs within
the program that relate to other provisions of law,
including section 7725 of this title with respect to
language needs of eligible dependents.
‘‘(4) Information as to the timeline for imple-
mentation of improvements to meet existing and
emerging needs of eligible dependents in addition to
those specified in this section.’’.
(2) The table of sections at the beginning of such
chapter is amended by inserting after the item relating
to section 7726 the following new item:
‘‘7727. Outreach for eligible dependents.’’.
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