I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4325 
To amend title 38, United States Code, to expand the Center for Minority 
Veterans and the Advisory Committee on Minority Veterans to include 
services for historically underserved veterans, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 23, 2023 
Mrs. CHERFILUS-MCCORMICK (for herself, Ms. SA´NCHEZ, Ms. TLAIB, Ms. 
BUDZINSKI, Mr. MCGARVEY, Mr. GOMEZ, Mr. CASTRO of Texas, Mr. 
JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. CARBAJAL, and Mr. LIEU) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 
A BILL 
To amend title 38, United States Code, to expand the Center 
for Minority Veterans and the Advisory Committee on 
Minority Veterans to include services for historically un-
derserved veterans, and for other purposes. 
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 ‘‘Historically Under-
served Veterans Inclusion Act of 2023’’. 
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SEC. 2. EXPANSION OF CENTER FOR MINORITY VETERANS 
AND ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON MINORITY 
VETERANS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF VET-
ERANS AFFAIRS. 
(a) CENTER FOR MINORITY AND HISTORICALLY UN-
DERSERVED VETERANS.—Section 317 of title 38, United 
States Code, is amended— 
(1) in the heading, by inserting ‘‘and His-
torically Underserved’’ after ‘‘Minority’’; 
(2) by inserting ‘‘Executive’’ before ‘‘Director’’ 
each place it appears; 
(3) in subsection (a)— 
(A) by inserting ‘‘and Historically Under-
served’’ after ‘‘Minority’’; and 
(B) by striking ‘‘the Center a’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘the Center an’’; 
(4) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘veterans who 
are minorities’’ each place it appears and inserting 
‘‘covered veterans’’; 
(5) in subsection (g)— 
(A) in paragraph (1)— 
(i) by striking ‘‘ ‘veterans who are mi-
norities’ ’’ means and inserting ‘‘ ‘covered 
veterans’ ’’; and 
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designated by the Director of the Office of National 
Drug Control Policy).’’; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph: 
‘‘(5) The duties of the Committee are to advise the 
Secretary on the following: 
‘‘(A) Modifying programs of the Department re-
lating to policy, regulations, and legislative affairs to 
improve the representation of covered veterans with-
in the Department. 
‘‘(B) Expanding benefits and services under the 
laws administered by the Secretary for covered vet-
erans, including such benefits and services relating 
to health care, suicide prevention, and homelessness. 
‘‘(C) Incorporating research and practices from 
outreach programs to improve the provision of 
health care and burial benefits under the laws ad-
ministered by the Secretary to covered veterans. 
‘‘(D) Addressing issues raised by State and 
local organizations that serve covered veterans. 
‘‘(E) Issuing, to private, non-profit, and faith- 
based organizations that serve covered veterans, 
guidance relating to addressing the needs of covered 
veterans. 
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‘‘(F) Helping covered veterans receive benefits 
and services under the laws administered by the Sec-
retary to which covered veterans are entitled. 
‘‘(G) Improving the methods by which covered 
veterans may submit feedback to the Department 
with respect to policies and regulations of the Sec-
retary, including through stakeholder forums, social 
media, and virtual town halls. 
‘‘(H) Developing outreach and engagement to 
covered veterans. 
‘‘(I) Commemorating the contributions of cov-
ered veterans to their respective communities. 
‘‘(J) To explore options on how the Secretary 
may incorporate lessons learned utilizing journey 
mapping, human center design, social determinants 
of wellness metrics, or other means to illustrate the 
life experience cycle of minority and historically un-
derserved veterans to create a more holistic under-
standing of important life cycle events and their im-
pact.’’; 
(4) by striking subsection (e); 
(5) by redesignating subsection (d) as sub-
section (e); 
(6) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol-
lowing new subsection: 
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‘‘(d)(1) The Secretary shall, on a biennial basis, carry 
out a review to identify any disparities among groups of 
veterans in the receipt of benefits under the laws adminis-
tered by the Secretary. In carrying out any such review, 
the Secretary shall consider relevant recommendations 
from the Committee and data analysis conducted by the 
Department. 
‘‘(2) Not later than 120 days after the date on which 
Secretary completes any such review, the Secretary shall 
submit to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of the 
House of Representatives and the Senate a report that 
includes, if applicable, recommendations with respect to 
extending services of Center for Minority and Historically 
Underserved Veterans under section 517 of this title to 
groups of veterans the Secretary determines to be histori-
cally underserved pursuant to such review.’’; and 
(7) in subsection (e) (as so redesignated)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘section,’’ and all that fol-
lows through ‘‘who is—’’ and inserting ‘‘sec-
tion:’’; 
(B) 
by 
redesignating 
paragraphs 
(1) 
through (5) as subparagraphs (A) through (E), 
respectively (and adjusting the margins accord-
ingly); 
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(C) by inserting before subparagraph (A) 
(as so redesignated) the following new para-
graphs: 
‘‘(1) The term ‘covered veterans’ means vet-
erans who are minority group members and veterans 
who are historically underserved. 
‘‘(2) The term ‘minority group member’ means 
an individual who is—’’; 
(D) in paragraph (2) (as added by sub-
paragraph (C))— 
(i) in subparagraph (D) (as so redes-
ignated), by striking ‘‘or’’; 
(ii) in subparagraph (E) (as so redes-
ignated), by striking the period at the end 
and inserting a semicolon; and 
(iii) by adding at the end of the fol-
lowing new subparagraphs: 
‘‘(F) Middle Eastern or North African 
American; or 
‘‘(G) identified with more than one race or 
ethnicity 
described 
in 
subparagraphs 
(A) 
through (F).’’; and 
(E) by adding after paragraph (2) (as 
added by subparagraph (D)) the following new 
paragraph: 
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‘‘(3) The term ‘veterans who are historically 
underserved’ means veterans the Committee deter-
mines have experienced difficulty in receiving bene-
fits under the laws administered by the Secretary to 
which such veterans are entitled on the basis of one 
or more of the following: 
‘‘(A) Sexual orientation. 
‘‘(B) Gender identity. 
‘‘(C) English language proficiency. 
‘‘(D) United States citizenship. 
‘‘(E) Religion. 
‘‘(F) Membership in a group of veterans 
the Secretary determines appropriate pursuant 
to the biennial review required under subsection 
(d).’’. 
Æ 
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