I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 566
To authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to conduct Stand Down events
and to establish a pilot program that will provide for an annual Stand
Down event in each State.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY 3, 1999
Mr. VENTO (for himself, Ms. DANNER, Mr. HOLDEN, Mr. BISHOP, Ms. WOOL-
SEY, Ms. CARSON, Mr. OLVER, Ms. RIVERS, Mr. UNDERWOOD, Mr.
MCNULTY, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. DOYLE, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. MCDERMOTT,
Mr. RAHALL, Mrs. MEEK of Florida, Mr. FILNER, Ms. LEE, Mr. SKEL-
TON, Ms. KILPATRICK, Mr. BORSKI, Mr. PALLONE, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr.
EVANS, Ms. BROWN of Florida, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. LAFALCE, Mr.
ENGLISH, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. METCALF, Mr. GREEN of Texas, Mr.
KUCINICH, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. FROST, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Mr.
GEORGE MILLER of California, Mr. MARTINEZ, Mr. SHOWS, Mr. OBER-
STAR, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. GEJDENSON, Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA, Ms. MCCAR-
THY of Missouri, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota, Mr. RO-
MERO-BARCELO´, Mr. ALLEN, Mrs. JONES of Ohio, Mr. LANTOS, Mr.
MINGE, Mr. STUPAK, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. SABO, and Mrs. CAPPS)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
Veterans’ Affairs
A BILL
To authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to conduct
Stand Down events and to establish a pilot program
that will provide for an annual Stand Down event in
each State.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Stand Down Author-
ization Act’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds that—
(1) Stand Down events have proven to be an ef-
fective form of outreach and a successful way to pro-
vide assistance to veterans who have most often not
utilized or availed themselves of other existing serv-
ice delivery functions;
(2) the Secretary of Veterans Affairs should be
fully authorized to provide sufficient assistance to
meet the needs of all veterans at Stand Down
events;
(3) the several branches of the United States
Armed Forces and the National Guard, which have
provided valuable support and services to establish
and maintain the delivery of services to veterans at
Stand Down events, should continue to do so to the
extent that their various missions, responsibilities,
and roles permit; and
(4) national and local veterans’ organizations,
which have also provided valuable support and serv-
ices to veterans at Stand Down events and have
been instrumental to the success of such events,
should be commended and recognized for their out-
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standing contributions and should be strongly en-
couraged to continue to provide volunteers and re-
sources at such events.
SEC. 3. STAND DOWN EVENTS.
Subchapter VII of chapter 17 of title 38, United
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the follow-
ing new section:
‘‘§ 1775. Stand Down events
‘‘(a) The Secretary may (directly or in conjunction
with a governmental or other entity)—
‘‘(1) carry out Stand Down events; and
‘‘(2) in connection with any Stand Down event,
whether carried out under paragraph (1) or
otherwise—
‘‘(A) provide outreach services;
‘‘(B) use or provide any personal property
of the Department of Veterans Affairs that the
Secretary determines is not otherwise reason-
ably needed by the Department of Veterans Af-
fairs; and
‘‘(C) provide any other benefit or service of
the Department of Veterans Affairs that the
Secretary considers appropriate.
‘‘(b) For purposes of this section, the term ‘Stand
Down event’ means an event to provide veterans who are
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without a home, unemployed, experiencing health or social
adjustment challenges, or otherwise in need of assistance,
with 1 to 3 days of safety and security, access to assist-
ance such as food, shelter, clothing, benefits certification,
and health care, and any other form of assistance that
the Secretary considers appropriate.
‘‘(c) The Secretary shall establish and implement a
pilot program under which the Secretary shall carry out
(directly or in conjunction with a governmental or other
entity) a single Stand Down event in each State in each
calendar year, beginning in 2000.
‘‘(d) Not later than February 1 of each year, the Sec-
retary shall submit to the Senate and House of Represent-
atives a report containing—
‘‘(1) for the preceding year, a description of the
implementation of the pilot program established
under subsection (c);
‘‘(2) the Secretary’s recommendations, if any,
for legislation regarding the pilot program; and
‘‘(3) any other matter that the Secretary con-
siders appropriate.’’.
SEC. 4. CLERICAL AMENDMENT.
The table of sections at the beginning of chapter 17
of title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding
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after the item relating to section 1774 the following new
item:
‘‘1775. Stand Down events.’’.
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