I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 733 
To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to improve mental health care 
for veterans through the establishment of a minimum requirement for 
the number of Vet Centers per State. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 1, 2023 
Ms. SHERRILL (for herself, Mr. KEAN of New Jersey, Mr. SABLAN, Mr. 
FITZPATRICK, Mr. COHEN, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. TRONE, Mr. 
RUPPERSBERGER, Ms. ROSS, Mr. VAN DREW, Ms. LOIS FRANKEL of 
Florida, Ms. HOULAHAN, and Mr. CASTEN) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 
A BILL 
To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to improve men-
tal health care for veterans through the establishment 
of a minimum requirement for the number of Vet Cen-
ters per State. 
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 ‘‘Veterans Census-En-
abled National Treatment Equitable Resource Supplement 
for Mental Health Act of 2023’’ or the ‘‘Vet CENTERS 
for Mental Health Act of 2023’’. 
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SEC. 2. MINIMUM REQUIREMENT FOR NUMBER OF VET 
CENTERS PER STATE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
shall ensure that, by not later than one year after the date 
of enactment of this Act, the number of covered Vet Cen-
ters located in each State is at least the minimum required 
number described in subsection (b) with respect to that 
State. 
(b) MINIMUM REQUIRED NUMBER.—The minimum 
required number described in this subsection is the fol-
lowing: 
(1) With respect to each State that is one of 
the several States not located in the contiguous 
United States, the District of Columbia, the Com-
monwealth of Puerto Rico, or any other territory or 
possession of the United States that is not one of 
the several States, the greater of the following: 
(A) One covered Vet Center per State. 
(B) The total number of covered Vet Cen-
ters that were located in the State on January 
1, 2020. 
(2) With respect to each of the several States 
located in the contiguous United States and not re-
ferred to in paragraph (1), the greater of the fol-
lowing: 
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(A) One covered Vet Center per every 
30,000 square miles of land area in the State. 
(B) One covered Vet Center per every 
55,000 veterans located in the State (calculated 
by using the number of veterans in the State as 
determined by the Director of the United States 
Census Bureau for the most recent census). 
(c) ESTABLISHMENT
OF ADDITIONAL VET CEN-
TERS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out subsection 
(a), the Secretary shall establish such additional cov-
ered Vet Centers in each State as may be necessary 
to meet the minimum required number described in 
subsection (b) with respect to the State. 
(2) EXISTING FACILITIES.—In establishing ad-
ditional covered Vet Centers pursuant to paragraph 
(1), the Secretary may establish such covered Vet 
Centers at facilities made available to the Secretary 
by the head of a State, local government, or feder-
ally recognized Indian tribe to carry out this section, 
regardless of whether such facility is made available 
at a cost to the Secretary. 
(3) VET CENTER OUTSTATIONS.—If the estab-
lishment of more than one additional covered Vet 
Center in a State is necessary to meet the minimum 
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