I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2131 
To improve benefits for members of the Armed Forces and veterans and 
for their dependents and survivors. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 5, 2005 
Mr. EDWARDS (for himself, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr. ACKERMAN, Mr. ALLEN, 
Mr. BACA, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. BECERRA, Ms. BERKLEY, Mr. BERMAN, 
Mr. BERRY, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. BISHOP of New York, Mr. 
BLUMENAUER, Ms. BORDALLO, Mr. BOYD, Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Flor-
ida, Mr. BROWN of Ohio, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Mrs. CAPPS, Mr. CAPUANO, 
Mr. CARDIN, Mr. CARDOZA, Mr. CARNAHAN, Mr. CASE, Mr. CHANDLER, 
Mrs. CHRISTENSEN, Mr. CLAY, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. CLYBURN, Mr. CON-
YERS, Mr. COSTA, Mr. COSTELLO, Mr. CRAMER, Mr. CROWLEY, Mr. 
CUELLAR, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mrs. DAVIS of California, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. 
DELAHUNT, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. DICKS, Mr. DINGELL, Mr. DOGGETT, 
Mr. EMANUEL, Mr. ENGEL, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. ETHERIDGE, Mr. EVANS, 
Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA, Mr. FARR, Mr. FILNER, Mr. FORD, Mr. FRANK of 
Massachusetts, Mr. GONZALEZ, Mr. GENE
GREEN
of Texas, Mr. 
GRIJALVA, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Ms. HERSETH, 
Mr. HIGGINS, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. HINOJOSA, Mr. HOLDEN, Mr. HOLT, 
Mr. HONDA, Mr. HOYER, Mr. INSLEE, Mr. ISRAEL, Mr. JACKSON of Illi-
nois, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. JEFFERSON, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE 
JOHNSON of Texas, Mrs. JONES of Ohio, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. KENNEDY 
of Rhode Island, Mr. KILDEE, Ms. KILPATRICK of Michigan, Mr. KIND, 
Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. LANTOS, Mr. LARSEN of Washington, Mr. LARSON 
of Connecticut, Ms. LEE, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr. LIPIN-
SKI, Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California, Mrs. LOWEY, Mr. LYNCH, Mrs. 
MALONEY, Mr. MARKEY, Ms. MATSUI, Mrs. MCCARTHY, Ms. MCCOLLUM 
of Minnesota, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. MCINTYRE, Mr. 
MCNULTY, Mr. MEEHAN, Mr. MEEK of Florida, Mr. MEEKS of New 
York, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. MICHAUD, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of Cali-
fornia, Mr. MOLLOHAN, Mr. MOORE of Kansas, Mr. MURTHA, Mr. NAD-
LER, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. NORTON, Mr. OBERSTAR, Mr. OLVER, Mr. 
ORTIZ, Mr. OWENS, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. PELOSI, Mr. PETER-
SON of Minnesota, Mr. PRICE of North Carolina, Mr. RAHALL, Mr. RAN-
GEL, Mr. REYES, Mr. ROSS, Mr. ROTHMAN, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. 
RUPPERSBERGER, Mr. RUSH, Mr. RYAN of Ohio, Ms. LINDA T. SA´NCHEZ 
of California, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. SCHIFF, Ms. WASSERMAN
SCHULTZ, Ms. SCHWARTZ of Pennsylvania, Mr. SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. 
SCOTT of Virginia, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. SKELTON, Ms. 
SLAUGHTER, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Ms. SOLIS, Mr. SPRATT, Mr. 
STARK, Mr. STRICKLAND, Mr. STUPAK, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, 
Mr. TIERNEY, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. UDALL of New Mexico, Mr. VAN 
HOLLEN, Ms. WATERS, Ms. WATSON, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. WEINER, Mr. 
WEXLER, Ms. WOOLSEY, and Mr. WYNN) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, and in addi-
tion to the Committees on Ways and Means and Armed Services, for a 
period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the com-
mittee concerned 
A BILL 
To improve benefits for members of the Armed Forces and 
veterans and for their dependents and survivors. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘New GI Bill of Rights for the 21st Century Act’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
TITLE I—VETERANS HEALTH CARE 
Subtitle A—Increase in Funding 
Sec. 101. Authorization of additional funding for veterans medical care. 
Subtitle B—Equitable Medication Copayments and Enrollment Fees 
Sec. 111. Prohibition on increases in medication copayment for veterans and 
imposition of healthcare enrollment fee for veterans. 
Subtitle C—Mental Health Benefits 
Sec. 121.
Definition.
CHAPTER 1—VETERANS OF PAST DEPLOYMENTS 
Sec. 125. Six-year extension of eligibility for readjustment counseling services 
for Vietnam-era veterans. 
CHAPTER 2—MILITARY ISSUES 
Sec. 131. Department of Veterans Affairs-Department of Defense Health Care 
Sharing Incentive Fund. 
Sec. 132. Collection of data from pre- and post-deployment health assessments. 
Sec. 133. Preventative maintenance post-deployment intervention. 
CHAPTER 3—PREVENTION, EARLY DETECTION, AND TREATMENT FOR 
RETURNING TROOPS 
Sec. 141. Study to identify factors that decrease the likelihood of the develop-
ment of chronic PTSD despite combat exposure. 
Sec. 142. Extension of period of enhanced eligibility for VA health services for 
veterans who served in combat theaters of operations. 
Sec. 143. Demonstration project to station Department of Veterans Affairs psy-
chologists and psychiatrists at major demobilization sites and 
military treatment facilities. 
Sec. 144. Model programs for post-deployment mental health practice. 
Sec. 145. Performance measures for Department of Veterans Affairs health 
care administrators. 
CHAPTER 4—DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE/DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS 
AFFAIRS COUNCIL ON POST-DEPLOYMENT MENTAL HEALTH 
Sec. 151. Establishment of Council. 
Sec. 152. Duties of Council. 
CHAPTER 5—CAPACITY BUILDING IN DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS 
Sec. 161. Plan for expansion of Department of Veterans Affairs system to ex-
pand access to specialized PTSD care. 
Sec. 162. Additional Department of Veterans Affairs resources. 
CHAPTER 6—FAMILY THERAPY 
Sec. 165. Eligibility for family counseling and bereavement counseling. 
CHAPTER 7—EDUCATIONAL INITIATIVES 
Sec. 171. Training program for health-care providers. 
Sec. 172. Curriculum and protocols for cross-training of Department of Vet-
erans Affairs clinicians. 
Sec. 173. Publication of state-of-the-art post-deployment mental health prob-
lems diagnosis and treatment. 
Sec. 174. Protocols for pain management for PTSD and war-related pain. 
Sec. 175. Protocols for treatment of substance use disorders. 
Sec. 176. Protocols for diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder. 
CHAPTER 8—NATIONAL STEERING COMMITTEE ON PTSD EDUCATION 
Sec. 181. National Steering Committee. 
Sec. 182. Funding support for National Center for PTSD. 
Sec. 183. Continuing education to mental health providers. 
Sec. 184. Web-based curriculum to sponsor clinician training initiatives.