I 
113TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3399 
To amend title 38, United States Code, to make certain clarifications and 
improvements in the academic and vocational counseling programs ad-
ministered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 30, 2013 
Ms. CHU (for herself, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. COOK, and Mr. DENHAM) introduced 
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 
A BILL 
To amend title 38, United States Code, to make certain 
clarifications and improvements in the academic and vo-
cational counseling programs administered by the Sec-
retary of Veterans Affairs. 
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 Education 
Counseling Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. CLARIFICATION AND IMPROVEMENT OF THE PRO-
VISION 
OF 
ACADEMIC 
AND 
VOCATIONAL 
COUNSELING TO ELIGIBLE VETERANS BY 
THE SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 
(a) ACADEMIC COUNSELING AND EDUCATIONAL IN-
FORMATION SERVICE.—Section 3697A of title 38, United 
States Code, is amended— 
(1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘counseling 
services, including’’ and inserting ‘‘a program of 
counseling services, to be known as the ‘Academic 
Counseling and Educational Information Service’. 
Such counseling services shall include’’; 
(2) in subsection (e), by adding at the end the 
following: ‘‘In making such information available 
under this subsection, the Secretary shall make 
available information about the definitions, eligibility 
requirements, and services provided under this sec-
tion and information about how the counseling serv-
ices provided under this section differ from the serv-
ices provided under section 3104(a)(2) of this title. 
At a minimum, the Secretary shall make such infor-
mation available to an individual described in sub-
section (b) before the individual applies for edu-
cational assistance described in subsection (b)(1).’’; 
and 
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(3) by adding at the end the following new sub-
sections: 
‘‘(f) The Secretary shall maintain an Internet website 
on which— 
‘‘(1) a person is able to request counseling serv-
ices under this section in such a manner that clearly 
distinguishes such services from counseling services 
available under section 3104(a)(2) of this title; and 
‘‘(2) an individual receiving counseling services 
under this section is able to receive such services 
using a web-based counseling tool and to confiden-
tially access aptitude tests. 
‘‘(g) The primary goal of the counseling services pro-
vided under this section is to provide to individuals with 
assistance in— 
‘‘(1) pursuing postsecondary education and 
training opportunities; 
‘‘(2) obtaining information regarding available 
postsecondary educational and training opportuni-
ties; 
‘‘(3) obtaining career-related information and 
data on available postsecondary educational and 
training opportunities; 
‘‘(4) selecting a program of education or train-
ing; and 
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