I 
110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2005 
To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve health care for veterans 
who live in rural areas, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 23, 2007 
Mr. SALAZAR introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 
A BILL 
To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve health 
care for veterans who live in rural areas, 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 ‘‘Rural Veterans Health 
Care Improvement Act of 2007’’. 
SEC. 2. TRAVEL REIMBURSEMENT FOR VETERANS RECEIV-
ING TREATMENT AT FACILITIES OF THE DE-
PARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 
Section 111 of title 38, United States Code, is 
amended— 
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(1) in subsection (a)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘subsistence),’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘subsistence at a rate equivalent to the rate 
provided to Federal employees under section 
5702 of title 5),’’; and 
(B) by striking ‘‘traveled,’’ and inserting 
‘‘(at a rate equivalent to the rate provided to 
Federal employees under section 5704 of title 
5),’’; 
(2) by striking subsection (g); and 
(3) by redesignating subsection (h) as sub-
section (g). 
SEC. 3. CENTERS FOR RURAL HEALTH RESEARCH, EDU-
CATION, AND CLINICAL ACTIVITIES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 73 of 
title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 
end the following new section: 
‘‘§ 7330A. Centers for rural health research, edu-
cation, and clinical activities 
‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF CENTERS.—The Secretary, 
through the Director of the Office of Rural Health, shall 
establish and operate not less than one and not more than 
five centers of excellence for rural health research, edu-
cation, and clinical activities, which shall— 
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‘‘(1) conduct research on the provision of health 
services in rural areas; 
‘‘(2) develop specific models to be used by the 
Department in furnishing health services to veterans 
in rural areas; 
‘‘(3) provide education and training for health- 
care professionals of the Department on the fur-
nishing of health services to veterans in rural areas; 
and 
‘‘(4) develop and implement innovative clinical 
activities and systems of care for the Department 
for the furnishing of health services to veterans in 
rural areas. 
‘‘(b) GEOGRAPHIC DISPERSION.—The Secretary shall 
ensure that the centers authorized under this section are 
located at health-care facilities that are geographically dis-
persed throughout the United States. 
‘‘(c) SELECTION CRITERIA.—The Secretary may not 
designate a health care facility as a location for a center 
under this section unless— 
‘‘(1) the peer review panel established under 
subsection (d) determines that the proposal sub-
mitted by such facility meets the highest competitive 
standards of scientific and clinical merit; and 
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‘‘(2) the Secretary determines that the facility 
has, or may reasonably be anticipated to develop, the 
following: 
‘‘(A) An arrangement with an accredited 
medical school to provide residents with edu-
cation and training in health services for vet-
erans in rural areas. 
‘‘(B) The ability to attract the participa-
tion of scientists who are capable of ingenuity 
and creativity in health care research efforts. 
‘‘(C) A policymaking advisory committee, 
composed of appropriate health care and re-
search representatives of the facility and of the 
affiliated school or schools, to advise the direc-
tors of such facility and such center on policy 
matters pertaining to the activities of such cen-
ter during the period of the operation of such 
center. 
‘‘(D) The capability to conduct effectively 
evaluations of the activities of such center. 
‘‘(d) PANEL TO EVALUATE PROPOSALS.—(1) The 
Director of the Office of Rural Health shall establish a 
panel— 
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‘‘(A) to evaluate the scientific and clinical merit 
of proposals submitted to establish centers under 
this section; and 
‘‘(B) to provide advice to the Director regarding 
the implementation of this section. 
‘‘(2) The panel shall review each proposal received 
from the Secretary and shall submit its views on the rel-
ative scientific and clinical merit of each such proposal to 
the Secretary. 
‘‘(3) The panel established under paragraph (1) shall 
be comprised of experts in the fields of public health re-
search, education, and clinical care. 
‘‘(4) Members of the panel shall serve as consultants 
to the Department for a period not to exceed two years. 
‘‘(5) The panel shall not be subject to the Federal 
Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.). 
‘‘(e) FUNDING.—(1) There are authorized to be ap-
propriated to the Medical Care Account and the Medical 
and Prosthetic Research Account of the Department of 
Veterans Affairs such sums as may be necessary for the 
support of the research and education activities of the cen-
ters operated under this section. 
‘‘(2) There shall be allocated to the centers operated 
under this section, from amounts authorized to be appro-
priated to the Medical Care Account and the Medical and 
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Prosthetic Research Account by paragraph (1), such 
amounts as the Under Secretary of health considers ap-
propriate for such centers. Such amounts shall be allo-
cated through the Director of the Office of Rural Health. 
‘‘(3) Activities of clinical and scientific investigation 
at each center operated under this section— 
‘‘(A) shall be eligible to compete for the award 
of funding from funds appropriated for the Medical 
and Prosthetic Research Account; and 
‘‘(B) shall receive priority in the award of fund-
ing from such account to the extent that funds are 
awarded to projects for research in the care of rural 
veterans.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 
at the beginning of chapter 73 of such title is amended 
by inserting after the item relating to section 7330 the 
following new item: 
‘‘7330A. Centers for rural health research, education, and clinical activities.’’. 
SEC. 4. TRANSPORTATION GRANTS FOR RURAL VETERANS 
SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS. 
(a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Veterans 
Affairs shall establish a grant program to provide in-
novative transportation options to veterans in remote 
rural areas. 
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(2) USE
OF
FUNDS.—Grants awarded under 
this section may be used by State veterans’ service 
agencies and veterans service organizations to— 
(A) assist veterans in remote rural areas to 
travel to Department of Veterans Affairs med-
ical centers; and 
(B) otherwise assist in providing medical 
care to veterans in remote rural areas. 
(3) MAXIMUM
AMOUNT.—The amount of a 
grant under this section may not exceed $50,000. 
(4) NO MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—The recipi-
ent of a grant under this section shall not be re-
quired to provide matching funds as a condition for 
receiving such grant. 
(b) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall prescribe 
regulations for— 
(1) evaluating grant applications under this sec-
tion; and 
(2) otherwise administering the program estab-
lished by this section. 
(c) VETERANS
SERVICE
ORGANIZATION
DEFINI-
TION.—In this section, the term ‘‘veterans service organi-
zation’’ means any organization recognized by the Sec-
retary of Veterans Affairs for the representation of vet-
erans under section 5902 of title 38, United States Code. 
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(d) AUTHORIZATION
OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
are authorized to be appropriated $3,000,000 for each of 
fiscal years 2008 through 2012 to carry out this section. 
SEC. 5. DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS ON ALTERNATIVES 
FOR EXPANDING CARE FOR VETERANS IN 
RURAL AREAS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Veterans Af-
fairs, through the Director of the Office of Rural Health, 
shall carry out demonstration projects to examine alter-
natives for expanding care for veterans in rural areas, in-
cluding the following: 
(1) Establishing a partnership between the De-
partment of Veterans Affairs and the Centers for 
Medicare and Medicaid Services of the Department 
of Health and Human Services to coordinate care 
for veterans in rural areas at critical access hospitals 
(as designated or certified under section 1820 of the 
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395i–4)). 
(2) Establishing a partnership between the De-
partment of Veterans Affairs and the Department of 
Health and Human Services to coordinate care for 
veterans in rural areas at community health centers. 
(3) Expanding coordination between the De-
partment of Veterans Affairs and the Indian Health 
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Service to expand care for Native American vet-
erans. 
(b) GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION.—The Secretary of 
Veterans Affairs shall ensure that the demonstration 
projects authorized under subsection (a) are located at fa-
cilities that are geographically distributed throughout the 
United States. 
(c) REPORT.—Not later than two years after the date 
of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans 
Affairs shall submit a report on the results of the dem-
onstration projects conducted under subsection (a) to— 
(1) the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs and the 
Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; and 
(2) the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs and the 
Committee on Appropriations of the House of Rep-
resentatives. 
SEC. 6. REPORT TO CONGRESS ON MATTERS RELATED TO 
CARE FOR VETERANS WHO LIVE IN RURAL 
AREAS. 
(a) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Secretary of Veterans 
Affairs shall submit to Congress each year, together with 
documents submitted to Congress in support of the budget 
of the President for the fiscal year beginning in such year 
(as submitted pursuant to section 1105 of title 31, United 
States Code), an assessment, current as of the fiscal year 
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ending in the year before such report is submitted, of the 
following: 
(1) The implementation of the provisions of this 
Act, including the amendments made by this Act. 
(2) The establishment and function of the Of-
fice of Rural Health under section 7308 of title 38, 
United States Code. 
(b) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR INITIAL RE-
PORT.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall submit to 
Congress, together with the first report submitted under 
subsection (a), an assessment of the following: 
(1) The fee-basis health-care program required 
by subsection (b) of section 212 of the Veterans 
Benefits, Health Care, and Information Technology 
Act of 2006 (Public Law 109–461; 120 Stat. 3422). 
(2) The outreach program required by section 
213 of such Act. 
Æ 
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