Vet Center Eligibility Expansion Act
PL 116-176 (H.R.1812), enacted 10/20/2020

[116th Congress Public Law 176]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



[[Page 134 STAT. 849]]

Public Law 116-176
116th Congress

                                 An Act


 
      To amend title 38, United States Code, to furnish Vet Center 
 readjustment counseling and related mental health services to certain 
          individuals. <<NOTE: Oct. 20, 2020 -  [H.R. 1812]>> 

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled, <<NOTE: Vet Center 
Eligibility Expansion Act.>> 
SECTION 1. <<NOTE: 38 USC 101 note.>>  SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Vet Center Eligibility Expansion 
Act''.
SEC. 2. EXPANSION OF VET CENTER SERVICES.

    Section 1712A of title 38, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) by striking ``clauses (i) through (iv)'' both places it 
        appears and inserting ``clauses (i) through (vi)'';
            (2) by striking ``in clause (v)'' both places it appears and 
        inserting ``in clause (vii)'';
            (3) in subsection (a)(1)(C)--
                    (A) by redesignating clauses (iv) and (v) as clauses 
                (vi) and (vii), respectively; and
                    (B) by inserting after clause (iii) the following 
                new clauses:
            ``(iv) Any individual who is a veteran or member of the 
        Armed Forces, including a member of a reserve component of the 
        Armed Forces, who served--
                    ``(I) on active service in response to a national 
                emergency or major disaster declared by the President; 
                or
                    ``(II) in the National Guard of a State under orders 
                of the chief executive of that State in response to a 
                disaster or civil disorder in such State.
            ``(v) Any individual who participated in a drug interdiction 
        operation as a member of the Coast Guard, regardless of the 
        location of that operation.''; and
            (4) in subsection (h), by adding at the end the following 
        new paragraphs:
            ``(4) The term `active service' has the meaning given that 
        term in section 101 of title 10.
            ``(5) The term `civil disorder' has the meaning given that 
        term in section 232 of title 18.''.
SEC. 3. PLAN TO PROVIDE VET CENTER SERVICES TO VETERANS LIVING IN 
                    AREAS WHERE NO VET CENTER IS LOCATED.

    The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall submit to the Committees on 
Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and House of Representatives a plan to 
provide Vet Center services to veterans living in

[[Page 134 STAT. 850]]

geographic areas where no Vet Center is located, including in the United 
States insular areas.

    Approved October 20, 2020.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY--H.R. 1812:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

HOUSE REPORTS: No. 116-75 (Comm. on Veterans' Affairs).
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD:
                                                        Vol. 165 (2019):
                                    May 21, considered and passed House.
                                                        Vol. 166 (2020):
                                    Sept. 24, considered and passed 
                                        Senate.

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