[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2313 Introduced in House (IH)]

  1st Session
                                H. R. 2313

 To authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to expand the scope of 
             services provided to veterans in Vet Centers.


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                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 12, 1995

   Mr. Smith of New Jersey introduced the following bill; which was 
             referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs

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                                 A BILL


 
 To authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to expand the scope of 
             services provided to veterans in Vet Centers.
    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SCOPE OF SERVICES PROVIDED IN VET CENTERS.

    (a) Expansion of Services.--Section 1712A of title 38, United 
States Code, is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)(1), by inserting ``and, to the extent 
        otherwise authorized by law, may furnish such additional needed 
        services as described in subsection (i)'' in the first sentence 
        after ``life''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new subsections:
    ``(h) The Secretary may, to the extent resources and facilities are 
available, furnish to any veteran who served in combat during World War 
II or the Korean conflict counseling in a center to assist such veteran 
in overcoming the effects of the veteran's combat experience.
    ``(i) In operating centers under this section, the Secretary may 
provide (1) preventive health care services, (2) medical services 
reasonably necessary in preparation for hospital admission, and (3) 
referral services to assist in obtaining specialized care. The 
Secretary shall provide such services through such health care 
personnel as the Secretary determines appropriate.''.
    (b) Report.--Not later than one year after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the Committees on 
Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and House of Representatives a report 
relating to the implementation of the amendments made by subsection 
(a). The report shall include the following:
            (1) The number of veterans provided services described in 
        section 1712A(i) of title 38, United States Code, as added by 
        subsection (a).
            (2) The number of centers which provided services described 
        in that section.
            (3) An assessment of the effect providing such services has 
        had on access to and timeliness of service delivery.
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