[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1746 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1746

To amend title 38, United States Code, to require that the Secretary of 
  Veterans Affairs establish a single ``1-800'' telephone number for 
access by the public to veterans benefits counselors of the Department 
 of Veterans Affairs and to ensure that such counselors have available 
  to them information about veterans benefits provided by all Federal 
           departments and agencies and by State governments.


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                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 8, 2001

   Mr. Baker (for himself, Mr. Simmons, and Mr. Smith of New Jersey) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                           Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend title 38, United States Code, to require that the Secretary of 
  Veterans Affairs establish a single ``1-800'' telephone number for 
access by the public to veterans benefits counselors of the Department 
 of Veterans Affairs and to ensure that such counselors have available 
  to them information about veterans benefits provided by all Federal 
           departments and agencies and by State governments.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,
That section 7723 of title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding 
at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(c)(1) The Secretary shall provide for a single toll-free (so-
called `1-800') telephone number to be available for access by the 
public to veterans benefits counselors of the Department.
    ``(2) The Secretary shall ensure that (in addition to information 
about benefits provided under laws administered by the Secretary) 
veterans benefits counselors of the Department have available to them 
information about veterans benefits provided by--
            ``(A) all other departments and agencies of the United 
        States and
            ``(B) State governments.
    ``(3) For purposes of this subsection, the term `veterans benefits' 
means benefits provided to persons based upon their own service or the 
service of someone else in the Armed Forces.''.
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