[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 336 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 336

  To amend title 38, United States Code, to enhance outreach programs 
 carried out by the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide for more 
 fully informing eligible surviving spouses and dependents of deceased 
 veterans of benefits available to them under the laws administered by 
the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and to improve assistance provided at 
 local levels by providing for staff with specific responsibilities to 
    assist those individuals in obtaining benefits under those laws.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 31, 2001

    Mr. Doyle (for himself, Mr. Baldacci, Mr. Borski, Mr. Brady of 
    Pennsylvania, Mr. Coyne, Mr. Evans, Mr. Gekas, Mr. Holden, Mr. 
Kanjorski, Mr. Larson of Connecticut, Mr. Mascara, Mr. Murtha, and Mr. 
  Pascrell) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend title 38, United States Code, to enhance outreach programs 
 carried out by the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide for more 
 fully informing eligible surviving spouses and dependents of deceased 
 veterans of benefits available to them under the laws administered by 
the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and to improve assistance provided at 
 local levels by providing for staff with specific responsibilities to 
    assist those individuals in obtaining benefits under those laws.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Surviving Spouses and Dependents 
Outreach Enhancement and Veterans Casework Improvement Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) The Department of Veterans Affairs by law provides 
        benefits not only to veterans of service in the Armed Forces 
        but also to eligible surviving spouses and dependents of 
        deceased veterans.
            (2) There are over 600,000 surviving spouses and dependents 
        receiving dependency and indemnity compensation (DIC) or death 
        pensions from the Department of Veterans Affairs.
            (3) Presently, the Department of Veterans Affairs does not 
        target this population with specific outreach efforts, nor does 
        it provide program outreach coordinators designated at each 
        regional office of the Department to assist this population and 
        other survivors who may be eligible for benefits from the 
        Department.
            (4) Approximately 1,600 veterans die daily, many survived 
        by widows and dependents who may not be fully informed as to 
        their eligibility for benefits under laws administered by the 
        Secretary of Veterans Affairs.
            (5) There is no formal program for coordination of benefits 
        for surviving spouses and dependents at any level within the 
        Department of Veterans Affairs.
            (6) Due to insufficient outreach efforts, informational 
        updates targeted specifically to surviving spouses and 
        dependents are not provided. Outreach efforts to provide 
        information concerning changes in service-connection for 
        disabilities presumed associated with exposure to herbicides 
        and ionizing radiation and former prisoners of war have been 
        insufficient to inform survivors of benefits to which they may 
        now be entitled.

SEC. 3. NATIONAL GOAL TO FULLY INFORM AND ASSIST SURVIVING SPOUSES AND 
              DEPENDENTS REGARDING ELIGIBILITY FOR BENEFITS AND HEALTH 
              CARE SERVICES.

    (a) National Goal.--Congress hereby declares it to be a national 
goal to fully inform surviving spouses and dependents regarding their 
eligibility for benefits and health care services under laws 
administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs.
    (b) Cooperative Efforts Encouraged.--Congress hereby encourages all 
elements within the Department of Veterans Affairs and private and 
public sector entities (including veterans service organizations and 
veterans widows organizations) to work cooperatively to fully inform 
the surviving spouses and dependents of veterans regarding their 
eligibility for benefits and health care services under laws 
administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs.

SEC. 4. REQUIREMENT FOR OUTREACH EFFORTS AND DEDICATED STAFF AT EACH 
              REGIONAL OFFICE.

    (a) Findings.--Congress and the Department of Veterans Affairs have 
historically targeted certain specific populations for outreach efforts 
concerning benefits under laws administered by the Secretary of 
Veterans Affairs. Groups currently targeted for such outreach efforts 
and for which program outreach coordinators have been designated at 
each regional office of the Department of Veterans Affairs are the 
following:
            (1) Former prisoners of war.
            (2) Women veterans.
            (3) Minority veterans.
            (4) Active duty personnel.
            (5) Homeless veterans.
            (6) Elderly veterans.
            (7) Recently separated veterans.
    (b) Eligible Dependent Defined.--Paragraph (2) of section 7721(b) 
of title 38, United States Code, is amended to read as follows:
            ``(2) the term `eligible dependent' means a spouse, 
        surviving spouse (whether or not remarried), child (regardless 
        of age or marital status), or parent of a person who served in 
        the active military, naval, or air service.''.
    (c) Improved Outreach Program.--(1) Subchapter II of chapter 77 of 
title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 
following new section:
``Sec. 7727. Outreach for eligible dependents
    ``(a) In carrying out this subchapter, the Secretary shall ensure 
that the needs of eligible dependents are fully addressed.
    ``(b)(1) In order to carry out subsection (a), the Secretary shall 
assign such employees of the Veterans Benefits Administration as the 
Secretary considers appropriate to conduct outreach programs and 
provide outreach services for eligible dependents. In areas where the 
number of eligible dependents warrant doing so, the Secretary shall 
assign at least one employee in the Veterans Benefits Administration 
regional office to serve as a full-time coordinator of outreach 
programs and services for eligible dependents in that region.
    ``(2) Responsibilities of employees assigned to outreach functions 
under paragraph (1) shall include providing eligible dependents with 
(A) information about benefits under laws administered by the 
Secretary, (B) assistance in claims preparation and inquiry resolution, 
and (C) in the case of a dependent of a deceased veteran for whom 
necessary records are incomplete, assistance in obtaining such records 
and other necessary information concerning the veteran.
    ``(c) Whenever an eligible dependent first applies for any benefit 
under laws administered by the Secretary, the Secretary shall provide 
to the dependent information concerning eligibility for benefits and 
health care services under programs administered by the Secretary. For 
purposes of this paragraph, a request for burial or related benefits, 
including an application for life insurance proceeds, shall be treated 
by the Secretary as an initial application for benefits.
    ``(d)(1) Information provided an eligible dependent under this 
section shall include information on how to apply for benefits for 
which the dependent may be eligible, including information about 
assistance available under subsection (b) and section 7722(d) of this 
title.
    ``(2) In the case of eligible dependents who are members of 
distinct beneficiary populations (such as survivors of deceased 
veterans), the Secretary shall ensure that information provided under 
this section includes specific information about benefits relating to 
that population.
    ``(e) For any geographic area in which there is a significant 
population of eligible dependents whose primary language is a language 
other than English, the Secretary shall make information provided under 
this subsection available to those dependents in the dominant language 
in that area (in addition to English).
    ``(f) Outreach services and assistance shall be provided for 
eligible dependents through the same means that are used for other 
specially targeted groups.
    ``(g) The Secretary shall ensure that the availability of outreach 
services and assistance for eligible dependents under this subchapter 
is made known through a variety of means, including the Internet, 
correspondence of the Department, announcements in veterans 
publications, announcements to the media, telephone directories, direct 
correspondence to congressional offices, military bases public affairs 
offices, military retiree affairs offices, and United States embassies.
    ``(h) The Secretary shall support the Department's periodic 
evaluation under section 527 of this title concerning the Department's 
efforts to address the needs of eligible dependents.
    ``(i) The Secretary shall submit to Congress an annual report on 
the programs of the Department addressing the information and 
assistance needs of eligible dependents. The Secretary shall include in 
each such report the following:
            ``(1) Information about expenditures, costs, and workload 
        under the program of the Department directed towards the 
        information and assistance needs of eligible dependents.
            ``(2) Information about outreach efforts directed toward 
        eligible dependents.
            ``(3) Information about emerging needs within the program 
        that relate to other provisions of law, including section 7725 
        of this title with respect to language needs of eligible 
        dependents.
            ``(4) Information as to the timeline for implementation of 
        improvements to meet existing and emerging needs of eligible 
        dependents in addition to those specified in this section.''.
    (2) The table of sections at the beginning of such chapter is 
amended by inserting after the item relating to section 7726 the 
following new item:

``7727. Outreach for eligible dependents.''.
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