[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2306 Introduced in House (IH)]






109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2306

   To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve programs of the 
   Department of Veterans Affairs for outreach to veterans and their 
                family members, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 11, 2005

Mr. Strickland (for himself, Mr. Dingell, Mr. Case, Mr. Gutierrez, Mr. 
 Filner, Mr. Bishop of Georgia, Ms. Bordallo, Mr. Cardoza, Mr. Towns, 
 Mr. Salazar, Mr. Brown of Ohio, Mrs. Christensen, Ms. Jackson-Lee of 
 Texas, Mr. Holden, Mr. Wynn, Mr. Sherman, Mr. Honda, Ms. Herseth, and 
Mr. Ruppersberger) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
                   the Committee on Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve programs of the 
   Department of Veterans Affairs for outreach to veterans and their 
                family members, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Veterans Outreach Act of 2005''.

SEC. 2. RESCISSION OF DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS MEMORANDUM.

    (a) Rescission of Memorandum.--The memorandum of the Department of 
Veterans Affairs dated July 18, 2002, from the Deputy Under Secretary 
for Health for Operations and Management with the subject ``Status of 
VHA Enrollment and Associated Issues'' is hereby rescinded. Marketing 
activities of directors of health service networks (known as ``Veterans 
Integrated Service Networks'') of the Department of Veterans Affairs to 
enroll new veterans within their respective networks shall be carried 
out without regard to such memorandum.
    (b) Funding Limitation.--No funds available to the Department of 
Veterans Affairs may be used to carry out the memorandum referred to in 
subsection (a) or otherwise to implement the policy contained in that 
memorandum.

SEC. 3. OUTREACH ACTIVITIES.

    (a) Annual Plan Required.--Subchapter II of chapter 77 of title 38, 
United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new 
sections:
``Sec. 7728. Annual plan on outreach activities
    ``(a) Annual Plan Required.--The Secretary shall prepare each year 
a plan for the outreach activities of the Department for the following 
year.
    ``(b) Elements.--Each annual plan under subsection (a) shall 
include the following:
            ``(1) Plans for efforts to identify veterans who are not 
        enrolled or registered with the Department for benefits or 
        services under the programs administered by the Secretary.
            ``(2) Plans for informing veterans and their dependents of 
        modifications of the benefits and services under the programs 
        administered by the Secretary, including eligibility for 
        medical and nursing care and services.
    ``(c) Coordination in Development.--In developing an annual plan 
under subsection (a), the Secretary shall consult with the following:
            ``(1) Directors or other appropriate officials of 
        organizations recognized by the Secretary under section 5902 of 
        this title.
            ``(2) Directors or other appropriate officials of State and 
        local education and training programs.
            ``(3) The Administration on Aging of the Department of 
        Health and Human Services.
            ``(4) Representatives of nongovernmental organizations that 
        carry out veterans outreach programs.
            ``(5) Representatives of State and local veterans 
        employment organizations.
            ``(6) Businesses and professional organizations.
            ``(7) Other individuals and organizations that assist 
        veterans in adjusting to civilian life.
    ``(d) Incorporation of Assessment of Previous Annual Plans.--In 
developing an annual plan under subsection (a), the Secretary shall 
take into account the lessons learned from the implementation of 
previous annual plans under that subsection and program evaluations 
from the Office of Policy, Planning, and Preparedness of the 
Department.
``Sec. 7729. Outreach activities: coordination of activities within 
              Department
    ``(a) The Secretary shall establish and maintain procedures for 
ensuring the effective coordination of the outreach activities of the 
Department between and among the following:
            ``(1) The Office of the Secretary.
            ``(2) The Office of Public Affairs.
            ``(3) The Veterans Health Administration.
            ``(4) The Veterans Benefits Administration.
            ``(5) The National Cemetery Administration.
    ``(b) The Secretary shall--
            ``(1) periodically review the procedures maintained under 
        subsection (a) for the purpose of ensuring that such procedures 
        meet the requirement in that subsection; and
            ``(2) make such modifications to such procedures as the 
        Secretary considers appropriate in light of such review in 
        order to better achieve that purpose.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections at the beginning of 
such chapter is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 
7727 the following new items:

``7728. Annual plan on outreach activities.
``7729. Outreach activities: coordination of activities within 
                            Department.''.
    (c) Initial Annual Plan.--The first annual outreach activities plan 
under section 7728 of title 38, United States Code, as added by 
subsection (a), shall be prepared for the first year beginning after 
the date of the enactment of this Act.

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

    (a) Findings.--Congress and the Department of Veterans Affairs 
historically have 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.--Section 7727 of title 38, United 
States Code, is amended to read as follows:
``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; and
            ``(B) contacting responsible regional office employees to 
        facilitate--
                    ``(i) assistance in claims preparation and inquiry 
                resolution; and
                    ``(ii) 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)(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.
    ``(d) 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).
    ``(e) Outreach services and assistance shall be provided for 
eligible dependents through the same means that are used for other 
specially targeted groups.
    ``(f) 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.
    ``(g) 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.
    ``(h) The Secretary shall include in the Secretary's annual report 
under section 529 of this title an assessment of the programs of the 
Department addressing the information and assistance needs of veterans 
and 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 veterans and eligible 
        dependents.
            ``(2) Information about outreach efforts directed toward 
        veterans and 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 veterans and 
        eligible dependents.
            ``(4) Information as to the timeline for implementation of 
        improvements to meet existing and emerging needs of veterans 
        and eligible dependents in addition to those specified in this 
        section.''.
                                 <all>