[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1342 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1342

    To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the outreach 
    activities of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 30, 2005

 Mr. Feingold (for himself and Mrs. Lincoln) introduced the following 
 bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' 
                                Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the outreach 
    activities of the Department of Veterans Affairs, 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 Improvement Act of 
2005''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITION OF OUTREACH.

    Section 101 of title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding 
at the end the following new paragraph:
    ``(34) The term `outreach' means the act or process of reaching out 
in a systematic manner to proactively provide information, services, 
and benefits counseling to veterans, and to the spouses, children, and 
parents of veterans who may be eligible to receive benefits under the 
laws administered by the Secretary, to ensure that such individuals are 
fully informed about, and assisted in applying for, any benefits and 
programs under such laws.''.

SEC. 3. AUTHORITIES AND REQUIREMENTS FOR ENHANCEMENT OF OUTREACH OF 
              ACTIVITIES DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 5 of title 38, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following new subchapter:

                       ``SUBCHAPTER IV--OUTREACH

``Sec. 561. Outreach activities: funding
    ``(a) Separate Account for Outreach Activities.--The Secretary 
shall establish a separate account for the funding of the outreach 
activities of the Department, and shall establish within such account a 
separate subaccount for the funding of the outreach activities of each 
element of the Department specified in subsection (c).
    ``(b) Budget Requirements.--In the budget justification materials 
submitted to Congress in support of the Department budget for any 
fiscal year (as submitted with the budget of the President under 
section 1105(a) of title 31), the Secretary shall include a separate 
statement of the amount requested for such fiscal year for activities 
as follows:
            ``(1) For outreach activities of the Department in 
        aggregate.
            ``(2) For outreach activities of each element of the 
        Department specified in subsection (c).
    ``(c) Covered Elements.--The elements of the Department specified 
in this subsection are as follows:
            ``(1) The Veterans Health Administration.
            ``(2) The Veterans Benefits Administration.
            ``(3) The National Cemetery Administration.
``Sec. 562. Outreach activities: coordination of activities within 
              Department
    ``(a) Procedures for Effective Coordination.--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) Review and Modification.--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.
``Sec. 563. Outreach activities: cooperative activities with States; 
              grants to States for improvement of outreach
    ``(a) Purpose.--It is the purpose of this section to assist States 
in carrying out programs that offer a high probability of improving 
outreach and assistance to veterans, and to the spouses, children, and 
parents of veterans who may be eligible to receive veterans' or 
veterans'-related benefits, to ensure that such individuals are fully 
informed about, and assisted in applying for, any veterans' and 
veterans'-related benefits and programs (including under State 
veterans' programs).
    ``(b) Location of Provision of Outreach.--The Secretary shall 
ensure that outreach and assistance is provided under programs referred 
to in subsection (a) in locations proximate to populations of veterans 
and other individuals referred to in that subsection, as determined 
utilizing criteria for determining the proximity of such populations to 
veterans health care services.
    ``(c) Cooperative Agreements With States.--The Secretary may enter 
into cooperative agreements and arrangements with veterans agencies of 
the States in order to carry out, coordinate, improve, or otherwise 
enhance outreach by the Department and the States (including outreach 
with respect to State veterans' programs).
    ``(d) Grants.--(1) The Secretary may award grants to veterans 
agencies of States in order to achieve purposes as follows:
            ``(A) To carry out, coordinate, improve, or otherwise 
        enhance outreach, including activities pursuant to cooperative 
        agreements and arrangements under subsection (c).
            ``(B) To carry out, coordinate, improve, or otherwise 
        enhance activities to assist in the development and submittal 
        of claims for veterans' and veterans'-related benefits, 
        including activities pursuant to cooperative agreements and 
        arrangements under subsection (c).
    ``(2) A veterans agency of a State receiving a grant under this 
subsection may use the grant amount for purposes described in paragraph 
(1) or award all or any portion of such grant amount to local 
governments in such State, other public entities in such State, or 
private non-profit organizations in such State for such purposes.
    ``(e) Funding.--Amounts available for the Department for outreach 
in the account under section 561 of this title shall be available for 
activities under this section, including grants under subsection 
(d).''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections at the beginning of 
chapter 5 of such title is amended by adding at the end the following 
new items
                       ``subchapter iv--outreach
``561. Outreach activities: funding.
``562. Outreach activities: coordination of activities within 
                            Department.
``563. Outreach activities: cooperative activities with States; grants 
                            to States for improvement of outreach.''.
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