[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1370 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1370

 To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish in the Department 
of Veterans Affairs an Office of National Veterans Sports Programs and 
                            Special Events.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 7, 2007

    Mr. Buyer (for himself, Mr. Boozman, Mr. Burton of Indiana, Mr. 
Bilirakis, Ms. Herseth, and Mr. Lamborn) introduced the following bill; 
        which was referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish in the Department 
of Veterans Affairs an Office of National Veterans Sports Programs and 
                            Special Events.

    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 ``Disabled Veterans Sports and Special 
Events Promotion Act of 2007''.

SEC. 2. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS OFFICE OF NATIONAL VETERANS 
              SPORTS PROGRAMS AND SPECIAL EVENTS.

    (a) Establishment of Office of National Veterans Sports Programs 
and Special Events.--Chapter 3 of title 38, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following new section:
``Sec. 321. Office of National Veterans Sports Programs and Special 
              Events
    ``(a) Establishment.--There is in the Department an Office of 
National Veterans Sports Programs and Special Events. There is at the 
head of the Office a Director.
    ``(b) Responsibilities of Director.--Subject to the direction of 
the Secretary, the Director--
            ``(1) shall establish and carry out qualifying programs and 
        events;
            ``(2) may provide for sponsorship by the Department of 
        qualifying programs and events;
            ``(3) may provide for, facilitate, and encourage 
        participation by disabled veterans in qualifying programs and 
        events; and
            ``(4) shall cooperate with the United States Olympic 
        Committee and its subsidiaries to promote the participation of 
        disabled veterans in sporting events sponsored by the United 
        States Olympic Committee and its subsidiaries.
    ``(c) Qualifying Program or Event.--For purposes of this section, a 
qualifying program or event is a sports program or other event in which 
veterans with disabilities participate and that is approved by the 
Secretary as being consistent with the goals and missions of the 
Department.
    ``(d) Monthly Assistance Allowance.--(1) The Director may provide a 
monthly assistance allowance to a veteran with a service-connected 
disability for any month in which the veteran is participating in any 
event sanctioned by the United States Olympic Committee or who is 
residing at a United States Olympic Committee training center.
    ``(2) The amount of the monthly assistance payable to a veteran 
under paragraph (1) shall be equal to the monthly amount of subsistence 
allowance that would be payable to the veteran under chapter 31 of this 
title if the veteran were eligible for and entitled to rehabilitation 
under such chapter.
    ``(3) Any amount of assistance paid to a veteran under this 
subsection shall be in addition to any other assistance available to 
the veteran under any other provision of law.
    ``(e) Support for United States Olympic Committee Military 
Paralympic Program.--(1) The Secretary shall enter into a memorandum of 
understanding with the United States Olympic Committee under which the 
Secretary shall agree to provide support, including direct support and 
reimbursement for Committee expenditures, for the military paralympic 
program of the Committee.
    ``(2) In the documents providing detailed information on the budget 
for the Department that the Secretary submits to Congress in 
conjunction with the President's budget submission for each fiscal year 
pursuant to section 1105 of title 31, the Secretary shall set forth 
separately the amount requested to carry out this section under the 
following heading: `United States Olympic Committee Military Paralympic 
Program Support'.
    ``(3) There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this 
subsection $2,000,000 for each fiscal year.''.
    (b) Deadline for Memorandum of Understanding.--Not later than 90 
days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 
Veterans Affairs shall enter into the memorandum of understanding with 
the United States Olympic Committee required under section 321(e)(1) of 
title 38, United States Code, as added by subsection (a).
    (c) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections at the beginning of 
such chapter is amended by adding at the end the following new item:

``321. Office of National Veterans Sports Programs and Special 
                            Events.''.
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