[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2257 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2257

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


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 5, 2009

Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas introduced the following bill; which 
           was 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 
2009''.

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) Separate Statement of Amount for Outreach Activities.--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) Elements Specified.--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) 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 of Procedures.--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) Proximity to Veteran Populations.--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 and Arrangements.--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 to State Agencies.--(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 nonprofit organizations in such State for such purposes.
    ``(e) Availability of Appropriations.--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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