[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3280 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3280

   To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a grant 
     program to assist veterans in highly rural areas by providing 
                   transportation to medical centers.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 21, 2009

Mr. Rodriguez introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a grant 
     program to assist veterans in highly rural areas by providing 
                   transportation to medical centers.

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

SECTION 1. TRANSPORTATION GRANTS FOR RURAL VETERANS SERVICE 
              ORGANIZATIONS.

    (a) Grants Authorized.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall 
        establish a grant program to provide innovative transportation 
        options to veterans in highly rural areas.
            (2) Use of funds.--Grants awarded under this section may be 
        used by State veterans service agencies and veterans service 
        organizations to--
                    (A) assist veterans in highly rural areas to travel 
                to Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers; and
                    (B) otherwise assist in providing medical care to 
                veterans in highly rural areas.
            (3) Maximum amount.--The amount of a grant under this 
        section may not exceed $50,000.
            (4) No matching requirement.--The recipient of a grant 
        under this section may not be required to provide matching 
        funds as a condition for receiving such grant.
            (5) Recovery of unused grant funds.--If a recipient of a 
        grant does not use the full amount of funds received under this 
        section by not later than September 30 of the fiscal year in 
        which such grant was awarded, the United States shall be 
        entitled to recover from such recipient the total of all unused 
        grant amounts made under this section to such recipient.
    (b) Regulations.--The Secretary shall prescribe regulations for--
            (1) evaluating grant applications under this section; and
            (2) otherwise administering the program established by this 
        section.
    (c) Reports.--Not later than February 1 of each year, the Secretary 
shall submit to Congress a report containing information related to 
each grant awarded under this section during the preceding year, 
including--
            (1) the name of the grant recipient; and
            (2) the amount of the grant.
    (d) Veterans Service Organization Definition.--In this section, the 
term ``veterans service organization'' means any organization 
recognized by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs for the representation 
of veterans under section 5902 of title 38, United States Code.
    (e) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated $3,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2009 through 2013 to 
carry out this section.
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