[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4028 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4028

To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve services for veterans 
                        residing in rural areas.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            November 5, 2009

  Mr. Wu (for himself, Mr. Altmire, Mr. Blumenauer, Ms. Bordallo, Mr. 
Childers, Mr. Courtney, Mr. DeFazio, Mr. Gordon of Tennessee, Mr. Hill, 
 Mr. Hinchey, Mr. Hinojosa, Mr. Kagen, Mr. Minnick, Mr. Peterson, Mr. 
   Pierluisi, Mr. Ross, Mr. Salazar, Mr. Schrader, Mr. Walz, and Mr. 
 Wilson of Ohio) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
                   the Committee on Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve services for veterans 
                        residing in rural areas.

    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 ``Rural Veterans Services Outreach and 
Training Act''.

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, and to ensure that such individuals are fully 
        informed about, and assisted in applying for, any benefits and 
        programs under such laws.''.

SEC. 3. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS GRANT PROGRAM FOR RURAL COUNTY 
              VETERAN SERVICE OFFICERS.

    (a) Grants.--Chapter 5 of title 38, United States Code, is amended 
by inserting after section 532 the following new section:
``Sec. 533. Grants to assist certain rural counties in employing 
              veteran service officers; professional qualifications
    ``(a) Purpose.--The purpose of this section is to improve 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 and who are residing in rural counties through the 
training of covered veteran service officers to serve in rural 
counties.
    ``(b) Grant Program.--The Secretary shall carry out a program to 
make competitive grants in accordance with this section to provide 
financial assistance to State departments of veterans affairs for the 
purpose stated in subsection (a).
    ``(c) Amount of Grant.--The amount of a grant under this section 
shall be determined by the Secretary, but may not exceed $2,000,000.
    ``(d) Use of Funds.--A State department of veterans affairs that 
receives a grant under this section may distribute any amount of the 
grant funds to qualified State, county, or local agencies and qualified 
non-profit veterans service organizations that provide casework 
services to rural veterans. Grant funds distributed under this 
subsection shall be used for the purpose stated in subsection (a).
    ``(e) Eligibility.--For purposes of this section, a State is 
eligible for a grant under this section if it can demonstrate any of 
the following:
            ``(1) That it has at least one county, in which veterans 
        reside, that does not have a covered veterans service officer.
            ``(2) That it has at least one county, in which veterans 
        reside, that has a covered veterans service officer who 
        performs covered veterans service officer functions on less 
        than a full-time basis and that county is able to demonstrate a 
        need for additional services by a covered veterans service 
        officer.
            ``(3) That it has at least one county, in which not fewer 
        than 1,000 veterans reside, that currently has a full-time 
        covered veterans service officer, but only if the county is 
        able to demonstrate a need for additional services by a covered 
        veterans service officer.
    ``(f) Competition for Grant.--An eligible State seeking a grant 
under this section shall submit to the Secretary an application for the 
grant. The application shall be in such form and shall contain such 
information as the Secretary may require, including information 
establishing that the State is an eligible State under this section. 
From the applications submitted the Secretary shall approve those 
applications that the Secretary determines to be the most promising in 
carrying out the purposes of the grant program. Each State whose 
application is selected by the Secretary to receive a grant under the 
grant program shall receive funds in an amount determined by the 
Secretary under subsection (c). In making such determination, the 
Secretary shall take into consideration the amount of the total 
appropriation for the grant program, the relative size of the State's 
veteran population, and the funding necessary to improve training and 
outreach of covered veteran service officers in rural counties. Such 
funds shall go to the State department of veterans affairs.
    ``(g) Requirements for State Receipt of Federal Funds.--Each State 
receiving a grant under this section shall--
            ``(1) provide to the Secretary information and assurances 
        that the funds received under the grant program for the 
        training of covered veteran service officers will go to assist 
        counties described in paragraph (1), (2), or (3) of subsection 
        (e);
            ``(2) provide an assurance that the State agency shall 
        match the Federal funds provided under this section by 
        providing at least 20 percent of the total cost of the grant 
        program; and
            ``(3) use funds received under this section only to 
        supplement the amount of funds that would, in the absence of 
        such Federal funds, be made available from non-Federal sources 
        for the purposes of this section, and not to supplant such 
        funds.
    ``(h) Grant Frequency.--Grants under this section shall be made on 
an annual basis.
    ``(i) Covered Veteran Service Officer Defined.--In this section, 
the term `covered veteran service officer' means a qualified employee 
(regardless of job title)--
            ``(1) who is an employee of a State, county, local 
        government, or a veterans service organization recognized under 
        section 5902 of this title;
            ``(2) whose duties include providing to veterans advice and 
        casework services related to benefits provided under laws 
        administered by the Secretary; and
            ``(3) who is accredited by the Department to file a claim 
        with the Veterans Benefits Administration on behalf of a 
        claimant who is a veteran or a veteran's survivor.
    ``(j) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section $100,000,000 for each of fiscal 
years 2010 through 2013.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections at the beginning of 
such chapter is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 
531 the following new item:

``532. Grants to assist certain rural counties in employing veteran 
                            service officers; professional 
                            qualifications.''.
    (c) Comptroller General Report.--The Comptroller General shall 
conduct a review of the grant program under section 533 of title 38, 
United States Code, as added by subsection (a), and shall submit to 
Congress a report on the results of such review. In carrying out the 
review, the Comptroller General shall examine the effectiveness of the 
grant program in improving the representation of veterans living in 
rural areas by trained individuals who assist the veterans in 
understanding and receiving access to the benefits to which they are 
entitled.
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