[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 315 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 315

    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

                            January 26, 2009

  Mr. Feingold (for himself and Mr. Sanders) 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 
2009''.

SEC. 2. 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. Grants to State and local governments and nonprofit 
              community-based organizations for improvement of outreach
    ``(a) Purpose.--It is the purpose of this section to assist State 
and local governments and nonprofit community-based organizations 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) Grants.--(1) The Secretary may award grants to State and 
local governments and nonprofit community-based organizations in order 
to achieve purposes as follows:
            ``(A) To carry out, coordinate, improve, or otherwise 
        enhance outreach.
            ``(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.
    ``(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 
nonprofit community-based organizations in such State for such 
purposes.
    ``(c) 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 
(b).''.
    (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. Grants to State and local governments and community-based 
                            organizations for improvement of 
                            outreach.''.
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