[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1820 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1820

 To authorize the Secretary of Defense to provide assistance to State 
 National Guards to provide counseling and reintegration services for 
  members of reserve components of the Armed Forces ordered to active 
duty in support of a contingency operation, members returning from such 
     active duty, veterans of the Armed Forces, and their families.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            November 8, 2011

 Mrs. Gillibrand (for herself and Mr. Blunt) introduced the following 
   bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed 
                                Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To authorize the Secretary of Defense to provide assistance to State 
 National Guards to provide counseling and reintegration services for 
  members of reserve components of the Armed Forces ordered to active 
duty in support of a contingency operation, members returning from such 
     active duty, veterans of the Armed Forces, and their families.

    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 ``National Guard Outreach Act''.

SEC. 2. SUPPORT FOR NATIONAL GUARD COUNSELING AND REINTEGRATION 
              SERVICES.

    (a) Assistance Authorized.--The Secretary of Defense may provide 
assistance to a State National Guard to support programs to provide 
pre- and post-deployment outreach, reintegration, and readjustment 
services to the following persons:
            (1) Members of reserve components of the Armed Forces who 
        reside in the State or are members of the State National Guard 
        regardless of place of residence and who are ordered to active 
        duty in support of a contingency operation.
            (2) Members described in paragraph (1) upon their return 
        from such active duty.
            (3) Veterans (as defined in section 101(2) of title 38, 
        United States Code).
            (4) Dependents of persons described in paragraph (1), (2), 
        or (3).
    (b) Elements of Programs.--Programs supported under subsection (a) 
shall use direct person-to-person outreach and other relevant 
activities to ensure that eligible persons receive all the services and 
support available to them during pre-deployment, deployment, and 
reintegration periods.
    (c) Merit-Based or Competitive Decisions.--A decision to commit, 
obligate, or expend funds with or to a specific State National Guard 
under subsection (a) shall--
            (1) be based on merit-based selection procedures in 
        accordance with the requirements of sections 2304(k) and 2374 
        of title 10, United States Code, or on competitive procedures; 
        and
            (2) comply with other applicable provisions of law.
    (d) State Defined.--In this section, the term ``State'' means each 
of the several States, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the District of 
Columbia, Guam, and the Virgin Islands.
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