[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 72 (Thursday, May 3, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5583-S5585]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. CRAIG:
  S. 1290. A bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to provide 
additional discretion to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs in 
contracting with State approving agencies, and for other purposes; to 
the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
  Mr. CRAIG. Mr. President, I have sought recognition today to comment 
on a bill I am introducing to ensure that veterans and their families 
have access to educational assistance benefits unimpeded by layers of 
bureaucracy and inflexible legal requirements.
  Each year, the Department of Veterans Affairs provides educational 
assistance benefits to veterans, servicemembers, reservists, and their 
families to pursue a wide array of educational opportunities, including 
traditional college degrees, vocational training, apprenticeships, and 
on-the-job training programs. VA contracts with entities called ``State 
approving agencies,'' SAAs, to assess whether schools and training 
programs are of sufficient quality for individuals to receive VA 
education benefits while pursuing their programs. That SAA approval 
process was originally instituted after World War II to help stem 
abuses of veterans' education benefits, such as scam vocational and 
business schools profiting from those education benefits and then not 
providing veterans with an education of any value.
  Today, unlike 60 years ago, schools and educational programs of all 
types may be scrutinized by a number of different entities, including 
the Department of Education, the Department of Labor, various national 
and regional accrediting bodies, and state licensing agencies. In fact, 
in 1995 the Government Accountability Office found that a substantial 
portion of the approval activities performed by SAAs overlapped with 
work done by others. Several years later, the Commission on 
Servicemembers and Veterans Transition Assistance concluded that 
veterans should be ``the primary judge of the appropriateness of 
accredited courses to their plans for the future'' and that 
``[a]pproval of institutions accredited by accrediting bodies 
recognized by the Department of Education should suffice for veterans' 
training approval.''
  In the years since those findings, Congress has altered the 
responsibilities of SAAs by requiring them to perform additional 
functions, such as promoting the development of apprenticeships and on-
the-job training programs, conducting outreach services, and approving 
licensing tests. However, the traditional approval functions performed 
by SAAs, which are specifically required by statute, have not been 
significantly modified.
  Last year, in order to assess whether veterans face unnecessary or 
inefficient barriers in accessing VA education benefits under the 
current system, I asked GAO to evaluate the extent to which SAA 
approval activities currently overlap with functions performed by the 
Departments of Labor and Education and what value is added by the 
services performed by SAAs. Let me give you a few examples of GAO's 
recent findings:

       Many education and training programs approved by SAAs have 
     also been approved by the Departments of Education or Labor 
     and VA and SAAs have taken few steps to coordinate approval 
     activities with those Departments.
       To streamline approval processes, VA should collaborate 
     with other agencies but, according to VA, that may be 
     difficult because of the specific approval requirements in 
     law.

[[Page S5584]]

       VA does not require SAAs to track the amount of resources 
     they spend on specific duties and functions, including those 
     that may be performed by other agencies, and thus does not 
     have all relevant information to make resource allocation 
     decisions or to determine whether it is spending federal 
     funds efficiently and effectively.
       It is difficult to assess the effectiveness and progress of 
     SAAs because VA does not have outcome-oriented performance 
     measures in place to fully evaluate their performance.

  Although I have no doubts about the dedication and sincerity of SAA 
personnel in the field, I believe GAO's findings demonstrate that we do 
not have a systematic or objective way to determine whether the current 
mix of services provided by SAAs, which are mandated by statute, are 
either necessary or beneficial to the veterans and their families who 
participate in VA's education programs. That is why I believe we should 
overhaul the entire statutory scheme regarding SAAs, as this bill would 
do, to help eliminate redundant administrative procedures, increase 
VA's flexibility in determining the nature and extent of services that 
should be performed by SAAs, and improve accountability for any 
activities they undertake.
  Specifically, this bill would strike statutory provisions that 
mandate what activities SAAs must perform, how those functions must be 
carried out, and how VA must pay for them. Instead, VA would have 
authority to contract with SAAs for services that it deems valuable and 
to determine how those services should be performed, evaluated, and 
compensated. The bill would also require VA to coordinate approval 
activities performed by State approving agencies, the Department of 
Labor, the Department of Education, and other entities to reduce 
overlapping and unnecessary layers of bureaucracy. To ensure that VA, 
Congress, and other stakeholders will be able to objectively assess the 
effectiveness of any functions performed by SAAs, VA would be required 
to establish outcome-oriented performance measures and SAAs would be 
required to track and report information on the resources expended on 
all activities they perform.
  Finally, the bill includes a provision, similar to legislation that 
the Senate passed last year, that would provide a $19 million spending 
authorization for SAAs effective at the start of the upcoming fiscal 
year and would allow, for the first time, SAA funding to be drawn from 
both mandatory spending accounts and discretionary accounts. By way of 
background, since 1988 VA payment for the services of SAAs has been 
made only out of funds available for ``readjustment benefits'', a VA 
account funded through mandatory appropriations, and has been subject 
to annual funding caps.
  For the current fiscal year, SAA funding from this entitlement 
account is capped at $19 million, but under current law there will be a 
$6 million reduction in authorized spending, to $13 million, for every 
fiscal year thereafter. Although the provisions of this bill would 
maintain a $19 million funding level in future years, it is important 
to note that that level is a ceiling, not a floor. As with any private-
sector business or good-government business model, budgeting and 
funding decisions should be linked to performance and VA should 
contract only for those services that are necessary and valuable.
  In sum, this bill would provide VA with the flexibility to streamline 
approval processes, eliminate redundant bureaucratic procedures, focus 
resources on services that will meet the current needs of education 
program participants, and ensure that veterans and their families will 
not confront layers of bureaucracy and inflexible legal requirements in 
accessing their educational assistance benefits. I ask my colleagues to 
support this measure.
  I also ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in 
the Record.
  There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be 
printed in the Record, as follows:

                                S. 1290

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

     SECTION 1. MODIFICATION OF AUTHORITIES FOR STATE APPROVING 
                   AGENCIES.

       (a) Technical Amendment to Scope of Approval.--Section 3670 
     of title 38, United States Code, is amended--
       (1) by striking subsection (b); and
       (2) in subsection (a), by striking ``(a)''.
       (b) Modification of Provisions Relating to Approval of 
     Courses.--
       (1) Modification of requirement that standards for programs 
     of apprenticeship be approved under the national 
     apprenticeship act.--Subsection (c)(1)(A) of section 3672 of 
     such title is amended by striking ``pursuant to section 2 of 
     the Act of August 16, 1937 (popularly known as the `National 
     Apprenticeship Act') (29 U.S.C. 50a),''.
       (2) Modification of requirement to promote development of 
     apprenticeship programs.--Subsection (d) of such section is 
     amended--
       (A) in paragraph (1)--
       (i) by striking ``and State approving agencies''; and
       (ii) by striking ``shall utilize the services of'' and 
     inserting ``may utilize the services of State approving 
     agencies and''; and
       (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ``shall'' and inserting 
     ``may''.
       (3) Modification of requirements relating to approval of 
     program of education exclusively by correspondence.--
     Subsection (e) of such section is amended by striking ``only 
     if'' and all that follows through the period and inserting 
     ``under such criteria as the Secretary prescribes pursuant to 
     section 3675.''.
       (c) Restatement of Requirement for Coordination of Approval 
     Activities.--
       (1) In general.--Subsection (a) of section 3673 of such 
     title is amended to read as follows:
       ``(a) In General.--The Secretary shall take appropriate 
     measures to ensure the coordination of approval activities 
     performed by State approving agencies under this chapter and 
     chapters 34 and 35 of this title and approval activities 
     performed by the Department of Labor, the Department of 
     Education, and other entities to reduce overlap and improve 
     efficiency with respect to the activities.''.
       (2) Conforming amendments.--Such section is further 
     amended--
       (A) in subsection (b), by inserting ``Furnishing 
     Materials.--'' before ``The Secretary''; and
       (B) in the heading by striking ``Cooperation'' and 
     inserting ``Coordination of approval activities''.
       (3) Clerical amendment.--The table of sections at the 
     beginning of chapter 36 of such title is amended by striking 
     the item relating to section 3673 and inserting the 
     following:

``3673. Coordination of approval activities.''.

       (d) Additional Discretion for the Secretary of Veterans 
     Affairs for Reimbursing State Approving Agencies for 
     Expenses.--Section 3674 of such title is amended to read as 
     follows:

     ``Sec. 3674. Reimbursement of expenses

       ``(a) In General.--(1) Subject to subsections (b) and (c), 
     the Secretary is authorized to enter into contracts or 
     agreements with State and local agencies to pay such State 
     and local agencies for reasonable and necessary expenses of 
     salary and travel incurred by employees of such agencies and 
     an allowance for administrative expenses in accordance with 
     such criteria as the Secretary determines appropriate for 
     activities performed pursuant to this chapter for purposes of 
     chapters 30 through 35 of this title and chapters 1606 and 
     1607 of title 10.
       ``(2) Each such contract or agreement shall be conditioned 
     upon such terms and conditions as the Secretary determines 
     appropriate for services performed pursuant to this chapter, 
     including the condition that the State approving agency shall 
     collect and report annually to the Secretary, the Committee 
     on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate, and the Committee on 
     Veterans' Affairs of the House of Representatives information 
     on--
       ``(A) the amount of resources expended on such services 
     performed pursuant to that contract; and
       ``(B) the qualification and performance standards for State 
     approving agency personnel responsible for such services.
       ``(b) Source of Payments.--Subject to subsection (c), the 
     Secretary shall make payments authorized under subsection (a) 
     to State and local agencies first out of amounts available 
     for the payment of readjustment benefits and then from other 
     amounts made available to make the payments.
       ``(c) Limitation on Authorization of Appropriations.--(1) 
     The total amount authorized and available under this section 
     for any fiscal year may not exceed $19,000,000, except that 
     the total amount made available for purposes of this section 
     from amounts available for the payment of readjustment 
     benefits may not exceed the following:
       ``(A) $19,000,000 for fiscal year 2007.
       ``(B) $13,000,000 for fiscal year 2008, and each subsequent 
     fiscal year.
       ``(2) For any fiscal year in which the total amount that 
     would be made available under this section would exceed the 
     amount applicable to that fiscal year under paragraph (1) 
     except for the provisions of this subsection, the Secretary 
     shall provide that each agency shall receive the same 
     percentage of the amount applicable to that fiscal year under 
     paragraph (1) as the agency would have received of the total 
     amount that would have been made available without the 
     limitation of this subsection.''.
       (e) Evaluations of Agency Performance; Qualifications and 
     Performance of Agency Personnel.--Section 3674A of such title 
     is amended--
       (1) by striking subsection (b);
       (2) in subsection (a), by striking ``(a)'';
       (3) by redesignating paragraphs (1), (2), (3), and (4) as 
     paragraphs (2), (3), (4), and (5), respectively;
       (4) by inserting before paragraph (2), as redesignated by 
     paragraph (3) of this subsection, the following new paragraph 
     (1):
       ``(1) establish performance measures--
       ``(A) to assess the effectiveness of all services for which 
     a State approving agency is

[[Page S5585]]

     reimbursed pursuant to section 3674 of this title that are 
     based on the outcomes of the services; and
       ``(B) to assess the effectiveness of the State approving 
     agency in coordinating with other entities, including the 
     Department of Labor and the Department of Education, to 
     reduce overlap and improve efficiency in approval 
     activities;'';
       (5) by amending paragraph (2), as redesignated by paragraph 
     (3) of this subsection, to read as follows:
       ``(2) conduct an annual evaluation of each State approving 
     agency on the basis of the performance measures established 
     under paragraph (1);''; and
       (6) in paragraph (3), as redesignated by paragraph (3) of 
     this subsection, by striking ``under paragraph (1)'' and 
     inserting ``under paragraph (2)''.
       (f) Approval of Courses.--
       (1) In general.--Section 3675 of such title is amended to 
     read as follows:

     ``Sec. 3675. Approval of courses

       ``(a) Standards.--The Secretary shall establish standards 
     of approval for accredited and nonaccredited courses offered 
     by an educational institution that the Secretary determines 
     are necessary to carry out the provisions of this chapter. 
     Such standards shall be based on the following, as 
     appropriate:
       ``(1) Student achievement.
       ``(2) Curricula, program objectives, and faculty.
       ``(3) Facilities, equipment, and supplies.
       ``(4) Institutional objectives, capacity, and 
     administration.
       ``(5) Student support services.
       ``(6) Recruiting and admissions practices.
       ``(7) Record of student complaints.
       ``(8) Process related requirements, such as application 
     requirements.
       ``(9) Such other criteria as the Secretary considers 
     appropriate.
       ``(b) Approval.--A State approving agency may approve 
     courses offered by an educational institution when the 
     standards established under subsection (a) have been 
     satisfied by such educational institution. In performing such 
     approval function, the State approving agency may, to the 
     extent permitted by the Secretary, rely upon determinations 
     made by other entities, including the Department of Labor and 
     the Department of Education.
       ``(c) Disapproval.--Approval granted under this section may 
     be revoked by the Secretary or a State approving agency under 
     conditions established by the Secretary.''.
       (2) Conforming amendment.--Section 3452(h) of such title is 
     amended by striking ``an entrepreneurship course (as defined 
     in section 3675(c)(2) of this title)'' and inserting ``a non-
     degree, non-credit course of business education that enables 
     or assists a person to start or enhance a small business 
     concern (as defined pursuant to section 3(a) of the Small 
     Business Act (15 U.S.C. 362(a)))''.
       (3) Clerical amendment.--The table of sections at the 
     beginning of chapter 36 of such title is amended by striking 
     the item related to section 3675 and inserting the following 
     new item:

``3675. Approval of courses.''.

       (g) Modification of Provisions Relating to Approval of 
     Nonaccredited Courses.--
       (1) In general.--Section 3676 of such title is repealed.
       (2) Conforming amendments.--(A) Section 3677 of such title 
     is redesignated as section 3676.
       (B) Section 3672(d)(1) of such title is amended by striking 
     ``sections 3677'' and inserting ``sections 3676''.
       (C) Section 3687(a)(2) of such title is amended by striking 
     ``section 3677'' and inserting ``section 3676''.
       (3) Clerical amendment.--The table of sections at the 
     beginning of chapter 36 of such title is amended by striking 
     the item relating to section 3676 and inserting the 
     following:

``3676. Approval of training on the job.''.

       (h) Notice of Approval.--
       (1) In general.--Section 3678 of such title is amended to 
     read as follows:

     ``SEC. 3677. NOTICE OF DETERMINATIONS BY STATE APPROVING 
                   AGENCIES.

       ``A State approving agency shall provide to the Secretary, 
     an educational institution, or such other entities as the 
     Secretary considers appropriate such notification as the 
     Secretary may consider necessary regarding determinations 
     made by the State approving agency pursuant to section 3675 
     of this title.''.
       (2) Conforming amendment.--Section 3689(d) of such title is 
     amended by striking ``3678'' and inserting ``3677''.
       (3) Clerical amendment.--The table of sections at the 
     beginning of chapter 36 of such title is amended by striking 
     the items relating to section 3677 and 3678 and inserting the 
     following:

``3677. Notice of determinations by State approving agencies.''.

       (i) Modification of Provisions Relating to Disapproval of 
     Courses.--
       (1) In general.--Section 3679 of such title is repealed.
       (2) Conforming amendment.--Section 3689(d) of such title is 
     amended by striking ``3679,''.
       (3) Clerical amendment.--The table of sections at the 
     beginning of chapter 36 of such title is amended by striking 
     the item relating to section 3679.
       (j) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section 
     shall take effect on the date that is one year after the date 
     of the enactment of this section.
                                 ______