| 1 | 1 | | I |
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| 2 | 2 | | 119THCONGRESS |
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| 3 | 3 | | 1 |
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| 4 | 4 | | STSESSION H. R. 553 |
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| 5 | 5 | | To amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Veterans |
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| 6 | 6 | | Affairs to establish a patient outreach system relating to mental health |
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| 7 | 7 | | care, and for other purposes. |
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| 8 | 8 | | IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
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| 9 | 9 | | JANUARY16, 2025 |
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| 10 | 10 | | Mr. W |
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| 11 | 11 | | ITTMAN(for himself and Mr. CASE) introduced the following bill; which |
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| 12 | 12 | | was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs |
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| 13 | 13 | | A BILL |
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| 14 | 14 | | To amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Sec- |
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| 15 | 15 | | retary of Veterans Affairs to establish a patient outreach |
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| 16 | 16 | | system relating to mental health care, and for other |
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| 17 | 17 | | purposes. |
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| 18 | 18 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
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| 19 | 19 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
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| 20 | 20 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
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| 21 | 21 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Be Ready to Assist 4 |
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| 22 | 22 | | Veterans in Extremis Act’’ or the ‘‘BRAVE Act’’. 5 |
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| 23 | 23 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:00 Feb 13, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H553.IH H553 |
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| 24 | 24 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2 |
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| 25 | 25 | | •HR 553 IH |
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| 26 | 26 | | SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS 1 |
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| 27 | 27 | | AFFAIRS SYSTEM FOR PATIENT OUTREACH 2 |
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| 28 | 28 | | RELATING TO MENTAL HEALTH CARE. 3 |
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| 29 | 29 | | (a) E |
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| 30 | 30 | | STABLISHMENT OF SYSTEM.—Chapter 17 of 4 |
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| 31 | 31 | | title 38, United States Code, is amended by inserting after 5 |
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| 32 | 32 | | section 1720J the following new section (and conforming 6 |
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| 33 | 33 | | the table of sections at the beginning of such chapter ac-7 |
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| 34 | 34 | | cordingly): 8 |
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| 35 | 35 | | ‘‘§ 1720K. Mental health care: patient outreach sys-9 |
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| 36 | 36 | | tem 10 |
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| 37 | 37 | | ‘‘The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall establish a 11 |
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| 38 | 38 | | patient outreach system under which the Secretary shall 12 |
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| 39 | 39 | | ensure that veterans who are enrolled in the system of an-13 |
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| 40 | 40 | | nual patient enrollment established and operated under 14 |
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| 41 | 41 | | section 1705 of this title and have experienced a traumatic 15 |
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| 42 | 42 | | or other highly stressful event, may elect to receive from 16 |
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| 43 | 43 | | the Secretary information relating to mental health and 17 |
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| 44 | 44 | | resources relating to the mental health care services avail-18 |
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| 45 | 45 | | able to the veteran.’’. 19 |
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| 46 | 46 | | (b) A |
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| 47 | 47 | | DMINISTRATION OFSYSTEM.—In administering 20 |
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| 48 | 48 | | the patient outreach system established under section 21 |
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| 49 | 49 | | 1720K of title 38, United States Code (as added by sub-22 |
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| 50 | 50 | | section (a)), the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall seek 23 |
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| 51 | 51 | | to coordinate such system with the Transition Assistance 24 |
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| 52 | 52 | | Program of the Department of Defense. 25 |
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| 53 | 53 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:00 Feb 13, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H553.IH H553 |
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| 54 | 54 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3 |
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| 55 | 55 | | •HR 553 IH |
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| 56 | 56 | | (c) DEADLINE FOR ESTABLISHMENT.—The Sec-1 |
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| 57 | 57 | | retary shall establish the patient outreach system under 2 |
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| 58 | 58 | | such section 1720K by not later than two years after the 3 |
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| 59 | 59 | | date of the enactment of this Act. 4 |
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| 60 | 60 | | Æ |
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| 61 | 61 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:00 Feb 13, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H553.IH H553 |
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| 62 | 62 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB |
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