[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office]
[H.R. 4255 Referred in Senate (RFS)]
2d Session
H. R. 4255
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
August 1, 2008
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
To amend title 38, United States Code, to authorize the Secretary of
Veterans Affairs to provide assistance to the Paralympic Program of the
United States Olympic Committee, 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 ``United States Olympic Committee
Paralympic Program Act of 2008''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.
(a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
(1) In 1998, Congress enacted the Olympic and Amateur
Sports Act Amendments of 1998 (33 U.S.C. 101 note), which
amended chapter 2205 of title 36, United States Code, and
included a statement that the purpose of the Act was ``to
encourage and provide assistance to amateur athletic programs
and competition for amateur athletes with disabilities,
including, where feasible, the expansion of opportunities for
meaningful participation by such amateur athletes in programs
of athletic competition for able-bodied amateur athletes''.
(2) The United States Olympic Committee manages and
administers the Paralympic Program for physically disabled
athletes.
(3) In 2005, the United States Olympic Committee entered
into a memorandum of understanding with the Secretary of
Veterans Affairs to expand the Paralympic Program to provide
special training and rehabilitation to disabled veterans and
disabled members of the Armed Forces as part of their
rehabilitation and return to an active lifestyle.
(4) The Paralympic Program has a significant positive
effect on the quality of life of such veterans and
servicemembers, including helping to improve the mobility,
vitality, and physical, psychological, and social well-being of
disabled veterans and disabled members of the Armed Forces who
participate in the program and reducing the incidence of
secondary medical conditions in those participants.
(5) Because of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation
Enduring Freedom, the number of disabled veterans and disabled
members of the Armed Forces has increased substantially and it
is therefore necessary to expand the scope and size of the
Paralympic Program to provide rehabilitative services through
sports to disabled veterans and members of the Armed Forces.
(b) Purpose.--The purposes of this Act are as follows:
(1) To promote the lifelong health of disabled veterans and
disabled members of the Armed Forces through regular
participation in physical activity and sports.
(2) To develop a system that promotes disabled sports from
the local level through elite levels by creating partnerships
among organizations specializing in supporting, training, and
promoting programs for disabled athletes.
(3) To provide training and support to local organizations
to provide Paralympic sports training to disabled veterans and
disabled members of the Armed Forces in their own communities.
(4) To provide support to the United States Olympic
Committee for the Paralympic Program to increase the
participation of disabled veterans and disabled members of the
Armed Forces in sports as part of their rehabilitation.
SEC. 3. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS PROVISION OF ASSISTANCE TO
UNITED STATES OLYMPIC COMMITTEE PARALYMPIC PROGRAM.
(a) Provision of Assistance Authorized.--Subchapter II of chapter 5
of title 38, United States Code, is amended by inserting after section
521 the following:
``Sec. 521A. Assistance for United States Olympic Committees Paralympic
Program
``(a) Authorization To Provide Assistance.--The Secretary may make
grants to the United States Olympic Committee to plan, develop, manage,
and implement the Paralympic Program for disabled veterans and disabled
members of the Armed Forces.
``(b) Oversight by Secretary.--As a condition of receiving a grant
under this section, the United States Olympic Committee shall permit
the Secretary to conduct such oversight of the use of grant funds as
the Secretary determines is appropriate.
``(c) Application Requirement.--(1) Before the Secretary may make a
grant to the United States Olympic Committee under this section, the
Committee shall submit to the Secretary an application that describes
the activities to be carried out with the grant, including information
on specific measurable goals and objectives to be achieved using grant
funds. The application shall include a detailed description of all
partnerships referred to in paragraph (2) at the national and local
levels that will be participating in such activities and the amount of
grant funds that will be made available for each of such partnerships.
``(2) Partnerships.--Partnerships referred to in this paragraph are
agreements between the United States Olympic Committee and national
organizations with significant experience in the training and support
of disabled athletes and the promotion of disabled sports at the local
and national levels. Such organizations include Disabled Sports USA,
Blaze Sports, Paralyzed Veterans of America, and Disabled American
Veterans. The agreements shall detail the scope of activities and
funding provided by the United States Olympic Committee to the partner.
``(d) Use of Funds.--(1) The United States Olympic Committee, with
the assistance and cooperation of the Secretary and the heads of other
appropriate Federal and State departments and agencies and partnerships
referred to in subsection (c)(2), shall use a grant under this section
to recruit, support, encourage, schedule, facilitate, supervise, and
implement the activities described in paragraph (3) for disabled
veterans and disabled members of the Armed Forces either directly or by
supporting a program described in paragraph (2).
``(2) A program described in this paragraph is a sport program
that--
``(A) promotes basic physical activity, games, recreation,
training, and competition;
``(B) is approved by the Secretary; and
``(C)(i) provides services and activities described in
paragraph (3) for disabled veterans and disabled members of the
Armed Forces; and
``(ii) may also provide services and activities described
in paragraph (3) for individuals with disabilities who are not
veterans or members of the Armed Forces, or both; except that
funds made available to carry out this section may not be used
to support those individuals with disabilities who are not
veterans or members of the Armed Forces.
``(3) Activities described in this paragraph are--
``(A) instruction, participation, and competition in
Paralympic sports;
``(B) training and technical assistance to program
administrators, coaches, recreational therapists, instructors,
Department employees, and other appropriate individuals; and
``(C) coordination, Paralympic classification of athletes,
athlete assessment, sport-specific training techniques, program
development (including programs at the local level), program-
specific medical and personal care support, sports equipment,
supplies, program evaluation, and other activities related to
the implementation and operation of the program.
``(4) A grant made under this section may include, at the
discretion of the Secretary, an amount for administrative expenses, but
not to exceed ten percent of the amount of the grant.
``(5) Funds made available by the United States Olympic Committee
to a grantee under subsection (c) may include an amount for
administrative expenses, but not to exceed ten percent of the amount of
such funds.
``(e) Outreach Requirement.--The Secretary shall conduct an
outreach campaign to inform all eligible veterans and separating
members of the Armed Forces with physical disabilities about the
existence of the Paralympic Program and shall provide for, facilitate,
and encourage participation of such veterans and separating
servicemembers in programs under this section to the extent possible.
``(f) Coordination.--The Secretary shall ensure access to and use
of appropriate Department facilities by disabled veterans and disabled
members of the Armed Forces participating in the Paralympic Program to
the maximum extent possible and to the extent that such access and use
does not adversely affect any other assistance provided to veterans.
``(g) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be
appropriated $8,000,000 annually to carry out this section.
``(h) Separate Accounting.--The Department shall have a separate
line item in budget proposals of the Department for funds to be
appropriated to carry out this section. Funds appropriated to carry out
this section shall not be commingled with any other funds appropriated
to the Department.
``(i) Limitation on Use of Funds.--Except as provided in
subsections (d)(4) and (d)(5), funds appropriated to carry out this
section may not be used to support or provide services to individuals
who are not disabled veterans or disabled members of the Armed
Forces.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections at the beginning of
such chapter is amended by inserting after the item relating to section
521 the following new item:
``521A. Assistance for United States Olympic Committees Paralympic
Program.''.
(c) Deadline for Memorandum of Understanding.--The Secretary of
Veterans Affairs may not award a grant under section 521A of title 38,
United States Code, as added by subsection (a), until the United States
Olympic Committee has entered into a memorandum of understanding or
cooperative agreement with the Secretary regarding implementation of
the Paralympic Program. Such agreement shall be concluded not later
than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.
SEC. 4. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS OFFICE OF NATIONAL VETERANS
SPORTS PROGRAMS AND SPECIAL EVENTS.
(a) Establishment of Office of National Veterans Sports Programs
and Special Events.--Chapter 3 of title 38, United States Code, is
amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 321. Office of National Veterans Sports Programs and Special
Events
``(a) Establishment.--There is in the Department an Office of
National Veterans Sports Programs and Special Events. There is at the
head of the Office a Director, who shall report directly to the
Assistant Secretary for Public and Intergovernmental Affairs of the
Department.
``(b) Responsibilities of Director.--Subject to the direction of
the Secretary, the Director--
``(1) shall establish and carry out qualifying programs and
events;
``(2) may provide for sponsorship by the Department of
qualifying programs and events;
``(3) may provide for, facilitate, and encourage
participation by disabled veterans in qualifying programs and
events; and
``(4) shall cooperate with the United States Olympic
Committee and its subsidiaries to promote the participation of
disabled veterans and disabled members of the Armed Forces in
sporting events sponsored by the United States Olympic
Committee and its subsidiaries.
``(c) Qualifying Program or Event.--For purposes of this section, a
qualifying program or event is a sports program or other event in which
disabled veterans and disabled members of the Armed Forces participate
and that is approved by the Secretary as being consistent with the
goals and missions of the Department.
``(d) Monthly Assistance Allowance.--(1) The Director may provide a
monthly assistance allowance to a veteran with a disability invited by
the United States Olympic Committee to compete for a slot on, or
selected for, the Paralympic Team for any month in which the veteran is
training or competing in any event sanctioned by the United States
Olympic Committee or who is residing at a United States Olympic
Committee training center.
``(2) The amount of the monthly assistance payable to a veteran
under paragraph (1) shall be equal to the monthly amount of subsistence
allowance that would be payable to the veteran under chapter 31 of this
title if the veteran were eligible for and entitled to rehabilitation
under such chapter.
``(3) Any amount of assistance paid to a veteran under this
subsection shall be in addition to any other assistance available to
the veteran under any other provision of law.
``(4) There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this
subsection $2,000,000 for fiscal year 2009 and each fiscal year
thereafter.
``(e) Limitation on Statutory Construction.--Nothing in this
section shall be construed as a limitation on current disabled sports
and special events supported by the Department.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections at the beginning of
such chapter is amended by adding at the end the following new item:
``321. Office of National Veterans Sports Programs and Special
Events.''.
(c) Responsibilities of Under Secretary for Health.--The Secretary
of Veterans Affairs shall direct the Under Secretary for Health of the
Department of Veterans Affairs--
(1) to make available, to the maximum extent possible,
recreational therapists, physical therapists, and other medical
staff to facilitate participation of veterans in sporting
events conducted under the auspices of the United States
Olympic Committee;
(2) to allow such personnel to participate in the United
States Olympic Committee Paralympic Program without requiring
the use of personal leave; and
(3) to support other similar activities or events as those
described in this section and determined to be appropriate by
the Secretary.
Passed the House of Representatives July 31, 2008.
Attest:
LORRAINE C. MILLER,
Clerk.