Food Security for All Veterans Act

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3870 To amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to submit an annual report on food insecurity among veterans to certain congressional committees, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 6, 2023 Mrs. PELTOLA introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Sec- retary of Veterans Affairs to submit an annual report on food insecurity among veterans to certain congres- sional committees, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Food Security for All 4 Veterans Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:35 Jul 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3870.IH H3870 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 3870 IH SEC. 2. ANNUAL REPORT ON FOOD INSECURITY AMONG 1 VETERANS. 2 Subchapter II of chapter 5 of title 38, United States 3 Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new 4 section (and conforming the table of sections at the begin- 5 ning of such chapter accordingly): 6 ‘‘§ 534. Annual report on food insecurity among vet- 7 erans 8 ‘‘(a) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Secretary, in coordina- 9 tion with the Secretary of Agriculture, shall submit to the 10 appropriate congressional committees an annual report on 11 veteran food insecurity. Each such report shall include 12 data on the following: 13 ‘‘(1) The socioeconomic and racial characteris- 14 tics of veterans experiencing food insecurity, 15 disaggregated by State in which the veteran is lo- 16 cated, Indian tribe (if applicable), age, service-con- 17 nected disability rating, racial or ethnic group, gen- 18 der, gender identity, and sexual orientation. 19 ‘‘(2) Native American veterans experiencing 20 food insecurity. 21 ‘‘(3) Specific interventions for veterans who 22 screen positive for food insecurity, including the 23 number of— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:35 Jul 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3870.IH H3870 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 3870 IH ‘‘(A) personnel from the Department who 1 have received specific training in screening vet- 2 erans for food insecurity; 3 ‘‘(B) referrals completed by a social work- 4 er, nutritionist, dietician, or other personnel of 5 the Department for veterans who screen posi- 6 tive as food insecure, disaggregated by facility 7 of the Department from which such veterans 8 were referred; and 9 ‘‘(C) veterans who screen positive as food 10 insecure who were provided information regard- 11 ing the supplemental nutrition assistance pro- 12 gram and other Federal nutrition assistance 13 programs. 14 ‘‘(4) Each referral described in paragraph 15 (3)(B), including the number of such referrals that 16 were completed. 17 ‘‘(5) Eligibility screenings for participation in 18 the supplemental nutrition assistance program com- 19 pleted by personnel of the Department. 20 ‘‘(6) The number of applications for participa- 21 tion in the supplemental nutrition assistance pro- 22 gram completed with assistance from personnel of 23 the Department. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:35 Jul 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3870.IH H3870 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 3870 IH ‘‘(7) Measurable outcomes for veterans who 1 participate in the supplemental nutrition assistance 2 program or other Federal nutrition assistance pro- 3 grams, including food security status, health out- 4 comes, and other measures of well-being. 5 ‘‘(8) Coordination efforts between State agen- 6 cies, facilities of the Department and the Depart- 7 ment of Agriculture located in that State, and vet- 8 eran service organizations regarding outreach to vet- 9 erans to participate in the supplemental nutrition 10 assistance program. 11 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 12 ‘‘(1) The term ‘appropriate congressional com- 13 mittees’ means the following: 14 ‘‘(A) The Committee on Agriculture of the 15 House of Representatives. 16 ‘‘(B) The Committee on Agriculture, Nu- 17 trition, and Forestry of the Senate. 18 ‘‘(C) The Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 19 of the House of Representatives. 20 ‘‘(D) The Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 21 of the Senate. 22 ‘‘(2) The term ‘Indian tribe’ has the meaning 23 given such term in section 4 of the Indian Self-De- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:35 Jul 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3870.IH H3870 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 3870 IH termination and Education Assistance Act (25 1 U.S.C. 5304). 2 ‘‘(3) The terms ‘Native American’ and ‘Native 3 American veteran’ have the meanings given those 4 terms in section 3765 of this title. 5 ‘‘(4) The terms ‘State agency’ and ‘supple- 6 mental nutrition assistance program’ have the mean- 7 ings given those terms in section 3 of the Food and 8 Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2012).’’. 9 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:35 Jul 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3870.IH H3870 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB