Hire Veteran Health Heroes Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2151 To identify and refer members of the Armed Forces with a health care occupation who are separating from the Armed Forces for potential employment with the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 23, 2021 Mr. LATTA (for himself and Miss RICE of New York) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To identify and refer members of the Armed Forces with a health care occupation who are separating from the Armed Forces for potential employment with the Depart- ment of Veterans Affairs, 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 ‘‘Hire Veteran Health 4 Heroes Act of 2021’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:26 May 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2151.IH H2151 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2151 IH SEC. 2. IDENTIFICATION AND REFERRAL OF MEMBERS OF 1 THE ARMED FORCES WITH A HEALTH CARE 2 OCCUPATION FOR POTENTIAL EMPLOYMENT 3 WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AF- 4 FAIRS DURING SEPARATION FROM THE 5 ARMED FORCES. 6 (a) IDENTIFICATION.—The Secretary of Veterans Af- 7 fairs, in consultation with the Secretary of Defense, shall 8 identify members of the Armed Forces in a health care 9 occupation during the separation of such members from 10 the Armed Forces. 11 (b) REFERRAL OF INTERESTED INDIVIDUALS.— 12 (1) IN GENERAL.—If a member of the Armed 13 Forces identified under subsection (a) expresses an 14 interest in working in a health care occupation with- 15 in the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Sec- 16 retary of Veterans Affairs shall refer the member to 17 a recruiter of the Department for consideration of 18 open positions in the specialty and geography of in- 19 terest of the member. 20 (2) TIMING.—Any referral of a member of the 21 Armed Forces conducted under paragraph (1) shall 22 be made not earlier than one year before the separa- 23 tion of the member from the Armed Forces. 24 (c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Any identification of 25 a member of the Armed Forces under subsection (a) or 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:26 May 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2151.IH H2151 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2151 IH referral of such member under subsection (b) shall not be 1 construed as a guarantee of employment of such member 2 with the Department of Veterans Affairs. 3 (d) REPORTS.—Not later than each of one year and 4 two years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 5 Secretary of Veterans Affairs, in consultation with the 6 Secretary of Defense, shall submit to the appropriate com- 7 mittees of Congress a report on the efficacy of the identi- 8 fication and referral of separating members of the Armed 9 Forces under this section. 10 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 11 (1) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON- 12 GRESS.—The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con- 13 gress’’ means— 14 (A) The Committee on Armed Services and 15 the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the Sen- 16 ate; and 17 (B) The Committee on Armed Services and 18 the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the 19 House of Representatives. 20 (2) HEALTH CARE OCCUPATION.—The term 21 ‘‘health care occupation’’ means an occupation for 22 which an individual may be appointed for employ- 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:26 May 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2151.IH H2151 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2151 IH ment with the Department of Veterans Affairs under 1 section 7401 of title 38, United States Code. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:26 May 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2151.IH H2151 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS