To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to administer a pilot program to employ veterans in positions that relate to conservation and resource management activities.

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2789 To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to administer a pilot program to employ veterans in positions that relate to conservation and resource management activities. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 22, 2021 Mr. LAMB (for himself and Mr. FITZPATRICK) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, and in addi- tion to the Committees on Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic- tion of the committee concerned A BILL To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to administer a pilot program to employ veterans in positions that relate to conservation and resource management activi- ties. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:25 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2789.IH H2789 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2789 IH SECTION 1. PILOT PROGRAM TO EMPLOY VETERANS IN PO- 1 SITIONS RELATING TO CONSERVATION AND 2 RESOURCE MANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES. 3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Veterans 4 Affairs and the Secretaries concerned shall jointly estab- 5 lish a pilot program under which veterans are employed 6 by the Federal Government in positions that relate to the 7 conservation and resource management activities of the 8 Department of the Interior and the Department of Agri- 9 culture. 10 (b) ADMINISTRATION.—The Secretary of Veterans 11 Affairs shall administer the pilot program under sub- 12 section (a). 13 (c) POSITIONS.—The Secretaries concerned shall— 14 (1) identify vacant positions in the respective 15 Departments of the Secretaries that are appropriate 16 to fill using the pilot program under subsection (a); 17 and 18 (2) to the extent practicable, fill such positions 19 using the pilot program. 20 (d) APPLICATION OF CIVIL SERVICE LAWS.—A vet- 21 eran employed under the pilot program under subsection 22 (a) shall be treated as an employee as defined by section 23 2105 of title 5, United States Code. 24 (e) BEST PRACTICES FOR OTHER DEPARTMENTS.— 25 The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall establish guide- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:25 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2789.IH H2789 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2789 IH lines containing best practices for departments and agen- 1 cies of the Federal Government that carry out programs 2 to employ veterans who are transitioning from service in 3 the Armed Forces. Such guidelines shall include— 4 (1) lessons learned under the Warrior Training 5 Advancement Course of the Department of Veterans 6 Affairs; and 7 (2) methods to realize cost savings based on 8 such lessons learned. 9 (f) PARTNERSHIP.—The Secretary of Veterans Af- 10 fairs, the Secretaries concerned, and the Secretary of De- 11 fense may enter into a partnership to include the pilot pro- 12 gram under subsection (a) as part of the Skillbridge pro- 13 gram under section 1143 of title 10, United States Code. 14 (g) REPORTS.— 15 (1) INITIAL REPORT.—Not later than 60 days 16 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec- 17 retary of Veterans Affairs and the Secretaries con- 18 cerned shall jointly submit to the appropriate con- 19 gressional committees a report on the pilot program 20 under subsection (a), including— 21 (A) a description of how the pilot program 22 will be carried out in a manner to reduce the 23 unemployment of veterans; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:25 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2789.IH H2789 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2789 IH (B) any recommendations for legislative 1 actions to improve the pilot program. 2 (2) IMPLEMENTATION.—Not later than one 3 year after the date on which the pilot program under 4 subsection (a) commences, the Secretary of Veterans 5 Affairs and the Secretaries concerned shall jointly 6 submit to the appropriate congressional committees 7 a report on the implementation of the pilot program. 8 (3) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than 30 days 9 after the date on which the pilot program under sub- 10 section (a) is completed, the Secretary of Veterans 11 Affairs and the Secretaries concerned shall jointly 12 submit to the appropriate congressional committees 13 a report on the pilot program that includes the fol- 14 lowing: 15 (A) The number of veterans who applied to 16 participate in the pilot program. 17 (B) The number of such veterans employed 18 under the pilot program. 19 (C) The number of veterans identified in 20 subparagraph (B) who transitioned to full-time 21 positions with the Federal Government after 22 participating in the pilot program. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:25 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2789.IH H2789 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2789 IH (D) Any other information the Secretaries 1 determine appropriate with respect to meas- 2 uring the effectiveness of the pilot program. 3 (h) DURATION.—The authority to carry out the pilot 4 program under subsection (a) shall terminate on the date 5 that is two years after the date on which the pilot program 6 commences. 7 (i) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 8 (1) The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com- 9 mittees’’ means— 10 (A) the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, 11 the Committee on Agriculture, and the Com- 12 mittee on Natural Resources of the House of 13 Representatives; and 14 (B) the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, 15 the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and 16 Forestry, and the Committee on Energy and 17 Natural Resources of the Senate. 18 (2) The term ‘‘Secretary concerned’’ means— 19 (A) the Secretary of Agriculture with re- 20 spect to matters regarding the National Forest 21 System and the Department of Agriculture; and 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:25 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2789.IH H2789 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2789 IH (B) the Secretary of the Interior with re- 1 spect to matters regarding the National Park 2 System and the Department of the Interior. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:25 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2789.IH H2789 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS