What This Bill Does
This bill creates a searchable database to help the Department of Veterans Affairs recruit military members before they leave active duty. It also requires the VA to set up a training program that teaches veterans to become intermediate care technicians. The bill is called the Veterans Serving Veterans Act of 2023.
Who It Affects
Military members about to leave active duty, the Department of Veterans Affairs, veterans who served as basic health care technicians in the Armed Forces, and VA medical facilities.
Key Provisions
• The Secretary of Veterans Affairs must create and maintain a searchable database (called the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs Recruitment Database) that lists VA job openings and matches them with military occupational specialties (job skills) and qualified military members who are about to be discharged (Sec. 2(a)).
• The database must include each qualifying military member's name, contact information, discharge date, and past military job assignments (Sec. 2(a)).
• The VA Secretary can offer relocation bonuses to military members who accept jobs listed in the database (Sec. 2(a)).
• The Secretary must establish training centers at VA medical facilities to teach and certify veterans to work as intermediate care technicians (Sec. 3).
• The VA must submit an implementation plan within 180 days showing how and when it will set up the database and training program (Sec. 2(b)).
What Changes
The VA gains the ability to directly recruit military members before they leave active duty through a dedicated database system. Veterans with basic health care training can now access a structured program to become certified intermediate care technicians. The VA can skip certain standard federal hiring procedures when hiring qualified military members from the database.
Important Definitions
• Qualified member of the Armed Forces: A military member who appears in federal law section 1142(a) of title 10, chooses to be in the database, and has a military job skill that matches an open VA position (Sec. 2(a)).
• Covered veteran: A veteran the VA determines previously worked as a basic health care technician in the Armed Forces (Sec. 3).
I
118TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION H. R. 1182
To amend the VA Choice and Quality Employment Act to direct the Secretary
of Veterans Affairs to establish a vacancy and recruitment database
to facilitate the recruitment of certain members of the Armed Forces
to satisfy the occupational needs of the Department of Veterans Affairs,
to establish and implement a training and certification program for
intermediate care technicians in that Department, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY 24, 2023
Mrs. GONZA´LEZ-COLO´N (for herself, Mrs. RADEWAGEN, Mr. KIM of New Jer-
sey, and Mr. GALLAGHER) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs
A BILL
To amend the VA Choice and Quality Employment Act to
direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a
vacancy and recruitment database to facilitate the re-
cruitment of certain members of the Armed Forces to
satisfy the occupational needs of the Department of Vet-
erans Affairs, to establish and implement a training and
certification program for intermediate care technicians
in that Department, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
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tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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•HR 1182 IH
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
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This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Veterans Serving Vet-
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erans Act of 2023’’.
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SEC. 2. RECRUITMENT DATABASE.
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(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Section 208 of the VA Choice
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and Quality Employment Act (Public Law 115–46; 38
6
U.S.C. 701 note) is amended as follows:
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(1) In subsection (a)—
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(A) in the matter proceeding paragraph
9
(1), by striking ‘‘a single database’’ and insert-
10
ing ‘‘and maintain a single searchable database
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(to be known as the ‘Departments of Defense
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and Veterans Affairs Recruitment Database’)’’;
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(B) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘; and’’
14
and inserting a semicolon;
15
(C) in paragraph (2), by striking the pe-
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riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and
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(D) by adding after paragraph (2) the fol-
18
lowing new paragraph:
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‘‘(3) with respect to each vacant position under
20
paragraphs (1) and (2)—
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‘‘(A) the military occupational specialty or
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skill that corresponds to the position, as deter-
23
mined by the Secretary, in consultation with the
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Secretary of Defense; and
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•HR 1182 IH
‘‘(B) each qualified member of the Armed
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Forces who may be recruited to fill the position
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before such qualified member of the Armed
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Forces has been discharged and released from
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active duty.’’.
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(2) By redesignating subsections (b), (c), and
6
(d) as subsections (f), (g), and (h), respectively.
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(3) By inserting after subsection (a) the fol-
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lowing new subsections:
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‘‘(b) ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.—Subject to sub-
10
section (c), the database established under subsection (a)
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shall include, with respect to each qualified member of the
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Armed Forces, the following information:
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‘‘(1) The name and contact information of the
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qualified member of the Armed Forces.
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‘‘(2) The date on which the qualified member of
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the Armed Forces is expected to be discharged and
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released from active duty.
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‘‘(3) Each military occupational specialty cur-
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rently or previously assigned to the qualified member
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of the Armed Forces.
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‘‘(c) AVAILABILITY.—Information in the database
22
shall be available to offices, officials, and employees of the
23
Department of Veterans Affairs to the extent the Sec-
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retary of Veterans Affairs determines appropriate.
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•HR 1182 IH
‘‘(d) EXPEDITED HIRING PROCEDURES.—The Sec-
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retary shall hire qualified members of the Armed Forces
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who apply for vacant positions listed in the database es-
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tablished under subsection (a) without regard to the provi-
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sions of subchapter I of chapter 33 of title 5, United
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States Code.
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‘‘(e) RELOCATION BONUS.—The Secretary may au-
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thorize a relocation bonus, in an amount determined ap-
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propriate by the Secretary and subject to the same limita-
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tions as in the case of the authority provided under section
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5753 of title 5, to any qualified member of the Armed
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Forces who has accepted a position listed in the database
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established under subsection (a).’’.
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(4) In subsection (g)(1), as redesignated in
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paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘subsection (b)’’ and in-
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serting ‘‘subsection (g)’’.
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(5) In subsection (h), as redesignated in para-
17
graph (2), by striking ‘‘of this Act’’ and inserting
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‘‘of the Veterans Serving Veterans Act of 2023, and
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annually thereafter’’.
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(6) By adding after subsection (h), as redesig-
21
nated in paragraph (2), the following new sub-
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section:
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‘‘(i) QUALIFIED MEMBER OF THE ARMED FORCES
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DEFINED.—In this section, the term ‘qualified member of
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•HR 1182 IH
the Armed Forces’ means a member of the Armed
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Forces—
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‘‘(1) described in section 1142(a) of title 10;
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‘‘(2) who elects to be listed in the database es-
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tablished under subsection (a); and
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‘‘(3) who has been determined by the Secretary,
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in consultation with the Secretary of Defense, to
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have a military occupational speciality that cor-
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responds to a vacant position described in subsection
9
(a).’’.
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(b) IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.—Not later than 180
11
days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec-
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retary of Veterans Affairs shall submit to the Committees
13
on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Representatives and
14
the Senate a plan to implement, including a timeline, sec-
15
tion 208 of the VA Choice and Quality Employment Act
16
(Public Law 115–46; 38 U.S.C. 701 note), as amended
17
by this section.
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SEC. 3. INTERMEDIATE CARE TECHNICIAN TRAINING PRO-
19
GRAM.
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(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Veterans
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Affairs shall implement a program to train and certify cov-
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ered veterans to work as intermediate care technicians in
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the Department of Veterans Affairs.
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(b) LOCATIONS.—
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•HR 1182 IH
(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall es-
1
tablish centers at medical facilities of the Depart-
2
ment selected by the Secretary for the purposes of
3
carrying out the program under subsection (a).
4
(2) SELECTION
OF
MEDICAL
FACILITIES.—In
5
selecting a medical facility of the Department under
6
this subsection to serve as a center, the Secretary
7
shall consider—
8
(A) the experience and success of the facil-
9
ity in training intermediate care technicians;
10
and
11
(B) the availability of resources of the fa-
12
cility to train intermediate care technicians.
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(c) COVERED VETERAN DEFINED.—In this section,
14
the term ‘‘covered veteran’’ means a veteran whom the
15
Secretary determines served as a basic health care techni-
16
cian while serving in the Armed Forces.
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SEC. 4. NO AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
18
No additional funds are authorized to be appro-
19
priated to carry out section 208 of the VA Choice and
20
Quality Employment Act (Public Law 115–46; 38 U.S.C.
21
701 note), as amended by section 2 of this Act, or to carry
22
out section 3 of this Act. Such sections shall be carried
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•HR 1182 IH
out using amounts otherwise authorized to be appro-
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priated for such purpose.
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Æ
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