I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2358 To authorize the President to reestablish the Civilian Conservation Corps as a means of providing gainful employment to unemployed and under- employed citizens of the United States through the performance of useful public work, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 25, 2019 Ms. KAPTUR (for herself, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. POCAN, Ms. NORTON, Ms. MOORE, Mr. CA´RDENAS, Mr. PAYNE, and Ms. SCHAKOWSKY) intro- duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Edu- cation and Labor A BILL To authorize the President to reestablish the Civilian Con- servation Corps as a means of providing gainful employ- ment to unemployed and underemployed citizens of the United States through the performance of useful public work, 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 ‘‘21st Century Civilian 4 Conservation Corps Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:08 Apr 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2358.IH H2358 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 2358 IH SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT AND OPERATION OF CIVILIAN 1 CONSERVATION CORPS. 2 (a) ESTABLISHMENT AND PURPOSE.—In order to re- 3 lieve the acute condition of widespread distress and unem- 4 ployment existing in the United States and to provide for 5 the restoration of depleted natural resources in the United 6 States and the advancement of an orderly program of use- 7 ful public works, the President may establish and operate 8 a Civilian Conservation Corps to employ citizens of the 9 United States, who are otherwise unemployed or under- 10 employed, in the construction, maintenance, and carrying 11 on of works of a public nature in connection with— 12 (1) the forestation of lands belonging to the 13 United States or a State; 14 (2) the prevention of forest fires, floods, and 15 soil erosion; 16 (3) plant pest and disease control; 17 (4) the construction, maintenance, or repair of 18 paths, trails, and fire-lanes in units of the National 19 Park System, public lands, and other lands under 20 the jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Interior and 21 units of the National Forest System; and 22 (5) such other work on Federal or State land 23 incidental to or necessary in connection with any 24 projects of the character enumerated in paragraphs 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:08 Apr 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2358.IH H2358 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 2358 IH (1) through (4) that the President determines to be 1 desirable. 2 (b) ROLE OF FEDERAL AGENCIES.—To operate the 3 Civilian Conservation Corps, the President may utilize ex- 4 isting Federal departments and agencies, including the 5 Department of Labor, the Department of Defense, the 6 National Guard Bureau, the Department of the Interior, 7 the Department of Agriculture, the Army Corps of Engi- 8 neers, the Department of Transportation, the Department 9 of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency, and 10 Federal governmental corporations. 11 (c) INCLUSION OF OTHER LANDS.—The President 12 may extend the activities of the Civilian Conservation 13 Corps to lands owned by a political subdivision of a State 14 and lands in private ownership, but only for the purpose 15 of conducting such kinds of cooperation work as are other- 16 wise authorized by law in preventing and controlling forest 17 fires and the attacks of forest tree pests and diseases and 18 such work as is necessary and in the public interest to 19 control floods. 20 (d) CONTRACT AUTHORITY.—For the purpose of car- 21 rying out this Act, the President may enter into such con- 22 tracts or agreements with States as may be necessary, in- 23 cluding provisions for utilization of existing State adminis- 24 trative agencies. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:08 Apr 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2358.IH H2358 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 2358 IH (e) ACQUISITION OF REAL PROPERTY.—The Presi- 1 dent, or the head of any department or agency authorized 2 by the President to construct any project or to carry on 3 any public works under this Act, may acquire real prop- 4 erty for such project or public work by purchase, donation, 5 condemnation, or otherwise. 6 SEC. 3. ADMINISTRATION OF CIVILIAN CONSERVATION 7 CORPS. 8 (a) EMPLOYMENT PREFERENCE.—If the President 9 determines that amounts appropriated to carry out a Civil- 10 ian Conservation Corps under this Act for a fiscal year 11 will be insufficient to employ all of the citizens of the 12 United States described in section 2(a) who are seeking 13 or likely to seek employment in the Civilian Conservation 14 Corps and continue the employment of current employees 15 who desire to remain in the Civilian Conservation Corps, 16 the President shall employ additional persons in the Civil- 17 ian Conservation Corps in the following order of pref- 18 erence: 19 (1) Unemployed veterans of the Armed Forces 20 and unemployed members of the reserve components 21 of the Armed Forces. 22 (2) Unemployed citizens who have exhausted 23 their entitlement to unemployment compensation. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:08 Apr 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2358.IH H2358 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 2358 IH (3) Unemployed citizens, who immediately be- 1 fore employment in the Civilian Conservation Corps, 2 are eligible for unemployment compensation payable 3 under any State law or Federal unemployment com- 4 pensation law, including any additional compensa- 5 tion or extended compensation under such laws. 6 (4) Other citizens described in section 2(a). 7 (b) HOUSING AND CARE OF EMPLOYEES.—The 8 President may provide housing for persons employed in 9 the Civilian Conservation Corps and furnish them with 10 such subsistence, clothing, medical attendance and hos- 11 pitalization, and cash allowance, as may be necessary, dur- 12 ing the period they are so employed. 13 (c) TRANSPORTATION.—The President may provide 14 for the transportation of persons employed in the Civilian 15 Conservation Corps to and from the places of employment. 16 (d) NON-DISCRIMINATION.—In employing citizens 17 for the Civilian Conservation Corps, no discrimination 18 shall occur in accordance with Federal employment law; 19 except that no individual under conviction for crime and 20 serving sentence therefore shall be employed under the 21 provisions of this Act. 22 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 23 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 24 are authorized to be appropriated to the President 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:08 Apr 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2358.IH H2358 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 2358 IH $16,000,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2019 through 1 2022 to establish and operate a Civilian Conservation 2 Corps under this Act. 3 (b) USE OF UNOBLIGATED FUNDS APPROPRIATED 4 FOR PUBLIC WORKS.— 5 (1) USE OF EXISTING FUNDS.—The President 6 may use any moneys previously appropriated for 7 public works and unobligated as of the date of the 8 enactment of this Act to establish and operate a Ci- 9 vilian Conservation Corps under this Act. 10 (2) USE TO RELIEVE UNEMPLOYMENT.—Not 11 less than 80 percent of the funds utilized pursuant 12 to paragraph (1) must be used to provide for the 13 employment of individuals under this Act. 14 (3) EXCEPTIONS.—Paragraph (1) does not 15 apply to— 16 (A) unobligated moneys appropriated for 17 public works on which actual construction has 18 been commenced as of the date of the enact- 19 ment of this Act or may be commenced within 20 90 days after that date; and 21 (B) maintenance funds for river and har- 22 bor improvements already allocated as of the 23 date of the enactment of this Act. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:08 Apr 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2358.IH H2358 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 2358 IH (c) DURATION OF AVAILABILITY.—Amounts appro- 1 priated pursuant to the authorization of appropriations in 2 subsection (a) or made available under subsection (b) shall 3 remain available until expended. 4 SEC. 5. TERMINATION. 5 The authority of the President to establish and oper- 6 ate a Civilian Conservation Corps under this Act expires 7 on September 30, 2022. 8 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:08 Apr 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2358.IH H2358 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS