Veterans Conservation Corps Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2274 To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a veterans conservation corps, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 10, 2019 Mr. NEGUSE (for himself and Mr. RUIZ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on Transportation and Infrastructure, the Judiciary, and Science, Space, and Technology, for a period to be subsequently deter- mined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a veterans conservation corps, 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 ‘‘Veterans Conservation 4 Corps Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. VETERANS CONSERVATION CORPS. 6 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:38 Apr 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2274.IH H2274 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2274 IH (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Veterans 1 Affairs shall, in cooperation with the Attorney Gen- 2 eral, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of 3 Commerce, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the 4 Secretary of the Interior, the Chief Executive Officer 5 of the Corporation for National and Community 6 Service, and the Chief of Engineers, establish a vet- 7 erans conservation corps to assist veterans in the 8 transition from service in the Armed Forces to civil- 9 ian life and to employ veterans— 10 (A) in conservation, resource management, 11 firefighting, law enforcement, and historic pres- 12 ervation projects on public lands and mainte- 13 nance and improvement projects for cemeteries 14 under the jurisdiction of the National Cemetery 15 Administration; and 16 (B) as firefighters, law enforcement offi- 17 cers, and disaster relief personnel. 18 (2) VETERAN ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to 19 participate in the veterans conservation corps, a vet- 20 eran shall be unemployed. 21 (b) CONSERVATION, RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, HIS- 22 TORIC PRESERVATION, AND CEMETERY MAINTENANCE 23 AND IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:38 Apr 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2274.IH H2274 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2274 IH (1) IN GENERAL.—As part of the veterans con- 1 servation corps, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, 2 the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Com- 3 merce, the Secretary of the Interior, the Chief Exec- 4 utive Officer of the Corporation for National and 5 Community Service, and the Chief of Engineers 6 shall— 7 (A) employ veterans to carry out projects 8 described in subsection (a)(1); and 9 (B) award grants to, or enter into con- 10 tracts with, State governments, local govern- 11 ments, or nongovernmental entities to employ 12 veterans to carry out projects described in sub- 13 section (a)(1). 14 (2) PRIORITY.—In employing or awarding 15 grants or contracts to employ veterans under this 16 subsection, the Secretaries referred to in paragraph 17 (1) and the Chief of Engineers shall give priority to- 18 wards the employment of veterans who served on ac- 19 tive duty in the Armed Forces on or after September 20 11, 2001. 21 (3) COORDINATION.—The Secretary of Vet- 22 erans Affairs shall coordinate the activities of the 23 Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Com- 24 merce, the Secretary of the Interior, the Chief Exec- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:38 Apr 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2274.IH H2274 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2274 IH utive Officer of the Corporation for National and 1 Community Service, and the Chief of Engineers to 2 employ veterans as part of the veterans conservation 3 corps. 4 (4) OVERSIGHT OF PROJECTS.—The Secretaries 5 referred to in paragraph (1) and the Chief of Engi- 6 neers shall each provide oversight of the projects for 7 which they employ veterans under subparagraph (A) 8 of such paragraph or award grants or enter into 9 contracts under subparagraph (B) of such para- 10 graph. 11 (c) FIRST RESPONDERS.— 12 (1) FIREFIGHTERS.—As part of the veterans 13 conservation corps, the Secretary of Homeland Secu- 14 rity shall award grants under section 34 of the Fed- 15 eral Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 (15 16 U.S.C. 2229a) to hire veterans as firefighters. 17 (2) LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS.—As part of 18 the veterans conservation corps, the Attorney Gen- 19 eral shall award grants under part Q of title I of the 20 Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 21 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796dd et seq.) to hire veterans as 22 law enforcement officers. 23 (3) DISASTER RELIEF PERSONNEL.—As part of 24 the veterans conservation corps, the Secretary of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:38 Apr 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2274.IH H2274 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2274 IH Homeland Security shall provide funds to increase 1 participation by veterans in the FEMA Corps pro- 2 gram, which is a partnership between the Corpora- 3 tion for National and Community Service and the 4 Federal Emergency Management Agency. 5 (4) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants or pro- 6 viding funds under this subsection to hire veterans, 7 the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Attor- 8 ney General shall give priority to the hiring of vet- 9 erans who served on active duty in the Armed 10 Forces on or after September 11, 2001. 11 (d) ASSISTANCE.— 12 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Veterans 13 Affairs may provide assistance to the Secretaries re- 14 ferred to in subsection (a), the Attorney General, the 15 Chief of Engineers, and the Chief Executive Officer 16 to carry out the veterans conservation corps. Such 17 assistance may take the form of a transfer under 18 paragraph (2). 19 (2) TRANSFERS.—Except as otherwise provided 20 in this subsection, of amounts appropriated or other- 21 wise made available to the Secretary of Veterans Af- 22 fairs to carry out this section, the Secretary of Vet- 23 erans Affairs may transfer such amounts as the Sec- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:38 Apr 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2274.IH H2274 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2274 IH retary considers appropriate to carry out the vet- 1 erans conservation corps to the following: 2 (A) The Attorney General. 3 (B) The Secretary of Agriculture. 4 (C) The Secretary of Commerce. 5 (D) The Secretary of Homeland Security. 6 (E) The Secretary of the Interior. 7 (F) The Corporation for National and 8 Community Service. 9 (G) The Chief of Engineers. 10 (3) ASSISTANCE FOR CONSERVATION, RE- 11 SOURCE MANAGEMENT, HISTORIC PRESERVATION, 12 AND CEMETERY MAINTENANCE AND IMPROVEMENT 13 PROJECTS.— 14 (A) APPLICATION.—If a Secretary referred 15 to in subsection (b)(1) or the Chief of Engi- 16 neers or the Chief Executive Officer seeks as- 17 sistance under paragraph (1) to employ a vet- 18 eran to carry out a project under subparagraph 19 (A) of subsection (b)(1) or to award a grant or 20 contract to carry out a project under subpara- 21 graph (B) of such subsection, such Secretary or 22 the Chief of Engineers shall submit to the Sec- 23 retary of Veterans Affairs an application there- 24 for at such time, in such manner, and con- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:38 Apr 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2274.IH H2274 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 2274 IH taining such information as the Secretary of 1 Veterans Affairs may require. 2 (B) SELECTION.—The Secretary of Vet- 3 erans Affairs shall, in consultation with the 4 steering committee established under subpara- 5 graph (C), award assistance under this para- 6 graph in accordance with such criteria as the 7 steering committee establishes. 8 (C) STEERING COMMITTEE.— 9 (i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of 10 Veterans Affairs shall establish a steering 11 committee— 12 (I) to establish selection criteria 13 for the awarding of assistance under 14 paragraph (1) to employ a veteran to 15 carry out a project under subpara- 16 graph (A) of subsection (b)(1) or to 17 award a grant or contract to carry out 18 a project under subparagraph (B) of 19 such subsection; and 20 (II) to provide the Secretary of 21 Veterans Affairs with advice on 22 awarding assistance under this sub- 23 section with respect to projects de- 24 scribed in subsection (a)(1) and car- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:38 Apr 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2274.IH H2274 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 2274 IH rying out the requirements of the vet- 1 erans conservation corps under sub- 2 section (b). 3 (ii) COMPOSITION.—The steering com- 4 mittee shall be composed of the following: 5 (I) The Secretary of Veterans Af- 6 fairs. 7 (II) The Secretary of Agri- 8 culture. 9 (III) The Secretary of Com- 10 merce. 11 (IV) The Secretary of the Inte- 12 rior. 13 (V) The Corporation for National 14 and Community Service. 15 (VI) The Chief of Engineers. 16 (iii) CHAIRPERSON.—The chairperson 17 of the steering committee shall be the Sec- 18 retary of Veterans Affairs. 19 (iv) ADVISORY INPUT.—The Secretary 20 of Defense, the Secretary of Labor, and 21 the Chief Executive Officer of the Corpora- 22 tion for National and Community Service 23 may provide advice to the steering com- 24 mittee. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:38 Apr 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2274.IH H2274 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 2274 IH (4) ASSISTANCE FOR FIRST RESPONDERS.—Not 1 more than 10 percent of amounts appropriated or 2 otherwise made available to the Secretary of Vet- 3 erans Affairs to carry out this section may be trans- 4 ferred to the Attorney General and the Secretary of 5 Homeland Security to employ veterans under sub- 6 section (c). 7 (e) REPORTING FRAMEWORK.—The Secretary of Vet- 8 erans Affairs shall establish a reporting framework to reg- 9 ularly monitor and evaluate the veterans conservation 10 corps to ensure proper oversight and accountability of the 11 veterans conservation corps. 12 (f) OUTREACH.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 13 shall ensure that veterans employed under the veterans 14 conservation corps are aware of benefits and assistance 15 available to them under laws administered by the Sec- 16 retary of Veterans Affairs. 17 (g) DONATIONS.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 18 may solicit, accept, hold, administer, use, and dispose of, 19 in furtherance of the purpose of this Act, donations of any 20 money or property, real, personal, or mixed, tangible or 21 intangible, received by gift, devise, bequest, or otherwise. 22 Donations accepted under this subparagraph shall be used 23 as nearly as possible in accordance with the terms, if any, 24 of such donation. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:38 Apr 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2274.IH H2274 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 2274 IH (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 1 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is available without 2 further appropriation to the Secretary of Veterans 3 Affairs to carry out this section, $600,000,000 for 4 the period of fiscal years 2020 through 2024. 5 (2) LIMITATION.—Of amounts appropriated or 6 otherwise made available to carry out this section, 7 not more than five percent may be spent to admin- 8 ister the veterans conservation corps. 9 (i) DEFINITION OF VETERAN.—In this section, the 10 term ‘‘veteran’’ has the meaning given the term in section 11 101 of title 38, United States Code. 12 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:38 Apr 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2274.IH H2274 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS