VET Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4941 To amend title 10, United States Code, to improve the Transition Assistance Program by allowing certain veterans’ service organizations to contact veterans regarding benefits and to better inform veterans of employment opportunities, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OCTOBER 31, 2019 Mr. KIM (for himself, Mr. COOK, and Mr. CISNEROS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in ad- dition to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, for a period to be subse- quently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To amend title 10, United States Code, to improve the Transition Assistance Program by allowing certain vet- erans’ service organizations to contact veterans regarding benefits and to better inform veterans of employment opportunities, 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 ‘‘Veteran Employment 4 Transition Act’’ or the ‘‘VET Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:12 Nov 08, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4941.IH H4941 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 4941 IH SEC. 2. IMPROVEMENT TO TRANSITION ASSISTANCE PRO- 1 GRAM OUTREACH. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1144 of title 10, United 3 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol- 4 lowing new subsection: 5 ‘‘(g) OUTREACH.—(1) The Secretary concerned shall 6 collect the following information from each member par- 7 ticipating in the program under this section: 8 ‘‘(A) The name of the member. 9 ‘‘(B) The mailing address of the member while 10 participating in such program and, if different, the 11 mailing address of the member after being separated 12 from active duty. 13 ‘‘(C) The email address of the member. 14 ‘‘(D) The telephone number of the member. 15 ‘‘(2)(A) Except as provided by paragraph (3), the 16 Secretary concerned shall share with the veterans’ service 17 organizations covered by section 5902 of title 38, the De- 18 partment of Veterans Affairs, and veterans agencies of 19 State governments, the information of members collected 20 under paragraph (1) for the purpose of such organizations 21 contacting such members with respect to the following: 22 ‘‘(i) Programs described in subsection (b)(3). 23 ‘‘(ii) Benefits available to veterans. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:12 Nov 08, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4941.IH H4941 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 4941 IH ‘‘(iii) Employment opportunities for veterans, 1 including employment opportunities with the Federal 2 Government and State and local governments. 3 ‘‘(iv) Events for veterans in the area in which 4 the member lives. 5 ‘‘(B) The Secretary concerned may not share infor- 6 mation under subparagraph (A) with a veterans’ service 7 organization if such organization— 8 ‘‘(i) uses such information to solicit membership 9 with the organization; 10 ‘‘(ii) contacts the member or dependents of the 11 member under this subsection more frequently than 12 semiannually; or 13 ‘‘(iii) does not allow a member or dependent of 14 a member to opt out of being contacted under this 15 subsection. 16 ‘‘(3) In collecting information under paragraph (1), 17 the Secretary concerned shall permit a member partici- 18 pating in the program under this section to not be con- 19 tacted under paragraph (2).’’. 20 (b) PRIOR PARTICIPANTS.—The Secretary of Vet- 21 erans Affairs shall ensure that a veteran who completed 22 the Transition Assistance Program under section 1144 of 23 title 10, United States Code, before the date of the enact- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:12 Nov 08, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4941.IH H4941 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 4941 IH ment of this Act may provide the information under sub- 1 section (g)(1) of such section, as added by this section. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:12 Nov 08, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4941.IH H4941 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS