SERVE Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8105 To improve the ability of veterans with medical training to assist the United States in response to national emergencies, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AUGUST 25, 2020 Mr. LAMB (for himself, Mr. DUNN, Mr. BILIRAKIS, Mr. TRONE, and Miss GONZA´LEZ-COLO´N of Puerto Rico) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To improve the ability of veterans with medical training to assist the United States in response to national emer- gencies, 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 ‘‘Supporting Education 4 Recognition for Veterans during Emergencies Act’’ or the 5 ‘‘SERVE Act’’. 6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 7 In this Act: 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:34 Sep 04, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8105.IH H8105 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8105 IH (1) DEPARTMENT; SECRETARY; VETERAN.—The 1 terms ‘‘Department’’, ‘‘Secretary’’, and ‘‘veteran’’ 2 have the meanings given those terms in section 101 3 of title 38, United States Code. 4 (2) VETERANS SERVICE ORGANIZATION.—The 5 term ‘‘veterans service organization’’ means an orga- 6 nization that provides services to veterans, including 7 organizations recognized by the Secretary of Vet- 8 erans Affairs under section 5902 of title 38, United 9 States Code. 10 SEC. 3. UPDATE OF WEB PORTAL TO IDENTIFY VETERANS 11 WHO HAD MEDICAL OCCUPATIONS AS MEM- 12 BERS OF THE ARMED FORCES. 13 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall update exist- 14 ing web portals of the Department to allow the identifica- 15 tion of veterans who had a medical occupation as a mem- 16 ber of the Armed Forces. 17 (b) INFORMATION IN PORTAL.— 18 (1) IN GENERAL.—An update to a portal under 19 subsection (a) shall allow a veteran to elect to pro- 20 vide the following information: 21 (A) Contact information for the veteran. 22 (B) A history of the medical experience 23 and trained competencies of the veteran. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:34 Sep 04, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8105.IH H8105 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8105 IH (2) INCLUSIONS IN HISTORY.—To the extent 1 practicable, histories provided under paragraph 2 (1)(B) shall include individual critical task lists spe- 3 cific to military occupational specialties that align 4 with existing standard occupational codes main- 5 tained by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. 6 SEC. 4. PROGRAM ON PROVISION TO STATES OF INFORMA- 7 TION ON VETERANS WITH MEDICAL SKILLS 8 OBTAINED DURING SERVICE IN THE ARMED 9 FORCES. 10 For purposes of facilitating civilian medical creden- 11 tialing and hiring opportunities for veterans seeking to re- 12 spond to a national emergency, including a public health 13 emergency declared by the Secretary of Health and 14 Human Services under section 319 of the Public Health 15 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d), the Secretary, in coordina- 16 tion with the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of 17 Labor, shall establish a program to share information 18 specified in section 3(b) with the following: 19 (1) State departments of veterans affairs. 20 (2) Veterans service organizations. 21 (3) State credentialing bodies. 22 (4) Other stakeholders involved in State-level 23 credentialing, as determined appropriate by the Sec- 24 retary. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:34 Sep 04, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8105.IH H8105 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8105 IH SEC. 5. PROGRAM ON TRAINING OF INTERMEDIATE CARE 1 TECHNICIANS OF DEPARTMENT OF VET- 2 ERANS AFFAIRS. 3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall imple- 4 ment a program to train and certify covered veterans to 5 work as intermediate care technicians of the Department. 6 (b) LOCATIONS.—The Secretary may place an inter- 7 mediate care technician trained and certified under the 8 program under subsection (a) at any medical center of the 9 Department, giving priority to a location with a significant 10 staffing shortage. 11 (c) INCLUSION OF INFORMATION IN TRANSITION AS- 12 SISTANCE PROGRAM.—As part of the Transition Assist- 13 ance Program under sections 1142 and 1144 of title 10, 14 United States Code, the Secretary shall prepare a commu- 15 nications campaign to convey opportunities for training, 16 certification, and employment under the program under 17 subsection (a) to appropriate members of the Armed 18 Forces separating from active duty. 19 (d) REPORT ON EXPANSION OF PROGRAM.—Not 20 later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of 21 this Act, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report 22 on whether the program under this section could be rep- 23 licated for other medical positions within the Department. 24 (e) COVERED VETERAN DEFINED.—In this section, 25 the term ‘‘covered veteran’’ means a veteran whom the 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:34 Sep 04, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8105.IH H8105 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 8105 IH Secretary determines served as a basic health care techni- 1 cian while serving in the Armed Forces. 2 SEC. 6. NOTIFICATION OF OPPORTUNITIES FOR VETERANS. 3 The Secretary shall notify veterans service organiza- 4 tions and, in coordination with the Secretary of Defense, 5 members of the reserve components of the Armed Forces 6 of opportunities for veterans under this Act. 7 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:34 Sep 04, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8105.IH H8105 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS