U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE

WASHINGTON : 

1 

49–010 

" ! SENATE 

114TH CONGRESS

1st Session 

REPORT

2015

114–35 

Calendar No. 67 

GOLD STAR FATHERS ACT OF 2015 

R E P O R T 

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND 

GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS 

UNITED STATES SENATE 

TO ACCOMPANY

S. 136 

TO AMEND CHAPTER 21 OF TITLE 5, UNITED STATES CODE, 

TO PROVIDE THAT FATHERS OF CERTAIN PERMANENTLY 

DISABLED OR DECEASED VETERANS SHALL BE INCLUDED WITH 

MOTHERS OF SUCH VETERANS AS PREFERENCE ELIGIBLES FOR 

TREATMENT IN THE CIVIL SERVICE 

MAY 5, 2015.—Ordered to be printed 


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(II) 

COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS 

RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin Chairman 

JOHN MCCAIN, Arizona 

ROB PORTMAN, Ohio 

RAND PAUL, Kentucky 

JAMES LANKFORD, Oklahoma 

MICHAEL B. ENZI, Wyoming 

KELLY AYOTTE, New Hampshire 

JONI ERNST, Iowa 

BEN SASSE, Nebraska 

THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware 

CLAIRE MCCASKILL, Missouri 

JON TESTER, Montana 

TAMMY BALDWIN, Wisconsin 

HEIDI HEITKAMP, North Dakota 

CORY A. BOOKER, New Jersey 

GARY C. PETERS, Michigan 

KEITH B. ASHDOWN, Staff Director 

CHRISTOPHER R. HIXON, Chief Counsel 

PATRICK J. BAILEY, Chief Counsel for Governmental Affairs 

GABRIELLE A. BATKIN, Minority Staff Director 

JOHN P. KILVINGTON, Minority Deputy Staff Director 

MARY BETH SCHULTZ, Minority Chief Counsel 

KATHERINE C. SYBENGA, Minority Senior Counsel 

LAURA W. KILBRIDE, Chief Clerk 


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C O N T E N T S 

Page 

I. Purpose and Summary .................................................................................. 1 

II. Background and Need for the Legislation ................................................... 1 

III. Legislative History ......................................................................................... 2 

IV. Section-by-Section Analysis .......................................................................... 2 

V. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact .................................................................. 3 

VI. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate ................................................ 3 

VII. Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported ........................... 3 


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1Public Law 80–396 (1948). 

Calendar No. 67 

114TH CONGRESS SENATE REPORT " ! 1st Session 114–35 

GOLD STAR FATHERS ACT OF 2015 

MAY 5, 2015.—Ordered to be printed 

Mr. JOHNSON, from the Committee on Homeland Security and 

Governmental Affairs, submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

[To accompany S. 136] 

The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, 

to which was referred the bill (S. 136) to amend chapter 21 of title 

5, United States Code, to provide that fathers of certain permanently disabled or deceased veterans shall be included with mothers of such veterans as preference eligibles for treatment in the 

civil service, having considered the same, reports favorably thereon 

without amendment and recommends that the bill do pass. 

I. PURPOSE AND SUMMARY

Current law provides certain preferences for the mothers of permanently disabled or deceased veterans in obtaining appointment 

to the civil service. S. 136, the Gold Star Fathers Act of 2015, expands preferred eligibility for such civil service appointments to the 

fathers of these same disabled and deceased veterans. 

II. BACKGROUND AND THE NEED FOR LEGISLATION

In January 1948, Congress established a hiring preference for 

the widowed, divorced, or legally separated mothers of veterans 

who died in active duty in wartime or who suffer a permanent and 

total disability connected to such service.1 The committee reporting 

the legislation provided the following explanation: 

It is the opinion of this committee that the debt of gratitude owed by the United States to the widowed mothers of 

ex-servicemen who lost their lives on active duty, and to 

the widowed mothers of ex-servicemen who are permaVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:50 May 07, 2015 Jkt 049010 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\SR035.XXX SR035

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2 Committee on Post Office and Civil Service, Report to accompany H.R. 1426, Extending Veterans’ Preference Benefits to Widowed Mothers of Certain Ex-Servicemen, H.R. Rep. No. 697, 

80th Congress, 1st Session (June 25, 1947). 3Public Law 81–887 (Dec. 27, 1950). The laws making mothers of veterans eligible for hiring 

preference have been codified at 5 U.S.C. 2108(3)(F)–(G). 4See U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM): Veterans Services, VetGuide, http:// 

www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/veterans-services/vet-guide/, last visited April 24, 2014. 

nently and totally disabled, is immeasurable, but such 

widowed mothers warrant the same consideration now 

given to wives and unmarried widows of certain ex-servicemen.2

Under current statute, mothers of certain permanently disabled 

or deceased veterans receive a preference in obtaining appointment 

to the civil service if such mothers are widowed, divorced, or separated, or also if they are married to a husband who is permanently 

disabled, in recognition of their sacrifice.3 The current hiring preference for mothers of deceased and permanently disabled veterans 

provides 10 additional points to the score of those who pass the 

civil service examination.4

Recognizing that the fathers of disabled or deceased veterans suffer a loss that warrants no less consideration than that suffered by 

mothers, this legislation would extend the hiring preference to fathers. The United States owes a tremendous debt of gratitude to 

the parents of fallen and disabled veterans. 

In addition to extending the 10-point hiring preference to fathers, 

S.136 also extends the preference not just to widowed and divorced 

mothers, but also to those that are otherwise unmarried. 

III. LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

Senator Wyden introduced S. 136, which was referred to the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on 

January 8, 2015. 

The Committee considered S. 136 at a business meeting held on 

March 4, 2015. No amendments were offered. The Committee ordered the bill reported favorably en bloc by voice vote. Members 

present for the vote were: Johnson, Portman, Lankford, Ayotte, 

Ernst, Carper, McCaskill, Baldwin, Heitkamp, and Peters. 

IV. SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS OF THE BILL, AS REPORTED

Section 1. Short title 

This section provides a short title by which the bill may be cited. 

Section 2. Preference eligible treatment for fathers of certain permanently disabled or deceased veterans 

This section amends Title 5 of the United States Code sections 

2108(3)(F) and (G) to establish that the mothers and fathers of certain deceased and totally disabled veterans may be eligible for preference in civil service hiring if certain conditions are met. It also 

amends these paragraphs to extend the preference to a parent who 

was never married. 

Section 3. Effective date 

This section provides that the amendments made by S. 136 will 

take effect 90 days after the date of enactment. 


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V. EVALUATION OF REGULATORY IMPACT

Pursuant to the requirements of paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of 

the Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee has considered 

the regulatory impact of this bill and determined that the bill will 

have no regulatory impact within the meaning of the rules. The 

Committee agrees with the Congressional Budget Office’s statement that S. 136 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 

mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and 

would not affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal governments. 

VI. CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE COST ESTIMATE

MARCH 11, 2015. 

Hon. RON JOHNSON, 

Chairman, Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, U.S. Senate, Washington, DC. 

DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: The Congressional Budget Office has prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 136, the Gold Star Fathers 

Act of 2015. 

If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be pleased 

to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Matthew Pickford. 

Sincerely, 

DOUGLAS W. ELMENDORF. 

Enclosure. 

S. 136—Gold Star Fathers Act of 2015 

S. 136 would expand preferred eligibility for federal jobs to the 

fathers of certain permanently disabled or deceased veterans. CBO 

estimates that implementing the legislation would not have any 

significant effect on the federal budget. Enacting the bill would not 

affect direct spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply. 

Under current law, mothers of certain veterans are eligible to 

claim preferences for civil service positions if their children are permanently disabled or deceased. S. 136 would expand that preference to include such veterans’ fathers. We estimate that the legislation would have no significant budgetary effect because, while 

it would expand the pool of people eligible for federal job preferences, it would not change the total number of federal jobs available or the salaries paid to federal employees. 

S. 136 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates 

as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would not 

affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal governments. 

The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Matthew Pickford. The 

estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis. 

VII. CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW MADE BY THE BILL, AS REPORTED

In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the Standing 

Rules of the Senate, changes in existing law made by S. 136 as reported, are shown as follows (existing law proposed to be omitted 

is enclosed in brackets, new matter is printed in italic, and existing 

law in which no change is proposed is shown in roman): 


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TITLE 5—GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATION 

AND EMPLOYEES 

PART III—EMPLOYEES 

Subpart A—General Provision 

CHAPTER 21—DEFINITIONS 

§ 2108—Veteran; disabled veteran; preference eligible 

For the purpose of this title— 

(1) * * * 

(2) * * * 

(3) ‘‘preference eligible’’ means, except as provided in paragraph (4) of this section or section 2108a(c)— 

(A) * * * 

* * * * * * * 

ø(F) the mother of an individual who lost his life under 

honorable conditions while serving in the armed forces 

during a period named by paragraph (1)(A) of this section, 

if— 

ø(i) her husband is totally and permanently disabled; 

ø(ii) she is widowed, divorced, or separated from the 

father and has not remarried; or 

ø(iii) she has remarried but is widowed, divorced, or 

legally separated from her husband when preference is 

claimed; 

ø(G) the mother of a service-connected permanently and 

totally disabled veteran, if— 

ø(i) her husband is totally and permanently disabled; 

ø(ii) she is widowed, divorced, or separated from the 

father and has not remarried; or 

ø(iii) she has remarried but is widowed, divorced, or 

legally separated from her husband when preference is 

claimed; and¿ 

(F) the parent of an individual who lost his or her life 

under honorable conditions while serving in the armed 

forces during a period named by paragraph (1)(A) of this 

section, if— 

(i) the spouse of that parent is totally and permanently disabled; or 

(ii) that parent, when the preference is claimed, is 

unmarried or, if married, legally separated from his or 

her spouse; 

(G) the parent of a service-connected permanently and totally disabled veteran, if— 

(i) the spouse of that parent is totally and permanently disabled; or 


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(ii) that parent, when preference is claimed, is unmarried or, if married, legally separated from his or 

her spouse; and 

* * * * * * * 

Æ 


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