U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

WASHINGTON : 

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office

Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800

Fax: (202) 512–2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20402–0001

72–244 2012

IMPLEMENTATION OF 

THE VOW TO HIRE HEROES ACT OF 2011 

HEARING 

BEFORE THE

SUBCOMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY 

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON VETERANS’ AFFAIRS 

U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

ONE HUNDRED TWELFTH CONGRESS 

FIRST SESSION 

DECEMBER 15, 2011 

Serial No. 112–38 

Printed for the use of the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

( 


anorris on DSK9Q6SHH1PROD with HEARING
ii 

COMMITTEE ON VETERANS’ AFFAIRS 

JEFF MILLER, Florida, Chairman 

CLIFF STEARNS, Florida 

DOUG LAMBORN, Colorado 

GUS M. BILIRAKIS, Florida 

DAVID P. ROE, Tennessee 

MARLIN A. STUTZMAN, Indiana 

BILL FLORES, Texas 

BILL JOHNSON, Ohio 

JEFF DENHAM, California 

JON RUNYAN, New Jersey 

DAN BENISHEK, Michigan 

ANN MARIE BUERKLE, New York 

TIM HUELSKAMP, Kansas 

MARK E. AMODEI, Nevada 

ROBERT L. TURNER, New York 

BOB FILNER, California, Ranking 

CORRINE BROWN, Florida 

SILVESTRE REYES, Texas 

MICHAEL H. MICHAUD, Maine 

LINDA T. SA ́ NCHEZ, California 

BRUCE L. BRALEY, Iowa 

JERRY MCNERNEY, California 

JOE DONNELLY, Indiana 

TIMOTHY J. WALZ, Minnesota 

JOHN BARROW, Georgia 

RUSS CARNAHAN, Missouri 

HELEN W. TOLAR, Staff Director and Chief Counsel 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY 

MARLIN A. STUTZMAN, Indiana, Chairman 

GUS M. BILIRAKIS, Florida 

BILL JOHNSON, Ohio 

TIM HUELSKAMP, Kansas 

MARK E. AMODEI, Nevada 

BRUCE L. BRALEY, Iowa, Ranking 

LINDA T. SA ́ NCHEZ, California 

TIMOTHY J. WALZ, Minnesota 

Pursuant to clause 2(e)(4) of Rule XI of the Rules of the House, public hearing records 

of the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs are also published in electronic form. The printed 

hearing record remains the official version. Because electronic submissions are used to 

prepare both printed and electronic versions of the hearing record, the process of converting 

between various electronic formats may introduce unintentional errors or omissions. Such occurrences are inherent in the current publication process and should diminish as the process 

is further refined. 


anorris on DSK9Q6SHH1PROD with HEARING
iii 

C O N T E N T S 

December 15, 2011 

Page 

Implementation of the Vow to Hire Heroes Act of 2011 ....................................... 1 

OPENING STATEMENTS 

Chairman Marlin A. Stutzman ............................................................................... 1 

Prepared statement of Chairman Stutzman .................................................. 20 

Hon. Bruce L. Braley, Ranking Democratic Member ........................................... 2 

Prepared statement of Congressman Braley .................................................. 20 

WITNESSES 

Ismael Ortiz, Jr., Acting Assistant Secretary, Veterans’ Employment and 

Training Service, U.S. Department of Labor ..................................................... 3 

Prepared statement of Mr. Ortiz ..................................................................... 21 

Accompanied By: 

Gerri Fiala, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Employment and Training 

Administration, U.S. Department of Labor 

Curtis L. Coy, Deputy Under Secretary for Economic Opportunity, Veterans 

Benefits Administration, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs ....................... 5 

Prepared statement of Mr. Coy ....................................................................... 23 

Accompanied By: 

Keith M. Wilson, Director, Education Service, Veterans Benefits Administration, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs 

MATERIAL SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD 

Deliverable from Department of Veterans Affairs, Received February 1, 2012 

Questions from Honorable Bill Johnson to Mr. Curtis Coy, Deputy Under 

Secretary for Economic Opportunity, Veterans Benefits Administration, 

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs .............................................................. 27 


anorris on DSK9Q6SHH1PROD with HEARING

anorris on DSK9Q6SHH1PROD with HEARING
(1) 

IMPLEMENTATION OF 

THE VOW TO HIRE HEROES ACT OF 2011 

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2011 

U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, COMMITTEE ON VETERANS’ AFFAIRS, SUBCOMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY, Washington, DC. 

The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:09 a.m., in Room 

340, Cannon House Office Building, Hon. Marlin A. Stutzman 

[Chairman of the Subcommittee] presiding. 

Present: Representatives Stutzman, Bilirakis, Johnson, Braley, 

Walz. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF CHAIRMAN STUTZMAN 

Mr. STUTZMAN. Good morning. And I want to welcome everyone 

this morning to the Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity. And 

I want to thank our witnesses for being here this morning. We are 

here today to begin this Subcommittee’s review of the implementation of Public Law 112–56, the Vow to Hire Heroes Act of 2011. 

This will be just the first in a series of oversight hearings we will 

hold through July of next year. 

This bipartisan and bicameral legislation was signed into law by 

the President in November and is the culmination of many months 

of work by this committee and many others to reduce unemployment among veterans. These efforts began with oversight hearings 

by this Subcommittee last winter, which led to the introduction and 

passage of H.R. 2433, the Veteran Opportunity to Work Act of 2011 

earlier this fall. 

The major provision of both H.R. 2433 and the Vow to Hire Heroes Act is the temporary extension of Montgomery GI Bill benefits 

to eligible veterans to receive up to 1 year of training at a community college or technical school for in demand occupations. Eligible 

veterans would have to be between the age of 35 and 60, be unemployed, and not have eligibility for other VA education programs. 

The latest numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show 

that there are an estimated 531,000 unemployed veterans between 

the ages of 35 and 64. This represents about two-thirds of all of unemployed veterans in this country. It is this population that this 

program is intended to help. And it is our obligation to ensure that 

VA and VETS meet the July 1, 2011 implementation deadline so 

this provision can help this group of aging veterans as quickly as 

possible. 

While there are many other worthwhile provisions in the Vow 

Act, the implementation of this provision and the provision extendVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:13 Jul 27, 2012 Jkt 072244 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 I:\VA\72244.XXX GPO1 PsN: 72244

anorris on DSK9Q6SHH1PROD with HEARING
2 

ing vocational rehabilitation benefits to veterans who have passed 

their delimiting date will be this Subcommittee’s focus. 

While I am aware that the legislation was only signed into law 

a few weeks ago, I am anxious to hear about the progress the VA 

and the DOL have been making on implementation in their plans 

for future collaboration as required by law. 

I cannot stress enough that the proper implementation of this 

law is extremely critical. And as such, I want to put both agencies 

on notice that this will our Subcommittee’s top priority in the next 

session of Congress and we need your help. And we look forward 

to working with you in identifying obstacles and problems as soon 

as possible so we can work together and work them out, and get 

this law implemented. 

Together we can ensure that our veterans are not cheated out of 

this wonderful benefit because of any bureaucratic delays or hurdles. Our veterans deserve and will receive nothing less. So I thank 

our witnesses for being here today to inform us on the progress the 

departments have made. At this time I want to yield to the distinguished Ranking Member from the great State of Iowa, Mr. Braley. 

[The statement of Marlin A. Stutzman appears on p. 20.] 

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. BRUCE L. BRALEY, RANKING 

DEMOCRATIC MEMBER 

Mr. BRALEY. Well thank you for acknowledging the greatness of 

the State of Iowa, Mr. Chairman. I can tell you after visiting Fort 

Wayne with you earlier this summer, I extend the same warm 

greeting to all of your constituents and colleagues back in Indiana. 

This has been a delightful Subcommittee to work with this year 

and we have a great panel, and we welcome all of you especially 

a special guest from the State of Iowa who has roots in Mason City. 

So welcome to all of you. 

I am very proud to have worked with this Committee to pass the 

Vow to Hire Heroes Act and I am optimistic that this legislation 

is a step in the right direction to putting our veterans back to 

work. In August when we were doing our field hearings in Waterloo, Iowa and Fort Wayne, Indiana I introduced the Combat Veterans Back to Work Act, which provided tax incentives to employers to hire veterans who recently returned from service overseas. 

And I am pleased that the Vow Act includes tax incentives for hiring veterans that I have been pushing all year. 

Additionally in October I joined Chairman Stutzman to host two 

field hearings, one in Iowa and one in Indiana, that focused on the 

important issue of veterans unemployment. And one of the things 

that came up at those hearings was the need to help returning 

servicemembers translate their military skills to the civilian workforce, which is why I am pleased that the Vow Act includes veterans retraining provisions. This will ensure that they have the 

skills necessary to be competitive in today’s tough job market. 

Section 211 of the bill which focuses on retraining has an implementation date of July, 2012. This new program will be very beneficial for older veterans that have exhausted their educational benefits or other available VA educational programs. And it is my hope 

that they Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of 

Labor have already begun discussions on how to jointly carry out 


anorris on DSK9Q6SHH1PROD with HEARING
3 

this program and administer this section as scheduled. The interagency program will change the lives of 99,000 unemployed veterans and that is a goal we can all be focused on and hopefully 

help reduce. 

Section 233 of the Vow to Hire Heroes Act provides disabled veterans up to 12 months of additional vocational, rehabilitation, and 

employment benefits. In the past we have had hearings and discussions surrounding VR&E counselors workload. During our March 

hearing we expressed our concern with the VR&E veteran to counselor ratio of one to 136. I look forward to hearing from our witnesses today on what steps will be taken to ensure there is adequate staff at VR&E who are prepared to handle proper implementation of this section. And I hope the VA is ready to discuss how 

they will prepare to handle additional workload without sacrificing 

the counseling services that veterans need. 

And with that I thank you all and yield back. 

[The statement of Bruce L. Braley appears on p. 20.] 

Mr. STUTZMAN. Thank you, Mr. Braley. And at this time I want 

to welcome our panelists. And our panel consists of Mr. Curtis Coy, 

who is accompanied by Mr. Keith Wilson. Welcome. And both of 

these gentlemen are from the Department of Veterans Affairs. And 

Mr. Ortiz, who is accompanied by Ms. Gerri Fiala, both from the 

Department of Labor. And I had the opportunity to visit with Mr. 

Ortiz just a couple of days ago. Some remarkable stories, four sons 

in the military. So I am looking forward to working with you. You 

should be very proud of your family and what you have accomplished yourself, as a veteran yourself. And so thank you for being 

here this morning, and we will recognize you for five minutes for 

your testimony. 

STATEMENTS OF ISMAEL ORTIZ, JR., ACTING ASSISTANT SECRETARY, VETERANS’ EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING SERVICE, 

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR; ACCOMPANIED BY GERRI 

FIALA, DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY, EMPLOYMENT AND 

TRAINING ADMINISTRATION, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR; 

AND CURTIS L. COY, DEPUTY UNDER SECRETARY FOR ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY, VETERANS BENEFITS ADMINISTRATION, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS; ACCOMPANIED BY KEITH M. WILSON, DIRECTOR, EDUCATION SERVICE, VETERANS BENEFITS ADMINISTRATION, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS 

STATEMENT OF ISMAEL ORTIZ, JR. 

Mr. ORTIZ. Good morning, Mr. Chairman, Mr. Braley, and distinguished Members of the Subcommittee. My name is Junior Ortiz 

of the Department of Labor’s Veterans’ Employment and Training 

Service. And I am accompanied by Ms. Gerri Fiala, Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Employment and Training Administration. 

Thank you for the invitation to participate in today’s hearing on 

the implementation of the Vow to Hire Heroes Act of 2011. 

This legislation is an integral part of President Obama’s efforts 

to ensure that America fulfills its obligation to our returning 

servicemembers, veterans, and their families. The Department of 

Labor has various responsibilities under the Vow Act. However, per 


anorris on DSK9Q6SHH1PROD with HEARING
4 

the Subcommittee’s request my testimony today will focus on Section 211, the Veterans Retraining Assistance Program, and Section 

233 that provides training and rehabilitation for veterans with 

service-connected disabilities who have exhausted rights to unemployment compensation under state law. 

I am particularly grateful for this opportunity to discuss DOL 

and VA’s collaborative efforts to implement and administer these 

two provisions. The department is fully committed to working with 

our Federal partners to implement the Act. 

I would like to begin by first discussing Section 211 of the Vow 

Act, which establishes the Veterans Retraining Assistance Program 

for unemployed veterans between the ages of 35 to 60. Eligible veterans have up to 12 months of retraining assistance when they 

pursue a qualified education and training program. The Vow Act 

specifies that VA and DOL will jointly administer the process for 

determining veterans’ eligibility into the program. As a result, the 

two agencies are working together to make sure this implementation happens. 

Even before the Vow Act was enacted DOL and VA had already 

initiated planning to get a head start on implementation of this 

critical legislation. During the next 7 months DOL and VA will 

jointly manage and accomplish the following milestones. One, establish a memorandum of agreement and project charter that will 

delineate agency specific processes and responsibilities from initial 

intake through the completion of the program. Two, seek consultation on process design with veterans employment and training experts in state and local workforce agencies and other appropriate 

stakeholder organizations representing veterans’ interests. Three, 

design, test, and implement customized application processing systems to manage DOL and VA’s joint responsibility under the program. Four, develop, test, and implement enrollment and participation tracking systems to enable the agency to report program results. And five, develop and execute outreach and technical assistance strategies to both stakeholders and program delivery staff. 

As we complete the project charter and the memorandum of 

agreement we have identified two major operational implementation challenges which will need to be addressed over the next few 

weeks. First, we must find a way to connect and facilitate a successful interaction between the public workforce system and the 

VA’s federally centralized GI Bill system. Second, we need to develop a mechanism to enable DOL and VA to appropriately access 

each other’s administrative and performance data systems. Now 

VA and DOL are working together to address these issues to ensure the program is successful while protecting privacy and data 

sharing agreements. 

We are also working together to implement Section 233 of the 

Vow Act which provides additional benefits to disabled veterans 

that have exhausted their unemployment insurance (UI) benefits. 

The VA is primarily responsible for the administration of this provision. However, DOL will have a key role in developing the eligibility determination process. Currently there is no single unified 

system that can be used to determine whether a person has exhausted his or her rights to regular compensation under state law. 

As a result, we expect the state UI agencies will be involved in 


anorris on DSK9Q6SHH1PROD with HEARING
5 

making the determination. DOL is exploring possible operational 

methods to successfully execute this provision. 

In addition to Sections 211 and 233 the Vow Act contains several 

provisions that DOL is working to implement in collaboration with 

other Federal agencies as needed. 

In conclusion, Mr. Chairman, both DOL and VA are committed 

to the full and speedy implementation of the Vow to Hire Heroes 

Act of 2011. We will keep you and the Subcommittee appraised of 

implementation milestones through regular briefings as requested. 

Members of the Committee, this concludes my statement. I would 

be pleased to answer any questions you may have. Thank you. 

[The statement of Ismael Ortiz, Jr. appears on p. 21.] 

Mr. STUTZMAN. Thank you. Mr. Coy, we will recognize you for 

five minutes for your testimony. 

STATEMENT OF CURTIS COY 

Mr. COY. Thank you, sir. Good morning, Chairman Stutzman, 

Ranking Member Braley, and Members of the Subcommittee. I appreciate the opportunity to appear before you today to discuss the 

progress made by the Department of Veterans Affairs toward implementing the provisions of Title II of Public Law 112–56, the Vow 

to Hire Heroes Act of 2011. I am accompanied by Mr. Keith Wilson, 

our Director of VA’s Education Service. My testimony will discuss 

the relevant sections of the legislation and explain how we plan to 

address them, with particular emphasis on Section 211. 

Secretary Shinseki has emphasized that this critical legislation 

will materially help our servicemembers and veterans with employment and transition. We are absolutely committed to executing in 

collaboration with other agencies and stakeholders all provisions of 

this law. Section 211, the Veterans Retraining Assistance Program, 

requires the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a program 

of retraining assistance for eligible veterans in collaboration with 

the Secretary of Labor not later than July 1, 2012. The number of 

veterans who participate in the program may not exceed 45,000 in 

fiscal year 2012, and 54,000 during the period beginning October 

1 and ending March 31, 2014. Eligible veterans will receive Montgomery GI Bill Active Duty Chapter 30 full time benefit rate for 

up to 12 months. Training must be completed at a VA approved 

community college or technical school leading to an associate degree, certificate, or other record of completion. And the training 

must pertain to an occupation deemed by the Department of Labor 

to be in high demand. The training programs must begin on or 

after July 1, 2012 and the authority for VA to make payments ends 

on March 31, 2014. 

The law establishes a set of criteria that veterans must meet in 

order to participate in the program. Specifically, ages 35 to 60, unemployed, not eligible for GI Bill assistance, not receiving VA disability compensation by reason of unemployability, and not enrolled 

in a Federal or state training program. 

The law requires that VA and DOL form a close partnership to 

successfully implement this retraining assistance program, including establishing a formal memorandum of agreement with a process for resolving disputes and appeals. We are close to agreement 

on concept of operations, project charter, and draft project schedule 


anorris on DSK9Q6SHH1PROD with HEARING
6 

as well. We must track collaboratively participants, payments, and 

degrees awarded, and submit a final report on the impact of the 

retraining program. 

Prior to the President signing Vow, VA and DOL representatives 

met to discuss plans for implementing the provisions of Section 

211. Included were senior level VA and DOL staffs, as well as IT 

staffs from both agencies. We identified high level roles, responsibilities, decision points, and discussed preliminary framework for 

an integrated master schedule for managing the implementation of 

this new program. 

VA also provided a high level summary of the claims and payment process from VA’s perspective to initiate these collaborative 

discussions regarding information sharing and other logistical 

needs between the two departments. At follow up meetings, including an all day off site between VA and DOL just two days ago, we 

discussed how to successfully administer this program without duplication of effort and within the required time frame. Including existing benefit processing and payment systems within VA and one 

stop career centers and other veteran intake centers within DOL. 

A project of this magnitude and complexity requires multiple 

hand-offs between VA and DOL to include but not limited to conducting initial veteran intake; making DOL specific eligibility determinations on employment, high value career fields, etc.; ensuring that required information is collected and appropriately disseminated. 

We have also discussed mechanisms to be put in place to meet 

the law’s extensive reporting requirements. While VA and DOL are 

on track and perhaps even a little bit ahead of schedule in implementation planning and tackling the more complex aspects of the 

law, we anticipate challenges associated with implementing this 

program. The law requires a rapid establishment of a broad partnership between agencies with vastly different operating structures 

and information technology systems. Provisions of this law, including wide ranging eligibility criteria, present IT and logistical challenges in addition to an increased workload the program generates. 

The aggressive time frame also magnifies the complexity of this effort. VA and DOL are working hard to mitigate these risks. 

To ensure this program’s success, VA and DOL staff and leadership currently participate in weekly meetings to track progress, 

share information, and develop strategies. Internally VA staff and 

project leads meet daily to discuss implementation status and ensure we remain on track to meet this July 1 deadline. 

The implementation of the Veterans Retraining Assistance Program will include outreach programs for the appropriate target 

population. We would like to thank the Committee staff for including VA in the creation of the Retraining Assistance Program. That 

collaboration has helped us mitigate some of these challenges in 

this program. 

Enhancements to VR&E or Vocational Rehabilitation. The new 

law will also enhance services provided by VA’s Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Program. The law extends VA’s authority to provide vocational rehabilitation services to injured active 

duty servicemembers and promotes collaboration between VR&E 

and other organizations to provide additional services to aid vetVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:13 Jul 27, 2012 Jkt 072244 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 I:\VA\72244.XXX GPO1 PsN: 72244

anorris on DSK9Q6SHH1PROD with HEARING
7 

erans’ transition to civilian employment. This law also allows 

VR&E to fund special employer incentives who did not previously 

qualify for on the job training. In addition, VR&E can now provide 

an additional 12 months of benefits to veterans who have exhausted their unemployment benefits, and is also now able to provide additional services to assist veterans returning to employment. 

In addition, Section 262 of Vow extended through September 30, 2016 the provisions which limit to $90 the pension payable to certain recipients of Medicaid covered nursing home care, and protect 

that pension payment from being applied at the cost of the recipient’s home nursing care. This limitation was previously set to expire on May 31, 2015. But because Section 262 extends this existing authority VA has already implemented and we anticipate no 

delay in implementing this revised law. 

The same applies for Section 264. With the enactment of Vow 

funding fees for VA home loans were set at the same rate through 

September 30, 2016, the next 5 years. VA has already drafted and 

posted a new program policy circular which outlines the fees in effect. This circular along with other news updates about the bill’s 

signing and the new fee rates was posted to the Home Loans Program Web site on the day after the President signed the legislation. Additionally, VA worked with Treasury to update FFPS with 

the current rate structure. 

Mr. Chairman, this concludes my statement. I would be pleased 

to answer any questions you or other Members of the Subcommittee may have. Thank you, sir. 

[The statement of Curtis L. Coy appears on p. 23.] 

Mr. STUTZMAN. Thank you, Mr. Coy. And I will begin the questions for the Committee here. Obviously I know that there is a lot 

of work in front of us and this is the first hearing that we are having. And Mr. Ortiz, you had mentioned the MOU. When do you expect the MOU and the operating agreement for the retraining provision between the two agencies to be finalized? You had mentioned 

that that is something you are working on. Can you give us any 

more specifics? And are there any other outstanding issues that 

may potentially slow that down? 

Mr. ORTIZ. Yes, sir. As of right now the department anticipates 

that the MOA or the MOU will be finalized and made available to 

the Subcommittee in January of 2012, sir. 

We are working on it. VA and DOL, as Mr. Coy has already alluded to, are working on a daily basis not only internally but externally on making sure that we meet the obligations needed, sir. 

Mr. STUTZMAN. Do you believe, either one of you, that the departments have sufficient resources in fiscal year 2012 budget to implement all provisions? And if not, or if so, I mean hopefully so, but 

if not any readjustments to your 2013 budgets to meet those particular staffing issues? 

Mr. COY. I will take that initially. Mr. Chairman, as you know 

I testified on this in July and we intimated then that we thought 

it would take about 130 FTEs to implement the bill. We currently 

are looking at all of our resources at this time. And we are also 

working with our department’s Chief Financial Officer and they are 

talking with OMB as well to identify any resources that we may 


anorris on DSK9Q6SHH1PROD with HEARING
8 

or may not need to implement that. But rest assured, sir, we are 

not waiting for any of those additional resources. As you can see 

from the very aggressive schedule that we put up already and the 

work we have already done, we are moving ahead with the implementation of this bill with or without those resources. 

Mr. STUTZMAN. Good. 

Mr. COY. With respect to 2013, I am not at liberty to discuss 

what the department has put in their 2013 budget. 

Mr. ORTIZ. Sir, I echo a lot of what Mr. Coy has said. The department is currently operating under short term continuing resolutions and we are working to implement related Vow Act provisions 

by relying on current funding and staffing resources. This definitely presents some challenges for us. But we are balancing our 

current strategic priorities to make it work. 

Mr. STUTZMAN. Very good. You know, as we did the hearings in 

Iowa and Indiana we heard from several veterans about the challenges that they have. And of all of the different bullet points of 

the legislation that was in the Vow to Hire Heroes Act the one that 

continually kind of popped out at me was the challenge that veterans have in translating their skills from military skills to a civilian workforce. And I know maybe this is getting a little bit further 

into the weeds on this particular issue, maybe too soon. But I guess 

that is one thing that we heard a lot about, and how do we help 

our veterans, how do they as they come out of the military translate those skills in their efforts, whether it is through resume, 

whether it is through communicating that to potential employers. 

Could you discuss that a little bit? Have you had any discussion 

about that? I think that is a real challenge for a lot of our vets. 

Mr. ORTIZ. Mr. Chairman, I think that is probably one of the biggest challenges that we have. There are two pieces that play a big 

role. One is the fact that the veteran has to be able to show his 

or her values, as they come out. The second piece is educating the 

employer on the value of our young men and women. 

There are numerous programs, numerous things out there to 

help veterans translate their skills so that they can get that information to put it on their resumes, and give that information to the 

employer. In response to the second part, we are conducting employer outreach, having hiring fairs and things of that nature, to 

make employers aware of the value of our veterans. We are hoping 

to do that. And we are working, not only ourselves in DOL, but 

with DoD, with VA, and other departments throughout the government. 

One of the things that I want to tell you about is our Web site 

called My Next Move for veterans, created within our area to help 

that young man and woman actually translate their skills into a 

specific occupation, for example, servicemembers or veterans can 

input their MOS or their military occupational specialty, and translate what that specialty is. With my next move they are able to actually see what job availabilities there are where they are going to 

go. It also gives them information on what to put in their resume. 

You know, what the key phrases are if you will. How they need to 

include certain key words that employers will pick up on. So that 

is one piece. 


anorris on DSK9Q6SHH1PROD with HEARING
9 

There are others services such as career one stops for veterans 

reemployment; career one stops are keys to success. Also the Department of Defense has Army credentialing opportunities, Navy 

credentialing opportunities, and Air Force certification. So there is 

a multitude of services. What we have done is to organize the services in the Veterans Job Bank, which is something that just came 

out, the President announced it a few weeks ago, there are a lot 

of those places where they can actually go. VA is part of it, DoD 

is part of it, and DOL is part of it, sir. 

Mr. STUTZMAN. Well, and I know you know this. I was just over 

in Afghanistan this past weekend and I had this question come up 

frequently. What is going to happen back home when I get home? 

And I know you are very aware of that. And to me that is a high 

priority, to help, it is a difficult challenge. But it has to happen one 

way or the other. And I think as a small business owner and coming from the business sector I think that it is important for small 

businesses. We have to connect them somehow. It is more difficult 

for them. Larger corporations obviously have larger staff and resources to develop these, to develop a program. But it is that communication and networking that we have to somehow organize so 

that those small businesses out there who will do most of the hiring for these, for veterans, and in translating our, or informing 

them of the skills and the abilities that our veterans have when 

they do come home. So I appreciate that. 

I yield to Mr. Braley. 

Mr. BRALEY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to continue on 

this line questioning because when we did our field hearings and 

many of the hearings we have had here in Washington, this whole 

issue of what I will call interoperability, which was the problem 

identified in the 9/11 Report, is the one that keeps coming up over 

and over again. And I appreciate your explanations, Mr. Ortiz, 

about what resources are available. But something you said caught 

my attention. And you said there is a multitude of them out there. 

And in fact that is part of the problem we have. Is that there is 

no uniform system, uniform language where these MOSs are translated into civilian workforce language. And at the hearing we had 

in Iowa, the field hearing, we had a lot of great employers, some 

of the biggest ones in Iowa, many of whom hire a lot of veterans. 

Some of whom are defense contractors and hire a lot of veterans 

who have those skill sets they are looking for in their civilian workforce. And as the chairman noted they have much more sophistication in trying to make that translation than a lot of small business 

owners who frankly do not even know where to go to try to make 

that determination. So I would be interested in both of your 

thoughts on what we can do to provide a centralized Rosetta Stone, 

if you will, that will help us definitively bridge this gap which most 

people believe is one of the most serious obstacles veterans have in 

marketing themselves to civilian employers. 

Mr. COY. I will make a couple of comments, sir. VA is incredibly 

supportive of what DOL is doing with respect to this. I would agree 

with Mr. Ortiz that there are multiple systems out there. And I 

think our initial discussions have been let us take a look at what 

is out there now and do that sort of analysis. For example, VA just 

finished their program called VA for Vets, of which they also have 


anorris on DSK9Q6SHH1PROD with HEARING
10 

a translator of MOSs of civil service jobs within VA. And so looking 

at those challenges of those various structures that are out there, 

VA has our VetSuccess.gov Web site, and that also has an MOS 

translator. I would agree that across the board veterans are looking 

out at all of these things and looking to us, DOL and VA, and DoD 

to some extent, to tell them which is the translator that we need 

to use. And so you have the veteran perspective. You also have the 

employer’s perspective that you very articulated, such that employers do not know where to go into and take a look at these things. 

I get employers that come in to my office often and saying, this is 

what I do. I want to hire 300 vets. How do I go about doing that? 

Where do I find them and what do I do? So it is a unique challenge. 

And I would agree, and we are very enthusiastic about working 

with DOL to make sure that we come up with a good solution to 

this. 

Mr. ORTIZ. Along those same lines, sir, I think one of the things 

that we have, all of us have come together around is the veteran 

job bank that the President announced that is a place where a lot 

of these things are housed. It is part of the National Resource Directory. And right there is one point where anyone, including employers, can put their information or access information. And our 

young men and women can actually go in there. We just got results 

about a week ago, where we wanted to see what was happening, 

and who went in there, and so on. Our servicemembers were in 

there. We went from zero when it opened up on the 7th of November and within 1 month we had over 200,000 hits. And a lot of 

them, 49 percent were from the Army. And then the other services 

fell right in place. And they were talking specifically on things of 

that nature. 

But you know, there is also another piece to this. Our one stops 

have information. I am going to pass it over to Ms. Fiala to give 

you an understanding of what the one stop may have also. 

Ms. FIALA. Thanks. Very quickly, the one stop delivery system is 

a decentralized system, a partnership if you will between the Department of Labor as well as states and local workforce areas. And 

there are nearly 3,000 one stop career centers located around the 

United States, either full service or ancillary service centers. Plus 

there also is a virtual access to one stop services. And these centers 

are charged with providing information on job openings and the 

skills required for those jobs. They are required to provide information on how to translate, assess individual skills, and perhaps reshape resumes if you will to communicate to employers the skills 

and abilities of an individual to fill job openings. 

Mr. BRALEY. And let me just interrupt you for a second. 

Ms. FIALA. Yes? 

Mr. BRALEY. I mean, one of the things we keep hearing is that 

a lot of employers do not even use resumes any more. They use an 

online application process—— 

Ms. FIALA. Exactly. 

Mr. BRALEY [continuing]. That is tailored to their employment 

needs to analyze a high number of applicants in a short period of 

time. And the reason why I bring this up is because it is a symbol 

of the changing nature of the workforce and how we have thought 


anorris on DSK9Q6SHH1PROD with HEARING
11 

traditionally of helping people update their resumes when that may 

no longer be a priority to a lot of employers. 

Ms. FIALA. And that is true. And in those centers there computer 

resources there for everyone to be able to go online and respond to 

employers who have required applications be submitted online. And 

I wanted to go back a little bit to My Next Move for Veterans, because I think that it is an excellent example of an electronic service. In that case veterans can go into my next move and literally 

find jobs, they can figure out what military skills translate to civilian jobs, learn what they need and communicate to employers and 

actually apply for jobs. Because it drills down to actual job openings in communities. 

Mr. BRALEY. Thank you. I yield back. 

Mr. STUTZMAN. Thank you. Mr. Bilirakis. 

Mr. BILIRAKIS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate it. Thank 

you for holding this hearing. Mr. Ortiz, you mentioned in your testimony and we talked just now about the one stop career centers, 

and they will play a key role in implementing the Veterans Retraining Assistance Program. But it will be challenge to link the 

3,000 centers with VA. We spend over, it is my understanding we 

spend over $165 million per year on the Disabled Veterans Outreach Program, the DVOP specialists, and then also the local veterans employment representatives. Their job is to find training and 

employment opportunities for veterans. Do you think they should 

play a central role in coordinating the validation of the employment 

status and providing eligible applicants names to a central source, 

either at the Veterans Employment and Training Services or at the 

VA? Should they play a central role? 

Mr. ORTIZ. Well sir, I—— 

Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Ortiz, thank you. 

Mr. ORTIZ. Yes, sir. Through the normal intake process that is 

conducted by the one stop staff, sir, veterans are identified. And if 

they meet the eligibility requirements they go to our DVOP and 

LVERs depending on their needs. If there is an absence of a DVOP 

and LVER the actual one stop personnel work on that. As for the 

question will they play a major role in this effort? Am I understanding your question, sir? 

Mr. BILIRAKIS. Yes, sir. 

Mr. ORTIZ. Yes, sir, they will. Because no matter what in the 

2011 piece when the individuals come in from 35 to 60 years old 

they need to have somebody to give them counseling. If they are 

a veteran they are going to be referred to our DVOP and LVERs 

directly. I want to pass this question over to Gerri. 

Mr. BILIRAKIS. Please. Please. 

Mr. ORTIZ. Because she can tell you a little bit more as far as 

the connectivity, sir. 

Ms. FIALA. I guess I would just add, because I think that is a 

good description, is DVOPs and LVERs are generally located in one 

stop career centers. And a veteran would walk into a reception 

area. And if they identify themselves as a veteran, they are going 

to be referred to DVOPs and LVERs for specialized services and 

counseling. There may be some centers where there is not direct 

access to a DVOP or LVER. In that case they would be served by, 


anorris on DSK9Q6SHH1PROD with HEARING
12 

through the one stop staff to ensure that their needs are addressed 

right away. 

We have a priority of service within the one stops for veterans, 

regardless of whether they are in the age group which is targeted 

by Section 211 or in general. So that when a veteran walks into 

a one stop they will receive priority of service. 

Mr. BILIRAKIS. Thank you very much. Mr. Coy, in your testimony 

you mentioned that your primary outreach plan for the Veterans 

Retraining Assistance Program included using the G.I. Web site 

and Facebook page. While these are great tools, how are you going 

to reach out to the veterans, the targeted population is between 35 

and 60, those who may not be high tech and do not use Facebook 

or the internet. Do you have a plan? 

Mr. COY. Yes and no. I would like to go back to something that 

Mr. Ortiz mentioned. We also with respect to your questions about 

DVOPs and LVERs, we have DVOPs and LVERs colocated in each 

one of our 57 regional offices within VA. And our VR&E counselors 

work very, very closely with those DVOPs and LVERs. So we are 

already plugged into that DOL, DVOP, and LVER network. 

With respect to the communication plan, we have a draft communication plan. But we plan on not only using, you know, our GI Bill 

Web site, our GI Bill social media sites, we also have our state approving agencies, we have VSOs in our communication plan. We 

have the approved community colleges. We have the non-college degree program facilities. As I mentioned, we have 57 regional offices. 

We have over 800 VA voc rehab counselors that are going to get 

the word out. We have 147 VA medical centers that we are going 

to leverage and that infrastructure. Our 200 VA VETS Centers. 

Our 240 plus community based outpatient clinics. We are including 

this program as well, updating our TAP presentation. We have a 

call center that we are also going to be updating to ensure that our 

call center representatives have that information. We are going to 

push emails out through our ebenefits system. We are going to also 

do what we can to leverage Mr. Ortiz’ 3,000 one stops that they 

have. So the yes and no question is we have a draft communication 

plan. We plan on leveraging all of those infrastructure items as 

well as not just the GI Bill and those social media sites. 

Mr. BILIRAKIS. What about a national advertising campaign? 

Mr. COY. We do not have that in our current program budget, if 

you will. But we certainly would love to have something like that 

and we will look at that. As I mentioned, our communication plan 

right now is in its draft format. 

Mr. BILIRAKIS. Okay. Very good. I would love to work with you 

on that. 

Mr. COY. Yes, sir. 

Mr. BILIRAKIS. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I yield 

back. 

Mr. STUTZMAN. Okay, thank you. Mr. Walz. 

Mr. WALZ. Well, thank you Mr. Chairman and the Ranking 

Member for holding this, and thank you to all of you for the work 

with veterans and the commitment we are all on this team together and trying to get it right. I think some great points got 

brought up. I am going to go back to, I know that I am a broken 

record on this, and it is once again the lack of seamless transition. 


anorris on DSK9Q6SHH1PROD with HEARING
13 

Once again we do not have armed services folks here with us, or 

talking with them on that. I bring up we recently had the honor 

of hiring one of our heroes in our office, Brendon Gehrke sitting behind me, a Marine that just got out 2 months ago, did his TAP program. No representative from the VA at his TAP. So I know that 

it is still falling through the cracks. They are not getting the tools. 

I think, the thing I noticed in here that I think is the most effective, and I would argue that this is again, your efforts are going 

in all the right directions I believe. But we have to figure out this 

seamless transition piece that every year we come back to. But this 

idea of allowing servicemembers to begin the process before they 

are actually out, I have a story in Minnesota, the 34th Division, the 

Red Bulls, have been deployed again. They are in Iraq right now 

as part of the final wrap up there, and Kuwait. The Department 

of Economic Development, along with the Veterans, the Commissioner and the Veterans Affairs in Minnesota, has identified every 

single person on that deployment status, work status. They have 

identified 511 who would probably be looking for work on the way 

back. They have matched them up to employers in Minnesota. And 

by the time January comes along they will have 100 percent of people placed into the community they are going back to when they 

are done. Now we do not have to pay unemployment benefits. We 

do not have the drop off. We have some security for the family and 

we know it is coming. 

I think it is possible with some technology and some commanders’ initiative on this for us to implement that. I just thought 

I would get maybe some of your folks feedback on that. And we 

know people make transitions. They get out. They may move to another state. But especially with our Guardsmen, I think we are 

going to have a zero percent unemployment on a returning brigade 

combat team. And that is pretty impressive. And it saves money. 

So I do not know if you have any insight on that, if there are 

more ways we can do that, or if this issue of seamless transition 

would help us if we did more? 

Mr. ORTIZ. I think you hit the nail on the head on a few things. 

The biggest thing is the TAP. The Vow Act, actually making TAP 

mandatory has probably given us the best tool that we can give to 

our returning servicemembers, and our Guards and Reservists. 

This is because it gives them at least the basic tools. The basic toolkit, if you will, for transitioning servicemembers to be able to walk 

out, get what they need, go to the right places and get the information that they need in order to be successful in finding a job. We 

have been working, including Mr. Coy and myself on the task force 

to do a lot of these things that you mentioned. 

Mr. WALZ. So you think this is, like with Brendon, and that is 

exactly what he mentioned, that his folks did not know about the 

tools. They are out there. They do not search the VA Web site. 

They do not know anything about the VA. They are 24-year-old 

Marines coming out, or whatever. And this new, you think that 

now he should be one of the last ones that miss that opportunity, 

and this next group should be hitting it? 

Mr. ORTIZ. Sir, we hope that is the truth. And I think we are 

heading in the right direction. As you know, I have a vested interest in that myself. It is important for our young men and women 


anorris on DSK9Q6SHH1PROD with HEARING
14 

to have that capability. I think one of the biggest things that we 

are seeing right now, that the services are also realizing, that mandatory TAP, at least the two pieces are important. The VA benefit 

piece, and the transition employment workshop. Those two pieces 

are very, very important. 

Mr. WALZ. Do you think culturally they are getting that, Mr. 

Ortiz? That the services are getting that? Because I mean I know 

it is, this is kind of hard for them. As a sergeant major for me, I 

am telling my first sergeants do whatever you can to get them to 

reenlist. And my concern was to keep them in uniform. But I also 

cared when they left. But I mean, we put a lot of pressure on them 

to fill their numbers, keep them up. They cannot spend a lot of 

time preparing to go work at Joe’s Roofing, or whatever it is. Are 

we getting that right, and giving them time and the resources? I 

am just curious on your insight of, you talk about the Department 

of Labor. How about the service? 

Mr. ORTIZ. Sir, I tell you what, I spent the last 2 weeks in different summits and speaking to different services. Both myself and 

Curt have had some exposure on this directly. The services do get 

it. They understand it. The Vice Chief himself gets it. And says you 

commanders are going to do what needs to be done. You sergeant 

majors, go out there and take care of the troops like you are supposed to. 

We are living in a time when we are bringing back our troops. 

We need to give them the tools they need to be successful. And it 

is happening, sir. It is happening very much. And the Vow Act is 

going to help implement a lot of those things directly. 

Mr. WALZ. Well, again, thank you for your commitment to veterans. Thank you for coming and updating us and leading forward 

on this. I yield back, Mr. Chairman. 

Mr. STUTZMAN. Thank you. Mr. Johnson. 

Mr. JOHNSON. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Coy, first of all 

thanks for providing the timelines. 

Mr. COY. Yes, sir. 

Mr. JOHNSON. Can you give us some additional information on 

the timeline of events for implementation of the training provision, 

such as the first checks going out in August? 

Mr. COY. Absolutely. As I think you have it up there, and you 

may have it in front of you, we started very aggressively working 

through the timeline. One of the questions I had earlier was why 

are you paying in August and not sooner, if you will? We cannot 

start any programs until 1 July. So August, once we got the information, we would be able to reimburse and start paying in August, 

that is the point of August, or the timeline for the August pay. 

This notional schedule as we walk through it, you can see that 

we believe that in the next few weeks we are going to be able to 

finalize the MOUs, the charter, the schedule. It is a breathing document. This is just sort of a snapshot of those key dates that we 

have in there. But looking at the various systems that you see on 

there, whether they be BDN, VA1s, ECAP, the generated letters, 

we are all shooting toward starting to accept the requests for the 

eligibility determinations by May. And starting the payment system procedures, we are going to use the same payment system that 

we currently have for Montgomery GI Bill. We pay currently about 


anorris on DSK9Q6SHH1PROD with HEARING
15 

180,000, I think last year if my numbers are correct, 185,000 service, or veterans, received Montgomery GI Bill payments last year. 

So adding 45,000 this year on an existing payment system we 

think will lessen and mitigate some of those risks. 

So I would be happy to answer any of the specific questions—— 

Mr. JOHNSON. That is okay. You have answered, and that is 

good. Can you explain how employment service staff will provide 

retraining and VR&E applicants’ names to the VA? 

Mr. COY. That is one of the procedures and one of the pass 

throughs that is one of the complex problems we have not figured 

out yet, to be quite frank. We have begun those discussions but I 

do not have an answer right now. 

Mr. JOHNSON. Do you have a time frame to resolve that? 

Mr. COY. I do not have that in front of me, but I will be happy 

to get back to you, sir. 

Mr. JOHNSON. Okay. 

Mr. COY. And get you that information. 

Mr. JOHNSON. All right. And I would appreciate that. During implementation of the Post 9/11 Act VA set up a system where users 

could sign up and get email alerts when more information on the 

implementation of the Post 9/11 GI Bill was posted on the GI Bill 

Web site. Do you have similar plans for this retraining provision? 

Mr. COY. I will let Keith answer that question. He was our Post 

9/11 GI Bill implementer. If anybody knows anything about implementation of Post 9/11 it is Mr. Wilson. 

Mr. WILSON. Thank you for the question. The short answer is 

yes. We have that capability built into our existing systems. We 

have what we refer to as right now web capabilities through our 

internet web page, and we create different topics and individuals 

can sign up for updates on those topics. We plan on doing the same 

type of procedure for this piece of legislation as well, yes. 

Mr. JOHNSON. Okay. What, or how will you reach out to VR&E 

applicants or participants about the new eligibility that is provided 

under the Vow Act? 

Mr. COY. I would suggest that is another one of those key challenges. It is both a technology challenge and it is a pass over the 

transom challenge between us and DOL. We have begun those discussions but we, I do not have an answer right now, sir. But we 

will make sure that the Committee and your staff is updated as we 

go down that path. 

Mr. JOHNSON. Okay. One more, one more, Mr. Coy. Can you 

please tell us why the plan to implement Section 233 that provided 

additional VR&E benefits on June 12, 2012, when the deadline for 

implementation is listed in the law as June 1, 2012? 

Mr. COY. That is meant to be 2012, not June 12. 

Mr. JOHNSON. Okay. 

Mr. COY. And so we hope and expect to be ahead of this schedule. 

But quite frankly, sir, what we wanted to do is lay out the steps 

that we needed to accomplish for each one of those steps to implement the law. And as you can see, we expect to develop all of those 

verification procedures next month. We expect to develop the training between January, February, and March. Deliver that training 

and policy to the field personnel—— 


anorris on DSK9Q6SHH1PROD with HEARING
16 

Mr. JOHNSON. So you are anticipating it all being there prior to 

June 1? 

Mr. COY. Absolutely, yes, sir. 

Mr. JOHNSON. On or before June 1? Okay. 

Mr. COY. And the June 12, June 1–2, was June of 2012. 

Mr. JOHNSON. Okay. All right. Great. All right, that is all the 

questions I have, Mr. Chairman. 

Mr. STUTZMAN. Thank you. I have just got a couple of follow up 

questions. And then if anybody else wants to ask any additional 

questions we will do that. But for Mr. Ortiz, would veterans who 

are no longer looking for work and are considered not in the labor 

market be eligible for the retraining provisions? 

Mr. ORTIZ. Yes, sir. If they are unemployed, yes sir, they would 

be. 

Mr. STUTZMAN. Okay. All right. And then can you kind of just 

give us just a minute or two on, just how is this all going to work? 

Just broad strokes. We all know this is just getting started here. 

But kind of just how do you foresee this starting? And hopefully 

by the time we have the next hearing some of the things that are 

hanging out there that you mentioned, where you might be at? 

Mr. COY. I will do a quick intro and then pass it over to Keith 

who has helped us develop the entire project plan. I will just make 

a quick statement with respect to implementation of this particular 

law. I have been a senior executive within the government for over 

11 years now. I served in the Navy for 24 years. I do not think I 

have ever been associated with anything that between two government agencies that we have been more proactive in going after this 

for the common cause. There is no one up and down the chain in 

each agency that is not a firm believer in what we are trying to 

accomplish here. So the enthusiasm of the boots on the ground, 

from the senior staff down to the IT specialists, are all on board. 

Keith can, I will ask Keith to walk through the schedule and how 

he is physically doing it. But as I indicated earlier we are having 

daily hot washups, weekly hot washups. We are quite frankly tired 

of seeing each other, because we are meeting so much. 

Mr. STUTZMAN. You will get a Christmas break here hopefully—— 

Mr. WILSON. Let me start by thanking the Committee again for 

engaging us from the technical perspective. Engaging us early on 

allowed us to leverage a lot of the existing systems we have in 

place right now and that has made the lift much more manageable 

on this. We have had a lot of discussions over the past couple of 

weeks with Department of Labor. Our discussions have gone beyond the 50,000-foot level and are really more at the granular level 

right now. The overall manner in which we see this process working is number one, a web portal that would be stood up by the Department of Labor that will be completed by the individuals at the 

one stop centers. The one stops will be the initial intake point of 

contact for this. The information that will be collected there will 

meet the needs of both VA and Department of Labor. We do not 

expect for the veterans to have to apply once again for VA benefits 

when we are at the point of making our eligibility determinations. 

So we will have that single piece of information. That portal that 

Labor is setting up will come through a new gateway we are estabVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:13 Jul 27, 2012 Jkt 072244 PO 00000 Frm 00020 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 I:\VA\72244.XXX GPO1 PsN: 72244

anorris on DSK9Q6SHH1PROD with HEARING
17 

lishing within our image management system now, which is how 

we process and manage all of our education claims right now. That 

pass through is going to put that work into queue in front of the 

claims examiners that work our education claims right now. 

Once Department of Labor has done their determinations, the 

person is unemployed, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera, information is 

transmitted over to VA that allows us to make our determinations, 

processing it as an education claim just like any other education 

benefit we administer. 

Leveraging that capability then allows us to use the internal 

interfaces we have now between our processing systems and our 

payment systems. So we will simply process those claims. For those 

people that we determine eligible, we already have the mechanism 

to transmit information into our payment system and then into 

Treasury. So that will be the vehicle that payments will use to get 

out the door. 

Mr. STUTZMAN. Thank you. 

Mr. ORTIZ. Sir, I cannot say anything more than what Mr. Coy 

said as far as the amount of collaboration that has happened between our two agencies has been nothing less than outstanding. As 

Mr. Coy and I are both military members, we are looking at it almost like an operational plan. We have been given a task and we 

are doing what needs to be done to make sure that task is accomplished. We are meeting and on his side he is meeting on an internal basis constantly, we are doing the same thing on our side. And 

the idea of being able to share this information without any kind 

of prejudice or restrictions in any way, shape, or form. We are here 

to do one thing and one thing only, that is to make sure that we 

take care of our troops. Bottom line. To make sure that we do what 

we need to do in order to make sure that they get the tools they 

need to be successful. So that when they come out they do not have 

to worry about having to look for a job, or having to pay a considerable amount of unemployment compensation in order for services, 

while they look for a job. 

So yes, there are some challenges. There are some things that we 

need to do. We need to be able to do our systems, our technology 

pieces, and so on. But we are, we are working on it. You asked, Mr. 

Chairman, how is this going to turn out? This is going to be successful. As far as we are concerned it is going to do what needs to 

be done. It may take some time, and it may take some effort, and 

hopefully you all will be patient in how we accomplish this. But we 

have a lot of great people that are doing what needs to be done to 

make it happen. 

I am going to pass it over to Gerri to give you an idea of the intensity with which we have been working on this. 

Ms. FIALA. Thank you. I will not add much. I think you actually 

have heard the intensity and the commitment voiced by both of the 

agencies. I would just simply say to begin to make this work we 

are going to reach out to all our respective stakeholders to make 

sure that both the veterans that are targeted by the Vow Act, as 

well as the employers, who need to be informed and encouraged to 

hire them, have the information about the services and about how 

they can benefit from what you have established. We will be providing clear guidance on both sides of the system. We are going to 


anorris on DSK9Q6SHH1PROD with HEARING
18 

promote this with all of our employer partners, from the United 

States Chamber of Commerce on down to make sure that everyone 

gets the information. 

You have heard that there are some challenges. But our staff actually met Tuesday for almost 8 hours to begin to work out the 

technical challenges so that our systems can talk to each other and 

can make sure that there is one form to be filled out, there is one 

set of information and that it does flow from one agency to the 

other. There will be challenges because we have a decentralized 

public workforce system and a highly centralized system for the GI 

Bill. And we are going to ensure that we can share the data and 

respect the privacy, both of the individuals who are applying and 

can benefit from the system, as well as the security concerns for 

the agencies. 

Mr. STUTZMAN. And I appreciate that from all of you. Because, 

as Mr. Walz always says we cannot afford not to get this right. We 

have to get this right. And I know you all know that. And you 

know, expectations are high for all of us. And we have to answer 

to people back home and I know you, you are answering to not only 

our vets but to this committee. And we want to make sure that we 

are here to help but also to hold everybody accountable as well to 

make sure that this is done right. Because these guys and gals are 

coming home, and we want to make sure that they are coming 

home to the best situation that we can possibly provide. So, Mr. 

Braley. 

Mr. BRALEY. Mr. Wilson, I understand you are going to be leaving us soon. And we want to thank you for the tremendous work 

that you have done on behalf of our veterans. And I know everyone 

on the Committee joins me in wishing you the best in everything 

you do in the future. And I know that a lot of times the work that 

you and others do is unseen by our Nation’s veterans and underappreciated. But I just wanted to acknowledge the tremendous efforts you have made. We really appreciate it. 

Mr. WILSON. Thank you. 

Mr. BRALEY. Mr. Ortiz, I just have a question about the next 

item on the timeline which it seems to be allocated to your agency, 

and that is the uptake analysis of the top ten states with the highest number of unemployed veterans with a timeline of February, 

2012. Can you give us some sense of where we are heading into 

next year with that coming up on the horizon? 

Mr. ORTIZ. Sir, I will get back to you on it. Sir, we are working 

on the different angles and I will make sure I get back to you for 

the record, sir. 

Mr. BRALEY. Okay. The other question I raised in my opening 

statement, and I will pose for you and Mr. Coy both, and that is 

the VR&E benefits and the alarming counselor to veteran ratio 

that we have had in the past that I mentioned of one to 136. My 

question to both of you is how are we dealing with that ratio moving forward? Do we have enough counselors? If not, what are we 

going to do about it? Are we looking at ways to maximize the benefits of those existing counselors through programs like telecounseling? And what are the outreach programs that we are targeting? 

Mr. COY. I will take that first, if that is all right with Mr. Ortiz. 

For VR&E counselors, this fiscal year in 2012 we have allotted an 


anorris on DSK9Q6SHH1PROD with HEARING
19 

additional 110 VR&E counselors, mostly stationed at our IDES 

sites. And so we are on our way to ensure that we can try and reduce that caseload with respect to that. I cannot speak for the fiscal year 2013 and on budgets, if you will. But we believe that with 

the preplanning of the IDES sites and the collaboration between 

the services, our IDES coordinators and Ruth Fanning’s VR&E 

folks, we should have most of those concerns taken care of. 

Mr. BRALEY. Thank you. 

Mr. ORTIZ. In our case the flexibility of our DVOPs and LVERs 

to be able to work with VA and their VR&E counselors is probably 

going to be the most effective piece that we have right now, sir. 

Mr. STUTZMAN. Okay. Mr. Walz? Okay. All right. Well that concludes the questions. I just I would like to make just one follow up 

to Mr. Walz’ suggestion about what they are doing in Minnesota in 

identifying those who are unemployed. I think that is something 

that we could follow up on. I appreciate that suggestion. And it is 

something that we could work on right away in the near future. I 

think that is, it would be valuable for us to look at that, and also 

for you all as well. 

I want to thank you all for being here today. And I know we will 

be meeting again soon. And I appreciate your input and the work 

that you are doing. As I mentioned earlier, this is important to all 

of us and especially our veterans. And so at this point I would like 

to ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative 

days to revise and extend their remarks on today’s hearing. Hearing no objection, so ordered. I want to wish you all a happy holiday 

season, and again I know we have veterans that are coming home 

for the holidays thankfully and we cannot wait until they are home 

safe and sound. So at this point, if there is no further business, we 

are adjourned. 

[Whereupon, at 11:14 a.m., the Committee was adjourned.] 


anorris on DSK9Q6SHH1PROD with HEARING
(20) 

A P P E N D I X 

Prepared Statement of Honorable Marlin A. Stutzman, Chairman, 

Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity 

Good morning. We are here today to begin this Subcommittee’s review of the implementation of Public Law 112–56, the Vow to Hire Heroes Act of 2011. This will 

be just the first in a series of oversight hearings we will hold through July of next 

year. 

This bipartisan and bicameral legislation was signed into law by President Obama 

in November and is the culmination of many months of work by this Committee to 

reduce unemployment among veterans. These efforts began with oversight hearings 

by this Subcommittee last winter which led to the introduction and passage of H.R. 

2433, the Veteran Opportunity to Work Act of 2011 earlier this fall. 

The major provision of both H.R. 2433 and the Vow to Hire Heroes Act is the temporary extension of Montgomery GI Bill benefits to eligible veterans to receive up 

to 1 year of training at a community college or technical school for in-demand occupations. Eligible veterans would have to be between the ages of 35 and 60, be unemployed, and not have eligibility for other VA education programs. 

Latest numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that there are an estimated 531,000 unemployed veterans between the ages of 35 and 64. This represents 

about two thirds of all of unemployed veterans in this country. It is this population 

that this program is intended to help, and it is our obligation to ensure that VA 

and VETS meet the July 1, 2011 implementation deadline so this provision can help 

this group of aging veterans as quickly as possible. 

While there are many other worthwhile provisions in the Vow Act, the implementation of this provision and the provision extending vocational rehabilitation benefits to veterans who have passed their delimiting date will be the Subcommittee’s 

focus. 

While I am aware that the legislation was only signed into law a few weeks ago, 

I am anxious to hear about the progress VA and DOL have been making on implementation and their plans for future collaboration as required by law. 

I can’t stress enough that the proper implementation of this law is extremely critical, and as such I want to put both agencies on notice that this will be this Subcommittee’s top priority in the next session of Congress and we need your help in 

identifying obstacles and problems as soon as possible so we can work them out and 

get this law implemented. 

Together we can ensure that our veterans are not cheated out of this wonderful 

benefit because of bureaucratic delays or hurdles. Our veterans deserve and will receive nothing less. 

I thank our witness for being here today to inform us on the progress the departments have made, and I now yield to the distinguished Ranking Member from the 

great state of Iowa for any remarks he may have. 

f 

Prepared Statement of Honorable Bruce L. Braley, 

Ranking Democratic Member 

I’m very proud to have worked with this Committee to pass the Vow to Hire Heroes Act. I am optimistic this legislation is a step in the right direction for putting 

our veterans back to work. In August, I introduced the Combat Veterans Back to 

Work Act, which provided tax incentives to employers to hire veterans and recently 

returned servicemembers. I am pleased that the Vow Act includes tax incentives for 

hiring veterans that I’ve been pushing for all year. 

Additionally, in October, I joined Chairman Stutzman to host two field hearings— 

one in Iowa and one in Indiana—that focused on veterans’ unemployment. One of 

the things that came up at these hearings was the need to help returning serviceVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:13 Jul 27, 2012 Jkt 072244 PO 00000 Frm 00024 Fmt 6604 Sfmt 6621 I:\VA\72244.XXX GPO1 PsN: 72244

anorris on DSK9Q6SHH1PROD with HEARING
21 

members translate their military skills to civilian skills, which is why I am pleased 

that the Vow Act includes veterans retraining. This will help ensure that they have 

the skills necessary to be competitive in today’s tough job market. 

Section 211 of this bill, which focuses on retraining, has an implementation date 

of July, 2012. This new program will be very beneficial for older veterans that have 

exhausted their educational benefits or other available VA vocational programs. It 

is my hope that the Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Labor have 

already begun discussions on how to jointly carry out this program and administer 

this section as scheduled. This interagency program will help change the lives of 

99,000 unemployed veterans. 

Section 233 of the Vow to Hire Heroes Act provides disabled veterans up to 12 

months of additional Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (VR&E) benefits. 

In the past we’ve had hearings and discussions surrounding VR&E counselors’ 

workload. During our March hearing we expressed our concerns with the VR&E veteran-to-counselor ratio of 1:136. 

I look forward to hearing from our witnesses today on what steps will be taken 

to ensure that there is adequate staff at VR&E who are prepared to handle proper 

implementation of this section. I hope the VA is ready to discuss how they will prepare to handle additional workload without sacrificing the counseling services veterans need. 

f 

Prepared Statement of Ismael Ortiz, Jr., Acting Assistant Secretary, 

Veterans’ Employment and Training Service, U.S. Department of Labor 

Good morning Chairman Stutzman, Ranking Member Braley, and distinguished 

Members of the Subcommittee. Thank you for your invitation to participate in today’s hearing on the implementation of the Vow to Hire Heroes Act of 2011 (Vow). 

This legislation is an integral part of President Obama’s efforts to ensure that 

America fulfills its obligations to our returning servicemembers, veterans, and their 

families. The Vow Act also incorporates several important components of the American Jobs Act, including the Wounded Warrior and Returning Heroes Tax Credits. 

The bill garnered broad bipartisan support in Congress and the President signed it 

into law on November 21, 2011. 

Although recent data from the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics 

shows that payrolls have climbed and the unemployment rate has dropped to a 2- 

year low, we need faster economic growth to put Americans back to work. Moreover, 

high unemployment rates among veterans remain an area of concern. The Vow Act 

is intended to lower the unemployment rates of veterans by providing a broad array 

of new and expanded services to assist them in acquiring the enhanced skills needed 

to compete in today’s labor market and thus facilitate veterans’ return to work. 

The Department of Labor (DOL) has various responsibilities under the Vow Act; 

however, per the Subcommittee’s request, my testimony today will focus on section 

211, the ‘‘Veterans Retraining Assistance Program’’ (VRAP), and section 233, ‘‘Training and Rehabilitation for Veterans Who Have Exhausted Rights to Unemployment 

Compensation Under State Law’’. I am particularly grateful for this opportunity to 

discuss DOL’s collaborative efforts with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to 

implement and administer these two provisions in a coordinated and cost-effective 

way that will facilitate eligible veterans’ access to the valuable services available 

under the law. 

The Vow Act recognizes that providing comprehensive services to veterans requires Federal agencies to work together, leverage collective resources, and streamline processes. The Department is fully committed to working with our Federal partners to implement the Act. We believe that this commitment is demonstrated not 

only by DOL and VA’s recent collaboration on sections 211 and 233 of the Vow, but 

also by other ongoing efforts in support of our Nation’s veterans. Therefore, before 

I turn to a discussion of the Vow Act, I want to update you on some of our other 

recent work with the VA. 

On November 7th, 2011, the President and DOL announced the ‘‘Gold Card Initiative’’ which offers a set of intensive services to post-9/11 veterans through DOL’s nationwide network of approximately 3,000 One-Stop Career Centers. The goal of this 

initiative is to jump-start the job search process for post-9/11 veterans through enhanced in-person services that help them reconnect to the civilian labor force. In 

order to maximize outreach, DOL partnered with the VA to ensure that the promotion of the Gold Card was visible through both DOL and VA resources, including 

posting easy-to-access links on our respective Web sites. 


anorris on DSK9Q6SHH1PROD with HEARING
22 

On the same day, the Administration launched a new Veterans Jobs Bank, an 

easy-to-use tool to help connect veterans looking for jobs with employers looking to 

hire them. It already allows veterans to search nearly one million job postings and 

is still growing. In a few easy steps, employers can make sure the job postings on 

their own Web sites are part of this Veterans Jobs Bank. The Veterans Job Bank 

is found at http://www.nrd.gov/, the National Resource Directory, which has been a 

successful joint effort and example of past collaboration among DOL, VA, and the 

Department of Defense. 

Interagency collaboration is an essential component in ensuring that the public 

workforce system effectively implements the requirements of this legislation. For example, DOL plans to consult with the VA in preparing guidance related to the recent revisions to the Post-9/11 GI Bill. This guidance will be issued to the One-Stop 

Career Center line staff and Disabled Veterans Outreach Program Specialists and 

Local Veterans Employment Representatives so that they are familiar with these revisions. The guidance will also help them tap into the resources made available in 

the GI Bill to better direct veterans to training and other such services critical to 

helping veterans attain the credentials necessary to secure employment. 

The Veterans Retraining Assistance Program 

Section 211 of the Vow establishes the Veterans Retraining Assistance Program 

(VRAP) for unemployed veterans aged 35 to 60. The VRAP, which entitles eligible 

veterans to retraining assistance for up to 12 months when they pursue a qualified 

program or training, must be up and running no later than July 1, 2012. The Vow 

Act specifies that VA and DOL will jointly administer the process for determining 

veterans’ eligibility for VRAP. Specifically, DOL will be responsible for determining 

applicants’ initial eligibility based on age, employment status, and previous participation in other job training programs. Following DOL’s determination, the VA is required to certify applicants based on several additional criteria, such as the conditions of the applicants’ discharge and eligibility for other forms of assistance. Other 

DOL-specific requirements include identifying the high-demand occupations that 

will be the focus of VRAP training, and contacting veterans within 30 days of completing or terminating the VRAP training to inform them of the employment placement services that are available to them. The Vow Act also requires DOL to work 

with VA to establish a process for resolving appeals of eligibility determinations 

made by the agencies. DOL and VA are still discussing the processes and systems 

that will be used to carry-out the VRAP program but it is very likely that the OneStop Career Center System will play a key role. 

Before the Vow Act was enacted, DOL and VA had already initiated planning to 

get a head start on implementation of this critical legislation. During the next 7 

months leading up to the July 1, 2012 deadline for the commencement of VRAP, 

we will accomplish the following milestones that will be jointly-managed by DOL 

and VA: 

• Establish a Memorandum of Agreement and a Project Charter delineating agency specific processes and responsibilities covering participants’ initial intake 

through completion of the VRAP program; 

• Seek consultations on process design with veterans employment and training 

experts in state and local workforce agencies and other appropriate stakeholder 

organizations representing veterans’ interests; 

• Design, test and implement customized application processing systems to manage DOL and VA’s joint responsibilities under the VRAP program; 

• Develop, test and implement enrollment and participant tracking system(s) to 

enable the agencies to report program results; and 

• Develop and execute outreach and technical assistance strategies to both stakeholders and program delivery staff. 

We have identified two major operational and implementation challenges which 

will need to be addressed over the next few weeks as we complete the Project Charter and Memorandum of Agreement. First, we must find a way to connect, and facilitate a successful interaction between the public workforce system—a decentralized, nationwide network of approximately 3,000 One-Stop Career Centers managed 

though a combination of Federal, state, and local partnerships—and the VA’s Federally-centralized GI Bill system. Second, we need to develop a mechanism to enable 

DOL and VA to appropriately access each other’s administrative and performance 

data systems, so that we can ensure the successful execution of the VRAP, while 

also protecting the agencies’ respective privacy and data sharing agreements and requirements. 


anorris on DSK9Q6SHH1PROD with HEARING
23 

Expanded Benefits for Veterans with Service Related Disabilities 

Section 233 of the Vow amends current law to allow individuals with service-connected disabilities who have exhausted Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits 

under state law to seek assistance from additional rehabilitation programs specified 

in the legislation. The VA is primarily responsible for the administration of this provision; however, DOL will have a key role in developing the eligibility determination 

process. To avail themselves of the assistance provided for under section 233, applicants must have exhausted their rights to regular compensation under State law 

and must not be receiving unemployment compensation under Canadian law. Because there is currently no single unified system that can be used to determine 

whether a person has exhausted his or her rights to regular compensation under 

State law, we expect that State UI agencies would be involved in making this determination. DOL is exploring possible operational methods to successfully execute this 

provision. In particular, we are examining the process utilized in other Federal benefit programs, such as the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and 

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), that would allow state UI 

agencies to be reimbursed for the workload in making the necessary determinations. 

Additionally, while we can determine if someone is receiving unemployment benefits based on wages in both the United States and in Canada, we do not, at present, 

have the ability to determine if an individual is eligible for Canadian unemployment 

benefits solely based upon the wages the person earned in Canada. DOL anticipates 

that we will need to review Canadian confidentiality laws to ascertain if there are 

any existing, reasonable methods to reliably obtain that information. 

Other Provisions of Note 

In addition to sections 211 and 233, the Vow contains several provisions that are 

designed to enhance the Department’s current activities and programs targeted towards veterans. These enhancements include, but are not limited to: (1) required 

participation in the Transition Assistance Program, which designed to increase veterans’ awareness and utilization of the employment, education, and training programs that are available to them; (2) increased veterans’ access to apprenticeship 

and pre-apprenticeship programs; (3) clarified priority of service reporting requirements within the public workforce system; (4) identification of skill equivalencies between military and civilian occupations; and (5) amendment and expansion of the 

categories of veterans eligible for the Work Opportunity Tax Credit. The Department, working in collaboration with other Federal agencies, as needed, is actively 

developing a strategic plan to implement these provisions within the time frames 

contained in the Vow Act. 

Conclusion 

Mr. Chairman, as I stated earlier, both DOL and VA are committed to the full 

and speedy implementation of the Vow to Hire Heroes Act of 2011 in support of veterans’ success in the civilian labor market. We will keep you and the Subcommittee 

apprised of implementation milestones through regular briefings, as requested. 

Members of the Committee, this concludes my statement. I would be pleased to 

answer any questions you may have. 

f 

Prepared Statement of Curtis L. Coy, Deputy Under Secretary 

for Economic Opportunity, Veterans Benefits Administration, 

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs 

Good morning, Chairman Stutzman, Ranking Member Braley, and Members of 

the Subcommittee. I appreciate the opportunity to appear before you today to discuss the progress made by the Department Veterans Affairs (VA) toward implementing the provisions in title II of Public Law 112–56, the ‘‘Vow to Hire Heroes 

Act of 2011.’’ I am accompanied today by Mr. Keith Wilson, Director of VA’s Education Service. My testimony will discuss the relevant sections of the legislation and 

explain how we plan to address them, with particular emphasis on section 211. 

Many of the provisions outlined in the Vow to Hire Heroes Act of 2011 closely 

align with the improvement of economic opportunities for Veterans. Secretary 

Shinseki has emphasized that this critical legislation will materially help our 

Servicemembers and Veterans with employment and transition. VA is committed to 

executing, in collaboration with other agencies and stakeholders, all provisions of 

this law for which we have responsibility, and I have outlined our coordinated approach in my testimony. 


anorris on DSK9Q6SHH1PROD with HEARING
24 

Section 211—The Veterans Retraining Assistance Program 

This section requires the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a program of 

retraining assistance for eligible Veterans in collaboration with the Secretary of 

Labor not later than July 1, 2012. The number of Veterans who participate in the 

program may not exceed 45,000 in fiscal year (FY) 2012 and 54,000 during the period beginning on October 1, 2012, and ending on March 31, 2014, when the authority to make payments under the program will terminate. Eligible Veterans will receive the Montgomery GI Bill-Active Duty (chapter 30) full-time benefit rate for up 

to 12 months. Training must be completed at a VA-approved community college or 

technical school; it must lead to an associate degree, certificate, or other record or 

completion; and the training must pertain to an occupation deemed by the Department of Labor (DOL) to be in high demand. The training programs must begin on 

or after July 1, 2012, and the authority for VA to make payments ends on March 

31, 2014. 

The law establishes a set of criteria that Veterans must meet in order to participate in the program. VA and DOL must evaluate a Veteran’s age range, employment status, character of discharge, type of training, and other key elements when 

determining eligibility. The law requires VA and DOL to form a close partnership 

to successfully implement this retraining assistance program, including establishing 

a formal memorandum of agreement with a process for resolving disputes and appeals. VA and DOL must also track participants, payments, and degrees awarded, 

and submit a final report on the impact of the retraining program to the Senate 

Committees on Veterans’ Affairs and Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, and 

the House Committees on Veterans’ Affairs and Education and the Workforce. 

In mid-November, VA and DOL representatives met to discuss plans for implementing the provisions of section 211. The participants identified high-level roles, 

responsibilities, and decision points, and discussed a preliminary VA-developed 

framework for an integrated master schedule for managing the implementation of 

this new program. VA also provided a high-level summary of the claims and payment process from VA’s perspective to initiate collaborative discussions regarding 

information sharing and other logistical needs between the two Departments. At follow-up meetings, representatives from both Departments discussed how to successfully administer this program without duplication of effort and within the required 

time frame, including existing benefit processing and payment systems within VA, 

and One-Stop Career Centers and other Veteran intake centers within DOL. 

Initial DOL responsibilities identified in these meetings center on conducting initial Veteran intake, making DOL-specific eligibility determinations (unemployment, 

high-value career fields, etc.) as directed by the legislation, and ensuring that required information is collected and appropriately disseminated to VA. Initial VA responsibilities include conducting VA-specific eligibility determinations (eligibility to 

VA benefits, prior benefit usage), communicating eligibility decisions, processing enrollment information, and administering payments. VA is also focused on ensuring 

mechanisms are in place to meet the law’s extensive reporting requirements. 

While VA and DOL are on an excellent track in implementation planning and 

tackling the more complex aspects of the law, we anticipate challenges associated 

with implementing this program.. The law requires rapid establishment of a broad 

partnership between agencies with vastly different operating structures and information technology (IT) systems. Provisions of this law, including wide-ranging eligibility criteria, present IT and logistical challenges in addition to the increased workload the program generates. The aggressive time frame also magnifies the complexity of this effort. VA and DOL are working hard to mitigate these risks using 

innovative solutions. 

To ensure this program’s success, VA and DOL staff and leadership currently participate in weekly meetings to track progress, share information, and develop implementation strategies. Internally, VA staff and project leads meet daily to discuss implementation status and ensure we remain on track to meet the July 1, 2012 deadline. Additionally, VA is currently developing program management documentation, 

including a draft memorandum of agreement to outline the relationship and operation of the program between VA, DOL, and key representatives at the executiveand working-group levels. 

The implementation of the Veterans Retraining Assistance Program will include 

an outreach program for the appropriate target population. VA will use a variety 

of means and resources available to raise awareness about this new retraining benefit program, including the GI Bill Web site and the Education Service Facebook 

page. 

As VA and DOL work together to successfully implement the new training program many intricacies will need to be worked out within the time frame provided 

by the law. 


anorris on DSK9Q6SHH1PROD with HEARING
25 

Enhancements to Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Services 

The new law will also enhance services provided by VA’s Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (VR&E) program. The law extends VA’s authority to provide 

vocational rehabilitation services to injured, active-duty Servicemembers, and promotes collaboration between VR&E and other organizations to provide additional 

services to aid Veterans’ transition to civilian employment. This law also allows 

VR&E to fund special employer incentives for Veterans who did not previously qualify for on-the-job training. In addition, VR&E can now provide an additional 12 

months of benefits to Veterans who have exhausted their unemployment benefits, 

and also is now able to provide additional services to assist Veterans returning to 

employment. I would now like to provide specific information regarding implementation for each of the VR&E provisions. 

Section 222—Individualized assessment on equivalence between military occupational specialty (MOS) and qualifications for private sector employment 

This section requires DOL, in consultation with the Department of Defense (DoD) 

and VA, to contract for a study to identify equivalencies between MOS-related skills 

and civilian employment. VA will work with DOL and DoD to review existing jobskill translators and to support the analysis required for DoD to comply with the 

requirement to ensure that all Transition Assistance Program participants receive 

an individualized assessment of civilian positions in the private sector for which 

they may qualify based on their military experience. DoD is expected to begin providing the individualized assessments to Servicemembers and sharing them with 

DOL and VR&E in November 2012. VR&E will be able to immediately use the assessments provided by DoD to develop education and employment goals for 

transitioning Veterans that have applied for VA education or VR&E benefits. 

Section 231—Two-year extension to provide Vocational Rehabilitation to Servicemembers 

Section 231 of the bill provides a 2-year extension of section 1631(b)(2) of Public 

Law 110–181. This provision expedites rehabilitation services by allowing automatic 

eligibility and entitlement to VR&E services to be granted to active-duty Servicemembers referred by DoD with severe injuries or illnesses through December 31, 

2014. This provision will enable VR&E to provide rehabilitation services, including 

career counseling, retraining, and placement services, to active-duty Servicemembers early in the disability evaluation process. In addition, it allows VA to help 

Servicemembers with maintaining or obtaining a new MOS, or to prepare them for 

civilian employment that does not aggravate their service-connected injuries. 

A memorandum of understanding (MOU) with DoD is in place, and VR&E has 

drafted procedures for immediate implementation. This MOU implements VR&E 

counseling for Servicemembers transitioning through the Integrated Disability Evaluation System (IDES) at designated locations. Early access to VR&E services and 

assistance offers Servicemembers resources that aid their recovery, transition, and 

reintegration into civilian life. Eligible Servicemembers will be referred to VR&E if 

they are: evaluated by a DoD or VA physician and are determined to have a severe 

injury or illness that could cause their referral into the IDES; assigned to a Service’s 

Wounded Warrior program and are participating in the Education and Employment 

Initiative (E2I) program; or being processed through the IDES and referred to a 

Physical Evaluation Board. The IDES project plan, which provides for 110 VR&E 

counselors to be stationed at selected IDES sites in FY 2012, will enable aggressive 

implementation of this section. VR&E expects to begin providing these services in 

February 2012. 

Section 232—Expand VA authority to pay employers for on-the-job training 

Section 232 of the bill allows VA to expand the Special Employer Incentive (SEI) 

program to employers who hire Veterans participating in a VR&E program even if 

the Veteran has not completed a training program. Prior to this law, a Veteran 

needed to have completed rehabilitation services, such as job retraining or education, in order to qualify for SEI. As a result of this legislation, VR&E will implement use of the SEI program for Veterans who choose to pursue employment, even 

if they were unable to fully complete their training programs, as well as for those 

Veterans who pursue a program consisting of solely employment services. VR&E is 

drafting procedures and developing staff training so that this provision may be implemented by January 20, 2012. 

Section 233—Additional VR&E services to Veterans with exhausted rights to unemployment benefits 

Section 233 of the bill entitles Veterans who have completed a VR&E program 

and exhausted state unemployment benefits to an additional 12 months of vocaVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:13 Jul 27, 2012 Jkt 072244 PO 00000 Frm 00029 Fmt 6604 Sfmt 6621 I:\VA\72244.XXX GPO1 PsN: 72244

anorris on DSK9Q6SHH1PROD with HEARING
26 

tional rehabilitation services. This legislative authority enables VR&E to provide 

services to Veterans who continue to struggle in obtaining employment. These services include an additional short-term training program, extensive job-seeking skills 

training, and job-placement services. It also allows for the provision of employment 

services to Veterans who are beyond the 12-year delimiting date and are not determined to have a serious employment handicap. VR&E will work with DOL to identify and conduct outreach to Veterans who may qualify for these services. VR&E 

will be ready to accept referrals and applications in February 2012 so that rehabilitation programs for these individuals may be in place on June 1, 2012, the effective 

date of this provision. 

Sec. 262—Extension of reduced pension for certain veterans covered by Medicaid 

plans for services 

In section 262, Congress extended through September 30, 2016, the provisions of 

38 U.S.C. § 5503(d), which limit to $90 the pension payable to certain recipients of 

Medicaid-covered nursing home care, and protect that pension payment from being 

applied to the cost of the recipient’s nursing home care. This limitation was previously set to expire on May 31, 2015. Because section 262 extends existing authority, which VA already implemented, we anticipate no delay in implementing the revised law. 

Sec. 264—Extension of authority for Secretary of Veterans Affairs to obtain information from Secretary of Treasury and Commissioner of Social Security for income 

verification purposes 

In section 264, Congress extended through September 30, 2016, VA’s authority 

under 38 U.S.C. § 5317 to enter into data matching agreements with the Internal 

Revenue Service and the Social Security Administration. This authority expired on 

September 30, 2011. VA uses this authority to identify reporting discrepancies by 

beneficiaries in the Department’s income-based programs. Because section 264 extends existing authority, which VA already implemented, we anticipate no delay in 

implementing the revised law. 

Section 265—Extend VA Home Loan Funding Fees 

As you know, on October 5, 2011, Public Law 112–37 extended VA’s home loan 

funding fees at a higher rate structure through November 17, 2011. 

On November 18, those fees reset to a lower rate structure, as prescribed in statute. In response to the reset, our Home Loan Guaranty program took action to provide Veterans, our program lenders, and key industry trade groups with guidance 

regarding the closing of loans during this time period. The Home Loan Guaranty 

program issued a program policy circular containing the necessary guidance, and 

posted that, along with a newsflash, to its Web site. We also ensured that Treasury’s Funding Fee Payment System (FFPS), wherein lenders remit the funding fees 

to Treasury, was properly coded with the lower rate structure. 

With the approval of Public Law 112–56 on November 21, funding fees were once 

again set at the higher rate structure. Specifically, section 265 of the law amended 

38 U.S.C. § 3729(b)(2) by extending VA’s authority to collect certain fees and by adjusting the amount of the fees, through September 30, 2016. The Home Loan Guaranty program once again communicated these important program changes to Veterans and the mortgage industry. VA personally contacted the Home Loan program’s largest lenders and several key industry trade groups to notify them of the 

bill signing and of the new funding fee rates. VA also drafted and posted a new program policy circular, which announced the signing of the bill, and outlined the fees 

in effect. This circular, along with another news update about the bill signing and 

the new fee rates, was posted to the Home Loan program’s Web site on the day after 

the bill was approved. Additionally, VA worked with Treasury to update FFPS with 

the current rate structure. We are not aware of any Veterans having difficulty closing their VA-guaranteed home loans during this time period. 

As you know, Mr. Chairman, there is one provision in the bill not connected with 

VBA that relates to ambulance reimbursement. That is a subject of Veteran Health 

Administration operations, so I will not address it in this testimony, other than to 

note my understanding that VA has brought one technical issue to the Committee 

staff’s attention, as well as their counterparts in the Senate. 

Mr. Chairman, this concludes my statement. I would be pleased to answer any 

questions you or other Members of the Subcommittee may have. 


anorris on DSK9Q6SHH1PROD with HEARING
27 

MATERIAL SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD 

Deliverable from Department of Veterans Affairs, Received February 1, 2012 

Questions from Honorable Bill Johnson to Mr. Curtis Coy, Deputy Under Secretary 

for Economic Opportunity, Veterans Benefits Administration, U.S. Department 

of Veterans Affairs 

Mr. Johnson: Can you explain how employment service staff will provide retraining and VRE applicants’ names to the VA? 

Mr. Coy: That’s one of the procedures and one that they have passed through is 

one of the complex problems. We have not figured it out yet, to be quite frank. We’ve 

begun those discussions, but I don’t have an answer right now. 

Mr. Johnson: Do you have a time frame to—to resolve that? 

VBA Response: VBA will leverage the existing VA electronic application system 

(VONAPP). It will be modified to allow DOL access to submit Veterans’ applications 

to VA. There is no retraining required for VBA staff, as VONAPP data is electronically transferred into VA’s processing systems. There would only be minimal training required for DOL staff to enter the applications, as VONAPP is designed to be 

used directly by our Veterans and is therefore user-friendly. VA and DOL have not 

finalized a date when DOL will receive access to the system, but DOL will be able 

to submit applications to VA prior to July 1, 2012. 

Æ 


anorris on DSK9Q6SHH1PROD with HEARING