II 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2130 

To direct the Secretary of Interior to establish a veterans conservation corps, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 17, 2012 

Mr. NELSON of Florida introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Interior to establish a veterans 

conservation corps, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Veterans Conservation 

5 Corps Authorization Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) CORPS.—The term ‘‘corps’’ means the vet9 erans conservation corps established under section 

10 3(a). 


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1 (2) ELIGIBLE VETERAN.—The term ‘‘eligible 

2 veteran’’ means a veteran (as the term is defined in 

3 section 101 of title 38, United States Code) that, as 

4 of the date on which the application for the corps is 

5 submitted— 

6 (A) is unemployed; 

7 (B) is not enrolled in any other Federal 

8 training program; and 

9 (C) meets any other criteria that the Sec10 retary determines to be appropriate. 

11 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

12 the Secretary of the Interior. 

13 SEC. 3. VETERANS CONSERVATION CORPS. 

14 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary, in cooperation 

15 with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the Secretary 

16 of Commerce, shall establish a veterans conservation 

17 corps— 

18 (1) to provide training and employment to eligi19 ble veterans; 

20 (2) to assist eligible veterans in the transition 

21 from service in the Armed Forces to civilian life; and 

22 (3) to assist the Federal Government in main23 taining Federal land and water. 

24 (b) EMPLOYMENT OF ELIGIBLE VETERANS.— 

25 (1) LONG-TERM EMPLOYMENT.— 


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1 (A) INITIAL PERIOD.—The Secretary shall 

2 employ in the corps eligible veterans for a 1- 

3 year period to carry out work projects assigned 

4 under subsection (c). 

5 (B) EXTENSION OF EMPLOYMENT.—The 

6 Secretary may, on a case-by-case basis and as 

7 the Secretary considers appropriate, extend the 

8 employment of an eligible veteran under sub9 paragraph (A) for an additional 1-year period. 

10 (2) TEMPORARY EMPLOYMENT FOR STUDENT

11 VETERANS.— 

12 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may es13 tablish a program in the corps for the short14 term employment of eligible veterans that are 

15 attending institutions of higher education. 

16 (B) TERMS.—The employment of an eligi17 ble veteran under subparagraph (A) shall not 

18 exceed 16 weeks in total. 

19 (3) COMPENSATION.—An eligible veteran em20 ployed by the corps under paragraph (1) or (2) shall 

21 receive a stipend and living allowance in an amount 

22 to be determined by the Secretary, in consultation 

23 with Secretary of Veteran Affairs. 

24 (c) WORK PROJECTS.— 


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1 (1) ASSIGNMENT.—Each eligible veteran em2 ployed under subsection (b)(1) shall be assigned to 

3 a work project that— 

4 (A) furthers the purposes described in sub5 section (a); and 

6 (B) falls within 1 or more of the following 

7 categories: 

8 (i) Transportation improvements, such 

9 as improving wilderness trails. 

10 (ii) Erosion control. 

11 (iii) Landscape and recreation. 

12 (iv) Habitat protection and restora13 tion, including removal of invasive species. 

14 (v) Data collection. 

15 (vi) Any other specific project cat16 egory identified under paragraph (2). 

17 (2) SPECIFICATION OF ADDITIONAL PROJECT

18 CATEGORIES.—Not later than 180 days after the 

19 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary and the 

20 Secretary of Commerce shall identify additional 

21 project categories that the Secretary and the Sec22 retary of Commerce consider appropriate to further 

23 the purposes described in subsection (a). 

24 (3) LEVERAGING OF MILITARY SKILLS.—To the 

25 maximum extent practicable, an eligible veteran in 


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1 the corps shall be assigned to a work project under 

2 paragraph (1) that enables the eligible veteran to 

3 use the skills that the eligible veteran developed as 

4 a member of the Armed Forces. 

5 (4) DEVELOPMENT AND SUPERVISION OF WORK

6 PROJECTS.—The Secretary and the Secretary of 

7 Commerce shall develop and supervise the work 

8 projects under the corps that relate to the respective 

9 jurisdiction of the Secretary and the Secretary. 

10 (d) EDUCATION AND TRAINING.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in coopera12 tion with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the 

13 Secretary of Commerce, shall establish a program as 

14 part of the corps to provide to eligible veterans em15 ployed under the corps any education or training 

16 that is necessary to enable the eligible veterans to 

17 carry out the work projects assigned under sub18 section (c)(1). 

19 (2) USE OF EXISTING FACILITIES.—To the 

20 maximum extent practicable, the Secretary, the Sec21 retary of Veterans Affairs, and the Secretary of 

22 Commerce shall use existing facilities of the Federal 

23 Government to provide the education and training 

24 required under paragraph (1). 

Æ 


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