II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 140 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to extend the work opportunity 

credit to certain recently discharged veterans, to improve the coordination 

of veteran job training services between the Department of Labor, the 

Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Department of Defense, to 

require transparency for Executive departments in meeting the Government-wide goals for contracting with small business concerns owned 

and controlled by service-disabled veterans, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 24 (legislative day, JANUARY 3), 2013 

Mr. BAUCUS (for himself and Mr. TESTER) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to extend 

the work opportunity credit to certain recently discharged 

veterans, to improve the coordination of veteran job 

training services between the Department of Labor, the 

Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Department 

of Defense, to require transparency for Executive departments in meeting the Government-wide goals for contracting with small business concerns owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans, 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, 


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1 TITLE I—WORK OPPORTUNITY 

2 CREDIT FOR RECENTLY DIS3 CHARGED VETERANS 

4 SEC. 101. SHORT TITLE. 

5 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Veteran Employment 

6 Transition Act of 2013’’. 

7 SEC. 102. WORK OPPORTUNITY CREDIT FOR CERTAIN RE8 CENTLY DISCHARGED VETERANS. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subparagraph (A) of section 

10 51(d)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended 

11 by striking ‘‘means any veteran who is’’ and inserting 

12 ‘‘means any recently discharged veteran, or any veteran 

13 if such veteran is’’. 

14 (b) RECENTLY DISCHARGED VETERAN.—Paragraph 

15 (3) of section 51(d) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 

16 is amended— 

17 (1) by redesignating subparagraph (C) as sub18 paragraph (D), and 

19 (2) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the fol20 lowing new subparagraph: 

21 ‘‘(C) RECENTLY DISCHARGED VETERAN.— 

22 For purposes of subparagraph (A), the term 

23 ‘recently discharged veteran’ means— 


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1 ‘‘(i) any individual who is described in 

2 clause (i) of subparagraph (B) (without re3 gard to certification), and 

4 ‘‘(ii) any member of the National 

5 Guard who has served for more than 180 

6 consecutive days of— 

7 ‘‘(I) active duty (within the 

8 meaning of title 32, United States 

9 Code) other than for training, 

10 ‘‘(II) full-time National Guard 

11 duty (within the meaning of such title 

12 32) other than for training, 

13 ‘‘(III) duty, other than inactive 

14 duty or duty for training, in State 

15 status (within the meaning of such 

16 title 32), or 

17 ‘‘(IV) any combination of duty 

18 described in subclause (I), (II), or 

19 (III), 

20 who has been discharged or released from duty 

21 meeting such requirements at any time during 

22 the 5-year period ending on the hiring date. 

23 Such term shall not include any veteran who 

24 begins work for the employer before the date of 


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1 the enactment of the Veteran Employment 

2 Transition Act of 2013.’’. 

3 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 51(d) of 

4 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended— 

5 (1) by adding at the end of paragraph (13) the 

6 following new subparagraph: 

7 ‘‘(E) PRE-SCREENING OF RECENTLY DIS8 CHARGED VETERANS.— 

9 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of 

10 subparagraph (A), the term ‘pre-screening 

11 notice’ shall include any documentation 

12 provided to an individual by the Depart13 ment of Defense or the National Guard 

14 upon release or discharge from the Armed 

15 Forces or from service in the National 

16 Guard which includes information suffi17 cient to establish that such individual sat18 isfies the requirements of paragraph 

19 (3)(C). 

20 ‘‘(ii) ADDITIONAL CERTIFICATION NOT

21 REQUIRED.—Subparagraph (A) shall be 

22 applied without regard to clause (ii)(II) 

23 thereof in the case of a recently discharged 

24 veteran who provides to the employer docu25 mentation described in clause (i).’’, and 


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1 (2) by striking paragraph (14). 

2 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

3 subsections (a), (b), and (c) shall apply to individuals 

4 whose hiring date (as defined in section 51(d)(11) of the 

5 Internal Revenue Code of 1986) is on or after the date 

6 of the enactment of this Act. 

7 (e) DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE DOCUMENTATION.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Department of Defense 

9 and the National Guard, as applicable, shall pro10 vide— 

11 (A) to each individual who is discharged or 

12 released from active duty in the Armed Forces 

13 of the United States on or after the date of the 

14 enactment of this Act; and 

15 (B) to each member of the National Guard 

16 who is released from duty described in section 

17 51(d)(3)(C)(ii) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

18 1986 (as added by this Act) on or after the 

19 date of the enactment of this Act; 

20 documentation described in paragraph (4) (in addi21 tion to the documentation which, without regard to 

22 this subsection, is provided at the time of such dis23 charge or release). If the documentation which is 

24 provided without regard to this subsection at the 

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1 ceding sentence does not include information suffi2 cient to satisfy the requirements of section 

3 51(d)(13)(E)(i) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

4 1986 (as added by this Act), the Department of De5 fense or the National Guard, whichever is applicable, 

6 shall provide additional documentation which in7 cludes such information. 

8 (2) INFORMATIONAL BRIEFING AS PART OF

9 PRESEPARATION COUNSELING.—In the case of an 

10 individual who is discharged or released from duty 

11 described in subparagraph (A) or (B) of paragraph 

12 (1) after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

13 Department of Defense or the National Guard, 

14 whichever is applicable, shall inform such individual, 

15 as a part of the individual preseparation counseling 

16 required by section 1142 of title 10, United States 

17 Code, of the credit for employment of recently dis18 charged veterans under section 51 of the Internal 

19 Revenue Code of 1986. 

20 (3) REQUEST FOR DOCUMENTATION.—The De21 partment of Defense or the National Guard, which22 ever is applicable, shall provide upon request the 

23 documentation required by paragraph (1) to any in24 dividual who is discharged or released from duty de25 scribed in subparagraph (A) or (B) of such paraVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:34 Feb 06, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S140.IS S140

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1 graph during the 5-year period preceding and in2 cluding the date of the enactment of this Act. 

3 (4) INSTRUCTIONS FOR USE OF WORK OPPOR4 TUNITY CREDIT.—The documentation described in 

5 this paragraph is a document which includes— 

6 (A) instructions for an individual to ensure 

7 treatment as a recently discharged veteran for 

8 purposes of section 51(d)(3)(C) of the Internal 

9 Revenue Code of 1986 (as added by this Act), 

10 (B) instructions for employers detailing the 

11 use of the credit under such section 51 with re12 spect to such individual, and 

13 (C) the dates during which the credit 

14 under such section 51 is available. 

15 Such instructions shall be developed in collaboration 

16 with the Internal Revenue Service. 

17 TITLE II—VETERAN EMPLOY18 MENT AND TRAINING SERV19 ICES 

20 SEC. 201. SHORT TITLE. 

21 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Veteran Employment 

22 and Training Services Act of 2013’’ or the ‘‘VETS Act’’. 

23 SEC. 202. DEFINITIONS. 

24 In this title: 


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1 (1) DISABLED VETERAN.—The term ‘‘disabled 

2 veteran’’ has the meaning given the term in section 

3 4211 of title 38, United States Code. 

4 (2) ECONOMICALLY AND EDUCATIONALLY DIS5 ADVANTAGED VETERAN.—The term ‘‘economically 

6 and educationally disadvantaged veteran’’ means 

7 such a veteran, within the meaning of chapter 41 of 

8 title 38, United States Code. 

9 (3) REHABILITATION PLAN.—The term ‘‘reha10 bilitation plan’’ means an individualized plan formu11 lated for a veteran under section 3107 of title 38, 

12 United States Code, that has an employment objec13 tive. 

14 (4) VETERAN.—The term ‘‘veteran’’ has the 

15 meaning given the term in section 101 of title 38, 

16 United States Code. 

17 (5) VETERAN JOB TRAINING PROGRAM.—The 

18 term ‘‘veteran job training program’’ means— 

19 (A) the Disabled Veterans’ Outreach Pro20 gram carried out under section 4103A of title 

21 38, United States Code; 

22 (B) the Homeless Veterans Reintegration 

23 Program carried out under section 2021 of that 

24 title; 


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1 (C) the Local Veterans’ Employment Rep2 resentative Program carried out under section 

3 4104 of that title; 

4 (D) the Transition Assistance Program 

5 carried out under section 1144 of title 10, 

6 United States Code; 

7 (E) the Veterans Workforce Investment 

8 Program carried out under section 168 of the 

9 Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 

10 2913); and 

11 (F) the Vocational Rehabilitation & Em12 ployment Program carried out under chapter 31 

13 of title 38, United States Code. 

14 (6) VETERAN JOB TRAINING SERVICES.—The 

15 term ‘‘veteran job training services’’ means the serv16 ices provided under a veteran job training program. 

17 SEC. 203. COORDINATION BETWEEN SECRETARY OF LABOR, 

18 SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS, AND 

19 SECRETARY OF DEFENSE ON VETERAN JOB 

20 TRAINING. 

21 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 

22 of this Act, the Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of Vet23 erans Affairs, and the Secretary of Defense shall enter 

24 into an agreement, covering the 3 departments involved, 

25 to govern the coordination of veteran job training services. 


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1 SEC. 204. IMPLEMENTATION REPORTS ON VETERAN JOB 

2 TRAINING PROGRAMS. 

3 (a) REPORT REQUIRED.—The Secretary of Veterans 

4 Affairs and the Secretary of Labor shall prepare an initial 

5 and a final report on the veteran job training programs 

6 of the Department of Veterans Affairs and Department 

7 of Labor as described in this section. 

8 (b) DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.—The 

9 Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall include in each of the 

10 reports required by subsection (a), with regard to the De11 partment of Veterans Affairs, information describing each 

12 of the following: 

13 (1) The actions taken by the department to en14 sure that States receive sufficient guidance to com15 ply with Federal laws regarding veteran job training 

16 programs. 

17 (2) The extent to which the department re18 viewed and incorporated into its operations— 

19 (A) the employment related initiatives of 

20 the Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program 

21 under section 582 of the National Defense Au22 thorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 (Public 

23 Law 110–181; 10 U.S.C. 10101 note); and 

24 (B) the conclusions of the Credentialing 

25 and Licensing Task Force of the Department of 

26 Defense. 


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1 (3) The extent to which veterans’ employment 

2 outcomes result from participation in veteran job 

3 training programs rather than from other factors. 

4 (4) Actions taken by the department to ensure 

5 that veterans with a rehabilitation plan receive vet6 eran job training services consistent with the reha7 bilitation plan. 

8 (5) Efforts taken by the department to better 

9 serve veterans living in rural communities. 

10 (c) DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.—The Secretary of 

11 Labor shall include in each of the reports required by sub12 section (a), with regard to the Department of Labor, infor13 mation describing each of the following: 

14 (1) The matters referred to in paragraphs (1), 

15 (2), (3), and (5) of subsection (a). 

16 (2) The actions taken by the department to 

17 provide States with clear guidance for determining 

18 which veterans are classified as economically and 

19 educationally disadvantaged veterans, or in other 

20 categories of veterans. 

21 (3) The progress of the department in clari22 fying its approach to determining which participants 

23 in the Disabled Veterans Outreach Program carried 

24 out under section 4103A of title 38, United States 

25 Code, shall receive intensive services (as defined in 


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1 section 134(d)(3) of the Workforce Investment Act 

2 of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 2864(d)(3)). 

3 (4) How the department reports on goals for 

4 performance, and actual performance, on perform5 ance standards or other measures, for each of its 

6 veterans job training programs, including an assess7 ment of how to better monitor employment outcomes 

8 for disabled veterans. 

9 (d) SUBMISSION OF REPORTS.—The Secretary of 

10 Labor and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall submit 

11 to Congress— 

12 (1) not later than 1 year after the date of en13 actment of this Act, the initial report required by 

14 subsection (a); and 

15 (2) not later than 2 years after such date, the 

16 final report required by subsection (a). 

17 (e) INTERNET PUBLICATION OF DEPARTMENT OF

18 LABOR DATA ON PERFORMANCE GOALS AND OUT19 COMES.—The Secretary of Labor shall publish on a pub20 licly accessible, user-friendly Internet website the goals 

21 and actual performance data described in subsection 

22 (c)(4). 


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1 SEC. 205. EXPANSION OF PILOT PROGRAM ON RECEIPT OF 

2 CIVILIAN CREDENTIALING FOR SKILLS RE3 QUIRED FOR MILITARY OCCUPATIONAL SPE4 CIALTIES. 

5 Section 558(b)(1) of the National Defense Authoriza6 tion Act for Fiscal Year 2012 (Public Law 112–81; 10 

7 U.S.C. 2015 note) is amended by striking ‘‘not less than 

8 three or more than five’’ and inserting ‘‘the MOS 31B 

9 Military Police, MOS 15Q AC-Air Traffic Controller, and 

10 MOS 12M Fire Protection military occupational special11 ties and not fewer than three and not more than five addi12 tional’’. 

13 SEC. 206. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

14 Nothing in this title shall be construed to affect any 

15 other Federal law specifying a reporting requirement. 

16 TITLE III—HONORING PROMISES 

17 TO SERVICE-DISABLED VET18 ERANS 

19 SEC. 301. SHORT TITLE. 

20 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Honoring Promises 

21 to Service-Disabled Veterans Act of 2013’’. 


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1 SEC. 302. TRANSPARENCY IN CONTRACTING GOALS FOR 

2 SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS OWNED AND 

3 CONTROLLED BY SERVICE-DISABLED VET4 ERANS. 

5 Section 15 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 644) 

6 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(s) TRANSPARENCY IN CONTRACTING GOALS FOR

8 SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS OWNED AND CONTROLLED

9 BY SERVICE-DISABLED VETERANS.— 

10 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection— 

11 ‘‘(A) the term ‘covered contractor’ means a 

12 contractor that is required to submit a subcon13 tracting plan under section 8(d) to an Execu14 tive department; 

15 ‘‘(B) the term ‘Executive department’ has 

16 the meaning given that term in section 101 of 

17 title 5, United States Code; and 

18 ‘‘(C) the term ‘physically completed’ has 

19 the meaning given that term in section 4.804– 

20 4 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation, or any 

21 successor thereto. 

22 ‘‘(2) REPORTS TO ADMINISTRATOR.—Not later 

23 than 1 year after the date of enactment of this sub24 section, and annually thereafter, the head of each 

25 Executive department shall submit to the Adminis26 trator a report that contains— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the percentage of the total value of 

2 all prime contracts awarded by the Executive 

3 department to small business concerns owned 

4 and controlled by service-disabled veterans dur5 ing the 1-year period ending on the date of the 

6 report; 

7 ‘‘(B) the name of each covered contractor 

8 to which the Executive department awards a 

9 contract; 

10 ‘‘(C) for each contract awarded to a cov11 ered contractor by the Executive department— 

12 ‘‘(i) the percentage goal negotiated 

13 under section 8(d)(6)(A) for the utilization 

14 as subcontractors of small business con15 cerns owned and controlled by service-dis16 abled veterans; and 

17 ‘‘(ii) if the contract is physically com18 pleted during the 1-year period ending on 

19 the date of the report, the percentage of 

20 the total value of subcontracts entered into 

21 by the covered contractor awarded to small 

22 business concerns owned and controlled by 

23 service-disabled veterans; 

24 ‘‘(D) the weighted average percentage goal 

25 negotiated by each covered contractor under 


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1 section 8(d)(6)(A) for the utilization as sub2 contractors of small business concerns owned 

3 and controlled by service-disabled veterans for 

4 all contracts awarded by the Executive depart5 ment to the covered contractor; 

6 ‘‘(E) for all contracts awarded to covered 

7 contractors by the Executive department that 

8 are physically completed during the 1-year pe9 riod ending on the date of the report, the per10 centage of the total value of all subcontracts 

11 awarded by covered contractors that were 

12 awarded to small business concerns owned and 

13 controlled by service-disabled veterans; and 

14 ‘‘(F) the dollar amount by which the Exec15 utive department exceeded or failed to meet the 

16 Government-wide goals under subsection (g) for 

17 prime contracts and subcontracts awarded to 

18 small business concerns owned and controlled 

19 by service-disabled veterans. 

20 ‘‘(3) RANKINGS.—For the first full fiscal year 

21 following the date of enactment of this subsection, 

22 and each fiscal year thereafter, the Administrator 

23 shall rank— 

24 ‘‘(A) the Executive departments, based 

25 on— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the percentage of the total value 

2 of prime contracts awarded by the Execu3 tive departments to small business con4 cerns owned and controlled by service-dis5 abled veterans; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) the percentage of the total value 

7 of subcontracts awarded by covered con8 tractors that are awarded contracts by the 

9 Executive departments to small business 

10 concerns owned and controlled by service11 disabled veterans; and 

12 ‘‘(B) covered contractors, based on the 

13 percentage of the total value of subcontracts 

14 awarded by the covered contractors to small 

15 business concerns owned and controlled by serv16 ice-disabled veterans. 

17 ‘‘(4) PUBLICATION.— 

18 ‘‘(A) WEBSITE.—Except as provided in 

19 subparagraph (B), the Administrator shall pub20 lish on a website accessible to the public a user21 friendly, electronically searchable report con22 taining— 

23 ‘‘(i) the information submitted to the 

24 Administrator under paragraph (2); and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) the rankings made by the Ad2 ministrator under paragraph (3). 

3 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION FOR NATIONAL SECU4 RITY.—If the head of an Executive department 

5 determines that publication of information con6 tained in a report submitted under paragraph 

7 (2) would be detrimental to national security, 

8 the Administrator shall not publish the infor9 mation on the website described in subpara10 graph (A). 

11 ‘‘(C) UPDATING.—The Administrator shall 

12 update the contents of the website described in 

13 subparagraph (A) not less frequently than an14 nually. 

15 ‘‘(5) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.— 

16 ‘‘(A) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Adminis17 trator shall submit to Congress an annual re18 port on the progress of each Executive depart19 ment toward meeting the Government-wide 

20 goals for contracting and subcontracting estab21 lished under subsection (g). 

22 ‘‘(B) CONTENTS.—Each report under this 

23 paragraph shall include— 

24 ‘‘(i) a statement of whether the 

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1 tains the latest data reported to the Ad2 ministrator by the Executive departments; 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(ii) a recommendation of a prime 

5 contractor that should be recognized by 

6 Congress for outstanding progress in con7 tracting with small business concerns 

8 owned and controlled by service-disabled 

9 veterans. 

10 ‘‘(6) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

11 this subsection may be construed to affect any other 

12 reporting requirement under Federal law.’’. 

Æ 


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