II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1637 

To better connect current and former members of the Armed Forces with 

employment opportunities by consolidating duplicative Federal Government Internet websites into a single portal, to conserve resources by 

merging redundant and competing programs, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 31, 2013 

Mr. MANCHIN (for himself and Mr. KIRK) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To better connect current and former members of the Armed 

Forces with employment opportunities by consolidating 

duplicative Federal Government Internet websites into 

a single portal, to conserve resources by merging redundant and competing programs, 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 ‘‘United We Stand to 

5 Hire Veterans Act’’. 


tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 1637 IS

1 SEC. 2. CONSOLIDATED AND COORDINATED FEDERAL GOV2 ERNMENT INTERNET PORTAL TO CONNECT 

3 CURRENT AND FORMER MEMBERS OF THE 

4 ARMED FORCES WITH EMPLOYERS SEEKING 

5 EMPLOYEES WITH SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE 

6 DEVELOPED THROUGH MILITARY SERVICE. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find8 ings: 

9 (1) Although significant progress has been 

10 made, unemployment among veterans remains stub11 bornly high. 

12 (2) The unemployment rate among younger vet13 erans, ages 18 to 24, remains well above the na14 tional average. 

15 (3) This problem impacts the Department of 

16 Defense budget. Over the past 10 years, the Federal 

17 Government has expended more than 

18 $9,600,000,000 on unemployment compensation 

19 benefits for former members of the Armed Forces. 

20 (4) The Department makes significant invest21 ments in members of the Armed Forces including 

22 specialized technical training in skills that are easily 

23 transferrable to civilian career fields. 

24 (5) Beyond specific technical training, veterans 

25 gain unique leadership, organizational, and other 


tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 1637 IS

1 skills that make them valued employees in the pri2 vate sector. 

3 (6) Government agencies, private sector enti4 ties, and nonprofit organizations are responding to 

5 the issue of unemployment among veterans. 

6 (7) There are now so many programs to assist 

7 veterans in finding employment, many within the 

8 Government, that veterans may not know where to 

9 turn to find assistance in finding employment. While 

10 these programs are well intentioned, many are dupli11 cative in nature, and compete for scarce resources. 

12 (8) The Department of Labor, the Department 

13 of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Defense, and 

14 the Office of Personnel Management are currently 

15 working to consolidate the veterans’ employment ini16 tiatives of the Government into a single, consolidated 

17 Internet portal with the goal of connecting veterans 

18 who are seeking employment with employers who 

19 want to employ them. 

20 (9) The consolidated portal would prevent Fed21 eral Government agencies from competing with each 

22 other to accomplish the same goal, and will save the 

23 Federal Government money while providing a com24 prehensive, coordinated tool for employers and vet25 erans seeking employment. 


tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 1637 IS

1 (10) The Federal Government can accomplish 

2 this by leveraging the best practices of current pro3 grams. 

4 (11) While progress has been made, there is no 

5 statutory requirement to streamline these Govern6 ment programs and coordinate the resources that 

7 are all intended to achieve the same goal. 

8 (b) CONSOLIDATED INTERNET PORTAL RE9 QUIRED.—Commencing not later than one year after the 

10 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Labor 

11 shall, in conjunction with the Secretary of Defense and 

12 the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, consolidate Internet 

13 portals of the Federal Government on employment for cur14 rent and former members of the Armed Forces into a com15 prehensive consolidated Internet portal for the purposes 

16 of connecting current and former members of the Armed 

17 Forces who are seeking employment with employers who 

18 want to employ them. 

19 (c) ELEMENTS.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The consolidated Internet 

21 portal under subsection (b) should include the fol22 lowing: 

23 (A) A means through which current and 

24 former members of the Armed Forces may con25 nect for employment purposes with employers 


tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 1637 IS

1 seeking the experience and skills developed dur2 ing service in the Armed Forces, including a 

3 means of presenting a profile of each member 

4 or former member to employers that includes, 

5 at a minimum— 

6 (i) the skills obtained by such member 

7 or former member during service in the 

8 Armed Forces and additional skills such 

9 member or former member is interested in 

10 pursuing; and 

11 (ii) the current or intended residence 

12 of such member or former member (includ13 ing an option for members or former mem14 bers who are willing to reside in various lo15 cations). 

16 (B) A means of permitting qualified pro17 spective employers to post employment openings 

18 and seek contact with members or former mem19 bers based on their profile for the purposes of 

20 requesting the initiation of arrangements or ne21 gotiations concerning potential employment. 

22 (C) A means of presenting other employ23 ment resources, including resume preparation, 

24 to members or former members seeking employ25 ment. 


tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
6 

•S 1637 IS

1 (2) MATTERS CONSIDERED.—In developing the 

2 consolidated Internet portal, the Secretaries referred 

3 to in subsection (b) should consider, at a minimum, 

4 the following: 

5 (A) Public and private sector resources on 

6 matters relating to the portal. 

7 (B) Opportunities to incorporate local em8 ployment networks into the portal. 

9 (C) Methodologies to determine the most 

10 effective employment resources and programs to 

11 be incorporated into the portal. 

12 (D) Means for streamlining processes 

13 through the portal for employers to find and 

14 employ former members of the Armed Forces. 

15 (d) MEMBER PARTICIPATION.—Participation by a 

16 member or former member of the Armed Force in the con17 solidated Internet portal under subsection (b) shall be vol18 untary. A member or former member participating in the 

19 portal may cease participation in the portal at any time. 

20 (e) PILOT PROJECT AUTHORITY.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—In order to expedite imple22 mentation of the consolidated Internet portal under 

23 subsection (b), the Secretaries may carry out one or 

24 more pilot projects to evaluate the feasibility and ad25 visability of various options for the portal. Any such 


tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
7 

•S 1637 IS

1 pilot project may only be a continuation or modifica2 tion of an existing program. 

3 (2) SUNSET.—The authority to carry out pilot 

4 projects under this subsection shall expire on the 

5 date that is five years after the date of the enact6 ment of this Act. 

7 (f) REPORTS.— 

8 (1) PRELIMINARY REPORT.—Not later than six 

9 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

10 the Secretaries shall submit to the appropriate com11 mittees of Congress a report on the consolidated 

12 Internet portal under subsection (b). The report 

13 shall include the following: 

14 (A) A list of the Internet portals of the 

15 Federal Government that are redundant to, or 

16 duplicative of, the consolidated Internet portal. 

17 (B) An estimate of the cost-savings to be 

18 achieved by the Federal Government through 

19 the consolidated Internet portal, including 

20 through the elimination or consolidation into 

21 the consolidated Internet portal of the Internet 

22 portals listed under subparagraph (A). 

23 (2) REPORT FOLLOWING IMPLEMENTATION OF

24 PORTAL.—Not later than one year after the date of 

25 the implementation of the portal under subsection 


tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
8 

•S 1637 IS

1 (b), the Secretaries shall submit to the appropriate 

2 committees of Congress a report on the portal. 

3 (3) ELEMENTS.—Each report under this sub4 section shall include a description of the portal and 

5 such other information on the portal as the Secre6 taries consider appropriate. 

7 (4) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CONGRESS

8 DEFINED.—In this subsection, the term ‘‘appro9 priate committees of Congress’’ means— 

10 (A) the Committee on Armed Services, the 

11 Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and 

12 Pensions, the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, 

13 and the Committee on Appropriations of the 

14 Senate; and 

15 (B) the Committee on Armed Services, the 

16 Committee on Education and the Workforce, 

17 the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, and the 

18 Committee on Appropriations of the House of 

19 Representatives. 

Æ 


tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS