I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2835 

To actively recruit members of the Armed Forces who are separating from 

military service to serve as Customs and Border Protection Officers. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 18, 2015 

Ms. MCSALLY (for herself, Ms. TITUS, Mr. HURD of Texas, Mr. GALLEGO, 

Ms. STEFANIK, Mr. GOSAR, Mr. ZINKE, Ms. SINEMA, Mr. DONOVAN, and 

Mr. KNIGHT) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Homeland Security, and in addition to the Committee on 

Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To actively recruit members of the Armed Forces who are 

separating from military service to serve as Customs 

and Border Protection Officers. 

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 ‘‘Border Jobs for Vet5 erans Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Customs and Border Protection Officers at 

2 United States ports of entry carry out critical law 

3 enforcement duties associated with screening foreign 

4 visitors, returning United States citizens, and im5 ported cargo entering the United States. 

6 (2) It is in the national interest for United 

7 States ports of entry to be adequately staffed with 

8 Customs and Border Protection Officers in a timely 

9 fashion, including meeting the congressionally fund10 ed staffing target of 23,775 officers for fiscal year 

11 2015. 

12 (3) An estimated 250,000 to 300,000 members 

13 of the Armed Forces separate from military service 

14 every year. 

15 (4) Recruiting efforts and expedited hiring pro16 cedures should be undertaken to ensure that individ17 uals separating from military service are aware of, 

18 and partake in, opportunities to fill vacant Customs 

19 and Border Protection Officer positions. 

20 SEC. 3. EXPEDITED HIRING OF APPROPRIATE SEPARATING 

21 SERVICE MEMBERS. 

22 (a) IDENTIFICATION OF TRANSFERABLE QUALIFICA23 TIONS.—Not later than 60 days after the date of the en24 actment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security, 

25 in conjunction with the Secretary of Defense, shall jointly 


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1 identify Military Occupational Specialty Codes, Air Force 

2 Specialty Codes, Naval Enlisted Classifications and Offi3 cer Designators, and Coast Guard Competencies that are 

4 transferable to the requirements, qualifications, and duties 

5 assigned to Customs and Border Protection Officers. 

6 (b) HIRING.—The Secretary of Homeland Security 

7 shall consider hiring qualified candidates with the Military 

8 Occupational Specialty Codes, Air Force Specialty Codes, 

9 and Naval Enlisted Classifications and Officer Designa10 tors identified as transferable under subsection (a) who 

11 are eligible for veterans recruitment appointment author12 ized under section 4214 of title 38, United States Code. 

13 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHING A PROGRAM FOR RECRUITING 

14 SERVICE MEMBERS SEPARATING FROM MILI15 TARY SERVICE FOR CUSTOMS AND BORDER 

16 PROTECTION OFFICER VACANCIES. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

18 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Home19 land Security, in conjunction with the Secretary of De20 fense, shall establish a program to actively recruit mem21 bers of the Armed Forces who are separating from mili22 tary service to serve as Customs and Border Protection 

23 Officers. 

24 (b) ELEMENTS.—The program established under 

25 subsection (a) shall— 


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1 (1) include Customs and Border Protection Of2 ficer opportunities in relevant job assistance efforts 

3 under the Transition Assistance Program; 

4 (2) place U.S. Customs and Border Protection 

5 officials or other relevant Department of Homeland 

6 Security officials at recruiting events and jobs fairs 

7 involving members of the Armed Forces who are 

8 separating from military service; 

9 (3) provide opportunities for local U.S. Customs 

10 and Border Protection field offices to partner with 

11 military bases in the region; 

12 (4) conduct outreach efforts to educate mem13 bers of the Armed Forces with Military Occupational 

14 Specialty Codes, Air Force Specialty Codes, Naval 

15 Enlisted Classifications and Officer Designators, and 

16 Coast Guard Competencies that are transferable to 

17 the requirements, qualifications, and duties assigned 

18 to Customs and Border Protection Officers; 

19 (5) require the Secretary of Defense and the 

20 Secretary of Homeland Security to work coopera21 tively to identify shared activities and opportunities 

22 for reciprocity related to steps in hiring U.S. Cus23 toms and Border Patrol officers with the goal of 

24 minimizing the time required to hire qualified appli25 cants; 


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1 (6) require the Secretary of Defense and the 

2 Secretary of Homeland Security to work coopera3 tively to ensure the streamlined interagency transfer 

4 of relevant background investigations and security 

5 clearances; and 

6 (7) include such other elements as may be nec7 essary to ensure that members of the Armed Forces 

8 who are separating from military service are aware 

9 of opportunities to fill vacant Customs and Border 

10 Protection Officer positions. 

11 SEC. 5. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

13 date of the enactment of this Act, and by December 31 

14 of each year thereafter, the Secretary of Homeland Secu15 rity and the Secretary of Defense shall jointly submit a 

16 report to the appropriate congressional committees that 

17 includes a description and assessment of the program es18 tablished under section 4. 

19 (b) CONTENT.—The report required under subsection 

20 (a) shall include— 

21 (1) a detailed description of the program estab22 lished under section 4, including— 

23 (A) programmatic elements; 

24 (B) goals associated with those elements; 

25 and 


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1 (C) a description of how the elements and 

2 goals will assist in meeting statutorily man3 dated staffing levels and agency hiring bench4 marks; 

5 (2) a detailed description of the program ele6 ments that have been implemented under section 4; 

7 (3) a detailed summary of the actions taken 

8 under section 4 to implement such program ele9 ments; 

10 (4) the number of separating service members 

11 made aware of Customs and Border Protection Offi12 cer vacancies; 

13 (5) the Military Occupational Specialty Codes, 

14 Air Force Specialty Codes, Naval Enlisted Classi15 fications and Officer Designators, and Coast Guard 

16 Competencies identified as transferable under sec17 tion 3(a) and a rationale for such identifications; 

18 (6) the number of Customs and Border Protec19 tion Officer vacancies filled with separating service 

20 members; 

21 (7) the number of Customs and Border Protec22 tion Officer vacancies filled with separating service 

23 members under Veterans Recruitment Appointment 

24 authorized under section 4214 of title 38, United 

25 States Code; and 


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1 (8) the results of any evaluations or consider2 ations of additional elements included or not in3 cluded in the program established under section 4. 

4 SEC. 6. RULES OF CONSTRUCTION. 

5 Nothing in this Act may be construed— 

6 (1) as superseding, altering, or amending exist7 ing Federal veterans’ hiring preferences or Federal 

8 hiring authorities; or 

9 (2) to authorize the appropriation of additional 

10 amounts to carry out this Act. 

Æ 


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