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Union Calendar No. 547 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3286 

[Report No. 114–708] 

To encourage effective, voluntary private sector investments to recruit, employ, 

and retain men and women who have served in the United States military 

with annual presidential awards to private sector employers recognizing 

such efforts, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 29, 2015 

Mr. COOK (for himself and Ms. GABBARD) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

SEPTEMBER 6, 2016 

Additional sponsors: Ms. GRAHAM, Ms. BROWNLEY of California, Mr. NUNES, 

Mr. HONDA, Mr. HURD of Texas, Mr. TAKANO, Ms. KUSTER, Mr. 

PETERS, Mr. COSTA, Mr. CA ́RDENAS, Mr. RUIZ, Mr. HUNTER, Ms. ESTY, 

and Mr. POMPEO

SEPTEMBER 6, 2016 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on July 29, 2015] 


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A BILL 

To encourage effective, voluntary private sector investments 

to recruit, employ, and retain men and women who have 

served in the United States military with annual presidential awards to private sector employers recognizing 

such efforts, and for other purposes. 


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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 ‘‘Honoring Investments 

5 in Recruiting and Employing American Military Veterans 

6 Act of 2016’’ or the ‘‘HIRE Vets Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. HIRE VETS MEDALLION PROGRAM. 

8 (a) PROGRAM ESTABLISHED.—Not later than one year 

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

10 Labor shall establish, by rule, a HIRE Vets Medallion Pro11 gram to solicit voluntary information from employers for 

12 purposes of recognizing, by means of an award to be des13 ignated a ‘‘HIRE Vets Medallion’’, verified efforts by such 

14 employers— 

15 (1) to recruit, employ, and retain veterans; and 

16 (2) to provide community and charitable services 

17 supporting the veteran community. 

18 (b) APPLICATION PROCESS.—Beginning in the cal19 endar year following the calendar year in which the Sec20 retary establishes the program— 

21 (1) the Secretary shall annually— 

22 (A) solicit and accept voluntary applica23 tions from employers in order to consider wheth24 er those employers should receive a HIRE Vets 

25 Medallion; 


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1 (B) review applications received in each 

2 calendar year; and 

3 (C) provide to the President a list of recipi4 ents; and 

5 (2) the President shall annually— 

6 (A) notify such recipients of their awards; 

7 and 

8 (B) at a time to coincide with the annual 

9 commemoration of Veterans Day— 

10 (i) announce the names of such recipi11 ents; 

12 (ii) recognize such recipients through 

13 publication in the Federal Register; and 

14 (iii) issue to each such recipient— 

15 (I) a HIRE Vets Medallion of the 

16 level determined under section 3; and 

17 (II) a certificate stating that such 

18 employer is entitled to display such 

19 HIRE Vets Medallion during the fol20 lowing calendar year, to be designated 

21 a ‘‘HIRE Vets Medallion Certificate’’. 

22 (c) TIMING.— 

23 (1) SOLICITATION PERIOD.—The Secretary shall 

24 solicit applications not later than January 31st of 


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1 each calendar year for the medallions to be awarded 

2 in November of that calendar year. 

3 (2) END OF ACCEPTANCE PERIOD.—The Sec4 retary shall stop accepting applications not earlier 

5 than April 30th of each calendar year for the medal6 lions to be awarded in November of that calendar 

7 year. 

8 (3) REVIEW PERIOD.—The Secretary shall finish 

9 reviewing applications not later than August 31st of 

10 each calendar year for the medallions to be awarded 

11 in November of that calendar year. 

12 (4) RECOMMENDATIONS TO PRESIDENT.—The 

13 Secretary shall provide to the President a list of em14 ployers to receive HIRE Vets Medallions not later 

15 than September 30th of each calendar year for the 

16 medallions to be awarded in November of that cal17 endar year. 

18 (5) NOTICE TO RECIPIENTS.—The President 

19 shall notify employers who will receive HIRE Vets 

20 Medallions not later than October 11th of each cal21 endar year for the medallions to be awarded in No22 vember of that calendar year. 

23 SEC. 3. SELECTION OF RECIPIENTS. 

24 (a) APPLICATION REVIEW PROCESS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall review all 

2 applications received in a calendar year to determine 

3 whether an employer should receive a HIRE Vets Me4 dallion, and, if so, of what level. 

5 (2) APPLICATION CONTENTS.—The Secretary 

6 shall require that all applications provide informa7 tion on the programs and other efforts of applicant 

8 employers during the calendar year prior to that in 

9 which the medallion is to be awarded, including the 

10 categories and activities governing the level of award 

11 for which the applicant is eligible under subsection 

12 (b). 

13 (3) VERIFICATION.—In reviewing applications, 

14 the Secretary shall verify all information provided in 

15 the applications, to the extent that such information 

16 is relevant in determining whether or not an appli17 cant should receive a HIRE Vets Medallion or in de18 termining the appropriate level of HIRE Vets Medal19 lion for that employer to receive. 

20 (b) AWARDS.— 

21 (1) LARGE EMPLOYERS.— 

22 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall es23 tablish two levels of HIRE Vets Medallions to be 

24 awarded to employers employing 500 or more 

25 employees, to be designated the ‘‘Gold HIRE Vets 


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1 Medallion’’ and the ‘‘Platinum HIRE Vets Me2 dallion’’. 

3 (B) GOLD HIRE VETS MEDALLION.—No em4 ployer shall be eligible to receive a Gold HIRE 

5 Vets Medallion in a given calendar year unless— 

6 (i) veterans constitute not less than 7 

7 percent of all employees hired by such em8 ployer during the prior calendar year; 

9 (ii) such employer has established an 

10 employee veteran organization or resource 

11 group to assist new veteran employees with 

12 integration, including coaching and men13 toring; and 

14 (iii) such employer has established pro15 grams to enhance the leadership skills of 

16 veteran employees during their employment. 

17 (C) PLATINUM HIRE VETS MEDALLION.—No 

18 employer shall be eligible to receive a Platinum 

19 HIRE Vets Medallion in a given calendar year 

20 unless— 

21 (i) veterans constitute not less than 10 

22 percent of all employees hired by such em23 ployer during the prior calendar year; 

24 (ii) such employer retains through the 

25 end of the prior calendar year not less than 


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1 85 percent of veteran employees hired dur2 ing the calendar year before the prior cal3 endar year; 

4 (iii) such employer employs dedicated 

5 human resources professionals to support 

6 hiring and retention of veteran employees, 

7 including efforts focused on veteran hiring 

8 and training; 

9 (iv) such employer provides each of its 

10 employees serving on active duty in the 

11 United States National Guard or Reserve 

12 with compensation sufficient, in combina13 tion with the employee’s active duty pay, to 

14 achieve a combined level of income commen15 surate with the employee’s salary prior to 

16 undertaking active duty; and 

17 (v) such employer has established a 

18 tuition assistance program to support vet19 eran employees’ attendance in postsec20 ondary education during the term of their 

21 employment. 

22 (D) EXEMPTION FOR SMALLER EMPLOY23 ERS.—An employer shall be deemed to meet the 

24 requirements of subparagraph (E)(iv) if such 

25 employer— 


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1 (i) employs 5,000 or fewer employees; 

2 and 

3 (ii) employs at least one human re4 sources professional whose regular work du5 ties include those described under subpara6 graph (E)(iv). 

7 (E) ADDITIONAL CRITERIA.—The Secretary 

8 may provide, by rule, additional criteria with 

9 which to determine qualifications for receipt of 

10 each level of HIRE Vets Medallion. 

11 (2) SMALL- AND MEDIUM-SIZED EMPLOYERS.— 

12 The Secretary shall establish similar awards in order 

13 to recognize achievements in supporting veterans by— 

14 (A) employers with 50 or fewer employees; 

15 and 

16 (B) employers with more than 50 but fewer 

17 than 500 employees. 

18 (c) DESIGN BY SECRETARY.—The Secretary shall es19 tablish the shape, form, and metallic content of each HIRE 

20 Vets Medallion. 

21 SEC. 4. DISPLAY OF AWARD. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—The recipient of a HIRE Vets Me23 dallion may— 


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1 (1) publicly display such medallion through the 

2 end of the calendar year following receipt of such me3 dallion; and 

4 (2) publicly display the HIRE Vets Medallion 

5 Certificate issued in conjunction with such medallion. 

6 (b) UNLAWFUL DISPLAY PROHIBITED.—It is unlawful 

7 for any employer to publicly display a HIRE Vets Medal8 lion, in connection with, or as a part of, any advertisement, 

9 solicitation, business activity, or product— 

10 (1) for the purpose of conveying, or in a manner 

11 reasonably calculated to convey, a false impression 

12 that the employer received the medallion through the 

13 HIRE Vets Medallion Program, if such employer did 

14 not receive such medallion through the HIRE Vets 

15 Medallion Program; or 

16 (2) for the purpose of conveying, or in a manner 

17 reasonably calculated to convey, a false impression 

18 that the employer received the medallion through the 

19 HIRE Vets Medallion Program during the preceding 

20 calendar year if it is after the end of the calendar 

21 year following the calendar year in which such me22 dallion was issued to such employer through the 

23 HIRE Vets Medallion Program. 


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1 SEC. 5. APPLICATION FEE AND FUNDING. 

2 (a) FUND ESTABLISHED.—There is established in the 

3 Treasury of the United States a fund to be designated the 

4 ‘‘HIRE Vets Medallion Award Fund’’. 

5 (b) FEE AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary may assess a 

6 reasonable fee on employers that apply for receipt of a 

7 HIRE Vets Medallion and the Secretary shall deposit such 

8 fees into the HIRE Vets Medallion Award Fund. The Sec9 retary shall establish the amount of the fee such that the 

10 amounts collected as fees and deposited into the Fund are 

11 sufficient to cover the costs associated with carrying out this 

12 Act. 

13 (c) USE OF FUNDS.—Amounts in the HIRE Vets Me14 dallion Award Fund shall be available, without further ap15 propriation, to the Secretary to carry out the HIRE Vets 

16 Medallion Program. 

17 SEC. 6. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 

18 (a) REPORTS.—Beginning not later than two years 

19 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 

20 submit to Congress annual reports on— 

21 (1) the fees collected from applicants for HIRE 

22 Vets Medallions in the prior year and any changes in 

23 fees to be proposed in the present year; 

24 (2) the cost of administering the HIRE Vets Me25 dallion Program in the prior year; 


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1 (3) the number of applications for HIRE Vets 

2 Medallions received in the prior year; and 

3 (4) the HIRE Vets Medallions awarded in the 

4 prior year, including the name of each employer to 

5 whom a HIRE Vets Medallion was awarded and the 

6 level of medallion awarded to each such employer. 

7 (b) COMMITTEES.—The Secretary shall provide the re8 ports required under subsection (a) to the Chairman and 

9 Ranking Member of— 

10 (1) the Committees on Education and the Work11 force and Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Represent12 atives; and 

13 (2) the Committees on Health, Education, Labor, 

14 and Pensions and Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate. 

15 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 

16 In this Act: 

17 (a) EMPLOYER.—The term ‘‘employer’’ has the mean18 ing given such term under section 4303 of title 38, United 

19 States Code, except that such term does not include— 

20 (1) the Federal Government; 

21 (2) any State, as defined in such section; or 

22 (3) any foreign state. 

23 (b) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the 

24 Secretary of Labor. 


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1 (c) VETERAN.—The term ‘‘veteran’’ has the meaning 

2 given such term under section 101 of title 38, United States 

3 Code. 

4 SEC. 8. LIMITATION ON AWARDS AND BONUSES PAID TO 

5 SENIOR EXECUTIVE EMPLOYEES OF DEPART6 MENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 

7 Section 705 of the Veterans Access, Choice, and Ac8 countability Act of 2014 (Public Law 113–146; 38 U.S.C. 

9 703 note) is amended by striking the period at the end and 

10 inserting the following: , ‘‘of which, during fiscal year 2016, 

11 not more than an aggregate amount of $2,000,000 may be 

12 paid to employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs 

13 who are members of the Senior Executive Service.’’. 


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Union Calendar No. 547 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3286 

[Report No. 114–708] 

A BILL 

To encourage effective, voluntary private sector inand for other purposes. vate sector employers recognizing such efforts, military with annual presidential awards to pri- women who have served in the United States vestments to recruit, employ, and retain men and 

SEPTEMBER 6, 2016 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Comand ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 


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