H. Con. Res. 53 Agreed to May 4, 2017

One Hundred Fifteenth Congress 

of the 

United States of America 

AT THE FIRST SESSION 

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday, 

the third day of January, two thousand and seventeen 

Concurrent Resolution 

Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), That in the enrollment of the bill H.R. 244, the Clerk of 

the House of Representatives shall make the following corrections: 

(1) Amend the long title so as to read: ‘‘Making appropriations for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2017, and for 

other purposes’’. 

(2) Strike the first section 1 immediately following the 

enacting clause and all that follows through ‘‘Sec. 4. Display 

of Award’’. 

(3) In the table of contents for the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2017, strike ‘‘Division N—Honoring Investments 

in Recruiting and Employing American Military Veterans Act of 2017’’ and insert the following: 

DIVISION N—INTELLIGENCE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2017 

DIVISION O—HONORING INVESTMENTS IN RECRUITING AND EMPLOYING 

AMERICAN MILITARY VETERANS ACT OF 2017 

(4) Insert immediately before ‘‘It is unlawful for any 

employer to publicly display a HIRE Vets Medallion Award’’ 

the following: 

‘‘DIVISION O—HONORING INVESTMENTS 

IN RECRUITING AND EMPLOYING 

AMERICAN MILITARY VETERANS ACT 

OF 2017 

‘‘SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

‘‘This division may be cited as the ‘Honoring Investments in 

Recruiting and Employing American Military Veterans Act of 2017’ 

or the ‘HIRE Vets Act’. 

‘‘SEC. 2. HIRE VETS MEDALLION AWARD PROGRAM. 

‘‘(a) PROGRAM ESTABLISHED.—Not later than 2 years after the 

date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Labor shall establish, 

by rule, a HIRE Vets Medallion Program to solicit voluntary 

information from employers for purposes of recognizing, by means 

of an award to be designated a ‘HIRE Vets Medallion Award’, 

verified efforts by such employers— 

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

‘‘(2) to provide community and charitable services supporting the veteran community. 
H. Con. Res. 53—2 

‘‘(b) APPLICATION PROCESS.—Beginning in the calendar year 

following the calendar year in which the Secretary establishes the 

program, the Secretary shall annually— 

‘‘(1) solicit and accept voluntary applications from 

employers in order to consider whether those employers should 

receive a HIRE Vets Medallion Award; 

‘‘(2) review applications received in each calendar year; 

and 

‘‘(3) notify such recipients of their awards; and 

‘‘(4) at a time to coincide with the annual commemoration 

of Veterans Day— 

‘‘(A) announce the names of such recipients; 

‘‘(B) recognize such recipients through publication in 

the Federal Register; and 

‘‘(C) issue to each such recipient— 

‘‘(i) a HIRE Vets Medallion Award of the level 

determined under section 3; and 

‘‘(ii) a certificate stating that such employer is 

entitled to display such HIRE Vets Medallion Award. 

‘‘(c) TIMING.— 

‘‘(1) SOLICITATION PERIOD.—The Secretary shall solicit 

applications not later than January 31st of each calendar year 

for the Awards to be awarded in November of that calendar 

year. 

‘‘(2) END OF ACCEPTANCE PERIOD.—The Secretary shall stop 

accepting applications not earlier than April 30th of each calendar year for the Awards to be awarded in November of 

that calendar year. 

‘‘(3) REVIEW PERIOD.—The Secretary shall finish reviewing 

applications not later than August 31st of each calendar year 

for the Awards to be awarded in November of that calendar 

year. 

‘‘(4) SELECTION OF RECIPIENTS.—The Secretary shall select 

the employers to receive HIRE Vets Medallion Awards not 

later than September 30th of each calendar year for the Awards 

to be awarded in November of that calendar year. 

‘‘(5) NOTICE TO RECIPIENTS.—The Secretary shall notify 

employers who will receive HIRE Vets Medallion Awards not 

later than October 11th of each calendar year for the Awards 

to be awarded in November of that calendar year. 

‘‘(d) LIMITATION.—An employer who receives a HIRE Vets 

Medallion Award for one calendar year is not eligible to receive 

a HIRE Vets Medallion Award for the subsequent calendar year. 

‘‘SEC. 3. SELECTION OF RECIPIENTS. 

‘‘(a) APPLICATION REVIEW PROCESS.— 

‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall review all applications received in a calendar year to determine whether an 

employer should receive a HIRE Vets Medallion Award, and, 

if so, of what level. 

‘‘(2) APPLICATION CONTENTS.—The Secretary shall require 

that all applications provide information on the programs and 

other efforts of applicant employers during the calendar year 

prior to that in which the medallion is to be awarded, including 

the categories and activities governing the level of award for 

which the applicant is eligible under subsection (b). 
H. Con. Res. 53—3 

‘‘(3) VERIFICATION.—The Secretary shall verify all information provided in the applications, to the extent that such 

information is relevant in determining whether or not an 

employer should receive a HIRE Vets Medallion Award or 

in determining the appropriate level of HIRE Vets Medallion 

Award for that employer to receive, including by requiring 

the chief executive officer or the chief human relations officer 

of the employer to attest under penalty of perjury that the 

employer has met the criteria described in subsection (b) for 

a particular level of Award. 

‘‘(b) AWARDS.— 

‘‘(1) LARGE EMPLOYERS.— 

‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish 2 

levels of HIRE Vets Medallion Awards to be awarded to 

employers employing 500 or more employees, to be designated the ‘Gold HIRE Vets Medallion Award’ and the 

‘Platinum HIRE Vets Medallion Award’. 

‘‘(B) GOLD HIRE VETS MEDALLION AWARD.—No employer 

shall be eligible to receive a Gold HIRE Vets Medallion 

Award in a given calendar year unless— 

‘‘(i) veterans constitute not less than 7 percent 

of all employees hired by such employer during the 

prior calendar year; 

‘‘(ii) such employer has retained not less than 75 

percent of the veteran employees hired during the calendar year preceding the preceding calendar year for 

a period of at least 12 months from the date on which 

the employees were hired; 

‘‘(iii) such employer has established an employee 

veteran organization or resource group to assist new 

veteran employees with integration, including coaching 

and mentoring; and 

‘‘(iv) such employer has established programs to 

enhance the leadership skills of veteran employees 

during their employment. 

‘‘(C) PLATINUM HIRE VETS MEDALLION AWARD.—No 

employer shall be eligible to receive a Platinum HIRE 

Vets Medallion Award in a given calendar year unless— 

‘‘(i) the employer meets all the requirements for 

eligibility for a Gold HIRE Vets Medallion Award under 

subparagraph (B); 

‘‘(ii) veterans constitute not less than 10 percent 

of all employees hired by such employer during the 

prior calendar year; 

‘‘(iii) such employer has retained not less than 

85 percent of the veteran employees hired during the 

calendar year preceding the preceding calendar year 

for a period of at least 12 months from the date on 

which the employees were hired; 

‘‘(iv) such employer employs dedicated human 

resources professionals to support hiring and retention 

of veteran employees, including efforts focused on veteran hiring and training; 

‘‘(v) such employer provides each of its employees 

serving on active duty in the United States National 

Guard or Reserve with compensation sufficient, in combination with the employee’s active duty pay, to achieve 
H. Con. Res. 53—4 

a combined level of income commensurate with the 

employee’s salary prior to undertaking active duty; 

and 

‘‘(vi) such employer has a tuition assistance program to support veteran employees’ attendance in postsecondary education during the term of their employment. 

‘‘(D) EXEMPTION FOR SMALLER EMPLOYERS.—An 

employer shall be deemed to meet the requirements of 

subparagraph (C)(iv) if such employer— 

‘‘(i) employs 5,000 or fewer employees; and 

‘‘(ii) employs at least one human resources professional whose regular work duties include those 

described under subparagraph (C)(iv). 

‘‘(E) ADDITIONAL CRITERIA.—The Secretary may provide, by rule, additional criteria with which to determine 

qualifications for receipt of each level of HIRE Vets Medallion Award. 

‘‘(2) SMALL- AND MEDIUM-SIZED EMPLOYERS.—The Secretary 

shall establish similar awards in order to recognize achievements in supporting veterans by— 

‘‘(A) employers with 50 or fewer employees; and 

‘‘(B) employers with more than 50 but fewer than 500 

employees. 

‘‘(c) DESIGN BY SECRETARY.—The Secretary shall establish the 

shape, form, and design of each HIRE Vets Medallion Award, except 

that the Award shall be in the form of a certificate and shall 

state the year for which it was awarded. 

‘‘SEC. 4. DISPLAY OF AWARD.’’. 

(5) In section 5(b) of division O, strike ‘‘Act’’ and insert 

‘‘division’’. 

(6) In section 6 of division O, strike ‘‘Act’’ and insert ‘‘division’’. 
H. Con. Res. 53—5 

(7) In section 8 of division O, strike ‘‘Act’’ and insert ‘‘division’’. 

Attest: 

Clerk of the House of Representatives. 

Attest: 

Secretary of the Senate.