II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1603 

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

military service to serve as Customs and Border Protection Officers. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 17, 2015 

Mr. FLAKE (for himself, Mr. JOHNSON, Mr. MCCAIN, and Mr. SCHUMER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

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: 

8 (1) Customs and Border Protection Officers at 

9 United States ports of entry carry out critical law 


smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 1603 IS

1 enforcement duties associated with screening foreign 

2 visitors, returning United States citizens, and im3 ported cargo entering the United States. 

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

5 States ports of entry to be adequately staffed with 

6 Customs and Border Protection Officers in a timely 

7 fashion, including meeting the congressionally fund8 ed staffing target of 23,775 officers for fiscal year 

9 2015. 

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

11 of the Armed Forces separate from military service 

12 every year. 

13 (4) Recruiting efforts and expedited hiring pro14 cedures should be undertaken to ensure that individ15 uals separating from military service are aware of, 

16 and partake in, opportunities to fill vacant Customs 

17 and Border Protection Officer positions. 

18 SEC. 3. EXPEDITED HIRING OF APPROPRIATE SEPARATING 

19 SERVICEMEMBERS. 

20 (a) IDENTIFICATION OF TRANSFERABLE QUALIFICA21 TIONS.—Not later than 60 days after the date of the en22 actment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security, 

23 in conjunction with the Secretary of Defense, shall jointly 

24 identify Military Occupational Specialty Codes, Air Force 

25 Specialty Codes, Naval Enlisted Classifications and OffiVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:35 Jun 23, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1603.IS S1603

smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 1603 IS

1 cer Designators, and Coast Guard Competencies that are 

2 transferable to the requirements, qualifications, and duties 

3 assigned to Customs and Border Protection Officers. 

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

5 shall consider hiring qualified candidates with the Military 

6 Occupational Specialty Codes, Air Force Specialty Codes, 

7 Naval Enlisted Classifications and Officer Designators, 

8 and Coast Guard Competencies identified as transferable 

9 under subsection (a) who are eligible for veterans recruit10 ment appointment authorized under section 4214 of title 

11 38, United States Code. 

12 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHING A PROGRAM FOR RECRUITING 

13 SERVICEMEMBERS SEPARATING FROM MILI14 TARY SERVICE FOR CUSTOMS AND BORDER 

15 PROTECTION OFFICER VACANCIES. 

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

17 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Home18 land Security, in conjunction with the Secretary of De19 fense, shall establish a program to actively recruit mem20 bers of the Armed Forces who are separating from mili21 tary service to serve as Customs and Border Protection 

22 Officers. 

23 (b) ELEMENTS.—The program established under 

24 subsection (a) shall— 


smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 1603 IS

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, and 

15 Naval Enlisted Classifications and Officer Designa16 tors that are transferable to the requirements, quali17 fications, and duties assigned to Customs and Bor18 der 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; 


smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 1603 IS

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 


smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
6 

•S 1603 IS

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 servicemembers 

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 

20 servicemembers; 

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

23 servicemembers under veterans recruitment appoint24 ment authorized under section 4214 of title 38, 

25 United States Code; and 


smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
7 

•S 1603 IS

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 (a) as superseding, altering, or amending existing 

7 Federal veterans’ hiring preferences or Federal hiring au8 thorities; or 

9 (b) as authorizing the appropriation of additional 

10 amounts to carry out this Act. 

Æ 


smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS