II 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3555 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to require Federal agencies to hire 

veterans, to require States to recognize the military experience of veterans when issuing licenses and credentials to veterans, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 19, 2012 

Mr. BURR introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to 

the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to require Federal 

agencies to hire veterans, to require States to recognize 

the military experience of veterans when issuing licenses 

and credentials to veterans, 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 ‘‘Careers for Veterans 

5 Act of 2012’’. 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 3555 IS

1 SEC. 2. EMPLOYMENT OF VETERANS WITH THE FEDERAL 

2 GOVERNMENT. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 4214 of title 38, United 

4 States Code, is amended— 

5 (1) in subsection (b), by adding at the end the 

6 following: 

7 ‘‘(4)(A) The requirement under this section is in ad8 dition to the appointment of qualified covered veterans 

9 under the authority under paragraph (1) by the Depart10 ment of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense. 

11 ‘‘(B) The head of each agency, in consultation with 

12 the Director of the Office of Personnel Management, shall 

13 develop a plan for exercising the authority under para14 graph (1) during the five-year period beginning on the 

15 date of enactment of the Careers for Veterans Act of 

16 2012. 

17 ‘‘(C) The Director of the Office of Personnel Manage18 ment shall ensure that under the plans developed under 

19 subparagraph (B) agencies shall appoint to existing vacan20 cies not fewer than 10,000 qualified covered veterans dur21 ing the five-year period beginning on the date of enact22 ment of the Careers for Veterans Act of 2012.’’; 

23 (2) in subsection (d), in the third sentence, by 

24 inserting ‘‘(including, during the 5-year period be25 ginning on the date of enactment of the Careers for 

26 Veterans Act of 2012, the development and impleVerDate Mar 15 2010 21:10 Sep 24, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3555.IS S3555

srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 3555 IS

1 mentation by each agency of the plan required under 

2 subsection (b)(4), which shall include information re3 garding the grade or pay level of appointments by 

4 the agency under the plan and whether the appoint5 ments are, or are converted to, career or career-con6 ditional appointments)’’ after ‘‘subsection (b) of this 

7 section’’; and 

8 (3) in subsection (e)— 

9 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

10 (i) in the matter before subparagraph 

11 (A), by striking ‘‘to the Congress’’ and in12 serting ‘‘to the appropriate committees of 

13 Congress’’; and 

14 (ii) in subparagraph (A), by inserting 

15 ‘‘(including, during the 5-year period be16 ginning on the date of enactment of the 

17 Careers for Veterans Act of 2012, the de18 velopment and implementation by the 

19 agency of the plan required under sub20 section (b)(4), which shall include informa21 tion regarding the grade or pay level of ap22 pointments by the agency under the plan 

23 and whether the appointments are, or are 

24 converted to, permanent appointments)’’ 

25 before the period; and 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 3555 IS

1 (B) by adding at the end the following new 

2 paragraph: 

3 ‘‘(3) In this subsection, the term ‘appropriate com4 mittees of Congress’ means— 

5 ‘‘(A) the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs and 

6 the Committee on Homeland Security and Govern7 mental Affairs of the Senate; and 

8 ‘‘(B) the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs and 

9 the Committee on Oversight and Government Re10 form of the House of Representatives.’’. 

11 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 

12 of enactment of this Act, the Director of the Office of Per13 sonnel Management shall submit to the appropriate com14 mittees of Congress (as defined under section 4214(e)(3) 

15 of title 38, United States Code, as amended by subsection 

16 (a)) regarding the development of a plan to carry out the 

17 amendments made by subsection (a). 

18 SEC. 3. REQUIREMENT THAT STATES RECOGNIZE MILITARY 

19 EXPERIENCE OF VETERANS WHEN ISSUING 

20 LICENSES AND CREDENTIALS TO VETERANS. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 4102A(c) of title 38, 

22 United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 

23 following new paragraph: 

24 ‘‘(9)(A) As a condition of a grant or contract under 

25 which funds are made available to a State under subVerDate Mar 15 2010 21:10 Sep 24, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3555.IS S3555

srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 3555 IS

1 section (b)(5) in order to carry out section 4103A or 4104 

2 of this title, the State shall— 

3 ‘‘(i) establish a program under which the State 

4 administers an examination to each veteran seeking 

5 a license or credential issued by the State and issues 

6 such license or credential to such veteran without re7 quiring such veteran to undergo any training or ap8 prenticeship if the veteran— 

9 ‘‘(I) receives a satisfactory score on com10 pletion of such examination, as determined by 

11 the State; and 

12 ‘‘(II) has not less than 10 years of experi13 ence in a military occupational specialty that, 

14 as determined by the State, is similar to a civil15 ian occupation for which such license or creden16 tial is required by the State; and 

17 ‘‘(ii) submit each year to the Secretary a report 

18 on the exams administered under clause (i) during 

19 the most recently completed 12-month period that 

20 includes, for the period covered by the report the 

21 number of veterans who completed an exam adminis22 tered by the State under clause (i) and a description 

23 of the results of such exams, disaggregated by occu24 pational field. 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
6 

•S 3555 IS

1 ‘‘(B) Not less frequently than once each year, the 

2 Secretary shall submit to Congress and the Secretary of 

3 Defense a report summarizing the information received by 

4 the Secretary under subparagraph (A)(ii).’’. 

5 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 

6 (1) EXAMS.—Subparagraph (A) of section 

7 4102A(c)(9) of such title, as added by subsection 

8 (a), shall take effect on the date that is one year 

9 after the date of the enactment of this Act and shall 

10 apply with respect to grants and contracts described 

11 in such subparagraph awarded after such date. 

12 (2) REPORTS.—Subparagraph (B) of section 

13 4102A(c)(9), as added by subsection (a), shall take 

14 effect on the date that is one year after the date of 

15 the enactment of this Act and the Secretary of 

16 Labor shall submit the first report under such sub17 paragraph not later than two years after the date of 

18 the enactment of this Act. 

19 SEC. 4. SUPPORT FOR JOB SEARCHES OF VETERANS 

20 THROUGH ONE-STOP CENTERS. 

21 (a) FURNISHING OF LIST OF INTERNET RE22 SOURCES.—Not later than 30 days after the date of the 

23 enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Labor shall furnish 

24 each one-stop center with a list of all Internet websites 

25 and applications that the Secretary has identified as beneVerDate Mar 15 2010 21:10 Sep 24, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3555.IS S3555

srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
7 

•S 3555 IS

1 ficial for veterans in pursuit of employment to their pur2 suit. 

3 (b) IDENTIFICATION OF ADDITIONAL RESOURCES.— 

4 The Secretary shall coordinate with public and private sec5 tor entities to identify Internet websites and applications 

6 not already included in a list furnished under subsection 

7 (a) that— 

8 (1) match veterans seeking employment with 

9 available jobs based on the skills the veterans ac10 quired as members of the Armed Forces; and 

11 (2) allow employers to post information about 

12 available jobs. 

13 (c) SUPPLEMENTS.—The Secretary of Labor shall 

14 furnish each one-stop center with a list of Internet 

15 websites and applications identified under subsection (b). 

16 (d) REPORT.—Not later than 455 days after the date 

17 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Labor shall 

18 submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report 

19 on the use of the Internet websites and applications identi20 fied under subsection (b) for the benefit of veterans in 

21 pursuit of employment. 

22 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

23 (1) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON24 GRESS.—The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con25 gress’’ means— 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
8 

•S 3555 IS

1 (A) the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

2 and the Committee on Health, Education, 

3 Labor, and Pensions of the Senate; and 

4 (B) the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

5 and the Committee on Education and the 

6 Workforce of the House of Representatives. 

7 (2) ONE-STOP CENTER.—The term ‘‘one-stop 

8 center’’ means a center described in section 134(c) 

9 of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 

10 2864(c)). 

11 SEC. 5. EXPANSION OF CONTRACTING GOALS AND PREF12 ERENCES OF DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AF13 FAIRS TO INCLUDE SMALL BUSINESS CON14 CERNS 100 PERCENT BUT CONDITIONALLY 

15 OWNED BY VETERANS. 

16 Section 8127(l) of title 38, United States Code, is 

17 amended— 

18 (1) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘uncondition19 ally’’ before ‘‘owned by’’ each place it appears; and 

20 (2) by adding at the end the following new 

21 paragraph: 

22 ‘‘(3) The term ‘unconditionally owned’ includes, 

23 with respect to ownership of a small business con24 cern, conditional ownership of such small business 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
9 

•S 3555 IS

1 concern if such business concern is 100 percent 

2 owned by one or more veterans.’’. 

3 SEC. 6. MODIFICATION OF TREATMENT UNDER CON4 TRACTING GOALS AND PREFERENCES OF DE5 PARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS FOR 

6 SMALL BUSINESSES OWNED BY VETERANS OF 

7 SMALL BUSINESSES AFTER DEATH OF DIS8 ABLED VETERAN OWNERS. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 8127(h) of title 38, 

10 United States Code, is amended— 

11 (1) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘rated as’’ 

12 and all that follows through ‘‘disability.’’ and insert13 ing a period; and 

14 (2) in paragraph (2), by amending subpara15 graph (C) to read as follows: 

16 ‘‘(C) The date that— 

17 ‘‘(i) in the case of a surviving spouse of a 

18 veteran with a service-connected disability rated 

19 as 100 percent disabling or who dies as a result 

20 of a service-connected disability, is 10 years 

21 after the date of the veteran’s death; or 

22 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a surviving spouse of a 

23 veteran with a service-connected disability rated 

24 as less than 100 percent disabling who does not 

25 die as a result of a service-connected disability, 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
10 

•S 3555 IS

1 is three years after the date of the veteran’s 

2 death.’’. 

3 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

4 subsection (a) shall take effect on the date that is 180 

5 days after the date of the enactment of this Act and shall 

6 apply with respect to contracts awarded on or after such 

7 date. 

8 SEC. 7. TREATMENT OF BUSINESSES AFTER DEATHS OF 

9 SERVICEMEMBER-OWNERS FOR PURPOSES 

10 OF DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS 

11 CONTRACTING GOALS AND PREFERENCES. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 8127 of title 38, United 

13 States Code, is amended— 

14 (1) by redesignating subsections (i) through (l) 

15 as subsections (j) through (m), respectively; and 

16 (2) by inserting after subsection (h) the fol17 lowing new subsection (i): 

18 ‘‘(i) TREATMENT OF BUSINESSES AFTER DEATH OF

19 SERVICEMEMBER-OWNER.—(1) If a member of the Armed 

20 Forces owns at least 51 percent of a small business con21 cern and such member is killed in line of duty in the active 

22 military, naval, or air service, the surviving spouse or de23 pendent of such member who acquires such ownership 

24 rights in such small business concern shall, for the period 

25 described in paragraph (2), be treated as if the surviving 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
11 

•S 3555 IS

1 spouse or dependent were a veteran with a service-con2 nected disability for purposes of determining the status 

3 of the small business concern as a small business concern 

4 owned and controlled by veterans for purposes of con5 tracting goals and preferences under this section. 

6 ‘‘(2) The period referred to in paragraph (1) is the 

7 period beginning on the date on which the member of the 

8 Armed Forces dies and ending on the date as follows: 

9 ‘‘(A) In the case of a surviving spouse, the ear10 liest of the following dates: 

11 ‘‘(i) The date on which the surviving 

12 spouse remarries. 

13 ‘‘(ii) The date on which the surviving 

14 spouse relinquishes an ownership interest in the 

15 small business concern and no longer owns at 

16 least 51 percent of such small business concern. 

17 ‘‘(iii) The date that is ten years after the 

18 date of the member’s death. 

19 ‘‘(B) In the case of a dependent who is not a 

20 spouse, the earliest of the following dates: 

21 ‘‘(i) The date on which the surviving de22 pendant relinquishes an ownership interest in 

23 the small business concern and no longer owns 

24 at least 51 percent of such small business con25 cern. 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
12 

•S 3555 IS

1 ‘‘(ii) The date that is ten years after the 

2 date of the member’s death.’’. 

3 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Subsection (i) of section 

4 8127 of such title, as added by subsection (a), take effect 

5 on the date of the enactment of this Act and shall apply 

6 with respect to the deaths of members of the Armed 

7 Forces occurring on or after such date. 

8 SEC. 8. SPECIAL RULE FOR TREATMENT UNDER CON9 TRACTING GOALS AND PREFERENCES OF DE10 PARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS OF SMALL 

11 BUSINESS CONCERNS LICENSED IN COMMU12 NITY PROPERTY STATES. 

13 Section 8127 of title 38, United States Code, as 

14 amended by section 7, is further amended by adding at 

15 the end the following new subsection: 

16 ‘‘(n) SPECIAL RULE FOR COMMUNITY PROPERTY

17 STATES.—Whenever the Secretary assesses, for purposes 

18 of this section, the degree of ownership by an individual 

19 of a small business concern licensed in a community prop20 erty State, the Secretary shall also assess what that degree 

21 of ownership would be if such small business concern had 

22 been licensed in a State other than a community property 

23 State. If the Secretary determines that such individual 

24 would have had a greater degree of ownership of the small 

25 business concern had such small business concern been liVerDate Mar 15 2010 21:10 Sep 24, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3555.IS S3555

srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
13 

•S 3555 IS

1 censed in a State other than a community property State, 

2 the Secretary shall treat, for purposes of this section, such 

3 small business concern as if it had been licensed in a State 

4 other than a community property State.’’. 

5 SEC. 9. OFF-BASE TRANSITION TRAINING. 

6 (a) PROVISION OF OFF-BASE TRANSITION TRAIN7 ING.—During the three-year period beginning on the date 

8 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Labor shall 

9 provide the Transition Assistance Program under section 

10 1144 of title 10, United States Code, to eligible individuals 

11 at locations other than military installations in not less 

12 than three and not more than five States selected by the 

13 Secretary. 

14 (b) SELECTION OF LOCATIONS.—In selecting States 

15 in which to carry out the training under subsection (a), 

16 the Secretary shall select the States with the highest rates 

17 of veteran unemployment. The Secretary shall provide 

18 such training to veterans at a sufficient number of loca19 tions within the selected States to meet the need. The Sec20 retary shall select such locations to facilitate access by 

21 participants and may not select any location on a military 

22 installation other than a National Guard or reserve facility 

23 that is not located on an active duty military installation. 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
14 

•S 3555 IS

1 (c) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUALS.—For purposes of this 

2 section, an eligible individual is a veteran or the spouse 

3 of a veteran. 

4 (d) INCLUSION OF INFORMATION ABOUT VETERANS

5 BENEFITS.—The Secretary shall ensure that the training 

6 provided under subsection (a) generally follows the content 

7 of the Transition Assistance Program under section 1144 

8 of title 10, United States Code. 

9 (e) INTEGRATING SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTS.—The 

10 Secretary of Labor shall include in any contract entered 

11 into pursuant to section 1144 of title 10, United States 

12 Code, or section 4113 of title 38, United States Code, a 

13 requirement to include experts in subject matters relating 

14 to human resources practices, including resume writing, 

15 interviewing and job searching skills, and the provision of 

16 information about post-secondary education. 

17 (f) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than March 1 of 

18 any year during which the Secretary provides training 

19 under subsection (a), the Secretary shall submit to Con20 gress a report on the provision of such training. 

21 (g) COMPTROLLER GENERAL REPORT.—Not later 

22 than 180 days after the termination of the three-year pe23 riod described in subsection (a), the Comptroller General 

24 of the United States shall submit to Congress a report 

25 on the training provided under such subsection. The reVerDate Mar 15 2010 21:10 Sep 24, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00014 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3555.IS S3555

srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
15 

•S 3555 IS

1 port shall include the evaluation of the Comptroller Gen2 eral regarding the feasibility of carrying out off-base tran3 sition training at locations nationwide. 

Æ 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS