I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1352 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow employers to claim 

a work opportunity credit for hiring military service personnel returning 

from service in Iraq or Afghanistan and for hiring their dependents 

and dependents of deceased personnel. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 16, 2005 

Ms. SCHWARTZ of Pennsylvania (for herself and Mr. SCHWARZ of Michigan) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 

Ways and Means 

A BILL 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow employers to claim a work opportunity credit for hiring 

military service personnel returning from service in Iraq 

or Afghanistan and for hiring their dependents and dependents of deceased personnel. 

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 ‘‘Veterans Employment 

5 and Respect Act of 2005’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. WORK OPPORTUNITY CREDIT ALLOWABLE FOR HIR2 ING MILITARY SERVICE PERSONNEL RE3 TURNING FROM SERVICE IN AFGHANISTAN 

4 OR IRAQ AND FOR HIRING DEPENDENTS OF 

5 AFGHANISTAN AND IRAQ-ERA VETERANS. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (1) of section 51(d) of 

7 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to members 

8 of targeted groups) is amended by striking ‘‘or’’ at the 

9 end of subparagraph (G), by striking the period at the 

10 end of subparagraph (H) and inserting a comma, and by 

11 adding at the end the following new subparagraphs: 

12 ‘‘(I) a qualified veteran of Afghanistan or 

13 Iraq, or 

14 ‘‘(J) a qualified dependent of an Afghani15 stan or Iraq-era veteran.’’ . 

16 (b) DEFINITIONS.—Subsection (d) of section 51 of 

17 such Code is amended by redesignating paragraphs (10) 

18 through (12) as paragraphs (11) through (13), respec19 tively, and by inserting after paragraph (9) the following 

20 new paragraph: 

21 ‘‘(10) QUALIFIED AFGHANISTAN OR IRAQ VET22 ERANS, ETC.— 

23 ‘‘(A) QUALIFIED VETERAN OF AFGHANI24 STAN OR IRAQ.—The term ‘qualified veteran of 

25 Afghanistan or Iraq’ means any veteran (as de-
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1 fined in paragraph (3)(B)) who is certified by 

2 the designated local agency— 

3 ‘‘(i) as having performed services— 

4 ‘‘(I) in an area designated by the 

5 President pursuant to the subpara6 graph as the ‘Operation Iraqi Free7 dom Area’ or as the ‘Operation En8 during Freedom Area’, and 

9 ‘‘(II) during the period after Oc10 tober 6, 2001, before the date that 

11 the President specifies as the termi12 nation of United States combatant ac13 tivities in such area, respectively, and 

14 ‘‘(ii) as having a hiring date which is 

15 not more than 2 years after the date that 

16 the veteran is discharged or released from 

17 active duty in the Armed Forces of the 

18 United States . 

19 ‘‘(B) QUALIFIED DEPENDENT OF

20 AFGHASISTAN OR IRAQ-ERA VETERAN.—The 

21 term ‘qualified dependent of an Afghanistan or 

22 Iraq-era veteran’ means any individual who is 

23 certified by the designated local agency— 
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1 ‘‘(i) as being a dependent (as defined 

2 in section 401 of title 37, United States 

3 Code) of— 

4 ‘‘(I) a member of the Armed 

5 Forces of the United States at the 

6 time such member died as a result of 

7 wounds or injuries sustained while 

8 performing services described in sub9 paragraph (A)(i), or 

10 ‘‘(II) a member of a reserve com11 ponent of the Armed Forces of the 

12 United States at the time such mem13 ber was called or ordered to active 

14 duty if— 

15 ‘‘(aa) such call or order was 

16 for a period in excess of 180 days 

17 or for an indefinite period, and 

18 ‘‘(bb) such call or order is 

19 during the period described in 

20 subparagraph (A)(i), and 

21 ‘‘(ii) as having a hiring date— 

22 ‘‘(I) in a case to which clause 

23 (i)(I) applies, which is not more than 

24 2 years after the member’s date of 

25 death, and 
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1 ‘‘(II) in a case to which clause 

2 (i)(II) applies, which is during the pe3 riod of the member’s active duty.’’. 

4 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

5 this section shall apply to individuals beginning work for 

6 the employer after October 6, 2001. 

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