I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1978 

To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a veterans 

conservation corps, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 22, 2015 

Mr. POLIS (for himself, Mr. CA ́RDENAS, Mr. GRAYSON, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. 

LOWENTHAL, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. VEASEY, Mr. CARTWRIGHT, Mr. ISRAEL, Mr. SARBANES, Mr. SIRES, Ms. DELAURO, Mrs. 

BUSTOS, Mr. DEUTCH, Mr. WALZ, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. RUIZ, Mr. MURPHY

of Florida, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. GARAMENDI, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. SPEIER, Ms. NORTON, and Mr. NOLAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, 

and in addition to the Committees on Transportation and Infrastructure, 

the Judiciary, and Science, Space, and Technology, for a period to be 

subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 

of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish 

a veterans conservation corps, 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 ‘‘Veterans Conservation 

5 Corps Act of 2015’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. VETERANS CONSERVATION CORPS. 

2 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Veterans 

4 Affairs shall, in cooperation with the Attorney Gen5 eral, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of 

6 Commerce, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the 

7 Secretary of the Interior, the Chief Executive Officer 

8 of the Corporation for National and Community 

9 Service, and the Chief of Engineers, establish a vet10 erans conservation corps to assist veterans in the 

11 transition from service in the Armed Forces to civil12 ian life and to employ veterans— 

13 (A) in conservation, resource management, 

14 firefighting, law enforcement, and historic pres15 ervation projects on public lands and mainte16 nance and improvement projects for cemeteries 

17 under the jurisdiction of the National Cemetery 

18 Administration; and 

19 (B) as firefighters, law enforcement offi20 cers, and disaster relief personnel. 

21 (2) VETERAN ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to 

22 participate in the veterans conservation corps, a vet23 eran shall be unemployed. 

24 (b) CONSERVATION, RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, HIS25 TORIC PRESERVATION, AND CEMETERY MAINTENANCE

26 AND IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—As part of the veterans con2 servation corps, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, 

3 the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Com4 merce, the Secretary of the Interior, the Chief Exec5 utive Officer of the Corporation for National and 

6 Community Service, and the Chief of Engineers 

7 shall— 

8 (A) employ veterans to carry out projects 

9 described in subsection (a)(1); and 

10 (B) award grants to, or enter into con11 tracts with, State governments, local govern12 ments, or nongovernmental entities to employ 

13 veterans to carry out projects described in sub14 section (a)(1). 

15 (2) PRIORITY.—In employing or awarding 

16 grants or contracts to employ veterans under this 

17 subsection, the Secretaries referred to in paragraph 

18 (1) and the Chief of Engineers shall give priority to19 wards the employment of veterans who served on ac20 tive duty in the Armed Forces on or after September 

21 11, 2001. 

22 (3) COORDINATION.—The Secretary of Vet23 erans Affairs shall coordinate the activities of the 

24 Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Com25 merce, the Secretary of the Interior, the Chief ExecVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:41 May 05, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1978.IH H1978

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1 utive Officer of the Corporation for National and 

2 Community Service, and the Chief of Engineers to 

3 employ veterans as part of the veterans conservation 

4 corps. 

5 (4) OVERSIGHT OF PROJECTS.—The Secretaries 

6 referred to in paragraph (1) and the Chief of Engi7 neers shall each provide oversight of the projects for 

8 which they employ veterans under subparagraph (A) 

9 of such paragraph or award grants or enter into 

10 contracts under subparagraph (B) of such para11 graph. 

12 (c) FIRST RESPONDERS.— 

13 (1) FIREFIGHTERS.—As part of the veterans 

14 conservation corps, the Secretary of Homeland Secu15 rity shall award grants under section 34 of the Fed16 eral Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 (15 

17 U.S.C. 2229a) to hire veterans as firefighters. 

18 (2) LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS.—As part of 

19 the veterans conservation corps, the Attorney Gen20 eral shall award grants under part Q of title I of the 

21 Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 

22 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796dd et seq.) to hire veterans as 

23 law enforcement officers. 

24 (3) DISASTER RELIEF PERSONNEL.—As part of 

25 the veterans conservation corps, the Secretary of 


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1 Homeland Security shall provide funds to increase 

2 participation by veterans in the FEMA Corps pro3 gram, which is a partnership between the Corpora4 tion for National and Community Service and the 

5 Federal Emergency Management Agency. 

6 (4) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants or pro7 viding funds under this subsection to hire veterans, 

8 the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Attor9 ney General shall give priority to the hiring of vet10 erans who served on active duty in the Armed 

11 Forces on or after September 11, 2001. 

12 (d) ASSISTANCE.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Veterans 

14 Affairs may provide assistance to the Secretaries re15 ferred to in subsection (a), the Attorney General, the 

16 Chief of Engineers, and the Chief Executive Officer 

17 to carry out the veterans conservation corps. Such 

18 assistance may take the form of a transfer under 

19 paragraph (2). 

20 (2) TRANSFERS.—Except as otherwise provided 

21 in this subsection, of amounts appropriated or other22 wise made available to the Secretary of Veterans Af23 fairs to carry out this section, the Secretary of Vet24 erans Affairs may transfer such amounts as the SecVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:41 May 05, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1978.IH H1978

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1 retary considers appropriate to carry out the vet2 erans conservation corps to the following: 

3 (A) The Attorney General. 

4 (B) The Secretary of Agriculture. 

5 (C) The Secretary of Commerce. 

6 (D) The Secretary of Homeland Security. 

7 (E) The Secretary of the Interior. 

8 (F) The Corporation for National and 

9 Community Service. 

10 (G) The Chief of Engineers. 

11 (3) ASSISTANCE FOR CONSERVATION, RE12 SOURCE MANAGEMENT, HISTORIC PRESERVATION, 

13 AND CEMETERY MAINTENANCE AND IMPROVEMENT

14 PROJECTS.— 

15 (A) APPLICATION.—If a Secretary referred 

16 to in subsection (b)(1) or the Chief of Engi17 neers or the Chief Executive Officer seeks as18 sistance under paragraph (1) to employ a vet19 eran to carry out a project under subparagraph 

20 (A) of subsection (b)(1) or to award a grant or 

21 contract to carry out a project under subpara22 graph (B) of such subsection, such Secretary or 

23 the Chief of Engineers shall submit to the Sec24 retary of Veterans Affairs an application there25 for at such time, in such manner, and conVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:41 May 05, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1978.IH H1978

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1 taining such information as the Secretary of 

2 Veterans Affairs may require. 

3 (B) SELECTION.—The Secretary of Vet4 erans Affairs shall, in consultation with the 

5 steering committee established under subpara6 graph (C), award assistance under this para7 graph in accordance with such criteria as the 

8 steering committee establishes. 

9 (C) STEERING COMMITTEE.— 

10 (i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of 

11 Veterans Affairs shall establish a steering 

12 committee— 

13 (I) to establish selection criteria 

14 for the awarding of assistance under 

15 paragraph (1) to employ a veteran to 

16 carry out a project under subpara17 graph (A) of subsection (b)(1) or to 

18 award a grant or contract to carry out 

19 a project under subparagraph (B) of 

20 such subsection; and 

21 (II) to provide the Secretary of 

22 Veterans Affairs with advice on 

23 awarding assistance under this sub24 section with respect to projects de25 scribed in subsection (a)(1) and carVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:41 May 05, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1978.IH H1978

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1 rying out the requirements of the vet2 erans conservation corps under sub3 section (b). 

4 (ii) COMPOSITION.—The steering com5 mittee shall be composed of the following: 

6 (I) The Secretary of Veterans Af7 fairs. 

8 (II) The Secretary of Agri9 culture. 

10 (III) The Secretary of Com11 merce. 

12 (IV) The Secretary of the Inte13 rior. 

14 (V) The Corporation for National 

15 and Community Service. 

16 (VI) The Chief of Engineers. 

17 (iii) CHAIRPERSON.—The chairperson 

18 of the steering committee shall be the Sec19 retary of Veterans Affairs. 

20 (iv) ADVISORY INPUT.—The Secretary 

21 of Defense, the Secretary of Labor, and 

22 the Chief Executive Officer of the Corpora23 tion for National and Community Service 

24 may provide advice to the steering com25 mittee. 


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1 (4) ASSISTANCE FOR FIRST RESPONDERS.—Not 

2 more than 10 percent of amounts appropriated or 

3 otherwise made available to the Secretary of Vet4 erans Affairs to carry out this section may be trans5 ferred to the Attorney General and the Secretary of 

6 Homeland Security to employ veterans under sub7 section (c). 

8 (e) REPORTING FRAMEWORK.—The Secretary of Vet9 erans Affairs shall establish a reporting framework to reg10 ularly monitor and evaluate the veterans conservation 

11 corps to ensure proper oversight and accountability of the 

12 veterans conservation corps. 

13 (f) OUTREACH.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 

14 shall ensure that veterans employed under the veterans 

15 conservation corps are aware of benefits and assistance 

16 available to them under laws administered by the Sec17 retary of Veterans Affairs. 

18 (g) DONATIONS.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 

19 may solicit, accept, hold, administer, use, and dispose of, 

20 in furtherance of the purpose of this Act, donations of any 

21 money or property, real, personal, or mixed, tangible or 

22 intangible, received by gift, devise, bequest, or otherwise. 

23 Donations accepted under this subparagraph shall be used 

24 as nearly as possible in accordance with the terms, if any, 

25 of such donation. 


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1 (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is available without 

3 further appropriation to the Secretary of Veterans 

4 Affairs to carry out this section, $600,000,000 for 

5 the period of fiscal years 2016 through 2020. 

6 (2) LIMITATION.—Of amounts appropriated or 

7 otherwise made available to carry out this section, 

8 not more than five percent may be spent to admin9 ister the veterans conservation corps. 

10 (i) DEFINITION OF VETERAN.—In this section, the 

11 term ‘‘veteran’’ has the meaning given the term in section 

12 101 of title 38, United States Code. 

Æ 


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