IB 

Union Calendar No. 49 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2326 

[Report No. 116–73, Part I] 

To amend the Social Security Act, to amend the Dignified Burial and Other 

Veterans’ Benefits Improvement Act of 2012, and to direct the Secretaries of Veterans Affairs, Defense, Labor, and Homeland Security, and 

the Administrator of the Small Business Administration, to take certain 

actions to improve transition assistance to members of the Armed Forces 

who separate, retire, or are discharged from the Armed Forces, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 15, 2019 

Mr. LEVIN of California (for himself, Mr. ARRINGTON, Mr. CISNEROS, Mr. 

BILIRAKIS, Mr. CUNNINGHAM, and Mrs. LEE of Nevada) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, 

and in addition to the Committees on Armed Services, and Ways and 

Means, 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 

MAY 20, 2019 

Additional sponsors: Mrs. RADEWAGEN, Ms. PORTER, Mr. VELA, Mr. 

WATKINS, Mr. TAYLOR, and Mr. FITZPATRICK

MAY 20, 2019 

Reported from the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

MAY 20, 2019 

Committees on Armed Services and Ways and Means discharged; committed 

to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on April 15, 2019] 


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A BILL 

To amend the Social Security Act, to amend the Dignified 

Burial and Other Veterans’ Benefits Improvement Act 

of 2012, and to direct the Secretaries of Veterans Affairs, Defense, Labor, and Homeland Security, and the 

Administrator of the Small Business Administration, to 

take certain actions to improve transition assistance to 

members of the Armed Forces who separate, retire, or 

are discharged from the Armed Forces, and for other 

purposes. 


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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 ‘‘Navy SEAL Chief Petty 

5 Officer William ′′Bill′′ Mulder (Ret.) Transition Improve6 ment Act of 2019’’. 

7 SEC. 2. TAP DEFINED. 

8 In this Act, the term ‘‘TAP’’ means the Transition As9 sistance Program under sections 1142 and 1144 of title 10, 

10 United States Code. 

11 SEC. 3. ACCESS FOR THE SECRETARIES OF LABOR AND VET12 ERANS AFFAIRS TO THE FEDERAL DIREC13 TORY OF NEW HIRES. 

14 Section 453A(h) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

15 653a(h)) is amended by adding at the end the following 

16 new paragraph: 

17 ‘‘(4) VETERAN EMPLOYMENT.—The Secretaries of 

18 Labor and of Veterans Affairs shall have access to in19 formation reported by employers pursuant to sub20 section (b) of this section for purposes of tracking em21 ployment of veterans.’’. 

22 SEC. 4. PILOT PROGRAM FOR OFF-BASE TRANSITION TRAIN23 ING FOR VETERANS AND SPOUSES. 

24 (a) EXTENSION OF PILOT PROGRAM.—Subsection (a) 

25 of section 301 of the Dignified Burial and Other Veterans’ 


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1 Benefits Improvement Act of 2012 (Public Law 112–260; 

2 10 U.S.C. 1144 note) is amended— 

3 (1) by striking ‘‘During the two-year period be4 ginning on the date of the enactment of this Act’’ and 

5 inserting ‘‘During the five-year period beginning on 

6 the date of the enactment of the Navy SEAL Chief 

7 Petty Officer William ′′Bill′′ Mulder (Ret.) Transition 

8 Improvement Act of 2019’’; and 

9 (2) by striking ‘‘to assess the feasibility and ad10 visability of providing such program to eligible indi11 viduals at locations other than military installa12 tions’’. 

13 (b) LOCATIONS.—Subsection (c) of such section is 

14 amended— 

15 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘not less than 

16 three and not more than five States’’ and inserting 

17 ‘‘not fewer than 50 locations in States (as defined in 

18 section 101 of title 38, United States Code)’’; and 

19 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘at least two’’ 

20 and inserting ‘‘at least 20’’. 

21 (c) CONFORMING REPEAL.—Subsection (f) of such sec22 tion is repealed. 


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1 SEC. 5. GRANTS FOR PROVISION OF TRANSITION ASSIST2 ANCE TO MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES 

3 AFTER SEPARATION, RETIREMENT, OR DIS4 CHARGE. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 

6 shall make grants to eligible organizations for the provision 

7 of transition assistance to members of the Armed Forces 

8 who are separated, retired, or discharged from the Armed 

9 Forces, and spouses of such members. 

10 (b) USE OF FUNDS.—The recipient of a grant under 

11 this section shall use the grant to provide to members of 

12 the Armed Forces and spouses described in subsection (a) 

13 resume assistance, interview training, job recruitment 

14 training, and related services leading directly to successful 

15 transition, as determined by the Secretary. 

16 (c) ELIGIBLE ORGANIZATIONS.—To be eligible for a 

17 grant under this section, an organization shall submit to 

18 the Secretary an application containing such information 

19 and assurances as the Secretary, in consultation with the 

20 Secretary of Labor, may require. 

21 (d) PRIORITY FOR HUBS OF SERVICES.—In making 

22 grants under this section, the Secretary shall give priority 

23 to an organization that provides multiple forms of services 

24 described in subsection (b). 

25 (e) AMOUNT OF GRANT.—A grant under this section 

26 shall be in an amount that does not exceed 50 percent of 


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1 the amount required by the organization to provide the serv2 ices described in subsection (b). 

3 (f) DEADLINE.—The Secretary shall carry out this sec4 tion not later than six months after the effective date of 

5 this Act. 

6 (g) TERMINATION.—The authority to provide a grant 

7 under this section shall terminate on the date that is five 

8 years after the date on which the Secretary implements the 

9 grant program under this section. 

10 (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

11 authorized to be appropriated $10,000,000 to carry out this 

12 section. 

13 SEC. 6. ONE-YEAR INDEPENDENT ASSESSMENT OF THE EF14 FECTIVENESS OF TAP. 

15 (a) INDEPENDENT ASSESSMENT.—Not later than 90 

16 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec17 retary of Veterans Affairs, in consultation with the covered 

18 officials, shall enter into an agreement with an appropriate 

19 entity with experience in adult education to carry out a 

20 one-year independent assessment of TAP, including— 

21 (1) the effectiveness of TAP for members of each 

22 military department during the entire military life 

23 cycle; 

24 (2) the appropriateness of the TAP career readi25 ness standards; 


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1 (3) a review of information that is provided to 

2 the Department of Veterans Affairs under TAP, in3 cluding mental health data; 

4 (4) whether TAP effectively addresses the chal5 lenges veterans face entering the civilian workforce 

6 and in translating experience and skills from mili7 tary service to the job market; 

8 (5) whether TAP effectively addresses the chal9 lenges faced by the families of veterans making the 

10 transition to civilian life; 

11 (6) appropriate metrics regarding TAP outcomes 

12 for members of the Armed Forces one year after sepa13 ration, retirement, or discharge from the Armed 

14 Forces; 

15 (7) what the Secretary, in consultation with the 

16 covered officials and veterans service organizations 

17 determine to be successful outcomes for TAP; 

18 (8) whether members of the Armed Forces achieve 

19 successful outcomes for TAP, as determined under 

20 paragraph (7); 

21 (9) how the Secretary and the covered officials 

22 provide feedback to each other regarding such out23 comes; 

24 (10) recommendations for the Secretaries of the 

25 military departments regarding how to improve outVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:41 May 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2326.RH H2326

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1 comes for members of the Armed Forces after separa2 tion, retirement, and discharge; and 

3 (11) other topics the Secretary and the covered 

4 officials determine would aid members of the Armed 

5 Forces as they transition to civilian life. 

6 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 90 days after the comple7 tion of the independent assessment under subsection (a), the 

8 Secretary and the covered officials, shall submit to the Com9 mittees on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and House of 

10 Representatives and the Committees on Armed Services of 

11 the Senate and House of Representatives— 

12 (1) the findings and recommendations (including 

13 recommended legislation) of the independent assess14 ment prepared by the entity described in subsection 

15 (a); and 

16 (2) responses of the Secretary and the covered of17 ficials to the findings and recommendations described 

18 in paragraph (1). 

19 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

20 (1) The term ‘‘covered officials’’ is comprised 

21 of— 

22 (A) the Secretary of Defense; 

23 (B) the Secretary of Labor; 

24 (C) the Administrator of the Small Business 

25 Administration; and 


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1 (D) the Secretaries of the military depart2 ments. 

3 (2) The term ‘‘military department’’ has the 

4 meaning given that term in section 101 of title 10, 

5 United States Code. 

6 SEC. 7. LONGITUDINAL STUDY ON CHANGES TO TAP. 

7 (a) STUDY.—Not later than 90 days after the date of 

8 the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, 

9 in consultation with the Secretaries of Defense and Labor 

10 and the Administrator of the Small Business Administra11 tion, shall conduct a five-year longitudinal study regarding 

12 TAP on three separate cohorts of members of the Armed 

13 Forces who have separated from the Armed Forces, includ14 ing— 

15 (1) a cohort that has attended TAP counseling as 

16 implemented on the date of the enactment of this Act; 

17 (2) a cohort that attends TAP counseling after 

18 the Secretaries of Defense and Labor implement 

19 changes recommended in the report under section 6(b) 

20 of this Act; and 

21 (3) a cohort that has not attended TAP coun22 seling. 

23 (b) PROGRESS REPORTS.—Not later than 90 days 

24 after the day that is one year after the date of the initiation 

25 of the study under subsection (a) and annually thereafter 


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1 for the three subsequent years, the Secretaries of Veterans 

2 Affairs, Defense, and Labor, and the Administrator of the 

3 Small Business Administration, shall submit to the Com4 mittees on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and House of 

5 Representatives and the Committees on Armed Services of 

6 the Senate and House of Representatives a progress report 

7 of activities under the study during the immediately pre8 ceding year. 

9 (c) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the 

10 completion of the study under subsection (a), the Secretaries 

11 of Veterans Affairs, Defense, and Labor, and the Adminis12 trator of the Small Business Administration, shall submit 

13 to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and 

14 House of Representatives and the Committees on Armed 

15 Services of the Senate and House of Representatives a re16 port of final findings and recommendations based on the 

17 study. 

18 (d) ELEMENTS.—The final report under subsection (c) 

19 shall include information regarding the following: 

20 (1) The percentage of each cohort that received 

21 unemployment benefits during the study. 

22 (2) The numbers of months members of each co23 hort were employed during the study. 


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1 (3) Annual starting and ending salaries of mem2 bers of each cohort who were employed during the 

3 study. 

4 (4) How many members of each cohort enrolled 

5 in an institution of higher learning, as that term is 

6 defined in section 3452(f) of title 38, United States 

7 Code. 

8 (5) The academic credit hours, degrees, and cer9 tificates obtained by members of each cohort during 

10 the study. 

11 (6) The annual income of members of each co12 hort. 

13 (7) The total household income of members of 

14 each cohort. 

15 (8) How many members of each cohort own their 

16 principal residences. 

17 (9) How many dependents that members of each 

18 cohort have. 

19 (10) The percentage of each cohort that achieves 

20 a successful outcome for TAP, as determined under 

21 section 6(a)(7) of this Act. 

22 (11) Other criteria the Secretaries and the Ad23 ministrator of the Small Business Administration de24 termine appropriate. 


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Union Calendar No. 49 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2326 

[Report No. 116–73, Part I] 

A BILL 

To amend the Social Security Act, to amend the 

other purposes. are discharged from the Armed Forces, and for bers of the Armed Forces who separate, retire, or actions to improve transition assistance to memSmall Business Administration, to take certain Homeland Security, and the Administrator of the retaries of Veterans Affairs, Defense, Labor, and Improvement Act of 2012, and to direct the SecDignified Burial and Other Veterans’ Benefits 

MAY 20, 2019 

Reported from the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs with 

M

an amendment 

AY 20, 2019 

Committees on Armed Services and Ways and Means disprinted House on the State of the Union and ordered to be charged; committed to the Committee of the Whole 


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