I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2326 

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 

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 

5 Petty Officer William ‘Bill’ Mulder (Ret.) Transition Im6 provement Act of 2019’’. 

7 SEC. 2. TAP DEFINED. 

8 In this Act, the term ‘‘TAP’’ means the Transition 

9 Assistance Program under sections 1142 and 1144 of title 

10 10, United States Code. 

11 SEC. 3. ACCESS FOR THE SECRETARIES OF LABOR AND 

12 VETERANS AFFAIRS TO THE FEDERAL DIREC13 TORY OF NEW HIRES. 

14 Section 453A(h) of the Social Security Act (42 

15 U.S.C. 653a(h)) is amended by adding at the end the fol16 lowing new paragraph: 

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

18 of Labor and of Veterans Affairs shall have access 

19 to information reported by employers pursuant to 

20 subsection (b) of this section for purposes of track21 ing employment of veterans.’’. 

22 SEC. 4. PILOT PROGRAM FOR OFF-BASE TRANSITION 

23 TRAINING FOR VETERANS AND SPOUSES. 

24 (a) EXTENSION OF PILOT PROGRAM.—Subsection 

25 (a) of section 301 of the Dignified Burial and Other VetVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:33 Apr 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2326.IH H2326

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1 erans’ Benefits Improvement Act of 2012 (Public Law 

2 112–260; 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’’ 

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

6 on the date of the enactment of the Navy SEAL 

7 Chief Petty Officer William ‘Bill’ Mulder (Ret.) 

8 Transition 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 

18 in 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 

22 section 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 provi7 sion of transition assistance to members of the Armed 

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

9 Armed 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 


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1 of the amount required by the organization to provide the 

2 services described in subsection (b). 

3 (f) DEADLINE.—The Secretary shall carry out this 

4 section not later than six months after the effective date 

5 of 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 

9 the grant program under this section. 

10 (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

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

12 this 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 cov18 ered officials, shall enter into an agreement with an appro19 priate entity with experience in adult education to carry 

20 out a one-year independent assessment of TAP, includ21 ing— 

22 (1) the effectiveness of TAP for members of 

23 each military department during the entire military 

24 life cycle; 


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1 (2) the appropriateness of the TAP career read2 iness standards; 

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

4 the Department of Veterans Affairs under TAP, in5 cluding mental health data; 

6 (4) whether TAP effectively addresses the chal7 lenges veterans face entering the civilian workforce 

8 and in translating experience and skills from mili9 tary service to the job market; 

10 (5) whether TAP effectively addresses the chal11 lenges faced by the families of veterans making the 

12 transition to civilian life; 

13 (6) appropriate metrics regarding TAP out14 comes for members of the Armed Forces one year 

15 after separation, retirement, or discharge from the 

16 Armed Forces; 

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

18 covered officials and veterans service organizations 

19 determine to be successful outcomes for TAP; 

20 (8) whether members of the Armed Forces 

21 achieve successful outcomes for TAP, as determined 

22 under paragraph (7); 

23 (9) how the Secretary and the covered officials 

24 provide feedback to each other regarding such out25 comes; 


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1 (10) recommendations for the Secretaries of the 

2 military departments regarding how to improve out3 comes for members of the Armed Forces after sepa4 ration, retirement, and discharge; and 

5 (11) other topics the Secretary and the covered 

6 officials determine would aid members of the Armed 

7 Forces as they transition to civilian life. 

8 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 90 days after the com9 pletion of the independent assessment under subsection 

10 (a), the Secretary and the covered officials, shall submit 

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

12 House of Representatives and the Committees on Armed 

13 Services of the Senate and House of Representatives— 

14 (1) the findings and recommendations (includ15 ing recommended legislation) of the independent as16 sessment prepared by the entity described in sub17 section (a); and 

18 (2) responses of the Secretary and the covered 

19 officials to the findings and recommendations de20 scribed in paragraph (1). 

21 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

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

23 of— 

24 (A) the Secretary of Defense; 

25 (B) the Secretary of Labor; 


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1 (C) the Administrator of the Small Busi2 ness Administration; and 

3 (D) the Secretaries of the military depart4 ments. 

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

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

7 United States Code. 

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

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

10 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans 

11 Affairs, in consultation with the Secretaries of Defense 

12 and Labor and the Administrator of the Small Business 

13 Administration, shall conduct a five-year longitudinal 

14 study regarding TAP on three separate cohorts of mem15 bers of the Armed Forces who have separated from the 

16 Armed Forces, including— 

17 (1) a cohort that has attended TAP counseling 

18 as implemented on the date of the enactment of this 

19 Act; 

20 (2) a cohort that attends TAP counseling after 

21 the Secretaries of Defense and Labor implement 

22 changes recommended in the report under section 

23 6(b) of this Act; and 

24 (3) a cohort that has not attended TAP coun25 seling. 


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

2 after the day that is one year after the date of the initi3 ation of the study under subsection (a) and annually 

4 thereafter for the three subsequent years, the Secretaries 

5 of Veterans Affairs, Defense, and Labor, and the Adminis6 trator of the Small Business Administration, shall submit 

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

8 House of Representatives and the Committees on Armed 

9 Services of the Senate and House of Representatives a 

10 progress report of activities under the study during the 

11 immediately preceding year. 

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

13 the completion of the study under subsection (a), the Sec14 retaries of Veterans Affairs, Defense, and Labor, and the 

15 Administrator of the Small Business Administration, shall 

16 submit to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of the Sen17 ate and House of Representatives and the Committees on 

18 Armed Services of the Senate and House of Representa19 tives a report of final findings and recommendations based 

20 on the study. 

21 (d) ELEMENTS.—The final report under subsection 

22 (c) shall include information regarding the following: 

23 (1) The percentage of each cohort that received 

24 unemployment benefits during the study. 


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1 (2) The numbers of months members of each 

2 cohort were employed during the study. 

3 (3) Annual starting and ending salaries of 

4 members of each cohort who were employed during 

5 the study. 

6 (4) How many members of each cohort enrolled 

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

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

9 Code. 

10 (5) The academic credit hours, degrees, and 

11 certificates obtained by members of each cohort dur12 ing the study. 

13 (6) The annual income of members of each co14 hort. 

15 (7) The total household income of members of 

16 each cohort. 

17 (8) How many members of each cohort own 

18 their principal residences. 

19 (9) How many dependents that members of 

20 each cohort have. 

21 (10) The percentage of each cohort that 

22 achieves a successful outcome for TAP, as deter23 mined under section 6(a)(7) of this Act. 


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1 (11) Other criteria the Secretaries and the Ad2 ministrator of the Small Business Administration 

3 determine appropriate. 

Æ 


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