I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 929 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to require the Secretary of Veterans 

Affairs to carry out a program of training to provide eligible veterans 

with skills relevant to the job market, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 9, 2009 

Mr. WELCH (for himself and Mr. BOOZMAN) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out a program of 

training to provide eligible veterans with skills relevant 

to the job market, 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. MILITARY OCCUPATIONAL SPECIALTY TRANSI4 TION (MOST) PROGRAM. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 36 of 

6 title 38, United States Code, is amended by inserting after 

7 section 3687 the following new section: 


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1 ‘‘§ 3687A. Military occupational specialty transition 

2 (MOST) program 

3 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT; ELIGIBILITY.—(1) Subject to 

4 the availability of appropriations for such purpose, the 

5 Secretary shall carry out a program of training to provide 

6 eligible veterans with skills relevant to the job market. 

7 ‘‘(2) For purposes of this section, the term ‘eligible 

8 veteran’ means any veteran— 

9 ‘‘(A) whose military occupational specialty at 

10 the time of discharge is determined by the Secretary 

11 to have limited transferability to the civilian job 

12 market; 

13 ‘‘(B) who is not otherwise eligible for education 

14 or training services under this title; 

15 ‘‘(C) who has not acquired a marketable skill 

16 since leaving military service; 

17 ‘‘(D) who was discharged under conditions not 

18 less than general under honorable conditions; and 

19 ‘‘(E)(i) who has been unemployed for at least 

20 90 days during the 180-day period preceding the 

21 date of application for the program established 

22 under this section; or 

23 ‘‘(ii) the maximum hourly rate of pay of such 

24 veteran during such 180-day period is not more than 

25 150 percent of the Federal minimum wage. 


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1 ‘‘(b) MOST PROGRAM.—The program established 

2 under this section shall provide for payments to employers 

3 who provide for eligible veterans a program of apprentice4 ship or on-the-job training if— 

5 ‘‘(1) such program is approved as provided in 

6 paragraph (1) or (2) of section 3687(a) of this title; 

7 ‘‘(2) the rate of pay for veterans participating 

8 in the program is not less than the rate of pay for 

9 nonveterans in similar jobs; and 

10 ‘‘(3) the Secretary reasonably expects that— 

11 ‘‘(A) the veteran will be qualified for em12 ployment in that field upon completion of train13 ing; and 

14 ‘‘(B) the employer providing the program 

15 will hire the veteran at the completion of train16 ing. 

17 ‘‘(c) PAYMENTS TO EMPLOYERS.—(1) Subject to the 

18 availability of appropriations for such purpose, the Sec19 retary shall enter into contracts with employers to provide 

20 programs of apprenticeship or on-the-job training that 

21 meet the requirements of this section. Each such contract 

22 shall provide for the payment of the amounts described 

23 in subsection (b) to employers whose programs meet such 

24 requirements. 


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1 ‘‘(2) The amount paid under this section with respect 

2 to any eligible veteran for any period shall be 50 percent 

3 of the wages paid by the employer to such veteran for such 

4 period. Wages shall be calculated on an hourly basis. 

5 ‘‘(3)(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B)— 

6 ‘‘(i) the amount paid under this section with re7 spect to a veteran participating in the program es8 tablished under this section may not exceed $20,000 

9 in the aggregate and $1,666.67 per month; and 

10 ‘‘(ii) such payments may only be made during 

11 the first 12 months of such veteran’s participation 

12 in the program. 

13 ‘‘(B) In the case of a veteran participating in the pro14 gram on a less than full-time basis, the Secretary may 

15 extend the number of months of payments under subpara16 graph (A) and proportionally adjust the amount of such 

17 payments, but the maximum amount paid with respect to 

18 a veteran may not exceed the maximum amount of 

19 $20,000 and the maximum amount of such payments may 

20 not exceed 24 months. 

21 ‘‘(4) Payments under this section shall be made on 

22 a quarterly basis. 

23 ‘‘(5) Each employer providing a program of appren24 ticeship or on-the-job training pursuant to this section 

25 shall submit to the Secretary on a quarterly basis a report 


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1 certifying the wages paid to eligible veterans under such 

2 program (which shall be certified by the veteran as being 

3 correct) and containing such other information as the Sec4 retary may specify. Such report shall be submitted in the 

5 form and manner required by the Secretary. 

6 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

7 is authorized to be appropriated $60,000,000 for each of 

8 fiscal years 2009 through 2018 to carry out this section. 

9 ‘‘(e) REPORTING.—The Secretary shall include a de10 tailed description of activities carried out under this sec11 tion in the annual report prepared by the Veterans Bene12 fits Administration. 

13 ‘‘(f) SEPARATE ACCOUNTING.—The Department 

14 shall have a separate line item in budget proposals of the 

15 Department for funds to be appropriated to carry out this 

16 section.’’. 

17 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

18 for such chapter is amended by inserting after the item 

19 relating to section 3687 the following new item: 

‘‘3687A. Military occupational specialty transition (MOST) program.’’. 

20 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—(1) Subsection 

21 (a)(1) of section 3034 of such title is amended by striking 

22 ‘‘and 3687’’ and inserting ‘‘3687, and 3687A’’. 

23 (2) Subsections (a)(1) and (c) of section 3241 of such 

24 title are each amended by striking ‘‘section 3687’’ and in25 serting ‘‘sections 3687 and 3687A’’. 


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1 (3) Subsection (d)(1) of section 3672 of such title is 

2 amended by striking ‘‘and 3687’’ and inserting ‘‘3687, 

3 and 3687A’’. 

4 (4) Paragraph (3) of section 4102A(b) of such title 

5 is amended by striking ‘‘section 3687’’ and inserting ‘‘sec6 tion 3687 or 3687A’’. 

Æ 


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