I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1786 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to submit to Congress a report 

on the Warrior Training Advancement Course, to direct the Secretary 

of the Interior to administer a pilot program to employ veterans in 

positions that relate to conservation and resource management activities 

of the Department of the Interior, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 24, 2023 

Mr. LEVIN (for himself and Mr. WITTMAN) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on Natural Resources, 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 direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to submit to 

Congress a report on the Warrior Training Advancement 

Course, to direct the Secretary of the Interior to administer a pilot program to employ veterans in positions 

that relate to conservation and resource management 

activities of the Department of the Interior, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Get Rewarding Out3 door Work for our Veterans Act’’ or the ‘‘GROW Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. REPORTING ON THE WARRIOR TRAINING ADVANCE5 MENT COURSE OF THE VETERANS BENEFIT 

6 ADMINISTRATION. 

7 (a) REPORTS REQUIRED.— 

8 (1) INITIAL REPORT.—Not later than six 

9 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

10 the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall submit to the 

11 Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and 

12 House of Representatives a report on WARTAC. 

13 (2) ANNUAL REPORT.—One year after the sub14 mission under paragraph (1) and annually there15 after, the Secretary shall submit to such Committees 

16 a report that contains the elements under para17 graphs (1) and (3) of subsection (b) with regards to 

18 the preceding year. 

19 (b) ELEMENTS.—Subject to subsection (a)(2), the re20 ports under this section shall include the following ele21 ments: 

22 (1) BEST PRACTICES.—With regards to best 

23 practices of WARTAC— 

24 (A) how many covered members have ap25 plied to participate in WARTAC; 


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1 (B) how many covered members have par2 ticipated in WARTAC; 

3 (C) how the Secretary provides training to 

4 covered members during TAP; 

5 (D) how many covered members have com6 pleted WARTAC; and 

7 (E) any other information the Secretary 

8 determines appropriate. 

9 (2) COST SAVINGS.—With regards to cost sav10 ings of WARTAC— 

11 (A) how much money the Secretary deter12 mines WARTAC saves the United States each 

13 fiscal year; 

14 (B) how much money the Secretary deter15 mines WARTAC has saved the United States 

16 since its establishment; and 

17 (C) the determination of the Secretary 

18 whether other Federal agencies may save money 

19 by establishing a program similar to WARTAC. 

20 (3) HIRING.—With regards to hiring covered 

21 members who complete WARTAC— 

22 (A) how the Secretary identifies positions 

23 in the Department of Veterans Affairs for 

24 which such covered members may qualify; 


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1 (B) the grades of such positions on the 

2 General Schedule under section 5332 of title 5, 

3 United States Code; and 

4 (C) how many such covered members the 

5 Secretary has hired to such positions. 

6 (c) DISTRIBUTION.—Not later than 30 days after 

7 submitting the report under subsection (a)(1), the Sec8 retary of Veterans Affairs shall transmit a copy of the re9 port under this section to each head of a Federal agency. 

10 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

11 (1) The term ‘‘covered member’’ means mem12 bers of the Armed Forces participating in TAP. 

13 (2) The term ‘‘TAP’’ means the Transition As14 sistance Program of the Department of Defense 

15 under sections 1142 and 1144 of title 10, United 

16 States Code. 

17 (3) The term ‘‘WARTAC’’ means the Warrior 

18 Training Advancement Course of the Veterans Ben19 efit Administration, in which the Secretary provides 

20 training to covered members so such covered mem21 bers may qualify for certain employment in the Vet22 erans Benefit Administration. 


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1 SEC. 3. PILOT PROGRAM TO EMPLOY VETERANS IN POSI2 TIONS RELATING TO CONSERVATION AND RE3 SOURCE MANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES. 

4 (a) BEST PRACTICES FOR OTHER DEPARTMENTS.— 

5 The Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans’ Employ6 ment and Training, in consultation with the Secretary of 

7 Veterans Affairs, shall establish guidelines containing best 

8 practices for departments and agencies of the Federal 

9 Government that carry out programs to employ veterans 

10 who are transitioning from service in the Armed Forces. 

11 Such guidelines shall include the findings of the report re12 quired under section 2. 

13 (b) PILOT PROGRAM.— 

14 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of the In15 terior, in consultation with the Assistant Secretary 

16 of Labor for Veterans’ Employment and Training 

17 and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, shall establish 

18 a pilot program under which veterans are employed 

19 by the Federal Government in positions that relate 

20 to the conservation and resource management activi21 ties of the Department of the Interior. 

22 (2) POSITIONS.—The Secretary of the Interior 

23 shall— 

24 (A) identify vacant positions in the De25 partment of the Interior that are appropriate to 

26 fill using the pilot program; and 


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1 (B) to the extent practicable, fill such posi2 tions using the pilot program. 

3 (3) APPLICATION OF CIVIL SERVICE LAWS.—A 

4 veteran employed under the pilot program shall be 

5 treated as an employee as defined by section 2105 

6 of title 5, United States Code. 

7 (4) BRIEFINGS AND REPORT.— 

8 (A) INITIAL BRIEFING.—Not later than 60 

9 days after the date of the enactment of this 

10 Act, the Secretary of the Interior and the As11 sistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans’ Em12 ployment and Training shall jointly provide to 

13 the appropriate congressional committees a 

14 briefing on the pilot program under this sub15 section, which shall include— 

16 (i) a description of how the pilot pro17 gram will be carried out in a manner to re18 duce the unemployment of veterans; and 

19 (ii) any recommendations for legisla20 tive actions to improve the pilot program. 

21 (B) IMPLEMENTATION BRIEFING.—Not 

22 later than one year after the date on which the 

23 pilot program under subsection (a) commences, 

24 the Secretary of the Interior and the Assistant 

25 Secretary of Labor for Veterans’ Employment 


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1 and Training shall jointly provide to the appro2 priate congressional committees a briefing on 

3 the implementation of the pilot program. 

4 (C) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than 30 

5 days after the date on which the pilot program 

6 under subsection (a) is completed, the Secretary 

7 of the Interior and the Assistant Secretary of 

8 Labor for Veterans’ Employment and Training 

9 shall jointly submit to the appropriate congres10 sional committees a report on the pilot program 

11 that includes the following: 

12 (i) The number of veterans who ap13 plied to participate in the pilot program. 

14 (ii) The number of such veterans em15 ployed under the pilot program. 

16 (iii) The number of veterans identified 

17 in clause (ii) who transitioned to full-time 

18 positions with the Federal Government 

19 after participating in the pilot program. 

20 (iv) Any other information the Sec21 retary and the Assistant Secretary deter22 mine appropriate with respect to meas23 uring the effectiveness of the pilot pro24 gram. 


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1 (5) DURATION.—The authority to carry out the 

2 pilot program under this subsection shall terminate 

3 on the date that is two years after the date on which 

4 the pilot program commences. 

5 (c) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES DE6 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate congres7 sional committees’’ means— 

8 (1) the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs and the 

9 Committee on Natural Resources of the House of 

10 Representatives; and 

11 (2) the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs and the 

12 Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the 

13 Senate. 

Æ 


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