I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3358 

To amend title 10, United States Code, to provide for the retention on 

active duty after demobilization of members of the reserve components 

of the Armed Forces following extended deployments in contingency 

operations or homeland defense missions, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 28, 2009 

Mr. DEFAZIO (for himself, Mr. SCHRADER, Mr. WU, Mr. BLUMENAUER, and 

Mr. WALDEN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs 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 title 10, United States Code, to provide for the 

retention on active duty after demobilization of members 

of the reserve components of the Armed Forces following 

extended deployments in contingency operations or homeland defense missions, 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 ‘‘Troops’ Soft Landing, 

5 Employment, and Rural Transportation Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. RETENTION ON ACTIVE DUTY AFTER DEMOBILIZA2 TION OF RESERVES FOLLOWING EXTENDED 

3 DEPLOYMENTS IN CONTINGENCY OPER4 ATIONS OR HOMELAND DEFENSE MISSIONS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 1209 of title 10, United 

6 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol7 lowing new section: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 12323. RESERVES: RETENTION ON ACTIVE DUTY 

9 AFTER DEMOBILIZATION FOLLOWING EX10 TENDED DEPLOYMENTS IN CONTINGENCY 

11 OPERATIONS OR HOMELAND DEFENSE MIS12 SIONS. 

13 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A member of a reserve compo14 nent of the Armed Forces described in subsection (b) shall 

15 be retained on active duty in the Armed Forces for a pe16 riod of 90 days following the conclusion of the member’s 

17 demobilization from a deployment as described in that 

18 subsection, and shall be authorized the use of any accrued 

19 leave. 

20 ‘‘(b) COVERED MEMBERS.—A member of a reserve 

21 component of the Armed Forces described in this sub22 section is any member of a reserve component of the 

23 Armed Forces who was deployed for more than 179 days 

24 under the following: 

25 ‘‘(1) A contingency operation. 


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1 ‘‘(2) A homeland defense mission (as specified 

2 by the Secretary of Defense for purposes of this sec3 tion). 

4 ‘‘(c) PAY AND ALLOWANCES.—Notwithstanding any 

5 other provision of law, a member on active duty under sub6 section (a) shall be paid pay and allowances as follows: 

7 ‘‘(1) For the first 30 days during which the 

8 member is so retained on active duty— 

9 ‘‘(A) the basic pay payable to a member of 

10 the Armed Forces under section 204 of title 37 

11 in the same pay grade as the member; 

12 ‘‘(B) the basic allowance for subsistence 

13 payable under section 402 of title 37; and 

14 ‘‘(C) the basic allowance for housing pay15 able under section 403 of title 37 for a member 

16 in the same pay grade, geographic location, and 

17 number of dependents as the member. 

18 ‘‘(2) For the second 30 days during which the 

19 member is so retained on active duty, basic pay, 

20 basic allowance for subsistence, and basic allowance 

21 for housing as described in paragraph (1) but at 

22 rates equal to 75 percent of the rates otherwise pay23 able as described in that paragraph. 

24 ‘‘(3) For the third 30 days during which the 

25 member is so retained on active duty, basic pay, 


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1 basic allowance for subsistence, and basic allowance 

2 for housing as described in paragraph (1) but at 

3 rates equal to 50 percent of the rates otherwise pay4 able as described in that paragraph. 

5 ‘‘(d) RELEASE FROM ACTIVE DUTY.—(1) A member 

6 retained on active duty under subsection (a) may be re7 leased from active duty at the request of the member at 

8 any time following the end of the 15-day period com9 mencing on the date the member is retained on active duty 

10 under subsection (a). 

11 ‘‘(2) The request of a member for release from active 

12 duty under this subsection shall be subject to the approval 

13 of the officer in the chain of command of the member in 

14 grade O–5. 

15 ‘‘(e) REINTEGRATION COUNSELING AND SERV16 ICES.—(1) The Secretary of the military department con17 cerned shall provide each member retained on active duty 

18 under subsection (a), while the member is so retained on 

19 active duty, counseling and services to assist the member 

20 in reintegrating into civilian life. 

21 ‘‘(2) The counseling and services provided members 

22 under this subsection shall include the following: 

23 ‘‘(A) Physical and mental health evaluations. 

24 ‘‘(B) Employment counseling and assistance. 


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1 ‘‘(C) Marriage and family counseling and as2 sistance. 

3 ‘‘(D) Financial management counseling. 

4 ‘‘(E) Education counseling. 

5 ‘‘(F) Counseling and assistance on benefits 

6 available to the member through the Department of 

7 Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

8 ‘‘(3) The Secretary of the military department con9 cerned shall provide, to the extent practicable, for the par10 ticipation of appropriate family members of members re11 tained on active duty under subsection (a) in the coun12 seling and services provided such members under this sub13 section. 

14 ‘‘(4) The counseling and services provided to mem15 bers under this subsection shall, to the extent practicable, 

16 be provided at National Guard armories and similar facili17 ties close the residences of such members. 

18 ‘‘(5) Counseling and services provided a member 

19 under this subsection shall, to the extent practicable, be 

20 provided in coordination with the Yellow Ribbon Re21 integration Program of the State concerned under section 

22 582 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 

23 Year 2008 (10 U.S.C. 10101 note)’’. 


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

2 at the beginning of chapter 1209 of such title is amended 

3 by adding at the end the following new item: 

‘‘12323. Reserves: retention on active duty after demobilization following extended deployments in contingency operations or homeland defense missions.’’. 

4 SEC. 3. WORK OPPORTUNITY TAX CREDIT. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (d) of section 51 of the 

6 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at 

7 the end the following new paragraph: 

8 ‘‘(15) SPECIAL RULE FOR VETERANS RESIDING

9 IN HIGH UNEMPLOYMENT COUNTIES.— 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an un11 employed veteran who is treated as a member 

12 of a targeted group under subparagraph (B) 

13 and who has performed at least 800 hours of 

14 service for the employer— 

15 ‘‘(i) subsection (a) shall be applied by 

16 substituting ‘50 percent’ for ‘40 percent’, 

17 and 

18 ‘‘(ii) subsection (b)(3) shall be applied 

19 by substituting ‘$10,000’ for ‘$6,000’. 

20 ‘‘(B) TREATMENT AS MEMBER OF TAR21 GETED GROUP.—An unemployed veteran who is 

22 certified by the designated local agency as hav23 ing his principal place of abode within a county 

24 that, at any time during the 6-month period 


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1 ending on the hiring date, is a high unemploy2 ment county shall be treated as a member of a 

3 targeted group for purposes of this subpart. 

4 ‘‘(C) UNEMPLOYED VETERAN.—For pur5 poses of this paragraph, the term ‘unemployed 

6 veteran’ has the meaning given such term by 

7 paragraph (14)(B)(i) without regard to sub8 clause (II) thereof. 

9 ‘‘(D) HIGH UNEMPLOYMENT COUNTY.— 

10 The term ‘high unemployment county’ means a 

11 county for which the unemployment rate for the 

12 preceding month equals or exceeds the national 

13 unemployment threshold for such month. 

14 ‘‘(E) NATIONAL UNEMPLOYMENT THRESH15 OLD.— 

16 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The national un17 employment threshold is 12 percent. 

18 ‘‘(ii) THRESHOLD INDEXED.—For any 

19 month beginning after the month in which 

20 this subparagraph is enacted, the national 

21 unemployment threshold in subclause (I) 

22 shall be the percentage in clause (i) (deter23 mined without regard to the application of 

24 this clause) multiplied by the ratio which 


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1 the national unemployment rate for such 

2 month bears to 9.5 percent. 

3 ‘‘(F) UNEMPLOYMENT RATES.—The na4 tional unemployment rate and the unemploy5 ment rate for a county for any month shall be 

6 the unadjusted rates for such month deter7 mined by the Current Population Survey con8 ducted by the Bureau of Census for the Bureau 

9 of Labor Statistics.’’. 

10 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

11 subsection (a) shall apply to individuals who begin work 

12 for the employer after the date of the enactment of this 

13 Act. 

14 SEC. 4. GRANTS FOR ELIGIBLE ENTITIES PROVIDING 

15 TRANSPORTATION TO DEPARTMENT OF VET16 ERANS AFFAIRS MEDICAL FACILITIES FOR 

17 VETERANS LIVING IN RURAL AREAS. 

18 (a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.— 

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

20 Affairs shall establish a grant program to award 

21 grants on a competitive basis to eligible entities for 

22 the purpose of providing transportation options to 

23 veterans residing in rural areas. 

24 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—For purposes of the 

25 grant program under this section, an eligible entity 


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1 is a government entity and non-profit service pro2 vider, including a State veterans’ service agency, a 

3 veterans service organization, a local governmental 

4 authority, and a private non-profit organization. 

5 (3) USE OF FUNDS.—The recipient of a grant 

6 under this section shall use the grant to assist vet7 erans in rural areas to travel to Department of Vet8 erans Affairs medical facilities. 

9 (4) MAXIMUM AMOUNT.—The amount of a 

10 grant under this section may not exceed $100,000 

11 for any fiscal year. 

12 (5) NO MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—The recipi13 ent of a grant under this section shall not be re14 quired to provide matching funds as a condition for 

15 receiving such grant. 

16 (b) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall prescribe 

17 regulations for— 

18 (1) evaluating grant applications under this sec19 tion; 

20 (2) directing Department of Veterans Affairs 

21 medical facilities to coordinate with recipients of 

22 such grants to ensure maximum use of transpor23 tation service at the least cost; and 


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1 (3) coordinating transportation services pro2 vided under this section with existing local transpor3 tation services. 

4 (c) DEFINITIONS AND SPECIAL RULE.—In this sec5 tion: 

6 (1) The term ‘‘veterans service organization’’ 

7 means any organization recognized by the Secretary 

8 of Veterans Affairs for the representation of vet9 erans under section 5902 of title 38, United States 

10 Code. 

11 (2) The term ‘‘local governmental authority’’ 

12 means a local governmental authority as defined in 

13 5302(a)(6) of title 49, United States Code, that pro14 vides public transportation as defined in 

15 5302(a)(10) of title 49, United States Code. 

16 (3) A veteran is residing in a rural area if the 

17 veteran— 

18 (A) resides in a location that is— 

19 (i) more than 30 miles driving dis20 tance from the nearest Department health 

21 care facility providing primary care serv22 ices, if the veteran is seeking such services; 

23 (ii) more than 60 miles driving dis24 tance from the nearest Department health 


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1 care facility providing acute hospital care, 

2 if the veteran is seeking such care; or 

3 (iii) more than 100 miles driving dis4 tance from the nearest Department health 

5 care facility providing tertiary care, if the 

6 veteran is seeking such care; or 

7 (B) in the case of a veteran who resides in 

8 a location less than the distance specified in 

9 clause (i), (ii), or (iii) of subparagraph (A), as 

10 applicable, experiences such hardship or other 

11 difficulties in travel to the nearest appropriate 

12 Department health care facility that such travel 

13 is not in the best interest of the veteran, as de14 termined by the Secretary pursuant to regula15 tions prescribed for purposes of this subsection. 

16 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

17 authorized to be appropriated $10,000,000 for each of fis18 cal years 2009 through 2013 to carry out this section. 

Æ 


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