I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1978 
To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a veterans 
conservation corps, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 22, 2015 
Mr. POLIS (for himself, Mr. CA´RDENAS, Mr. GRAYSON, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. 
LOWENTHAL, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. VEASEY, Mr. CART-
WRIGHT, Mr. ISRAEL, Mr. SARBANES, Mr. SIRES, Ms. DELAURO, Mrs. 
BUSTOS, Mr. DEUTCH, Mr. WALZ, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. RUIZ, Mr. MURPHY 
of Florida, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. GARAMENDI, Mr. MCGOV-
ERN, Ms. SPEIER, Ms. NORTON, and Mr. NOLAN) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, 
and in addition to the Committees on Transportation and Infrastructure, 
the Judiciary, and Science, Space, and Technology, 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 con-
cerned 
A BILL 
To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish 
a veterans conservation corps, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Veterans Conservation 
Corps Act of 2015’’. 
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SEC. 2. VETERANS CONSERVATION CORPS. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Veterans 
Affairs shall, in cooperation with the Attorney Gen-
eral, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of 
Commerce, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the 
Secretary of the Interior, the Chief Executive Officer 
of the Corporation for National and Community 
Service, and the Chief of Engineers, establish a vet-
erans conservation corps to assist veterans in the 
transition from service in the Armed Forces to civil-
ian life and to employ veterans— 
(A) in conservation, resource management, 
firefighting, law enforcement, and historic pres-
ervation projects on public lands and mainte-
nance and improvement projects for cemeteries 
under the jurisdiction of the National Cemetery 
Administration; and 
(B) as firefighters, law enforcement offi-
cers, and disaster relief personnel. 
(2) VETERAN ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to 
participate in the veterans conservation corps, a vet-
eran shall be unemployed. 
(b) CONSERVATION, RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, HIS-
TORIC PRESERVATION, AND CEMETERY MAINTENANCE 
AND IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS.— 
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(1) IN GENERAL.—As part of the veterans con-
servation corps, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, 
the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Com-
merce, the Secretary of the Interior, the Chief Exec-
utive Officer of the Corporation for National and 
Community Service, and the Chief of Engineers 
shall— 
(A) employ veterans to carry out projects 
described in subsection (a)(1); and 
(B) award grants to, or enter into con-
tracts with, State governments, local govern-
ments, or nongovernmental entities to employ 
veterans to carry out projects described in sub-
section (a)(1). 
(2) PRIORITY.—In employing or awarding 
grants or contracts to employ veterans under this 
subsection, the Secretaries referred to in paragraph 
(1) and the Chief of Engineers shall give priority to-
wards the employment of veterans who served on ac-
tive duty in the Armed Forces on or after September 
11, 2001. 
(3) COORDINATION.—The Secretary of Vet-
erans Affairs shall coordinate the activities of the 
Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Com-
merce, the Secretary of the Interior, the Chief Exec-
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utive Officer of the Corporation for National and 
Community Service, and the Chief of Engineers to 
employ veterans as part of the veterans conservation 
corps. 
(4) OVERSIGHT OF PROJECTS.—The Secretaries 
referred to in paragraph (1) and the Chief of Engi-
neers shall each provide oversight of the projects for 
which they employ veterans under subparagraph (A) 
of such paragraph or award grants or enter into 
contracts under subparagraph (B) of such para-
graph. 
(c) FIRST RESPONDERS.— 
(1) FIREFIGHTERS.—As part of the veterans 
conservation corps, the Secretary of Homeland Secu-
rity shall award grants under section 34 of the Fed-
eral Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 (15 
U.S.C. 2229a) to hire veterans as firefighters. 
(2) LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS.—As part of 
the veterans conservation corps, the Attorney Gen-
eral shall award grants under part Q of title I of the 
Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 
1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796dd et seq.) to hire veterans as 
law enforcement officers. 
(3) DISASTER RELIEF PERSONNEL.—As part of 
the veterans conservation corps, the Secretary of 
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Homeland Security shall provide funds to increase 
participation by veterans in the FEMA Corps pro-
gram, which is a partnership between the Corpora-
tion for National and Community Service and the 
Federal Emergency Management Agency. 
(4) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants or pro-
viding funds under this subsection to hire veterans, 
the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Attor-
ney General shall give priority to the hiring of vet-
erans who served on active duty in the Armed 
Forces on or after September 11, 2001. 
(d) ASSISTANCE.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Veterans 
Affairs may provide assistance to the Secretaries re-
ferred to in subsection (a), the Attorney General, the 
Chief of Engineers, and the Chief Executive Officer 
to carry out the veterans conservation corps. Such 
assistance may take the form of a transfer under 
paragraph (2). 
(2) TRANSFERS.—Except as otherwise provided 
in this subsection, of amounts appropriated or other-
wise made available to the Secretary of Veterans Af-
fairs to carry out this section, the Secretary of Vet-
erans Affairs may transfer such amounts as the Sec-
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retary considers appropriate to carry out the vet-
erans conservation corps to the following: 
(A) The Attorney General. 
(B) The Secretary of Agriculture. 
(C) The Secretary of Commerce. 
(D) The Secretary of Homeland Security. 
(E) The Secretary of the Interior. 
(F) The Corporation for National and 
Community Service. 
(G) The Chief of Engineers. 
(3) ASSISTANCE
FOR
CONSERVATION, 
RE-
SOURCE
MANAGEMENT, HISTORIC
PRESERVATION, 
AND CEMETERY MAINTENANCE AND IMPROVEMENT 
PROJECTS.— 
(A) APPLICATION.—If a Secretary referred 
to in subsection (b)(1) or the Chief of Engi-
neers or the Chief Executive Officer seeks as-
sistance under paragraph (1) to employ a vet-
eran to carry out a project under subparagraph 
(A) of subsection (b)(1) or to award a grant or 
contract to carry out a project under subpara-
graph (B) of such subsection, such Secretary or 
the Chief of Engineers shall submit to the Sec-
retary of Veterans Affairs an application there-
for at such time, in such manner, and con-
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taining such information as the Secretary of 
Veterans Affairs may require. 
(B) SELECTION.—The Secretary of Vet-
erans Affairs shall, in consultation with the 
steering committee established under subpara-
graph (C), award assistance under this para-
graph in accordance with such criteria as the 
steering committee establishes. 
(C) STEERING COMMITTEE.— 
(i) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary of 
Veterans Affairs shall establish a steering 
committee— 
(I) to establish selection criteria 
for the awarding of assistance under 
paragraph (1) to employ a veteran to 
carry out a project under subpara-
graph (A) of subsection (b)(1) or to 
award a grant or contract to carry out 
a project under subparagraph (B) of 
such subsection; and 
(II) to provide the Secretary of 
Veterans 
Affairs 
with 
advice 
on 
awarding assistance under this sub-
section with respect to projects de-
scribed in subsection (a)(1) and car-
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rying out the requirements of the vet-
erans conservation corps under sub-
section (b). 
(ii) COMPOSITION.—The steering com-
mittee shall be composed of the following: 
(I) The Secretary of Veterans Af-
fairs. 
(II) The Secretary of Agri-
culture. 
(III) The Secretary of Com-
merce. 
(IV) The Secretary of the Inte-
rior. 
(V) The Corporation for National 
and Community Service. 
(VI) The Chief of Engineers. 
(iii) CHAIRPERSON.—The chairperson 
of the steering committee shall be the Sec-
retary of Veterans Affairs. 
(iv) ADVISORY INPUT.—The Secretary 
of Defense, the Secretary of Labor, and 
the Chief Executive Officer of the Corpora-
tion for National and Community Service 
may provide advice to the steering com-
mittee. 
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(4) ASSISTANCE FOR FIRST RESPONDERS.—Not 
more than 10 percent of amounts appropriated or 
otherwise made available to the Secretary of Vet-
erans Affairs to carry out this section may be trans-
ferred to the Attorney General and the Secretary of 
Homeland Security to employ veterans under sub-
section (c). 
(e) REPORTING FRAMEWORK.—The Secretary of Vet-
erans Affairs shall establish a reporting framework to reg-
ularly monitor and evaluate the veterans conservation 
corps to ensure proper oversight and accountability of the 
veterans conservation corps. 
(f) OUTREACH.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
shall ensure that veterans employed under the veterans 
conservation corps are aware of benefits and assistance 
available to them under laws administered by the Sec-
retary of Veterans Affairs. 
(g) DONATIONS.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
may solicit, accept, hold, administer, use, and dispose of, 
in furtherance of the purpose of this Act, donations of any 
money or property, real, personal, or mixed, tangible or 
intangible, received by gift, devise, bequest, or otherwise. 
Donations accepted under this subparagraph shall be used 
as nearly as possible in accordance with the terms, if any, 
of such donation. 
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(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—There is available without 
further appropriation to the Secretary of Veterans 
Affairs to carry out this section, $600,000,000 for 
the period of fiscal years 2016 through 2020. 
(2) LIMITATION.—Of amounts appropriated or 
otherwise made available to carry out this section, 
not more than five percent may be spent to admin-
ister the veterans conservation corps. 
(i) DEFINITION OF VETERAN.—In this section, the 
term ‘‘veteran’’ has the meaning given the term in section 
101 of title 38, United States Code. 
Æ 
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