I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4824 
To reauthorize the VOW to Hire Heroes Act of 2011, to provide assistance 
to small businesses owned by veterans, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 23, 2019 
Mr. COHEN (for himself, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. NORTON, Ms. JACKSON LEE, 
and Ms. MOORE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on 
Oversight and Reform, Armed Services, Science, Space, and Technology, 
and the Judiciary, 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 reauthorize the VOW to Hire Heroes Act of 2011, to 
provide assistance to small businesses owned by veterans, 
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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Putting Our Veterans Back to Work Act of 2019’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows: 
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Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
TITLE I—RENEWING OUR VOW TO HIRE HEROES 
Sec. 101. Reauthorization of veterans retraining assistance program. 
Sec. 102. Extension of additional rehabilitation programs for persons who have 
exhausted rights to unemployment benefits under State law. 
Sec. 103. Reauthorization of collaborative veterans’ training, mentoring, and 
placement program. 
TITLE II—BUILDING ON OUR VOW TO HIRE HEROES 
Sec. 201. Unified employment portal for veterans. 
Sec. 202. Grants to hire veterans as first responders. 
Sec. 203. Contracting preference for offerors employing veterans. 
TITLE I—RENEWING OUR VOW 
TO HIRE HEROES 
SEC. 101. REAUTHORIZATION OF VETERANS RETRAINING 
ASSISTANCE PROGRAM. 
(a) EXTENSION.—Subsection (k) of section 211 of 
the VOW to Hire Heroes Act of 2011 (Public Law 112– 
56; 38 U.S.C. 4100 note) is amended by striking ‘‘March 
31, 2014’’ and inserting ‘‘December 31, 2021’’. 
(b) NUMBER OF ELIGIBLE VETERANS.—Subsection 
(a)(2) of such section is amended— 
(1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 
the end; 
(2) in subparagraph (B), by striking the period 
at the end and inserting a semicolon; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following new sub-
paragraphs: 
‘‘(C) 50,000 during fiscal year 2020; 
‘‘(D) 50,000 during fiscal year 2021; 
‘‘(E) 50,000 during fiscal year 2022; and 
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SEC. 102. EXTENSION OF ADDITIONAL REHABILITATION 
PROGRAMS FOR PERSONS WHO HAVE EX-
HAUSTED RIGHTS TO UNEMPLOYMENT BENE-
FITS UNDER STATE LAW. 
Section 3102(b)(4) of title 38, United States Code, 
is amended by striking ‘‘March 31, 2014’’ and inserting 
‘‘March 31, 2022’’. 
SEC. 103. REAUTHORIZATION OF COLLABORATIVE VET-
ERANS’ TRAINING, MENTORING, AND PLACE-
MENT PROGRAM. 
Subsection (e) of section 4104A of title 38, United 
States Code, is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 
amounts as follows: 
‘‘(1) $4,500,000 for the period consisting of fis-
cal years 2020 and 2021. 
‘‘(2) $4,500,000 for the period consisting of fis-
cal years 2022 and 2023.’’. 
TITLE II—BUILDING ON OUR 
VOW TO HIRE HEROES 
SEC. 201. UNIFIED EMPLOYMENT PORTAL FOR VETERANS. 
Section 4105 of title 38, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(c)(1) The Secretary shall develop a single, unified 
Federal web-based employment portal, for use by veterans, 
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containing information regarding all Federal programs 
and activities concerning employment, unemployment, and 
training to the extent the programs and activities affect 
veterans. 
‘‘(2) The Secretary shall work with representatives 
from the Department of Defense, the Department of Vet-
erans Affairs, the Small Business Administration, and 
other Federal agencies and organizations concerned with 
veterans’ issues, to determine an appropriate platform and 
implementing agency for the portal. The Secretary shall 
enter into an agreement with the other Federal agencies 
for the implementation of the portal.’’. 
SEC. 202. GRANTS TO HIRE VETERANS AS FIRST RESPOND-
ERS. 
(a) GRANTS FOR FIREFIGHTERS.—The Secretary of 
Homeland Security shall award grants under section 34 
of the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 
(15 U.S.C. 2229a) to hire veterans as firefighters. 
(b) GRANTS FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS.— 
The Attorney General shall award grants under part Q 
of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets 
Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10381 et seq.) to hire veterans 
as law enforcement officers. 
(c) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this sec-
tion to hire veterans, the Secretary of Homeland Security 
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and the Attorney General shall give priority to the hiring 
of veterans who served on active duty in the Armed Forces 
on or after September 11, 2001. 
(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 
authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 
$250,000,000. 
SEC. 203. CONTRACTING PREFERENCE FOR OFFERORS EM-
PLOYING VETERANS. 
(a) CIVILIAN CONTRACTS.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Chapter 33 of title 41, 
United States Code, is amended by adding at the 
end the following new section: 
‘‘§ 3313. Contracting preference for offerors employ-
ing veterans 
‘‘(a) PREFERENCE.—With respect to the procure-
ment of goods and services using competitive procedures 
by executive agencies, where such procurement is valued 
at $25,000,000 or higher, the Administrator shall estab-
lish a preference, and criteria for applying such pref-
erence, for a covered offeror. 
‘‘(b) CONGRESSIONAL
REPORT.—Prior to estab-
lishing the preference described in subsection (a), the Ad-
ministrator shall provide a report to Congress that in-
cludes— 
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‘‘(1) a plan for implementing such preference, 
including penalties for an offeror that willfully and 
intentionally misrepresents the veteran status of the 
employees of the offeror in a bid submitted under 
subsection (a); and 
‘‘(2) the process for assessing and verifying of-
feror compliance with regulations relating to equal 
opportunity for veterans requirements. 
‘‘(c) COVERED OFFEROR DEFINED.—In this section, 
the term ‘covered offeror’ means an offeror for which 5 
percent of the full-time employees of such offeror are vet-
erans.’’. 
(2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec-
tions at the beginning of such chapter is amended 
by adding after the item relating to section 3312 the 
following new item: 
‘‘3313. Contracting preference for offerors employing veterans.’’. 
(b) DEFENSE CONTRACTS.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Chapter 137 of title 10, 
United States Code, is amended by adding at the 
end the following new section: 
‘‘§ 2339b. Contracting preference for offerors employ-
ing veterans 
‘‘(a) PREFERENCE.—With respect to the procure-
ment of goods and services using competitive procedures 
by executive agencies, where such procurement is valued 
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at $25,000,000 or higher, the Administrator shall estab-
lish a preference, and criteria for applying such pref-
erence, for a covered offeror. 
‘‘(b) CONGRESSIONAL
REPORT.—Prior to estab-
lishing the preference described in subsection (a), the Sec-
retary of Defense shall provide a report to Congress that 
includes— 
‘‘(1) a plan for implementing such preference, 
including penalties for an offeror that willfully and 
intentionally misrepresents the veteran status of the 
employees of the offeror in a bid submitted under 
subsection (a); and 
‘‘(2) the process for assessing and verifying of-
feror compliance with regulations relating to equal 
opportunity for veterans requirements. 
‘‘(c) COVERED OFFEROR DEFINED.—In this section, 
the term ‘covered offeror’ means an offeror for which 5 
percent of the full-time employees of such offeror are vet-
erans.’’. 
(2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec-
tions at the beginning of such chapter is amended 
by adding after the item relating to section 2339a 
the following new item: 
‘‘2339b. Contracting preference for offerors employing veterans.’’. 
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(c) APPLICABILITY.—The amendments made by sub-
sections (a) and (b) shall apply to contracts entered into 
60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act. 
(d) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 180 days after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Federal Acquisi-
tion Regulation shall be amended to carry out the require-
ments of section 3313 of title 41, United States Code, and 
section 2339b of title 10, United States Code, as added 
by subsections (a) and (b), respectively. 
Æ 
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