I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1401 
To create a service corps of veterans called Veterans Engaged for Tomorrow 
(VET) Corps focused on promoting and improving the service opportuni-
ties for veterans and retired members of the military by engaging such 
veterans and retired members in projects designed to meet identifiable 
public needs with a specific emphasis on projects to support veterans, 
including disabled and older veterans and retired members of the mili-
tary. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 9, 2009 
Mr. SARBANES (for himself, Mr. HARE, Mrs. DAVIS of California, Mr. 
LOEBSACK, Mr. WILSON of Ohio, Mr. MOLLOHAN, Mr. ROTHMAN of New 
Jersey, Ms. SUTTON, Mr. BRALEY of Iowa, Mr. SIRES, Mr. ARCURI, Mr. 
PERLMUTTER, and Ms. DEGETTE) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 
A BILL 
To create a service corps of veterans called Veterans En-
gaged for Tomorrow (VET) Corps focused on promoting 
and improving the service opportunities for veterans and 
retired members of the military by engaging such vet-
erans and retired members in projects designed to meet 
identifiable public needs with a specific emphasis on 
projects to support veterans, including disabled and older 
veterans and retired members of the military. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘VET Corps Act of 2009’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.— 
Sec. 1. Short title; Table of Contents. 
Sec. 2. VET Corps. 
‘‘Subtitle J—VET Corps 
‘‘Sec. 199AA. Purposes of Vet Corps. 
‘‘Sec. 199BB. Establishment of VET Corps; Administrative provisions. 
‘‘Sec. 199CC. VET Corps members. 
‘‘Sec. 199DD. Authority to provide assistance to VET Corps projects. 
‘‘Sec. 199EE. Consultation. 
‘‘Sec. 199FF. Training and Technical assistance. 
‘‘Sec. 199GG. Definitions. 
Sec. 3. Authorization of Appropriations. 
SEC. 2. VET CORPS. 
(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following: 
(1) The veteran population is estimated by the 
Department of Veterans Affairs to be around 
23,400,000 and growing. 
(2) Today, an estimated 1,640,000 United 
States troops have deployed as part of Operation 
Enduring Freedom (OEF; Afghanistan) and Oper-
ation Iraqi Freedom (OIF; Iraq). In total 2,950,000 
veterans 
receive 
disability 
compensation, 
with 
261,897 having a 100 percent disability rating. As 
of September of 2007, 223,564 OEF/OIF veterans 
filed for disability claims. 
(3) A 2007 survey for the Department of Vet-
erans Affairs discovered veterans of all ages tend to 
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have an unemployment rate double that of similar 
nonveterans, with returning veterans experiencing 
the highest rate of unemployment at 18 percent. 
(4) Veterans often have difficulty transitioning 
to civilian life. 
(5) Military and national service is a foundation 
for a continued commitment to service. 
(6) The specific experience and expertise of vet-
erans make them uniquely qualified to serve other 
veterans. 
(7) The Civilian Conservations Corps (CCC) es-
tablished in 1933, which provided work and voca-
tional training for 3,500,000 unemployed young 
Americans, was one of the singularly successful Fed-
eral programs in American history. 
(8) The Senior Corps established in 1973 to ex-
pand the role of older volunteers, enrolls more than 
500,000 volunteers each year and in their first 10 
years contributed over 1,100,000,000 hours of serv-
ice to communities nationwide. 
(9) In a manner similar to the CCC of the 
1930s and the Senior Corps of today, veterans can 
be mobilized to perform outreach to the veteran 
community to guide them to appropriate services 
and assist them in necessary activities. 
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(b) GENERAL AUTHORITY.—Title I of the National 
and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12511 
et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘Subtitle J—VET Corps 
‘‘SEC. 199AA. PURPOSES OF VET CORPS. 
‘‘It is the purpose of this subtitle to authorize the 
establishment of Veterans Engaged for Tomorrow Corps 
(in this Act referred to as ‘VET Corps’)— 
‘‘(1) to create a service corps of veterans, com-
posed of veterans, retired military personnel, or fam-
ily members of veterans, or retired military per-
sonnel to help such individuals to obtain job train-
ing, professional certification, or access to post-sec-
ondary education or employers and otherwise to 
serve their communities through national and com-
munity service programs; 
‘‘(2) to create a service corps that supports ex-
isting outreach efforts of Veteran Service Organiza-
tions, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the 
Department of Defense in order to inform veterans 
about available services and benefits; 
‘‘(3) to create a service corps that will act as 
a clearinghouse to direct any person desiring to 
serve the veteran population to such opportunities in 
cooperation with other service corps programs, Vet-
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