I 
115TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5649 
To amend titles 10 and 38, United States Code, to amend the Social Security 
Act, and to direct the Secretaries of Veterans Affairs, Defense, Labor, 
and Homeland Security, and the Administrator of the Small Business 
Administration, to take certain actions to improve transition assistance 
to members of the Armed Forces who separate, retire, or are discharged 
from the Armed Forces, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 27, 2018 
Mr. ARRINGTON (for himself, Mr. O’ROURKE, Mr. BANKS of Indiana, Mr. 
BILIRAKIS, Mr. RUTHERFORD, and Mr. WENSTRUP) introduced the fol-
lowing 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 jurisdic-
tion of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To amend titles 10 and 38, United States Code, to amend 
the Social Security Act, and to direct the Secretaries 
of Veterans Affairs, Defense, Labor, and Homeland Se-
curity, and the Administrator of the Small Business Ad-
ministration, to take certain actions to improve transition 
assistance to members of the Armed Forces who sepa-
rate, retire, or are discharged from the Armed Forces, 
and for other purposes. 
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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 ‘‘Navy SEAL Chief 
Petty Officer William ‘Bill’ Mulder (Ret.) Transition Im-
provement Act of 2018’’. 
SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
The table of contents for this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title. 
Sec. 2. Table of contents. 
Sec. 3. Definitions. 
TITLE I—IMPROVEMENTS TO TAP 
Sec. 101. Pathways for TAP. 
Sec. 102. Contents of TAP. 
TITLE II—OTHER TRANSITION ASSISTANCE 
Sec. 201. Access for the Secretaries of Labor and Veterans Affairs to the Fed-
eral directory of new hires. 
Sec. 202. Pilot program for off-base transition training for veterans and 
spouses. 
Sec. 203. Grants for provision of transition assistance to members of the 
Armed Forces after separation, retirement, or discharge. 
Sec. 204. Study of community-based transition assistance programs for mem-
bers of the Armed Forces after separation, retirement, or dis-
charge. 
Sec. 205. One-year independent assessment of the effectiveness of TAP. 
Sec. 206. Longitudinal study on changes to TAP. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) The term ‘‘TAP’’ means the Transition As-
sistance Program under sections 1142 and 1144 of 
title 10, United States Code. 
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(2) The term ‘‘Secretary concerned’’ has the 
meaning given such term in section 101 of title 10, 
United States Code. 
TITLE I—IMPROVEMENTS TO 
TAP 
SEC. 101. PATHWAYS FOR TAP. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1142 of title 10, United 
States Code, is amended— 
(1) in the section heading by striking ‘‘med-
ical’’ and inserting ‘‘certain’’; 
(2) in subsection (a)— 
(A) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘(re-
gardless of character of discharge)’’ after ‘‘dis-
charge’’; 
(B) in paragraph (3)(A)— 
(i) by inserting ‘‘or other separation’’ 
after ‘‘anticipated retirement’’ each place it 
appears; 
(ii) by striking the second sentence; 
(iii) by striking ‘‘90 days’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘365 days’’; and 
(iv) by striking ‘‘discharge or release’’ 
and inserting ‘‘retirement or other separa-
tion’’; and 
(C) in paragraph (3)(B)— 
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(i) by striking ‘‘90’’ and inserting 
‘‘365’’; and 
(ii) by striking ‘‘90-day’’ and inserting 
‘‘365-day’’; 
(3) by redesignating subsection (c) as sub-
section (d); 
(4) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol-
lowing new subsection (c): 
‘‘(c) COUNSELING PATHWAYS.—(1) Each Secretary 
concerned, in consultation with the Secretaries of Labor 
and Veterans Affairs, shall establish at least three path-
ways for members of the military department concerned 
receiving individualized counseling under this section. The 
Secretaries shall design the pathways to address the needs 
of members, based on the following factors: 
‘‘(A) Rank. 
‘‘(B) Term of service. 
‘‘(C) Gender. 
‘‘(D) Whether the member was a member 
of a regular or reserve component of an armed 
force. 
‘‘(E) Disability. 
‘‘(F) Character of discharge (including ex-
pedited discharge and discharge under condi-
tions other than honorable). 
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of the pathways for the Transition Assistance Program 
established under such subsection (c). 
SEC. 102. CONTENTS OF TAP. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1144 of title 10, United 
States Code, is amended— 
(1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘Such serv-
ices’’ and inserting ‘‘Subject to subsection (f)(2), 
such services’’; and 
(2) by amending subsection (f) to read as fol-
lows: 
‘‘(f) PROGRAM CONTENTS.—(1) The program carried 
out under this section shall consist of at least five days 
of instruction as follows: 
‘‘(A) One day of preseparation training 
specific to the armed force concerned, as deter-
mined by the Secretary concerned. 
‘‘(B) One day of instruction regarding— 
‘‘(i) benefits under laws administered 
by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; and 
‘‘(ii) other subjects determined by the 
Secretary concerned. 
‘‘(C) One day of instruction regarding 
preparation for employment. 
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‘‘(D) Two days of instruction regarding a 
topic selected by the member from the following 
subjects: 
‘‘(i) Preparation for employment. 
‘‘(ii) Preparation for education. 
‘‘(iii) Preparation for vocational train-
ing. 
‘‘(iv) Preparation for entrepreneur-
ship. 
‘‘(v) Other options determined by the 
Secretary concerned. 
‘‘(2) The Secretary concerned may permit a member 
to attend training and instruction under the program es-
tablished under this section— 
‘‘(A) before the time periods established under 
section 1142(a)(3) of this title; 
‘‘(B) in addition to such training and instruc-
tion required during such time periods.’’. 
(b) DEADLINE.—TAP shall comply with the require-
ments of subsection (f) of such section, as amended by 
subsection (a)(2), not later than one year after the date 
of the enactment of this Act. 
(c) REPORT.—On the date that is two years after the 
date of the enactment of this Act and annually thereafter 
for the subsequent four years, the Secretary of Defense 
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shall submit to the Committees on Armed Services and 
Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and the House of Rep-
resentatives a report regarding members of the Armed 
Forces who have attended TAP counseling during the pre-
ceding year. The report shall detail the following: 
(1) The total number of members who attended 
TAP counseling. 
(2) The number of members who attended TAP 
counseling under paragraph (1) of section 1142(f) of 
title 10, as amended by subsection (a). 
(3) The number of members who attended TAP 
counseling under paragraph (2) of such section. 
(4) The number of members who elected to at-
tend each two-day instruction under paragraph 
(1)(D) of such section. 
TITLE II—OTHER TRANSITION 
ASSISTANCE 
SEC. 201. ACCESS FOR THE SECRETARIES OF LABOR AND 
VETERANS AFFAIRS TO THE FEDERAL DIREC-
TORY OF NEW HIRES. 
Section 453A(h) of the Social Security Act (42 
U.S.C. 653a(h)) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing new paragraph: 
‘‘(4) VETERAN EMPLOYMENT.—The Secretaries 
of Labor and of Veterans Affairs shall have access 
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to information reported by employers pursuant to 
subsection (b) of this section for purposes of track-
ing employment of veterans.’’. 
SEC. 202. PILOT PROGRAM FOR OFF-BASE TRANSITION 
TRAINING FOR VETERANS AND SPOUSES. 
(a) EXTENSION
OF PILOT PROGRAM.—Subsection 
(a) of section 301 of the Dignified Burial and Other Vet-
erans’ Benefits Improvement Act of 2012 (Public Law 
112–260; 10 U.S.C. 1144 note) is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘During the two-year period be-
ginning on the date of the enactment of this Act, 
the’’ and inserting ‘‘During the five-year period be-
ginning on the date of the enactment of the Navy 
SEAL Chief Petty Officer William ‘Bill’ Mulder 
(Ret.) Transition Improvement Act of 2018, the’’; 
and 
(2) by striking ‘‘to assess the feasibility and ad-
visability of providing such program to eligible indi-
viduals at locations other than military installa-
tions’’. 
(b) LOCATIONS.—Subsection (c) of such section is 
amended— 
(1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘not less than 
three and not more than five States’’ and inserting 
‘‘not less than 50 locations in States (as defined in 
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section 101(20) of title 38, United States Code)’’; 
and 
(2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘at least two’’ 
and inserting ‘‘at least 20’’. 
(c) CONFORMING REPEAL.—Subsection (f) of such 
section is repealed. 
SEC. 203. GRANTS FOR PROVISION OF TRANSITION ASSIST-
ANCE TO MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES 
AFTER SEPARATION, RETIREMENT, OR DIS-
CHARGE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
shall make grants to eligible organizations for the provi-
sion of transition assistance to members of the Armed 
Forces who are separated, retired, or discharged from the 
Armed Forces, and spouses of such members. 
(b) USE OF FUNDS.—The recipient of a grant under 
this section shall use the grant to provide to members of 
the Armed Forces and spouses described in subsection (a) 
resume assistance, interview training, job recruitment 
training, and related services leading directly to successful 
transition, as determined by the Secretary. 
(c) ELIGIBLE ORGANIZATIONS.—To be eligible for a 
grant under this section, an organization shall submit to 
the Secretary an application containing such information 
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and assurances as the Secretary, in consultation with the 
Secretary of Labor, may require. 
(d) PRIORITY FOR HUBS OF SERVICES.—In making 
grants under this section, the Secretary shall give priority 
to an organization that provides multiple forms of services 
described in subsection (b). 
(e) INCLUSION
IN TAP COUNSELING.—The Sec-
retary of the military department concerned shall include 
in the information provided to a member of the Armed 
Forces 
during 
TAP 
counseling 
under 
section 
1142(c)(2)(B) of title 10, United States Code, as amended 
by section 101 of this Act, information regarding any re-
cipient of a grant under this section that is located in the 
community in which that member will reside after separa-
tion, retirement, or discharge from the Armed Forces. 
(f) AMOUNT OF GRANT.—A grant under this section 
shall be in an amount that does not exceed 50 percent 
of the amount required by the organization to provide the 
services described in subsection (b). 
(g) DEADLINE.—The Secretary shall carry out this 
section not later than six months after the effective date 
of this Act. 
(h) TERMINATION.—The authority to provide a grant 
under this section shall terminate on the date that is five 
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years after the date on which the Secretary implements 
the grant program under this section. 
(i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 
authorized to be appropriated $10,000,000 to carry out 
this section. 
SEC. 204. STUDY OF COMMUNITY-BASED TRANSITION AS-
SISTANCE PROGRAMS FOR MEMBERS OF THE 
ARMED FORCES AFTER SEPARATION, RE-
TIREMENT, OR DISCHARGE. 
(a) STUDY.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs, in 
consultation with State entities that serve members of the 
Armed Forces who are retired, separated, or discharged 
from the Armed Forces, shall enter into an agreement 
with an appropriate non-Federal entity to carry out a 
study to identify community-based programs— 
(1) that provide transition assistance to such 
members; and 
(2) operated by nonprofit entities. 
(b) TRANSMISSION TO MEMBERS.—The Secretary of 
Veterans Affairs shall transmit the list of programs identi-
fied under this section to the Secretary of Defense so the 
Secretaries of the military departments may carry out sec-
tion 1142(c)(2)(B) of title 10, United States Code, as 
amended by section 101 of this Act. 
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(c) ONLINE PUBLICATION.—The Secretary of Vet-
erans Affairs shall publish the most recent version of the 
list of programs identified under this section on a public 
website of the Department of Veterans Affairs. 
SEC. 205. ONE-YEAR INDEPENDENT ASSESSMENT OF THE 
EFFECTIVENESS OF TAP. 
(a) INDEPENDENT ASSESSMENT.—Not later than 90 
days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec-
retary of Veterans Affairs, in consultation with the cov-
ered officials, shall enter into an agreement with an appro-
priate entity with experience in adult education to carry 
out a one-year independent assessment of TAP, includ-
ing— 
(1) the effectiveness of TAP for members of 
each military department during the entire military 
life cycle; 
(2) the appropriateness of the TAP career read-
iness standards; 
(3) a review of information that is provided to 
the Department of Veterans Affairs under TAP, in-
cluding mental health data; 
(4) whether TAP effectively addresses the chal-
lenges veterans face entering the civilian workforce 
and in translating experience and skills from mili-
tary service to the job market; 
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(5) whether TAP effectively addresses the chal-
lenges faced by the families of veterans making the 
transition to civilian life; 
(6) appropriate metrics regarding TAP out-
comes for members of the Armed Forces one year 
after separation, retirement, or discharge from the 
Armed Forces; 
(7) what the Secretary, in consultation with the 
covered officials, veterans service organizations, and 
organizations described in section 203(a) of this Act, 
determine to be successful outcomes for TAP; 
(8) whether members of the Armed Forces 
achieve successful outcomes for TAP, as determined 
under paragraph (7); 
(9) how the Secretary and the covered officials 
provide feedback to each other regarding such out-
comes; 
(10) recommendations for the Secretaries of the 
military departments regarding how to improve out-
comes for members of the Armed Forces after sepa-
ration, retirement, and discharge; and 
(11) other topics the Secretary and the covered 
officials determine would aid members of the Armed 
Forces as they transition to civilian life. 
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(b) REPORT.—Not later than 90 days after the com-
pletion of the independent assessment under subsection 
(a), the Secretary and the covered officials, shall submit 
to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and 
House of Representatives and the Committees on Armed 
Services of the Senate and House of Representatives— 
(1) the findings and recommendations (includ-
ing recommended legislation) of the independent as-
sessment prepared by the entity described in sub-
section (a); and 
(2) responses of the Secretary and the covered 
officials to the findings and recommendations de-
scribed in paragraph (1). 
(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) The term ‘‘covered officials’’ is comprised 
of— 
(A) the Secretary of Defense; 
(B) the Secretary of Labor; 
(C) the Administrator of the Small Busi-
ness Administration; and 
(D) the Secretaries of the military depart-
ments. 
(2) The term ‘‘military departments’’ has the 
meaning given such term in section 101(8) of title 
10, United States Code. 
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SEC. 206. LONGITUDINAL STUDY ON CHANGES TO TAP. 
(a) STUDY.—Not later than 90 days after the date 
of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans 
Affairs, in consultation with the Secretaries of Defense 
and Labor and the Administrator of the Small Business 
Administration, shall conduct a five-year longitudinal 
study regarding TAP on three separate cohorts of mem-
bers of the Armed Forces who have separated from the 
Armed Forces, including— 
(1) a cohort that has attended TAP counseling 
as implemented on the date of the enactment of this 
Act; 
(2) a cohort that attends TAP counseling after 
the Secretaries of Defense and Labor implement 
changes recommended in the report under section 
205(b) of this Act; and 
(3) a cohort that has not attended TAP coun-
seling. 
(b) PROGRESS REPORTS.—Not later than 90 days 
after the day that is one year after the date of the initi-
ation of the study under subsection (a) and annually 
thereafter for the three subsequent years, the Secretaries 
of Veterans Affairs, Defense, and Labor, and the Adminis-
trator of the Small Business Administration, shall submit 
to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and 
House of Representatives and the Committees on Armed 
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Services of the Senate and House of Representatives a 
progress report of activities under the study during the 
immediately preceding year. 
(c) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after 
the completion of the study under subsection (a), the Sec-
retaries of Veterans Affairs, Defense, and Labor, and the 
Administrator of the Small Business Administration, shall 
submit to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of the Sen-
ate and House of Representatives and the Committees on 
Armed Services of the Senate and House of Representa-
tives a report of final findings and recommendations based 
on the study. 
(d) ELEMENTS.—The final report under subsection 
(c) shall include information regarding the following: 
(1) The percentage of each cohort that received 
unemployment benefits during the study. 
(2) The numbers of months members of each 
cohort were employed during the study. 
(3) Annual starting and ending salaries of 
members of each cohort who were employed during 
the study. 
(4) How many members of each cohort enrolled 
in an institution of higher learning, as that term is 
defined in section 3452(f) of title 38, United States 
Code. 
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