[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5938 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
115th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 5938
To amend the VA Choice and Quality Employment Act to direct the
Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a vacancy and recruitment
database to facilitate the recruitment of certain members of the Armed
Forces to satisfy the occupational needs of the Department of Veterans
Affairs, to establish and implement a training and certification
program for intermediate care technicians in that Department, and for
other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 23, 2018
Miss Gonzalez-Colon of Puerto Rico introduced the following bill; which
was referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the VA Choice and Quality Employment Act to direct the
Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a vacancy and recruitment
database to facilitate the recruitment of certain members of the Armed
Forces to satisfy the occupational needs of the Department of Veterans
Affairs, to establish and implement a training and certification
program for intermediate care technicians in that Department, and for
other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Veterans Serving Veterans Act of
2018''.
SEC. 2. RECRUITMENT DATABASE.
(a) Establishment.--Section 208 of the VA Choice and Quality
Employment Act (Public Law 115-46; 38 U.S.C. 701 note) is amended as
follows:
(1) In subsection (a)--
(A) in the matter proceeding paragraph (1), by
striking ``a single database'' and inserting ``and
maintain a single searchable database, to be known as
the `Department of Defense and Veterans Affairs
Recruitment Database''';
(B) in paragraph (1), by striking ``; and'' and
inserting a semicolon;
(C) in paragraph (2), by striking the period at the
end and inserting ``; and''; and
(D) by adding after paragraph (2) the following new
paragraph:
``(3) with respect to each vacant position under paragraph
(1) and paragraph (2), the following information:
``(A) The military occupational specialty or skill
that corresponds to the position, as determined by the
Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of
Defense.
``(B) Each qualified member of the Armed Forces who
may be recruited to fill the position before such
qualified member of the Armed Forces has been
discharged and released from active duty.''.
(2) By redesignating subsections (b), (c), and (d) as
subsections (g), (h), and (i), respectively.
(3) By inserting after subsection (a) the following new
subsections:
``(b) Additional Information.--Subject to subsection (c), the
database established under subsection (a) shall include, with respect
to each qualified member of the Armed Forces, the following
information:
``(1) The name and contact information of the qualified
member of the Armed Forces.
``(2) The date on which the qualified member of the Armed
Forces is expected to be discharged and released from active
duty.
``(3) Each military occupational specialty currently or
previously assigned to the qualified member of the Armed
Forces.
``(c) Election Not To Be Listed.--A qualified member of the Armed
Forces may elect in writing not to be listed in the database.
``(d) Availability.--Information in the database shall be available
to offices, officials, and employees of the Department to the extent
the Secretary determines appropriate.
``(e) Expedited Hiring Procedures.--The Secretary shall implement
direct hiring and appointment procedures for vacant positions listed in
the database established under subsection (a) for qualified members of
the Armed Forces who apply for such positions.
``(f) Relocation Bonus.--The Secretary may authorize a relocation
bonus, in an amount determined appropriate by the Secretary and subject
to the same limitations as in the case of the authority provided under
section 5753 of title 5, to any qualified member of the Armed Forces
who has accepted a position listed in the database established under
subsection (a).''.
(4) In subsection (h)(1), as redesignated in paragraph (2),
by striking ``subsection (b)'' and inserting ``subsection
(g)''.
(5) In subsection (i), as redesignated in paragraph (2), by
striking ``of this Act'' and inserting ``of the Veterans
Serving Veterans Act of 2018, and annually thereafter''.
(6) By adding after subsection (i), as redesignated in
paragraph (2), the following new subsection:
``(j) Qualified Member of the Armed Forces Defined.--In this
section, the term `qualified member of the Armed Forces' means a member
of the Armed Forces--
``(1) described in section 1142(a) of title 10; and
``(2) who has been determined by the Secretary, in
consultation with the Secretary of Defense, to have a military
occupational speciality that corresponds to a vacant position
described in subsection (a).''.
(b) Deadline.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall establish
the database under section 208 of the VA Choice and Quality Employment
Act (Public Law 115-46; 38 U.S.C. 701 note), as amended by this
section, not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of
this Act.
SEC. 3. INTERMEDIATE CARE TECHNICIAN TRAINING PROGRAM.
(a) Establishment.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall
implement a program to train and certify covered veterans to work as
intermediate care technicians in the Department of Veterans Affairs.
(b) Locations.--
(1) Establishment.--The Secretary shall establish centers
at medical facilities of the Department selected by the
Secretary for the purposes of carrying out the program under
subsection (a).
(2) Selection of medical facilities.--In selecting a
medical facility of the Department under this subsection to
serve as a center, the Secretary shall consider--
(A) the experience and success of the facility in
training intermediate care technicians; and
(B) the availability of resources of the facility
to train intermediate care technicians.
(c) Covered Veteran Defined.--In this section, the term ``covered
veteran'' means a veteran who the Secretary determines served as a
basic health care technician while serving in the Armed Forces.
SEC. 4. NO AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
No additional funds are authorized to be appropriated to carry out
section 208 of the VA Choice and Quality Employment Act (Public Law
115-46; 38 U.S.C. 701 note), as amended by section 2 of this Act, or to
carry out section 3 of this Act. Such sections shall be carried out
using amounts otherwise authorized to be appropriated for such purpose.
<all>