[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8705 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 8705
To strengthen United States leadership through the recruitment and
hiring of veterans of the United States Armed Forces to civil service
positions, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
August 12, 2022
Ms. Herrell (for herself, Mr. McKinley, and Mrs. Flores) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs,
and in addition to the Committees on Armed Services, and Oversight and
Reform, 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 strengthen United States leadership through the recruitment and
hiring of veterans of the United States Armed Forces to civil service
positions, 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 ``Veteran Recruitment Act''.
SEC. 2. ENHANCEMENT OF DEPARTMENT OF STATE RECRUITMENT AND HIRING OF
VETERANS.
(a) Report.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment
of this Act, the Secretary of State shall, after consultation with the
Secretaries of Defense and Veterans Affairs, submit a report to the
President providing a detailed and comprehensive plan for prioritizing
the recruitment and hiring of veterans into covered positions. Such
plan shall, subject to presidential modification and to be fully
implemented not later than one year after the date the plan is
submitted to the President, accomplish the following:
(1) Ensure that veterans receive priority recruitment and
retention for covered positions, including through
implementation of military rank equivalency for at least mid-
level ranks within the Foreign Service.
(2) Identify and eliminate explicit and implicit barriers
in the Department's recruitment and hiring practices that,
intentionally or otherwise, prevent veterans from the obtaining
covered positions, including barriers in existing digital and
non-digital recruitment materials.
(3) Identify and adjust Foreign Service training and
management standards to align with those of other Federal
defense, intelligence, and security agencies, including
implementation of rigorous and selective training courses for
newly hired recruits.
(4) Identify and initiate specific steps that the
Department will take to ensure that physically disabled
veterans have equal access to covered positions.
(b) Hiring.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment
of this Act, the Secretary of State shall initiate and complete the
following steps to prioritize the hiring of veterans to covered
positions:
(1) Expand nationwide access to the Foreign Service oral
assessment job interview, including through proctored video-
conferencing from military facilities.
(2) Direct the Director General of the Foreign Service to
expand outreach and recruitment jurisdiction and efforts to
United States Armed Forces bases and other facilities in the
vicinities of their respective colleges and universities of
residence, including through the use of Diplomats in Residence.
(3) Direct the Department of State's Under Secretaries and
Assistant Secretaries to coordinate with relevant Department of
Defense leadership and personnel to develop outreach and
recruitment programs, which would be tailored to duty stations,
that would communicate with active-duty United States Armed
Forces personnel who are in the process of honorably separating
from military service about covered positions.
(4) Expand eligibility of the existing Veterans Innovation
Partnership Fellowship in order to boost access of veterans to
such Fellowship, including by, at a minimum, eliminating the
master's degree threshold requirement for access to the
fellowship.
(5) Establish at least one new academic fellowship for
veterans, to be modeled on the Department of State's Rangel and
Pickering Fellowships, not later than October 1, 2022.
SEC. 3. ENHANCEMENT OF U.S. AGENCY FOR GLOBAL MEDIA'S RECRUITMENT AND
HIRING OF VETERANS.
Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act,
the Chief Executive Officer of the U.S. Agency for Global Media shall,
after consultation with the Secretaries of Defense and Veterans
Affairs, submit a report to the President providing a detailed and
comprehensive plan for prioritizing the Agency's recruitment and hiring
efforts of veterans into positions at the Agency, including leadership,
management, policy, and broadcasting positions. Such plan shall,
subject to presidential modification and to be fully implemented not
later than one year after the date the plan is submitted to the
President, accomplish the following:
(1) Ensure that veterans receive priority recruitment for
Agency positions, including leadership, management, policy, and
broadcasting positions.
(2) Evaluate explicit and implicit barriers in Agency
recruitment and hiring practices that, intentionally or
otherwise, prevent veterans from obtaining positions with in
the Agency, including barriers in existing digital and non-
digital recruitment materials.
(3) Identify specific steps that the Agency will take to
ensure that physically disable veterans have equal access to
Agency positions.
(4) Recommend redeployment or realignment of discretionary
Agency monetary and personal resources to support all of the
above efforts.
SEC. 4. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE ESTABLISHMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF
SEPARATION MEMORANDA OF UNDERSTANDING WITH FEDERAL
AGENCIES.
Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act,
the Secretary of Defense shall--
(1) in any circumstance where the Department of Defense has
an memorandum of understanding to assist active-duty United
States Armed Forces personnel who are in the process of
honorably separating from military service (in this section
defined as a ``separation MOU'') with a Federal agency,
reassess and, where necessary, recommend modifications to the
separation MOU to enhance recruitment efforts of such personnel
by that agency; and
(2) in any circumstance where the Department does not have
an existing separation MOU with a Federal agency, at a minimum
initiate a separation MOU to enhance recruitment efforts of
such personnel by that agency.
SEC. 5. OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT ELIMINATION OF VETERANS
PREFERENCE WAIVERS.
(a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law,
beginning on the date of enactment of this Act and until the date
guidance is issued under subsection (b), the Director of the Office of
Personnel Management may not grant any veteran preference waiver under
section 3312 of title 5, United States Code.
(b) Guidance.--Not later than 30 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Director shall issue new guidance providing
updated criteria for the Office's granting of Federal agency, board, or
commission veteran preference waiver requests.
SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act--
(1) the term ``civil service'' has the meaning given that
term in section 2101 of title 5, United States Code;
(2) the term ``covered positions'' means civil service
positions within the Department of State, including Foreign
Service positions and leadership, management, and policy
positions; and
(3) the term ``veteran'' has the meaning given that term in
section 101 of title 38, United States Code.
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