[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2150 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 2150
To establish an Interagency Council on Service to promote and
strengthen opportunities for military service, national service, and
public service for all people of the United States, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
June 22, 2023
Mr. Reed (for himself and Mr. Young) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security
and Governmental Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish an Interagency Council on Service to promote and
strengthen opportunities for military service, national service, and
public service for all people of the United States, 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 ``Unity through Service Act of 2023''.
SEC. 2. INTERAGENCY COUNCIL ON SERVICE.
(a) Establishment.--
(1) In general.--There is established an Interagency
Council on Service (in this section referred to as the
``Council'').
(2) Functions.--The Council shall--
(A) advise the President with respect to promoting,
strengthening, and expanding opportunities for military
service, national service, and public service for all
people of the United States; and
(B) review, assess, and coordinate holistic
recruitment strategies and initiatives of the executive
branch to foster an increased sense of service and
civic responsibility among all people of the United
States and to explore ways of enhancing connectivity of
interested applicants to national service programs and
opportunities.
(b) Composition.--
(1) Membership.--The Council shall be composed of members
who are representatives of--
(A) the Secretary of State;
(B) the Secretary of Defense;
(C) the Attorney General;
(D) the Secretary of the Interior;
(E) the Secretary of Commerce;
(F) the Secretary of Labor;
(G) the Secretary of Health and Human Services;
(H) the Secretary of Education;
(I) the Secretary of Veterans Affairs;
(J) the Secretary of Homeland Security;
(K) the Director of the Office of Management and
Budget;
(L) the Director of National Intelligence;
(M) the Director of the Office of Personnel
Management;
(N) the Director of the Peace Corps;
(O) the Director of Selective Service System;
(P) the Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation
for National and Community Service; and
(Q) such other officers as the President may
designate.
(2) Chair.--From the members of the Council under paragraph
(1) who have been nominated by the President for the position
of the member described in such paragraph, and appointed to
such position with the advice and consent of the Senate, the
President shall annually designate a Chair of the Council.
(3) Meetings.--The Council shall meet on a quarterly basis
or more frequently as the Chair of the Council may direct.
(c) Responsibilities of the Council.--The Council shall--
(1) assist and advise the President in the establishment of
strategies, goals, objectives, and priorities to promote
service and civic responsibility among all people of the United
States;
(2) develop and recommend to the President common
recruitment strategies and outreach opportunities for
increasing the participation, and propensity of people of the
United States to participate, in military service, national
service, and public service in order to address national
security and domestic investment;
(3) serve as a forum for Federal officials responsible for
military service, national service, and public service programs
to, as feasible and practicable--
(A) coordinate and share best practices for service
recruitment; and
(B) develop common interagency, cross-service
initiatives and pilots for service recruitment;
(4) lead a strategic, interagency coordinated effort on
behalf of the Federal Government to develop joint awareness and
recruitment, retention, and marketing initiatives involving
military service, national service, and public service,
including the sharing of marketing and recruiting research
between and among Council members;
(5) consider approaches for assessing impacts of service on
the needs of the United States and individuals participating in
and benefitting from such service;
(6) consult, as the Council considers advisable, with
representatives of non-Federal entities, including State,
local, and Tribal governments, State and local educational
agencies, State Service Commissions, institutions of higher
education, nonprofit organizations, philanthropic
organizations, and the private sector, in order to promote and
develop initiatives to foster and reward military service,
national service, and public service;
(7) not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of
this Act, and quadrennially thereafter, prepare and submit to
the President and Congress a Service Strategy, which shall set
forth--
(A) a review of programs and initiatives of the
Federal Government relating to the mandate of the
Council;
(B) a review of Federal Government online content
relating to the mandate of the Council, including user
experience with such content;
(C) current and foreseeable trends for service to
address the needs of the United States;
(D) recommended service recruitment strategies and
branding opportunities to address outreach and
communication deficiencies identified by the Council;
and
(E) to the extent practical, a joint service
messaging strategy for military service, national
service, and public service;
(8) identify any notable initiatives by State, local, and
Tribal governments and by public and nongovernmental entities
to increase awareness of and participation in national service
programs; and
(9) perform such other functions as the President may
direct.
SEC. 3. JOINT MARKET RESEARCH TO ADVANCE MILITARY AND NATIONAL SERVICE.
(a) Program Authorized.--The Secretary of Defense, the Chief
Executive Officer of the Corporation for National and Community
Service, and the Director of the Peace Corps may carry out a joint
market research, market studies, recruiting, and advertising program to
complement the existing programs of the military departments, the
national service programs administered by the Corporation, and the
Peace Corps.
(b) Information Sharing Permitted.--Section 503 of title 10, United
States Code, shall not be construed to prohibit sharing of information
among, or joint marketing efforts of, the Department of Defense, the
Corporation for National and Community Service, and the Peace Corps to
carry out this section.
SEC. 4. TRANSITION OPPORTUNITIES FOR MILITARY SERVICEMEMBERS AND
NATIONAL SERVICE PARTICIPANTS.
(a) Employment Assistance.--Section 1143(c)(1) of title 10, United
States Code, is amended by inserting ``the Corporation for National and
Community Service,'' after ``State employment agencies,''.
(b) Employment Assistance, Job Training Assistance, and Other
Transitional Services: Department of Labor.--Section 1144 of title 10,
United States Code, is amended--
(1) in subsection (b), by adding at the end the following:
``(11) Provide information on public service opportunities,
training on public service job recruiting, and the advantages
of careers with the Federal Government.''; and
(2) in subsection (f)(1)(D)--
(A) by redesignating clause (v) as clause (vi); and
(B) by inserting after clause (iv) the following
new clause:
``(v) National and community service, taught in
conjunction with the Chief Executive Officer of the
Corporation for National and Community Service.''.
(c) Authorities and Duties of the Chief Executive Officer.--Section
193A(b) of the National and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C.
12651d(b)) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (24), by striking ``and'' at the end;
(2) in paragraph (25), by striking the period at the end
and inserting ``; and''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
``(26) ensure that individuals completing a partial or full
term of service in a program under subtitle C or E or part A of
title I of the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973 (42
U.S.C. 4951 et seq.) receive information about military and
public service opportunities for which they may qualify or in
which they may be interested.''.
SEC. 5. JOINT REPORT TO CONGRESS ON INITIATIVES TO INTEGRATE MILITARY
AND NATIONAL SERVICE.
(a) Reporting Requirement.--Not later than 4 years after the date
of enactment of this Act and quadrennially thereafter, the Chair of the
Interagency Council on Service, in coordination with the Secretary of
Defense, the Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation for National
and Community Service, and the Director of the Peace Corps, shall
submit to Congress a joint report on cross-service marketing, research,
and promotion, including recommendations for increasing joint
advertising and recruitment initiatives for the Armed Forces, programs
administered by the Corporation for National and Community Service, and
the Peace Corps.
(b) Contents of Report.--Each report under subsection (a) shall
include the following:
(1) The number of Peace Corps volunteers and participants
in national service programs administered by the Corporation
for National and Community Service, who previously served as a
member of the Armed Forces.
(2) The number of members of the Armed Forces who
previously served in the Peace Corps or in a program
administered by the Corporation for National and Community
Service.
(3) An assessment of existing (as of the date of the report
submission) joint recruitment and advertising initiatives
undertaken by the Department of Defense, the Peace Corps, or
the Corporation for National and Community Service.
(4) An assessment of the feasibility and cost of expanding
such existing initiatives.
(5) An assessment of ways to improve the ability of the
reporting agencies to recruit individuals from the other
reporting agencies.
(c) Consultation.--The Chair of the Interagency Council on Service,
the Secretary of Defense, the Chief Executive Officer of the
Corporation for National and Community Service, and the Director of the
Peace Corps shall undertake studies of recruiting efforts that are
necessary to carry out the provisions of this section. Such studies may
be conducted using any funds appropriated to those entities under
Federal law other than this Act.
SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Interagency council on service.--The term ``Interagency
Council on Service'' means the Interagency Council on Service
established under section 2.
(2) Military department.--The term ``military department''
means each of the military departments listed in section 102 of
title 5, United States Code.
(3) Military service.--The term ``military service'' means
active service (as defined in subsection (d)(3) of section 101
of title 10, United States Code) or active status (as defined
in subsection (d)(4) of such section) in one of the Armed
Forces (as defined in subsection (a)(4) of such section).
(4) National service.--The term ``national service'' means
participation, other than military service or public service,
in a program that--
(A) is designed to enhance the common good and meet
the needs of communities, the States, or the United
States;
(B) is funded or facilitated by--
(i) an institution of higher education as
defined in section 101 of the Higher Education
Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001); or
(ii) the Federal Government or a State,
Tribal, or local government; and
(C) is a program authorized in--
(i) the Peace Corps Act (22 U.S.C. 2501 et
seq.);
(ii) section 171 of the Workforce
Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3226)
relating to the YouthBuild Program;
(iii) the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of
1973 (42 U.S.C. 4950 et seq.); or
(iv) the National and Community Service Act
of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12501 et seq.).
(5) Public service.--The term ``public service'' means
civilian employment in the Federal Government or a State,
Tribal, or local government.
(6) Service.--The term ``service'' means a personal
commitment of time, energy, and talent to a mission that
contributes to the public good by protecting the Nation and the
citizens of the United States, strengthening communities,
States, or the United States, or promoting the general social
welfare.
(7) State service commission.--The term ``State Service
Commission'' means a State Commission on National and Community
Service maintained by a State pursuant to section 178 of the
National and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12638).
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