[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1352 Introduced in House (IH)]






109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1352

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow employers to claim 
    a work opportunity credit for hiring military service personnel 
  returning from service in Iraq or Afghanistan and for hiring their 
            dependents and dependents of deceased personnel.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 16, 2005

Ms. Schwartz of Pennsylvania (for herself and Mr. Schwarz of Michigan) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                             Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow employers to claim 
    a work opportunity credit for hiring military service personnel 
  returning from service in Iraq or Afghanistan and for hiring their 
            dependents and dependents of deceased personnel.

    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 Employment and Respect Act 
of 2005''.

SEC. 2. WORK OPPORTUNITY CREDIT ALLOWABLE FOR HIRING MILITARY SERVICE 
              PERSONNEL RETURNING FROM SERVICE IN AFGHANISTAN OR IRAQ 
              AND FOR HIRING DEPENDENTS OF AFGHANISTAN AND IRAQ-ERA 
              VETERANS.

    (a) In General.--Paragraph (1) of section 51(d) of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to members of targeted groups) is 
amended by striking ``or'' at the end of subparagraph (G), by striking 
the period at the end of subparagraph (H) and inserting a comma, and by 
adding at the end the following new subparagraphs:
                    ``(I) a qualified veteran of Afghanistan or Iraq, 
                or
                    ``(J) a qualified dependent of an Afghanistan or 
                Iraq-era veteran.'' .
    (b) Definitions.--Subsection (d) of section 51 of such Code is 
amended by redesignating paragraphs (10) through (12) as paragraphs 
(11) through (13), respectively, and by inserting after paragraph (9) 
the following new paragraph:
            ``(10) Qualified afghanistan or iraq veterans, etc.--
                    ``(A) Qualified veteran of afghanistan or iraq.--
                The term `qualified veteran of Afghanistan or Iraq' 
                means any veteran (as defined in paragraph (3)(B)) who 
                is certified by the designated local agency--
                            ``(i) as having performed services--
                                    ``(I) in an area designated by the 
                                President pursuant to the subparagraph 
                                as the `Operation Iraqi Freedom Area' 
                                or as the `Operation Enduring Freedom 
                                Area', and
                                    ``(II) during the period after 
                                October 6, 2001, before the date that 
                                the President specifies as the 
                                termination of United States combatant 
                                activities in such area, respectively, 
                                and
                            ``(ii) as having a hiring date which is not 
                        more than 2 years after the date that the 
                        veteran is discharged or released from active 
                        duty in the Armed Forces of the United States .
                    ``(B) Qualified dependent of afghasistan or iraq-
                era veteran.--The term `qualified dependent of an 
                Afghanistan or Iraq-era veteran' means any individual 
                who is certified by the designated local agency--
                            ``(i) as being a dependent (as defined in 
                        section 401 of title 37, United States Code) 
                        of--
                                    ``(I) a member of the Armed Forces 
                                of the United States at the time such 
                                member died as a result of wounds or 
                                injuries sustained while performing 
                                services described in subparagraph 
                                (A)(i), or
                                    ``(II) a member of a reserve 
                                component of the Armed Forces of the 
                                United States at the time such member 
                                was called or ordered to active duty 
                                if--
                                            ``(aa) such call or order 
                                        was for a period in excess of 
                                        180 days or for an indefinite 
                                        period, and
                                            ``(bb) such call or order 
                                        is during the period described 
                                        in subparagraph (A)(i), and
                            ``(ii) as having a hiring date--
                                    ``(I) in a case to which clause 
                                (i)(I) applies, which is not more than 
                                2 years after the member's date of 
                                death, and
                                    ``(II) in a case to which clause 
                                (i)(II) applies, which is during the 
                                period of the member's active duty.''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to individuals beginning work for the employer after October 6, 
2001.
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