[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3417 Introduced in House (IH)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3417

   To amend title 14, United States Code, to modify the process for 
 congressional nomination of individuals for appointment as cadets at 
the Coast Guard Academy, to amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to 
      require the Department of Homeland Security to establish a 
    comprehensive recruitment and outreach plan for the Coast Guard 
                    Academy, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 29, 2015

 Mr. Thompson of Mississippi introduced the following bill; which was 
     referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend title 14, United States Code, to modify the process for 
 congressional nomination of individuals for appointment as cadets at 
the Coast Guard Academy, to amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to 
      require the Department of Homeland Security to establish a 
    comprehensive recruitment and outreach plan for the Coast Guard 
                    Academy, 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 ``Coast Guard Academy Opportunity 
Act''.

SEC. 2. ACADEMY NOMINATIONS.

    (a) Appointment.--Subsection (a) of section 182 of title 14, United 
States Code, is amended to read as follows:
    ``(a) Nominations.--
            ``(1) Congressional nominations.--
                    ``(A) Appointment requirement.--Half of each 
                incoming class of the Academy shall be composed of 
                cadets nominated by the following:
                            ``(i) The Vice President or, if there is no 
                        Vice President, by the President pro tempore of 
                        the Senate.
                            ``(ii) A Senator.
                            ``(iii) A Member of the House of 
                        Representatives.
                            ``(iv) The Delegate to Congress from the 
                        District of Columbia, the Delegate to Congress 
                        from the Virgin Islands, the Resident 
                        Commissioner from Puerto Rico, the Delegate to 
                        Congress from Guam, the Delegate to Congress 
                        from American Samoa, or the Delegate to 
                        Congress from the Commonwealth of the Northern 
                        Mariana Islands.
                    ``(B) Nominees.--Each Senator, Member of the House 
                of Representatives, and Delegate to Congress, including 
                such Resident Commissioner, is entitled to nominate 3 
                persons each year. Cadets who do not graduate on time 
                shall not count against the allocations pursuant to 
                clauses (i) through (iv) of subparagraph (A).
            ``(2) Qualification requirements.--An individual shall be 
        qualified for nomination, selection, and appointment as a cadet 
        at the Academy only if the individual--
                    ``(A) is a citizen or national of the United 
                States; and
                    ``(B) meets such minimum requirements that the 
                Secretary may establish.
            ``(3) Nomination information.--The Superintendent shall 
        furnish to any Member of Congress, upon the written request of 
        such Member, the name of the Member of Congress or other 
        nominating authority responsible for the nomination of any 
        named or identified person for appointment to the Academy.''.
    (b) Application.--The amendment made by subsection (a)--
            (1) shall apply beginning with academic program year 2017, 
        subject to subsection (c), and with respect to each academic 
        program year thereafter; and
            (2) shall not affect the application of section 182 of 
        title 14, United States Code, as in effect before the enactment 
        of this section, with respect to appointment of cadets who will 
        matriculate to the Coast Guard Academy before such academic 
        program year.
    (c) Transition.--
            (1) Nominations.--Notwithstanding the amendment made by 
        subsection (a), with respect to the nomination of individuals 
        pursuant to section 182 of title 14, United States Code, as 
        amended by such subsection, who will matriculate to the Coast 
        Guard Academy in academic program year 2017, not less than 25 
        percent of the class shall be from nominations made pursuant to 
        clauses (i) through (iv) of subsection (a)(1)(A) of such 
        section 182 (as amended by subsection (a) of this section).
            (2) Additional action.--The Secretary (as that term is used 
        in that section) may take any additional action the Secretary 
        believes necessary and proper to provide for the transition to 
        the nomination, selection, and appointment process provided 
        under this section.

SEC. 3. COMPREHENSIVE STRATEGY.

    (a) Strategy Required.--Subtitle H of title VIII of the Homeland 
Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 451 et seq.) is amended by adding at the 
end the following:

``SEC. 890B. COMPREHENSIVE STRATEGY FOR COAST GUARD OUTREACH AND 
              RECRUITMENT.

    ``(a) Comprehensive Strategy Required.--The Secretary, acting 
through the Chief Human Capital Officer, shall issue a comprehensive 
strategy to improve outreach and recruitment to attract candidates to 
the Coast Guard Academy.
    ``(b) Implementation.--The Commandant of the Coast Guard, or the 
Commandant's designee, in consultation with the Chief Human Capital 
Officer, shall implement the strategy issued under subsection (a).
    ``(c) Annual Report.--Beginning in 2017 and annually thereafter, 
the Commandant of the Coast Guard, in consultation with the Chief Human 
Capital Officer, shall provide a report to the Committees on Homeland 
Security and Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of 
Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
Transportation of the Senate that includes--
            ``(1) general information on implementation of the 
        comprehensive strategy required by this section;
            ``(2) specific information on Coast Guard outreach and 
        recruitment activities for the preceding year; and
            ``(3) enrollment information about the incoming class that, 
        to the extent practicable, includes information on age, gender, 
        ethnicity, religion, and State of residence.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents in section 1(b) of 
such Act is amended by adding at the end of the items relating to such 
subtitle the following:

``Sec. 890B. Comprehensive strategy for Coast Guard outreach and 
                            recruitment.''.
    (c) GAO Review.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the 
issuance of the comprehensive strategy required by the amendment made 
by subsection (a), the Comptroller General of the United States shall 
report to the Congress on implementation of the comprehensive strategy 
and the extent to which such activities are effective at reaching a 
broad population of potentially qualified Academy applicants.
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