[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3971 Introduced in House (IH)]

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114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3971

 To amend titles 5 and 38, United States Code, to clarify the veteran 
status of an individual based on the attendance of the individual at a 
    preparatory school of a service academy, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            November 5, 2015

Mr. Issa (for himself and Ms. Duckworth) introduced the following bill; 
   which was referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, and in 
  addition to the Committee on Oversight and Government 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 amend titles 5 and 38, United States Code, to clarify the veteran 
status of an individual based on the attendance of the individual at a 
    preparatory school of a service 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 ``Support Earned Recognition for 
Veterans Act'' or the ``SERV Act''.

SEC. 2. CLARIFICATION OF VETERAN STATUS.

    (a) Clarification of Definition of Military Service.--Section 101 
of title 38, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (21)(D), by inserting after ``Naval 
        Academy'' the following: ``(but, except for purposes of chapter 
        17 of this title in accordance with section 107(e)(2), does not 
        include any service performed by a student at a preparatory 
        school of a service academy who is not otherwise a member of 
        the Armed Forces)'';
            (2) in paragraph (22), by inserting before the period at 
        the end the following: ``or, except for purposes of chapter 17 
        of this title in accordance with section 107(e)(2), duty 
        performed by a student at a preparatory school of a service 
        academy who is not otherwise a member of the Armed Forces''; 
        and
            (3) in paragraph (23), by adding after the period at the 
        end the following: ``Except for purposes of chapter 17 of this 
        title in accordance with section 107(e)(2), such term does not 
        include duty performed by a student at a preparatory school of 
        a service academy who is not otherwise a member of the Armed 
        Forces.''.
    (b) Service Deemed Not To Be Active Service.--Section 107 of title 
38, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following 
new subsection:
    ``(e)(1) Except as provided by paragraph (2), duty performed by a 
student at a preparatory school of a service academy who is not 
otherwise a member of the Armed Forces shall not be deemed to have been 
active military, naval, or air service for the purposes of any of the 
laws administered by the Secretary, regardless of whether the student 
was injured or disabled as a result of such duty.
    ``(2) Chapter 17 of this title shall apply to an individual 
described in paragraph (1) with respect to furnishing hospital care and 
medical services solely for an injury or disability incurred by the 
individual as a result of military training related to future active 
duty service performed as a student during the course of required 
training at a preparatory school of a service academy. An individual 
who receives such care and services under this paragraph may not be 
treated as a veteran for the purposes of any other provision of law 
solely by reason of receiving such care and services under this 
paragraph.''.
    (c) Small Business Concerns.--Section 8127(l) of title 38, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph:
            ``(3) The term `veteran', in accordance with sections 101 
        and 107 of this title, does not include an individual whose 
        veteran status is based solely on the attendance of the 
        individual as a student at a preparatory school of a service 
        academy, regardless of whether the individual was injured or 
        disabled as a result of duty performed as such a student.''.
    (d) Preference Eligible.--Section 2108 of title 5, United States 
Code, is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (4)(B), by striking ``; and'' and 
        inserting a semicolon;
            (2) in paragraph (5), by striking the period at the end and 
        inserting ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
            ``(6) an individual whose veteran status is based solely on 
        the attendance of the individual as a student at a preparatory 
        school of a service academy, regardless of whether the 
        individual was injured or disabled as a result of duty 
        performed as such a student, may not be treated as a `veteran', 
        `disabled veteran', or `preference eligible'.''.
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