[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1829 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1829

 To temporarily authorize recently retired members of the armed forces 
    to be appointed to certain civil service positions, require the 
  Secretary of Defense to issue certain notifications, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 30, 2017

Mr. Kilmer (for himself and Mr. Russell) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services, 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 temporarily authorize recently retired members of the armed forces 
    to be appointed to certain civil service positions, require the 
  Secretary of Defense to issue certain notifications, 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 ``Military Retiree Employment Act''.

SEC. 2. TEMPORARY AUTHORIZATION TO APPOINT RECENTLY RETIRED MEMBERS OF 
              THE ARMED FORCES TO CIVIL SERVICE POSITIONS.

    (a) In General.--For the period of 5 years beginning on the date 
that is 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
limitation in section 3326(b) of title 5, United States Code, shall not 
apply to a retired member of the armed forces during the period of the 
first 180 days after retirement.
    (b) Publication and Transparency Requirements.--The Secretary 
concerned shall ensure that for any appointment made under the 
authority granted by subsection (a)--
            (1) full consideration, in accordance with placement and 
        promotion procedures of the department concerned, was given to 
        eligible career employees;
            (2) the vacancy has been publicized for at least 10 
        business days to give interested candidates an opportunity to 
        apply;
            (3) the qualification requirements for the position conform 
        to the principles of a merit-based civil service;
            (4) qualification requirements for the position have not 
        been written in a manner designed to give advantage to the 
        retired member; and
            (5) the position has not been held open pending the 
        retirement of the retired member.
    (c) Oversight by Office of Personnel Management.--
            (1) Plan draft and implementation.--Not later than 90 days 
        after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director of the 
        Office of Personnel Management shall establish an oversight 
        plan to monitor all appointments made pursuant to subsection 
        (a), and conduct oversight according to the plan for the 
        duration of the authority granted by subsection (a).
            (2) Annual publication.--Not later than 30 days after the 
        end of the fiscal year of the date of enactment of this Act, 
        and every year thereafter for the duration of the authority 
        granted by subsection (a), the Director of the Office of 
        Personnel Management shall publish, by including the 
        information within a publication on a related matter, the 
        number of new employees appointed under such authority in that 
        year.
    (d) Report.--Not later than 4 years after the date of enactment of 
this Act, the Comptroller General shall submit a report to Congress 
describing the impact of the temporary authority granted by subsection 
(a), providing policy recommendations for improvements, and 
recommending whether such authority should be made permanent.
    (e) Rule of Construction.--No provision of this section may be 
interpreted to affect any appointment other than an appointment made by 
the Secretary of Defense.

SEC. 3. VACANCY NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENT.

    Beginning 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
Secretary of Defense, acting through the head of each office in the 
Department of Defense, shall ensure that every employee of the 
Department of Defense is informed, within one calendar day, of the 
publication of a vacancy within that employee's office that requires 
qualifications related to the employee's current duties.

SEC. 4. REDUCTION IN FORCE PROTECTIONS.

    For the period of 10 years beginning on the date that is 90 days 
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall 
ensure that each employee who is a veteran and who is newly hired or 
appointed to a position in the Department of Defense shall be informed 
of the effect of section 1597 of title 10, United States Code, as 
amended by the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016 
(Public Law 114-92; 129 Stat. 726), on that employee's protection from 
reduction in force.
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