[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3062 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3062

 To amend the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 to 
 require the Military Veterans Agricultural Liaison to provide certain 
 outreach to veterans with respect to agricultural employment, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 13, 2018

   Ms. Smith introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
   referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 to 
 require the Military Veterans Agricultural Liaison to provide certain 
 outreach to veterans with respect to agricultural employment, 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 ``Veteran Empowerment and Training to 
Facilitate Agricultural Revitalization and Mobilization Act of 2018'' 
or the ``VET-2-FARM Act of 2018''.

SEC. 2. MILITARY VETERANS AGRICULTURAL LIAISON.

    Section 219 of the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 
1994 (7 U.S.C. 6919) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (b)--
                    (A) in paragraph (3), by striking ``and'' at the 
                end;
                    (B) in paragraph (4), by striking the period at the 
                end and inserting a semicolon; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(5) provide information to veterans concerning the 
        availability of, and eligibility requirements for, positions 
        identified within the Department of Agriculture that are 
        available to employ or train veterans;
            ``(6) consult with the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary 
        of Veterans Affairs, the Secretary of Labor, and the 
        Administrator of the Small Business Administration with respect 
        to carrying out activities that assist veterans with 
        agriculture-related employment; and
            ``(7) establish and periodically update the website 
        described in subsection (d).''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(d) Website Required.--
            ``(1) In general.--The website required under subsection 
        (b)(7) shall include the following:
                    ``(A) Positions identified within the Department of 
                Agriculture that are available to veterans for 
                apprenticeships.
                    ``(B) Apprenticeships, programs of training on the 
                job, and programs of education that are approved for 
                purposes of chapter 36 of title 38, United States Code.
                    ``(C) Employment skills training programs for 
                members of the Armed Forces carried out pursuant to 
                section 1143(e) of title 10, United States Code.
                    ``(D) Information designed to assist businesses, 
                nonprofit entities, educational institutions, and 
                farmers interested in developing apprenticeships, on-
                the-job training, educational, or entrepreneurial 
                programs for veterans in navigating the process of 
                having a program approved by a State approving agency 
                for purposes of chapter 36 of title 38, United States 
                Code, including--
                            ``(i) contact information for relevant 
                        offices in the Department of Defense, 
                        Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of 
                        Labor, and Small Business Administration;
                            ``(ii) basic requirements for approval by 
                        each State approving agency;
                            ``(iii) recommendations with respect to 
                        training and coursework to be used during 
                        apprenticeships or on-the-job training that 
                        will enable a veteran to be eligible for 
                        agricultural programs; and
                            ``(iv) examples of successful programs and 
                        curriculums that have been approved for 
                        purposes of chapter 36 of title 38, United 
                        States Code (with consent of the organization 
                        and without any personally identifiable 
                        information).
            ``(2) Review of website.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Not later than 5 years after the 
                date of enactment of this paragraph, and once every 5 
                years thereafter, the Secretary shall conduct a study 
                to determine if the website required under subsection 
                (b)(7) is effective in providing veterans the 
                information required under paragraph (1).
                    ``(B) Ineffective website.--If the Secretary 
                determines that the website is not effective under 
                subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall--
                            ``(i) notify the agriculture and veterans 
                        committees described in subparagraph (C) of 
                        that determination; and
                            ``(ii) not earlier than 180 days after the 
                        date on which the Secretary provides notice 
                        under clause (i), terminate the website.
                    ``(C) Agriculture and veterans committees.--The 
                agriculture and veterans committees referred to in 
                subparagraph (B)(i) are--
                            ``(i) the Committee on Agriculture of the 
                        House of Representatives;
                            ``(ii) the Committee on Agriculture, 
                        Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate;
                            ``(iii) the Committee on Veterans' Affairs 
                        of the House of Representatives; and
                            ``(iv) the Committee on Veterans' Affairs 
                        of the Senate.
    ``(e) Consultation Required.--In carrying out this section, the 
Secretary shall consult with organizations that serve veterans.''.

SEC. 3. REPORT ON VETERANS EMPLOYED IN AGRICULTURE.

    (a) Report Required.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Secretary shall 
provide a report to the agriculture and veterans committees described 
in subsection (b) that includes the following:
            (1) Positions identified within the Department of 
        Agriculture that are, on the date of the report, available for 
        apprenticeships by service members or veterans.
            (2) A summary of the information on those positions that 
        has been provided to the Department of Defense, the Department 
        of Veterans Affairs, and the Department of Labor.
            (3) A summary of measures taken to partner with the 
        Department of Defense to identify and develop potential career 
        skills programs for service members who transition out of the 
        armed services.
            (4) The information the Department of Agriculture is 
        disseminating to agricultural entities to help those entities 
        contact the Department of Defense to establish career skills 
        programs.
            (5) The information the Department of Agriculture has 
        provided to the Department of Defense, Department of Veterans 
        Affairs, Small Business Administration, and the Department of 
        Labor on available apprenticeships or on-the-job training 
        available to veterans.
            (6) Information on how agricultural entities can contact 
        the Department of Agriculture for technical assistance in 
        establishing Department of Labor approved apprenticeships and 
        Department of Defense approved on-the-job training 
        opportunities.
    (b) Agriculture and Veterans Committees.--The agriculture and 
veterans committees referred to in subsection (a) are--
            (1) the Committee on Agriculture of the House of 
        Representatives;
            (2) the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 
        of the Senate;
            (3) the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the House of 
        Representatives; and
            (4) the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate.
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