[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5153 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 5153

   To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out a pilot 
program to employ veterans in certain wildland firefighting activities.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             August 4, 2023

  Mr. Neguse introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
 Committee on Veterans' Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on 
Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Armed Services, 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 direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out a pilot 
program to employ veterans in certain wildland firefighting activities.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. PILOT PROGRAM TO EMPLOY VETERANS IN POSITIONS RELATING TO 
              FEDERAL WILDLAND FIREFIGHTING ACTIVITIES.

    (a) Establishment.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs, in 
coordination with the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the 
Interior, shall jointly establish a pilot program to employ veterans in 
wildland firefighting activities.
    (b) Duties.--Under such pilot program--
            (1) the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall be responsible 
        for administering such pilot program; and
            (2) the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the 
        Interior shall be responsible for--
                    (A) identifying vacant positions in the Department 
                of Agriculture and the Department of the Interior, 
                respectively, that are appropriate for veterans 
                selected for participation in such pilot program; and
                    (B) to the extent practicable, employing such 
                veterans in such positions.
    (c) Application of Civil Service Laws.--A veteran employed under 
the pilot program under subsection (a) shall be treated as an employee.
    (d) Best Practices.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall 
establish guidelines that include best practices for departments and 
agencies of the Federal Government that carry out programs to employ 
veterans who are transitioning from service in the Armed Forces. Such 
guidelines shall include--
            (1) lessons learned under the Warrior Training Advancement 
        Course of the Department of Veterans Affairs; and
            (2) methods to realize cost savings based on such lessons.
    (e) Partnership.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs, the 
Secretaries concerned, and the Secretary of Defense may enter into a 
partnership to include the pilot program under subsection (a) as part 
of the Skillbridge program under section 1143 of title 10, United 
States Code.
    (f) Reports.--
            (1) Initial report.--Not later than 60 days after the date 
        of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
        and the Secretaries concerned shall jointly submit to the 
        appropriate congressional committees a report on the pilot 
        program under subsection (a), including--
                    (A) a description of how such pilot program will be 
                carried out in a manner to reduce the unemployment of 
                veterans; and
                    (B) any recommendations for legislative actions to 
                improve such pilot program.
            (2) Implementation.--Not later than one year after the date 
        on which the Secretary of Veterans Affairs commences such pilot 
        program, such Secretary and the Secretaries concerned shall 
        jointly submit to the appropriate congressional committees a 
        report on the implementation of such pilot program.
            (3) Final report.--Not later than 30 days after the date on 
        which such pilot program concludes, the Secretary of Veterans 
        Affairs and the Secretaries concerned shall jointly submit to 
        the appropriate congressional committees a report that 
        includes--
                    (A) an identification of--
                            (i) the number of veterans who applied to 
                        participate in such pilot program;
                            (ii) the number of such veterans employed 
                        pursuant to such pilot program; and
                            (iii) the number of veterans described in 
                        clause (ii) who transitioned to full-time 
                        positions with the Federal Government after 
                        participating in such pilot program; and
                    (B) any other information the Secretaries determine 
                appropriate with respect to measuring the effectiveness 
                of such pilot program.
    (g) Termination Date.--The authority to carry out the pilot program 
under subsection (a) shall terminate on the date that is two years 
after the date on which the Secretary of Veterans Affairs commences 
such pilot program.
    (h) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) The term ``appropriate congressional committees'' means 
        the following:
                    (A) The Committee on Agriculture of the House of 
                Representatives.
                    (B) The Committee on Natural Resources of the House 
                of Representatives.
                    (C) The Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the House 
                of Representatives.
                    (D) The Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and 
                Forestry of the Senate.
                    (E) The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 
                of the Senate.
                    (F) The Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the 
                Senate.
            (2) The term ``employee'' has the meaning given such term 
        in section 2105 of title 5, United States Code.
            (3) The term ``wildland firefighting activities'' means any 
        temporary, seasonal, or permanent position at the Department of 
        Agriculture or the Department of the Interior, and Tribal 
        Firefighters, that maintains group, emergency incident 
        management, or fire qualifications, as established annually by 
        the Standards for Wildland Fire Position Qualifications 
        published by the National Wildfire Coordinating Group, that 
        primarily engages in or supports wildland fire management, 
        including forestry and rangeland technicians and positions 
        concerning aviation, engineering heavy equipment operations, 
        dispatch, or fire and fuels management.
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