[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8479 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 8479

     To establish an Interagency Council on Service to promote and 
 strengthen opportunities for military service, national service, and 
   public service for all people of the United States, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 21, 2024

  Ms. Houlahan (for herself, Mr. Panetta, Mr. Bergman, and Mr. Waltz) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
Education and the Workforce, and in addition to the Committees on Armed 
  Services, Foreign Affairs, and Oversight and Accountability, 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 establish an Interagency Council on Service to promote and 
 strengthen opportunities for military service, national service, and 
   public service for all people of the United States, 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 ``Unity through Service Act of 2024''.

SEC. 2. INTERAGENCY COUNCIL ON SERVICE.

    (a) Establishment.--
            (1) In general.--There is established an Interagency 
        Council on Service (in this section referred to as the 
        ``Council'').
            (2) Functions.--The Council shall--
                    (A) advise the President with respect to promoting, 
                strengthening, and expanding opportunities for military 
                service, national service, and public service for all 
                people of the United States; and
                    (B) review, assess, and coordinate holistic 
                recruitment strategies and initiatives of the executive 
                branch to foster an increased sense of service and 
                civic responsibility among all people of the United 
                States and to explore ways of enhancing connectivity of 
                interested applicants to national service programs and 
                opportunities.
    (b) Composition.--
            (1) Membership.--The Council shall be composed of members 
        who are representatives of--
                    (A) the Secretary of State;
                    (B) the Secretary of Defense;
                    (C) the Attorney General;
                    (D) the Secretary of the Interior;
                    (E) the Secretary of Commerce;
                    (F) the Secretary of Labor;
                    (G) the Secretary of Health and Human Services;
                    (H) the Secretary of Education;
                    (I) the Secretary of Veterans Affairs;
                    (J) the Secretary of Homeland Security;
                    (K) the Director of the Office of Management and 
                Budget;
                    (L) the Director of National Intelligence;
                    (M) the Director of the Office of Personnel 
                Management;
                    (N) the Director of the Peace Corps;
                    (O) the Director of the Selective Service System;
                    (P) the Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation 
                for National and Community Service; and
                    (Q) such other officers as the President may 
                designate.
            (2) Chair.--The President shall annually designate to serve 
        as the Chair of the Council a member of the Council under 
        paragraph (1), the appointment of whom as an officer or 
        employee of the Federal Government was made by the President by 
        and with the advice and consent of the Senate.
            (3) Meetings.--The Council shall meet on a quarterly basis 
        or more frequently as the Chair of the Council may direct.
    (c) Responsibilities of the Council.--The Council shall--
            (1) assist and advise the President in the establishment of 
        strategies, goals, objectives, and priorities to promote 
        service and civic responsibility among all people of the United 
        States;
            (2) develop and recommend to the President common 
        recruitment strategies and outreach opportunities for 
        increasing the participation, and propensity of people of the 
        United States to participate, in military service, national 
        service, and public service in order to address national 
        security and domestic investment;
            (3) serve as a forum for Federal officials responsible for 
        military service, national service, and public service programs 
        to, as feasible and practicable--
                    (A) coordinate and share best practices for service 
                recruitment; and
                    (B) develop common interagency, cross-service 
                initiatives and pilots for service recruitment;
            (4) lead a strategic, interagency coordinated effort on 
        behalf of the Federal Government to develop joint awareness and 
        recruitment, retention, and marketing initiatives involving 
        military service, national service, and public service;
            (5) consider approaches for assessing impacts of service on 
        the needs of the United States and individuals participating in 
        and benefitting from such service;
            (6) consult, as the Council considers advisable, with 
        representatives of non-Federal entities, including State, 
        local, and Tribal governments, State and local educational 
        agencies, State Service Commissions, institutions of higher 
        education, nonprofit organizations, faith-based organizations, 
        philanthropic organizations, and the private sector, in order 
        to promote and develop initiatives to foster and reward 
        military service, national service, and public service;
            (7) not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of 
        this Act, and quadrennially thereafter, prepare and submit to 
        the President and Congress a Service Strategy, which shall set 
        forth--
                    (A) a review of programs and initiatives of the 
                Federal Government relating to the mandate of the 
                Council;
                    (B) a review of Federal Government online content 
                relating to the mandate of the Council, including user 
                experience with such content;
                    (C) current and foreseeable trends for service to 
                address the needs of the United States;
                    (D) recommended service recruitment strategies and 
                branding opportunities to address outreach and 
                communication deficiencies identified by the Council; 
                and
                    (E) to the extent practical, a joint service 
                messaging strategy for military service, national 
                service, and public service;
            (8) identify any notable initiatives by State, local, and 
        Tribal governments and by public and nongovernmental entities 
        to increase awareness of and participation in national service 
        programs; and
            (9) perform such other functions as the President may 
        direct.

SEC. 3. JOINT MARKET RESEARCH TO ADVANCE MILITARY AND NATIONAL SERVICE.

    (a) Program Authorized.--The Secretary of Defense, the Chief 
Executive Officer of the Corporation for National and Community 
Service, and the Director of the Peace Corps may carry out a joint 
market research, market studies, recruiting, and advertising programs 
to complement the existing programs of the military departments, the 
national service programs administered by the Corporation, and the 
Peace Corps.
    (b) Information Sharing Permitted.--Section 503 of title 10, United 
States Code, shall not be construed to prohibit sharing of information 
among, or joint marketing efforts of, the Department of Defense, the 
Corporation for National and Community Service, and the Peace Corps to 
carry out this section.

SEC. 4. TRANSITION OPPORTUNITIES FOR MILITARY SERVICEMEMBERS AND 
              NATIONAL SERVICE PARTICIPANTS.

    (a) Employment Assistance.--Section 1143(c)(1) of title 10, United 
States Code, is amended by inserting ``the Corporation for National and 
Community Service,'' after ``State employment agencies,''.
    (b) Employment Assistance, Job Training Assistance, and Other 
Transitional Services: Department of Labor.--Section 1144 of title 10, 
United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in subsection (b), by adding at the end the following:
            ``(11) Provide information on public service opportunities, 
        training on public service job recruiting, and the advantages 
        of careers with the Federal Government.''; and
            (2) in subsection (f)(1)(D)--
                    (A) by redesignating clause (v) as clause (vi); and
                    (B) by inserting after clause (iv) the following 
                new clause:
                    ``(v) National and community service, taught in 
                conjunction with the Chief Executive Officer of the 
                Corporation for National and Community Service.''.
    (c) Authorities and Duties of the Chief Executive Officer.--Section 
193A(b) of the National and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 
12651d(b)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (24), by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (2) in paragraph (25), by striking the period at the end 
        and inserting ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
            ``(26) ensure that individuals completing a partial or full 
        term of service in a program under subtitle C or E or part A of 
        title I of the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973 (42 
        U.S.C. 4951 et seq.) receive information about military and 
        public service opportunities for which they may qualify or in 
        which they may be interested.''.

SEC. 5. JOINT REPORT TO CONGRESS ON INITIATIVES TO INTEGRATE MILITARY 
              AND NATIONAL SERVICE.

    (a) Reporting Requirement.--Not later than 4 years after the date 
of enactment of this Act and quadrennially thereafter, the Chair of the 
Interagency Council on Service, in coordination with the Secretary of 
Defense, the Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation for National 
and Community Service, and the Director of the Peace Corps, shall 
submit a joint report on cross-service marketing, research, and 
promotion, including recommendations for increasing joint advertising 
and recruitment initiatives for the Armed Forces, programs administered 
by the Corporation for National and Community Service, and the Peace 
Corps, to the following congressional committees:
            (1) The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
        Affairs of the Senate.
            (2) The Committee on Homeland Security of the House of 
        Representatives.
            (3) The Committee on Oversight and Accountability of the 
        House of Representatives.
            (4) The Committee on Armed Services of the Senate.
            (5) The Committee on Armed Services of the House of 
        Representatives.
            (6) The Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate.
            (7) The Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of 
        Representatives.
            (8) The Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 
        of the Senate.
            (9) The Committee on Education and the Workforce of the 
        House of Representatives.
    (b) Contents of Report.--Each report under subsection (a) shall 
include the following:
            (1) The number of Peace Corps volunteers and participants 
        in national service programs administered by the Corporation 
        for National and Community Service, who previously served as a 
        member of the Armed Forces.
            (2) The number of members of the Armed Forces who 
        previously served in the Peace Corps or in a program 
        administered by the Corporation for National and Community 
        Service.
            (3) An assessment of existing (as of the date of the report 
        submission) joint recruitment and advertising initiatives 
        undertaken by the Department of Defense, the Peace Corps, or 
        the Corporation for National and Community Service.
            (4) An assessment of the feasibility and cost of expanding 
        such existing initiatives.
            (5) An assessment of ways to improve the ability of the 
        reporting agencies to recruit individuals from the other 
        reporting agencies.
            (6) A description of the information and data used to 
        develop any initiative or campaign intended to advance military 
        service or national service, including with respect to any 
        activity carried out under section 3.
    (c) Consultation.--The Chair of the Interagency Council on Service, 
the Secretary of Defense, the Chief Executive Officer of the 
Corporation for National and Community Service, and the Director of the 
Peace Corps shall undertake studies of recruiting efforts that are 
necessary to carry out the provisions of this section. Such studies may 
be conducted using any funds appropriated to those entities under 
Federal law other than this Act.

SEC. 6. REPORTS TO CONGRESS ON LESSONS LEARNED REGARDING RETENTION AND 
              RECRUITMENT.

    The Chair of the Interagency Council on Service shall--
            (1) conduct a study on--
                    (A) the effectiveness of past advertising campaigns 
                for military service, national service, and public 
                service; and
                    (B) the role of vaccine requirements on the 
                retention and recruitment of individuals for military 
                service, national service, and public service; and
            (2) not later than 270 days after the date of enactment of 
        this Act, submit a report on the findings of and lessons 
        learned from the study under paragraph (1) to--
                    (A) the Committee on Homeland Security and 
                Governmental Affairs of the Senate; and
                    (B) the Committee on Homeland Security of the House 
                of Representatives.

SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Interagency council on service.--The term ``Interagency 
        Council on Service'' means the Interagency Council on Service 
        established by section 2(a).
            (2) Military department.--The term ``military department'' 
        means each of the military departments listed in section 102 of 
        title 5, United States Code.
            (3) Military service.--The term ``military service'' means 
        active service (as defined in subsection (d)(3) of section 101 
        of title 10, United States Code) or active status (as defined 
        in subsection (d)(4) of such section) in one of the Armed 
        Forces (as defined in subsection (a)(4) of such section).
            (4) National service.--The term ``national service'' means 
        participation, other than military service or public service, 
        in a program that--
                    (A) is designed to enhance the common good and meet 
                the needs of communities, the States, or the United 
                States;
                    (B) is funded or facilitated by--
                            (i) an institution of higher education as 
                        defined in section 101 of the Higher Education 
                        Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001); or
                            (ii) the Federal Government or a State, 
                        Tribal, or local government; and
                    (C) is a program authorized in--
                            (i) the Peace Corps Act (22 U.S.C. 2501 et 
                        seq.);
                            (ii) section 171 of the Workforce 
                        Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3226) 
                        relating to the YouthBuild Program;
                            (iii) the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 
                        1973 (42 U.S.C. 4950 et seq.); or
                            (iv) the National and Community Service Act 
                        of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12501 et seq.).
            (5) Public service.--The term ``public service'' means 
        civilian employment in the Federal Government or a State, 
        Tribal, or local government.
            (6) Service.--The term ``service'' means a personal 
        commitment of time, energy, and talent to a mission that 
        contributes to the public good by protecting the Nation and the 
        citizens of the United States, strengthening communities, 
        States, or the United States, or promoting the general social 
        welfare.
            (7) State service commission.--The term ``State Service 
        Commission'' means a State Commission on National and Community 
        Service maintained by a State pursuant to section 178 of the 
        National and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12638).

SEC. 8. NO ADDITIONAL FUNDS.

    No additional funds are authorized to be appropriated for the 
purpose of carrying out this Act.

SEC. 9. GAO REPORT.

    Not later than 30 months after the date of enactment of this Act, 
the Comptroller General of the United States shall report to Congress 
on the effectiveness of this Act and the amendments made by this Act.
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