[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 59 (Friday, April 11, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E752-E753]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      VETERANS EARN AND LEARN ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 10, 2003

  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, today I am pleased to introduce 
H.R. 1716, the Veterans Earn and Learn Act. Joining me as original 
cosponsors are Ranking Member Lane Evans, and the chairman and ranking 
member of the Benefits Subcommittee, Henry Brown and Michael Michaud, 
respectively.


                             WHY THIS BILL

  This measure promotes veterans' employment. It would modernize the on 
job training (OJT) and apprenticeship programs administered by the 
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to reflect American business and 
industry today. H.R. 1716 applies to the following VA educational 
assistance programs: the All-Volunteer Force Educational Assistance 
Program (Montgomery GI Bill--Active Duty), chapter 30, title 38 United 
States Code (U.S.C.); the Post-Vietnam Era Veterans Educational 
Assistance Program, chapter 32, title 38, U.S.C.; the Vietnam-Era 
Veterans Educational Assistance Program, chapter 34, title 38, U.S.C.; 
the Survivors' and Dependents' Educational Assistance Program, chapter 
35, title 38, U.S.C., and the Educational Assistance for Members of the 
Selected Reserve Program, (Montgomery GI Bill--Selected Reserve), 
chapter 1606, title 10, U.S.C. My colleagues and I intend to introduce 
a separate bill to modernize Training and Rehabilitation for Veterans 
with Service-Connected Disabilities under chapter 31, title 38, U.S.C.
  I want VA's on-job training and apprenticeship program to reflect 
today's workplace. I have consulted extensively with representatives of 
organized labor, business, and industry to obtain their suggestions for 
improving the design of VA's program. Congress essentially has not 
changed it since World War II, and we should do so now. I also have 
consulted informally with VA and the Department of Labor (DOL), in 
addition to selected states to learn of their experiences in 
administering these programs. This bill reflects many of their 
suggestions.
  VA's current OJT and apprenticeship programs pay veterans to learn 
while they earn. Rates for the various chapters differ somewhat, but in 
general, for the first six months veterans receive a monthly benefit of 
$675; for the second six months $496 monthly, and for the remainder of 
training $315 monthly. Congress furnishes these amounts to offset the 
difference between the training wage and the wage of the fully-trained 
employee. OJT can last for up to two years. Apprenticeships often last 
as much as five years.


                             OUR CHALLENGE

  Mr. Speaker, classroom training is well known and established under 
VA's various educational assistance programs, including the current 
Montgomery GI Bill. But the on job training and apprenticeship 
opportunities under these programs appear less known and are less used 
than the college classroom. For example, of the 263,175 veterans using 
the Montgomery GI Bill (chapter 30) in fiscal year 2001, only 11,277 
(4.2 percent) were participating in on-job training and apprenticeship.
  Under Secretary for Benefits Daniel L. Cooper advised me by letter on 
September 11, 2002, that the OJT-apprenticeship ``low participation 
rate is not due to a low number of employers but a low veteran 
participation. The number of participating employers is constantly 
changing, but State approving agencies are currently reporting about 
7,000 employers who offer one or more VA-approved OJT or apprenticeship 
programs. Only about 2,200, or not quite 32 percent, have at least one 
veteran in training and receiving VA education benefits for the 
training.'' This is unacceptable. I intend to contact the Secretary of 
Labor and ask her to place more veterans in these jobs as soon as 
possible. I also note that 7.2 percent of veterans who used the 
Vietnam-era GI Bill trained through apprenticeship or OJT. For World 
War II veterans, about 18 percent trained in this manner. We must do 
better.
  DOL reports that 858 occupations in America offer apprenticeships. 
Apprenticeable occupations can be categorized as follows: arts; 
business and administrative support; installation, maintenance and 
repair; production; science, drafting and computing; and service. 
Occupations range from boilermaker to bricklayer, carpenter to cook, 
electrician to emergency medical technician, and pipefitter to police 
officer.
  The state of Missouri is showing the way. Missouri's aggressive 
efforts to place veterans into OJT and apprenticeships with Missouri 
employers produces about $38 million annually in VA education and 
training benefits. Pennsylvania is reporting similar success. The 
Governor of Pennsylvania sends each separating servicemember a letter 
to encourage use of VA education and training benefits.


                          EARNING AND LEARNING

  About two-thirds of active-duty servicemembers are married when they 
separate from the military. ``Earning and learning'' on the job through 
an OJT or apprenticeship program approved for veterans' training can be 
an excellent way for a servicemember to make the transition to civilian 
life. Because some military occupational skills are not transferable to 
the civilian economy, the veteran will have to train for a new 
occupation, or retrain to transfer their military skill to the civilian 
market. Veterans with military job skills that are transferable to 
civilian life benefit as well. They can continue working and training 
on-the-job while meeting the necessary licensing and certification 
requirements. Employers benefit because hiring veterans is plain and 
simple a good business decision.
  The resourcefulness and reliability former servicemembers bring to 
the workplace is exemplary. As First Lady Laura Bush has noted, 
veterans bring something else to the workplace that is hard to find--
``the greatest in character, commitment, and resolve.''


                         WHAT OUR BILL WOULD DO

  Mr. Speaker, here is what the Veterans Earn and Learn Act would 
accomplish:
  Section one would state Congressional purposes for VA's OJT and 
apprenticeship programs in both the private and public sectors of our 
economy. These include: helping employers hire and retain skilled 
workers; establishing a link between training afforded to 
servicemembers while serving in the Armed Forces and training available 
in civilian settings for purposes of occupational licensing and 
credentialing; and developing a more highly educated and productive 
workforce.
  Section two would modify OJT and apprenticeship benefit entitlements 
computation under the chapter 34 and 35 programs to be the same as the 
entitlement rate for the chapter 30, 32 and 1606 programs. Under 
current law, VA calculates chapter 30, 32, and 1606 programs based on 
monthly VA payment amounts rather than based on the amount of time 
spent in training. This ``dollars used'' versus ``time spent'' method 
helps the trainee conserve entitlement while participating in the OJT 
or apprenticeship program. This approach makes additional entitlement 
available for other educational pursuits, such as earning an associate 
degree in a specialized technology or meeting other licensing or 
credentialing requirements.
  Section three would establish an incentive payment for program 
participants who finish their apprenticeship training early. As an 
incentive for trainees to complete their apprenticeship or attain 
journeyworker status early, our bill would require VA to pay the 
trainee a lump sum payment for the months of VA entitlement remaining 
that would have been needed to complete the apprenticeship. This 
approach would remove the current disincentive to gain journeyworker 
status in competency-based apprenticeships as soon as the veteran is 
ready.
  Section four would increase the monthly VA benefit for trainees who 
simultaneously pursue apprenticeships or on-job training and related 
post-secondary classroom education training. This provision would apply 
whether the trainee was pursuing both forms of training as a 
requirement of the apprenticeship or voluntarily under the trainee's 
own initiative. For example, under this measure, the total VA would pay 
for simultaneous training could not exceed the full-time classroom 
rate, which currently is $900 per month. Current law increases the 
benefit to $985 per month on October 1, 2003.
  Section five would codify and strengthen VA authority to pay benefits 
for competency-based apprenticeships. In today's workplace, 
apprenticeships may be structured based upon a specific period of time, 
commonly known as a time-based program. Apprenticeships may also be 
based on the demonstration of successful mastery of skills, commonly 
known as a competency-based program, or training may be based upon a 
combination of the two. In the case of a competency-based learning 
program, the bill requires VA to take into consideration the 
approximate term of the program recommended in registered 
apprenticeship program standards recognized by the Secretary of Labor. 
Apprenticeships offered in industries that choose not to register with 
the Secretary of Labor, and that are approved for

[[Page E753]]

veterans' training by a state approving agency, would continue to serve 
as legitimate training and learning opportunities for beneficiaries. 
This section would also furnish the VA Secretary the authority to use 
up to $3 million to develop the computer systems and procedures needed 
to carry out provisions of the bill.

  Section six would require the VA Secretary to establish a pilot 
program to furnish on-job benefits to claims adjudicators training in 
its disability compensation, dependency and indemnity (DIC), and 
pension programs. I note that two of VA's four regional offices that 
adjudicate educational assistance claims offer such training. This 
pilot is unique because it would waive the current two-year maximum for 
on-job training. VA employees who adjudicate disability, DIC, and 
pension claims require three years to qualify as journeyworkers. I 
believe this provision has the potential to increase VA's ability to 
recruit and retain former servicemembers in these important positions, 
especially given the aging of VA's workforce.
  Section seven would require certain coordination of information among 
the Departments of Veterans Affairs, Defense, and Labor with respect to 
on-job training. This provision would do two things. First, at the time 
of a servicemember's separation from active duty, the Secretary of 
Defense would be required to furnish to the Secretary of Veterans 
Affairs information concerning each registered apprenticeship pursued 
by the servicemember during his or her active duty service. Second, it 
would require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, in conjunction with 
the Secretary of Labor, to encourage and assist states and private 
organizations to accord credit to servicemembers for skills in any 
related apprenticeship the servicemember may pursue in civilian life. I 
applaud the Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard for moving in this 
direction through its U.S. Military Apprenticeship Program (USMAP). But 
more can be done.


                               LEADERSHIP

  Mr. Speaker, leadership abounds in serving America's sons and 
daughters who have protected our freedoms. Let me mention just a very 
few examples:
  The Non Commissioned Officers Association of the United States for 
some 30 years has held job fairs for separating servicemembers at home, 
as well as abroad;
  The American Legion, through its Economic Commission, has played a 
major leadership role in creating opportunities to help veterans meet 
civilian licensing and credentialing requirements;
  The U.S. Army Ordnance Corps, on its own initiative, has exhibited 
leadership in linking training of its soldiers in many military 
specialties with civilian licensing and credentialing bodies so 
military time will count toward such requirements;
  The AFL-CIO's Center for Military Recruitment, Assessment and 
Veterans Employment, has initiated its Helmets to Hard Hats program in 
its Building and Construction Trades Department to link veterans 
possessing construction/building trades skills to learn-and-earn 
opportunities with companies nationwide;
  The Communication Workers of America has an on-going initiative to 
connect high-tech employers with high-performing veterans whose 
military occupational training makes them job-ready immediately;
  The U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Center for Workforce Preparation has 
initiated a pilot program in San Diego called `Operation Transition' to 
examine ways to link veterans and their spouses with employers; and
  The Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States is a partner in the 
innovative vetsjobs.com program.


                                PARTNERS

  Mr. Speaker, lastly I'd like to commend the many organizations that 
have offered suggestions for this bill:
  AFL-CIO; American Portland Cement Alliance; Associated Building and 
Contractors, Inc.; Associated General Contractors of America; College 
and University Professional Association for Human Resources; 
Communication Workers of America; International Union of Bricklayers 
and Allied Craftworkers; International Brotherhood of Teamsters; 
International Organization of Masters, Mates, and Pilots; Iron Workers 
International; Labor Policy Association; Laborers' International Union 
of North America; Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary 
Education; National Association of Manufacturers; National Association 
of State Approving Agencies; Nebraska Department of Education; 
Pennsylvania Department of Education; Sheet Metal Workers International 
Association; Society for Human Resource Management; Transport Union of 
America; United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the 
Plumbing, Pipefitting, and Sprinkler Fitting Industry; United 
Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America; and the U.S. Chamber 
of Commerce.
  I encourage my colleagues to add their names in support of this 
timely legislation.

                          ____________________