[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 76 (Monday, May 18, 2015)]
[House]
[Pages H3261-H3263]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           BOOSTING RATES OF AMERICAN VETERAN EMPLOYMENT ACT

  Mr. WENSTRUP. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 1382) to amend title 38, United States Code, to authorize 
the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, in awarding a contract for the 
procurement of goods or services, to give a preference to offerors that 
employ veterans, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 1382

       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 ``Boosting Rates of American 
     Veteran Employment Act'' or the ``BRAVE Act''.

     SEC. 2. PREFERENCE FOR OFFERORS EMPLOYING VETERANS.

       (a) In General.--Subchapter II of chapter 81 of title 38, 
     United States Code, is amended by adding after section 8128 
     the following new section:

     ``Sec. 8129. Preference for offerors employing veterans

       ``(a) Preference.--In awarding a contract (or task order) 
     for the procurement of goods or services, the Secretary may 
     give a preference to offerors that employ veterans on a full-
     time basis. The Secretary shall determine such preference 
     based on the percentage of the full-time employees of the 
     offeror who are veterans.
       ``(b) Enforcement Penalties for Misrepresentation.--(1) Any 
     offeror that is determined by the Secretary to have willfully 
     and intentionally misrepresented the veteran status of the 
     employees of the offeror for purposes of subsection (a) shall 
     be debarred from contracting with the Department for a period 
     of not less than five years.
       ``(2) In the case of a debarment under paragraph (1), the 
     Secretary shall commence debarment action against the offeror 
     by not later than 30 days after determining that the offeror 
     willfully and intentionally misrepresented the veteran status 
     of the employees of the offeror as described in paragraph (1) 
     and shall complete debarment actions against such offeror by 
     not later than 90 days after such determination.
       ``(3) The debarment of an offeror under paragraph (1) 
     includes the debarment of all

[[Page H3262]]

     principals in the offeror for a period of not less than five 
     years.''.
       (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections at the 
     beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting after the 
     item relating to section 8128 the following new item:

``8129. Preference for offerors employing veterans.''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Ohio (Mr. Wenstrup) and the gentlewoman from Nevada (Ms. Titus) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Ohio.


                             General Leave

  Mr. WENSTRUP. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks 
and to add extraneous material on H.R. 1382, as amended.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Ohio?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. WENSTRUP. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, to improve employment opportunities for veterans and 
business opportunities for the companies that employ them, H.R. 1382, 
as amended, would require the Secretary to consider the number of 
veterans working for an offerer in the decision to award a contract.
  Under the bill, the Secretary may give a preference to such employers 
based on the percentage of the workforce made up by veterans. The bill 
would also provide the Secretary with debarment authority for any 
offerer who willfully and intentionally misrepresents the number of 
veterans they employ.
  Mr. Speaker, the unemployment rate among certain age groups of 
veterans still exceeds their nonveteran peers, and this is one 
commonsense step to increase job opportunities for veterans of all 
ages.
  I thank Miss Rice for her hard work on this bill.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. TITUS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I rise in support of H.R. 1382, as amended, the Boosting Rates of 
American Veteran Employment Act, or BRAVE Act, of 2015.
  According to the April 2015 Bureau of Labor Statistics report, almost 
7 percent of post-9/11 veterans are unemployed, which is higher than 
the national average.

                              {time}  1630

  These men and women have dutifully served their country. Now it is 
our job as Members of Congress to craft policies that will improve and 
increase employment opportunities for them. This includes improving the 
Federal contracting process to incentivize private sector companies to 
hire more veterans when they come home.
  The Department of Veterans Affairs establishes long-term contracts 
with private sector businesses to provide veterans medical equipment, 
supplies, services, and other things. Currently, the VA gives 
preference for these contracts to veteran-owned small businesses, but 
it does not give preference to businesses that actively employ 
veterans. This bipartisan BRAVE Act allows the VA to consider the 
proportion of veterans employed by a prospective contractor when 
awarding those Federal contracts. It also encourages and incentivizes 
current VA contractors to employ more veterans.
  H.R. 1382 deters companies from exaggerating the number of veterans 
they employ in order to become more competitive for procurement, 
requiring debarment for any company that knowingly misrepresents its 
proportion of veteran employees.
  H.R. 1382 does not require offsets nor does it add any burdens on 
taxpayers. This bipartisan legislation will reward companies who hire 
veterans, thus incentivizing the private sector recruitment of veteran 
employees. It is, indeed, a win-win-win policy for the private sector, 
for the Federal Government, and, most importantly, for the veterans, 
themselves.
  I want to thank Miss Rice, who is the sponsor of this bill, Chairman 
Miller for bringing it to the floor, and Dr. Wenstrup and Mr. Takano--
the chairman and ranking member of the Subcommittee on Economic 
Opportunity--for their work on the bill.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. WENSTRUP. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I 
reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. TITUS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman from New 
York (Miss Rice), who is the sponsor of this important legislation.
  Miss RICE of New York. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of my 
legislation, H.R. 1382, the Boosting Rates of American Veteran 
Employment Act.
  I doubt there is a single Member of this body who would disagree that 
American veterans--men and women who have stepped up to protect our 
country and preserve the freedom that we cherish--deserve our full 
support when they have completed their service. They deserve the 
opportunity to find a good job, to support themselves and their 
families. They deserve the opportunity to succeed in civilian life, to 
adapt their extraordinary skills, training, and experience in order to 
thrive in a civilian workforce, and to continue making a meaningful 
contribution to our economy.
  We have seen real progress in adding veterans to the workforce, but 
we cannot be satisfied with that progress while so many men and women 
still struggle to find the good jobs they deserve. We cannot be 
satisfied when the unemployment rate among post-9/11 veterans remains 
higher than the national average. We cannot be satisfied if even a 
single American veteran who wants to work is not given the opportunity 
to do so--is left jobless, homeless, forgotten, and abandoned by the 
country he or she served.
  Unemployment among veterans is not only a stain on the character of 
our country, it is not only a dereliction of the promise we make to the 
people who risk their lives to protect us; it is a missed opportunity.
  Veterans have received the most advanced and sophisticated training 
the world has to offer. They have unique skills and experience. They 
know how to work as members of a team. They know how to succeed in the 
most difficult conditions. They know how to get the job done, whatever 
that job may be. They received that training, they developed those 
skills, and gained that experience because we invested in them as 
servicemembers, and we would be foolish not to double down on that 
investment. We would be foolish not to invest in them as veterans--
invest in their potential to adapt their training and skills and 
experience so they may use it to thrive in a civilian workforce and 
contribute to our economy.
  We need businesses in the private sector to recognize the benefit of 
having veterans in their workforces. We need businesses to recognize 
that it is in their self-interest to actively seek out and employ 
veterans, not as an act of charity, but because they are excellent 
workers who know how to get the job done and how to bring out the best 
in their fellow employees. That is why it is so important that we pass 
H.R. 1382.
  This legislation will make the kind of investment that Members of 
both parties can be pleased to support--the kind that costs no money. 
The Department of Veterans Affairs is already authorized for $19 
billion in total procurement and contracting spending. This legislation 
will simply ensure that, when the Secretary of the VA is awarding those 
contracts, he has the authority to give preference to businesses with 
high concentrations of full-time veteran employees, businesses that 
make it a priority to actively seek out veterans and provide them with 
meaningful full-time employment.
  As has been noted, the VA can already give such preference to 
veteran-owned businesses, as it should. We should give that same 
advantage to contractors who actively invest in veterans, who recognize 
their value and their potential to thrive in the civilian workforce.
  Such companies do exist, and this legislation will reward them for 
their commitment to giving veterans the opportunities they have earned. 
But in doing so, in creating such an advantage, this legislation will 
also create an incentive for other contractors to do the same, to be 
proactive, to make it a priority to seek out veterans who are looking 
for employment. In time, I have no doubt that they will recognize the 
value of investing in veterans as they will find themselves with a more 
productive, efficient, and effective workforce.

[[Page H3263]]

  Mr. Speaker, I want to give a special thanks to my colead sponsor on 
the other side of the aisle, Congressman Paul Cook, a combat veteran 
who served 26 years and retired as a colonel from the United 
States Marine Corps.

  I also think it is important to note that this bill has the support 
of several major veteran service organizations, including the Veterans 
of Foreign Wars, the American Legion, and the Iraq and Afghanistan 
Veterans of America.
  Finally, Mr. Speaker, I would like to express my support for another 
bill that I am proud to cosponsor, Dr. Wenstrup's legislation--H.R. 
474, the Homeless Veterans' Reintegration Programs Reauthorization Act.
  The HVRP provides critical support to help reintegrate homeless 
veterans into the workforce and to address the underlying issues that 
so often lead to life on the streets--services ranging from job 
training, job placement, and career counseling to clothing, housing, 
transportation, and treatment for mental health and substance abuse 
disorders. This program has been successful, and passing a 5-year 
reauthorization will secure its future and allow State and local 
agencies to plan long-term programming.
  I thank Dr. Wenstrup for his leadership on this issue, and I urge my 
colleagues to give H.R. 474 their full support.
  Ms. TITUS. Mr. Speaker, I strongly support H.R. 1382, and I urge my 
colleagues to do the same.
  I don't have any additional speakers, so I yield back the balance of 
my time.
  Mr. WENSTRUP. Mr. Speaker, once again, I encourage all Members to 
support H.R. 1382, as amended, and I thank Miss Rice for presenting 
this legislation.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Wenstrup) that the House suspend the rules and 
pass the bill, H.R. 1382, as amended.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. WENSTRUP. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further 
proceedings on this motion will be postponed.

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