[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 88 (Monday, June 6, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Page S3417]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 4374. Mrs. MURRAY submitted an amendment intended to be proposed 
by her to the bill S. 2943, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 
2017 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military 
construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy, 
to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for 
other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

       At the end of subtitle H of title V, add the following:

     SEC. 597. MILITARY APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAMS.

       (a) Promotion Required.--The Secretary of Defense shall, in 
     consultation with the Secretary of Labor, promote the 
     enhancement and implementation of military apprenticeship 
     programs that provide an opportunity for members of the Armed 
     Forces to improve their job skills and obtain certificates of 
     completion for registered apprenticeship programs while on 
     active duty. The Secretary of Defense also shall promote 
     connections between military training, education, and 
     transition activities and registered apprenticeship programs 
     in order to improve employment outcomes for veterans and help 
     ready-to-hire employers connect to this skilled workforce.
       (b) Voluntary Goals.--In carrying out subsection (a), the 
     Secretary of Defense shall establish voluntary goals for each 
     Armed Force relating to--
       (1) the number of members participating in activities 
     relating to registered apprenticeships prior to separation 
     from active duty;
       (2) the establishment of partnerships with registered 
     apprenticeship programs through the United Services Military 
     Apprenticeship Program, Skill Bridge programs, Transition 
     Assistance Program, tuition assistance programs, and other 
     appropriate mechanisms; and
       (3) the number of veterans entering registered 
     apprenticeship programs upon separation from active duty.
       (c) Biennial Report.--Not later than two years after the 
     date of the enactment of this Act, and every two years 
     thereafter, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the 
     appropriate committees of Congress a report describing the 
     activities undertaken pursuant to this section during the 
     two-year period ending on the date of such report, including 
     a description and assessment of the progress made in 
     achieving the voluntary goals established under subsection 
     (b).
       (d) Appropriate Committees of Congress Defined.--In this 
     section, the term ``appropriate committees of Congress'' 
     means--
       (1) the Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on 
     Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate; and
       (2) the Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on 
     Education and the Workforce of the House of Representatives.
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