[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 181 (Tuesday, November 7, 2017)]
[House]
[Pages H8562-H8563]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        VETERANS APPRENTICESHIP AND LABOR OPPORTUNITY REFORM ACT

  Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 3949) to amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for 
the designation of State approving agencies for multi-State 
apprenticeship programs for purposes of the educational assistance 
programs of the Department of Veterans Affairs, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 3949

       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 ``Veterans Apprenticeship and 
     Labor Opportunity Reform Act'' or the ``VALOR Act''.

     SEC. 2. DESIGNATION OF STATE APPROVING AGENCIES FOR MULTI-
                   STATE APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAMS.

       Paragraph (1) of subsection (c) of section 3672 of title 
     38, United States Code, is amended to read as follows:
       ``(1)(A) The State approving agency for a multi-State 
     apprenticeship program is--
       ``(i) for purposes of approval of the program, the State 
     approving agency for the State in which the headquarters of 
     the apprenticeship program is located; and
       ``(ii) for all other purposes, the State approving agency 
     for the State in which the apprenticeship program takes 
     place.
       ``(B) In this paragraph, the term `multi-State 
     apprenticeship program' means a non-Federal apprenticeship 
     program operating in more than one State that meets the 
     minimum national program standards, as developed by the 
     Department of Labor.''.

     SEC. 3. ELIMINATION OF CERTAIN CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENT FOR 
                   ASSISTANCE FOR APPRENTICESHIP AND OTHER ON-JOB 
                   TRAINING.

       Section 3680(c) of title 38, United States Code, is amended 
     by striking ``shall have received--'' and all that follows 
     through ``person's certificate,'' and inserting ``receives 
     from the training establishment a certification''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Florida (Mr. Bilirakis) and the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Walz) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Florida.


                             General Leave

  Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and 
to include extraneous material on H.R. 3949, as amended.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Florida?

[[Page H8563]]

  There was no objection.
  Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 3949, as amended, the 
Veterans Apprenticeship and Labor Opportunity Reform Act, or the VALOR 
Act.
  This bill, introduced by Mr. Khanna, Mr. Arrington, and Mr. O'Rourke, 
would help streamline the approval of national apprenticeship programs 
for the use of GI Bill funds, which is very important.
  Once a national apprenticeship is GI Bill approved, veterans are 
eligible for tiered payments that help them complete the program that 
leads to a successful career.
  This bill also helps eliminate an out-of-date requirement that 
created unnecessary paperwork for a veteran to complete before they 
could get paid for work completed during the apprenticeship.
  Mr. Speaker, this is another commonsense, bipartisan bill that will 
help employers become approved under the GI Bill and ensure the student 
veterans secure placement in apprenticeship programs that lead to 
employment.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. WALZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 3949 allows multi-State apprenticeship programs to 
go through GI Bill approval in just the State that they are 
headquartered in, streamlining the approval process so that programs 
have a lower administrative hurdle to jump over before being able to 
provide training to veterans.
  Currently, non-Federal apprenticeship programs that have locations in 
multiple States must go through the approval process with the State 
approving agency in each of the States where it operates before it can 
be approved for GI Bill benefits in that State.
  In order to encourage more high-quality apprenticeship programs to 
obtain approval for GI Bill benefits so that they can serve more 
veterans, this bill would allow multi-State programs to simply seek 
approval from the State approving agency in the State where they are 
headquartered.
  Once they have obtained the State's approval, the program will 
automatically be approved in all of the other States in which it 
operates.
  We are encouraging apprenticeships. They are a great way for our 
veterans to use their earned benefits to get into well-paying, long-
term careers. We should encourage more companies and industries to do 
that. This piece of legislation is smart and does that. In just a 
moment we will hear from one of the authors of it explaining how it 
will do that.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Arrington.)
  Mr. ARRINGTON. Mr. Speaker, today I rise in strong support of H.R. 
3949, yet another piece of bipartisan, commonsense legislation that 
will serve our veterans.
  In the transition from deployment to employment, apprenticeship 
programs have proven to be extremely successful. Roughly 20,000 
veterans are actively training or participating in these programs, and 
their employment outcomes are nothing short of impressive. According to 
VA's data, over 90 percent of veteran apprentices are employed after 
completing their programs with an average starting wage of over 
$60,000. Over their lifetime, apprentices see an increase in 
compensation of over $300,000 as compared to their peers.
  These programs aren't just a win for our veterans, they are a win for 
taxpayers. Every dollar invested in apprenticeship programs sees a 
return in benefits of $35.
  While it is clear to see the advantages of apprenticeship programs, 
like in many parts of VA, this program is hampered by needless burden 
and bureaucracy. Currently, private employers who offer these programs 
in more than one State have to register with each State individually. 
Burdened by the difficulty and trail of paperwork that this creates, 
many employers only choose to participate in a limited way or they just 
don't offer them altogether.
  H.R. 3949, the Veterans Apprenticeship and Labor Opportunity Reform 
Act, or the VALOR Act, authored by my good friend and colleague, 
Congressman Ro Khanna, streamlines the registration process for 
employers, which, in turn, encourages them to participate and leads to 
more opportunities for our veterans.
  Given the tremendous sacrifice our veterans have made for our 
country, we should do everything we can to ensure that they have access 
to good jobs, and the VALOR Act does just that.
  I would like to thank Mr. Khanna again for his hard work and his 
leadership on this legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support it.
  Mr. WALZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Khanna), who is not just a national voice, but a global 
voice on manufacturing entrepreneurism, and apprenticeships; and who is 
one of the authors of this piece of legislation.

                              {time}  1615

  Mr. KHANNA. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the bipartisan bill, 
H.R. 3949.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the ranking member. I was in his office 
early on, and he really gave a freshman Member of Congress the guidance 
on how to get this through. I want to thank Chairman Arrington for 
coauthoring this legislation and for his leadership. I also thank 
Congressman Bilirakis for his kind words about the legislation.
  The legislation is very, very simple. Right now, if you want to offer 
a veteran an apprenticeship, you have to register in 50 different 
States. As a result, small businesses or medium-sized businesses say, 
``Well, we can't do that; we can't fill out paperwork in 50 different 
States,'' so they don't offer these apprenticeships. Our bill says, 
very simply, the only place that you should have to register in is the 
State that you are headquartered.
  This is the type of commonsense legislation that isn't partisan. It 
is going to give more opportunities to the people who have earned them 
by serving our country: veterans.
  I wish to recognize a few other people who have made this possible. 
Of course, Chairman Roe, whose leadership was critical, in addition to 
Chairman Arrington; Ranking Member O'Rourke; and the staff: Cathy Yu, 
Kelsey Baron, and Jon Clark.
  I also want to particularly recognize, on the Senate side, Aaron 
Murphy and Tony McClain in Senator Tester's office, and a companion 
Senate bill with Senator Tom Cotton and Senator Thom Tillis, as well as 
their staff, Jake Bailey and Bill Bode.
  Finally, I realize that there is only one person more than Members of 
Congress or staff who often gets things to move in this committee, and 
that is Dr. Joe Westcott, the legislative director of the National 
Association of State Approving Agencies. Joe and I have become friends. 
He has been such a voice for innovation and for this bill. He really is 
the reason that this bill has moved in the House and, I hope, in the 
Senate.
  Mr. WALZ. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from California and his 
coauthors.
  Again, this is smart. He is leaning into this, bringing innovation. 
He came to the Veterans' Affairs Committee and looked at ways that we 
can streamline this process. It is a good piece of legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to support this, and I yield 
back the balance of my time.
  Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Speaker, I thank Representative Khanna and all the 
sponsors, including Chairman Arrington, as well, for recognizing the 
problem and solving it. This is the way Congress should work.
  Mr. Speaker, I encourage support for this particular bill, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 3949, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________