[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 106 (Monday, June 24, 2019)]
[House]
[Pages H5045-H5046]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           BOOSTING RATES OF AMERICAN VETERAN EMPLOYMENT ACT

  Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 2109) 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.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 2109

       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 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) may 
     be debarred from contracting with the Department for a period 
     of not less than five years.
       ``(2) If the Secretary carries out 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 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 
California (Mr. Takano) and the gentlewoman from American Samoa (Mrs. 
Radewagen) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California.


                             General Leave

  Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and 
to insert extraneous material on H.R. 2109.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from California?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2109, the Boosting Rates of 
American Veteran Employment Act, or BRAVE Act.
  We know that overall veterans' unemployment rates are below the 
national average, and that includes a 3.5 percent rate for our younger 
post-9/11 veterans. However, this hides an alarming statistic: nearly 
one-third of veteran jobseekers are underemployed at a rate 15.6 
percent higher than nonveteran jobseekers.
  Both parties agree that men and women returning from our most recent 
conflicts deserve to come home to a reliable, good paying job. We owe 
them that.
  We can start right here in the Federal Government. The VA establishes 
long-term contracts with private companies for medical equipment, 
construction supplies, services, and more.
  Currently, the VA gives a preference for these contracts to veteran-
owned small businesses.
  The BRAVE Act would expand this contracting preference to allow the 
VA Secretary to give a preference to companies that actively employ 
veterans, a policy that would incentivize companies to hire more 
veterans, already a smart approach for companies, because veterans 
bring to a job the skills they earned and learned in their years of 
invaluable military training.
  This bipartisan bill would not add any additional costs or burdens to 
the taxpayers. It allows for the debarment of any company that 
knowingly misrepresents its proportion of veteran employees in order to 
receive a contracting preference.
  The BRAVE Act represents a win-win for the private sector, the 
Federal Government, and most importantly, veterans themselves.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Representative Rice for her hard work on 
this excellent bill, and Ranking Member Roe for beginning work on this 
bill last Congress. I urge my colleagues to support it today.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mrs. RADEWAGEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2109, introduced by 
Representative Rice of New York.
  Mr. Speaker, to improve employment opportunities for veterans and 
business opportunities for the companies that employ them, H.R. 2109 
would authorize the Department of Veterans Affairs, VA, to consider the 
number of veterans who would be employed by a potential contractor and 
give the company that employs certain veterans credit for doing so 
during the contract approval process.
  The bill would also allow VA to debar any contractor who willfully 
and intentionally misrepresents the number of veterans they employ.
  Mr. Speaker, thanks to President Trump and Republican pro-growth 
policies, the veteran unemployment rate is at a near historic low of 
2.7 percent.
  I firmly believe that we should encourage businesses to provide job 
opportunities to veterans as well as provide VA with the authority to 
consider veteran hires when making contracting decisions. This 
legislation emphasizes that.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank Representative Rice for her work on this bill, 
which has my full support. I urge all my colleagues to support H.R. 
2109.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman from 
New York (Miss Rice), my good friend, who is a member of the Veterans' 
Affairs Committee and a member of the Subcommittee on Economic 
Opportunity, and the sponsor of H.R. 2109.
  Miss RICE of New York. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 
2109, the Boosting Rates of American Veteran Employment Act, which I 
introduced along with Paul Cook from California.
  The BRAVE Act is commonsense, bipartisan legislation that will 
authorize the VA Secretary to give preference to contractors with high 
concentrations of full-time veteran employees when awarding Federal 
contracts.
  First, this bill will reward companies that actively hire and invest 
in veterans, companies that seek out veterans and give them 
opportunities to bring their unique skills and training

[[Page H5046]]

and experience to the civilian workforce.
  Second, it will create an incentive for other companies to do the 
same, which in turn will help bring more veterans into the workforce, 
and with good-paying jobs at that, the types of opportunities that give 
veterans and their families the stability they need as they transition 
to civilian life.
  Most importantly, as more and more companies hire more and more 
veterans, they will ultimately see that investing in veterans is just 
good for business. That is what the real incentive should be, not just 
an advantage in securing Federal contracts, but getting the benefit of 
employees who have worn the uniform, who have been trained by the 
greatest military in the world, and who have learned to get the job 
done no matter what the job is or how tough it may be.
  What business wouldn't want to have employees like that?
  Lastly, it bears emphasizing that this bill will cost taxpayers 
absolutely nothing.
  We need more businesses in the private sector to recognize the value 
of investing in the men and women who have served our country.
  To be clear, this isn't an act of charity. Veterans are not looking 
for a handout. They just need an opportunity to show what they can do. 
That is what this bill will help accomplish.
  The BRAVE Act will help ensure that more veterans have those 
opportunities.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Chairman Takano and Ranking Member Roe 
for supporting this bill and for helping to bring it to the floor 
today.
  This legislation passed unanimously in the last Congress, and I urge 
my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to once again give it the 
bipartisan support it deserves.
  Mrs. RADEWAGEN. Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close, and I yield back 
the balance of my time.
  Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support the 
legislation sponsored by Miss Rice, and I yield back the balance of my 
time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Takano) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 2109.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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