[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 115 (Thursday, July 11, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4583-S4584]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 2261. Mr. REED (for himself, Mr. Young, Mr. Coons, and Mrs. Hyde-
Smith) submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by him to the
bill S. 4638, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2025 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 K of title V, add the following:
SEC. 599C. INTERAGENCY COUNCIL ON SERVICE.
(a) Establishment of Interagency Council on Service.--
(1) Establishment.--
(A) In general.--There is established an Interagency
Council on Service (in this section referred to as the
``Council'').
(B) Functions.--The Council shall--
(i) advise the President with respect to promoting,
strengthening, and expanding opportunities for military
service, national service, and public service for all people
of the United States; and
(ii) review, assess, and coordinate holistic recruitment
strategies and initiatives of the executive branch to foster
an increased sense of service and civic responsibility among
all people of the United States and to explore ways of
enhancing connectivity of interested applicants to national
service programs and opportunities.
(2) Composition.--
(A) Membership.--The Council shall be composed of such
officers and employees of the Federal Government as the
President may designate, including not less than 1 such
officer or employee the appointment of whom as such officer
or employee was made by the President by and with the advice
and consent of the Senate.
(B) Chair.--The President shall annually designate to serve
as the Chair of the Council a member of the Council under
subparagraph (A), the appointment of whom as an officer or
employee of the Federal Government was made by the President
by and with the advice and consent of the Senate.
(C) Meetings.--The Council shall meet on a quarterly basis
or more frequently as the Chair of the Council may direct.
(3) Responsibilities of the council.--The Council shall--
(A) assist and advise the President in the establishment of
strategies, goals, objectives, and priorities to promote
service and civic responsibility among all people of the
United States;
(B) develop and recommend to the President common
recruitment strategies and outreach opportunities for
increasing the participation, and propensity of people of the
United States to participate, in military service, national
service, and public service in order to address national
security and domestic investment;
(C) serve as a forum for Federal officials responsible for
military service, national service, and public service
programs to, as feasible and practicable--
(i) coordinate and share best practices for service
recruitment; and
(ii) develop common interagency, cross-service initiatives
and pilots for service recruitment;
(D) lead a strategic, interagency coordinated effort on
behalf of the Federal Government to develop joint awareness
and recruitment, retention, and marketing initiatives
involving military service, national service, and public
service;
(E) consider approaches for assessing impacts of service on
the needs of the United States and individuals participating
in and benefitting from such service;
(F) consult, as the Council considers advisable, with
representatives of non-Federal entities, including State,
local, and Tribal governments, State and local educational
agencies, State Service Commissions, institutions of higher
education, nonprofit organizations, faith-based
organizations, philanthropic organizations, and the private
sector, in order to promote and develop initiatives to foster
and reward military service, national service, and public
service;
(G) not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of
this Act, and quadrennially thereafter, prepare and submit to
the President and Congress a Service Strategy, which shall
set forth--
(i) a review of programs and initiatives of the Federal
Government relating to the mandate of the Council;
(ii) a review of Federal Government online content relating
to the mandate of the Council, including user experience with
such content;
(iii) current and foreseeable trends for service to address
the needs of the United States;
(iv) recommended service recruitment strategies and
branding opportunities to address outreach and communication
deficiencies identified by the Council; and
(v) to the extent practical, a joint service messaging
strategy for military service, national service, and public
service;
(H) identify any notable initiatives by State, local, and
Tribal governments and by public and nongovernmental entities
to increase awareness of and participation in national
service programs; and
(I) perform such other functions as the President may
direct.
(b) Joint Market Research to Advance Military and National
Service.--
(1) Program authorized.--The Secretary of Defense, the
Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation for National and
Community Service, and the Director of the Peace Corps may
carry out a joint market research, market studies,
recruiting, and advertising program to complement the
existing programs of the military departments, the national
service programs administered by the Corporation, and the
Peace Corps.
(2) Information sharing permitted.--Section 503 of title
10, United States Code, shall not be construed to prohibit
sharing of information among, or joint marketing efforts of,
the Department of Defense, the Corporation for National and
Community Service, and the Peace Corps to carry out this
subsection.
(c) Transition Opportunities for Military Servicemembers
and National Service Participants.--
(1) Employment assistance.--Section 1143(c)(1) of title 10,
United States Code, is amended by inserting ``the Corporation
for National and Community Service,'' after ``State
employment agencies,''.
(2) Employment assistance, job training assistance, and
other transitional services: department of labor.--Section
1144 of title 10, United States Code, is amended--
(A) in subsection (b), by adding at the end the following:
``(11) Provide information on public service opportunities,
training on public service job recruiting, and the advantages
of careers with the Federal Government.''; and
(B) in subsection (f)(1)(D)--
(i) by redesignating clause (v) as clause (vi); and
(ii) by inserting after clause (iv) the following:
``(v) National and community service, taught in conjunction
with the Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation for
National and Community Service.''.
(3) Authorities and duties of the chief executive
officer.--Section 193A(b) of the National and Community
Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12651d(b)) is amended--
(A) in paragraph (24), by striking ``and'' at the end;
(B) in paragraph (25), by striking the period at the end
and inserting ``; and''; and
(C) by adding at the end the following:
``(26) ensure that individuals completing a partial or full
term of service in a program under subtitle C or E or part A
of title I of the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973 (42
U.S.C. 4951 et seq.) receive information about military and
public service opportunities for which they may qualify or in
which they may be interested.''.
(d) Joint Report to Congress on Initiatives to Integrate
Military and National Service.--
(1) Reporting requirement.--Not later than 4 years after
the date of enactment of this Act and quadrennially
thereafter, the Chair of the Interagency Council on Service,
in coordination with the Secretary of Defense, the Chief
Executive Officer of the Corporation for National and
Community Service, and the Director of the Peace Corps,
[[Page S4584]]
shall submit a joint report on cross-service marketing,
research, and promotion to Congress, including
recommendations for increasing joint advertising and
recruitment initiatives for the Armed Forces, programs
administered by the Corporation for National and Community
Service, and the Peace Corps.
(2) Contents of report.--Each report under paragraph (1)
shall include the following:
(A) The number of Peace Corps volunteers and participants
in national service programs administered by the Corporation
for National and Community Service, who previously served as
a member of the Armed Forces.
(B) The number of members of the Armed Forces who
previously served in the Peace Corps or in a program
administered by the Corporation for National and Community
Service.
(C) An assessment of existing (as of the date of the report
submission) joint recruitment and advertising initiatives
undertaken by the Department of Defense, the Peace Corps, or
the Corporation for National and Community Service.
(D) An assessment of the feasibility and cost of expanding
such existing initiatives.
(E) An assessment of ways to improve the ability of the
reporting agencies to recruit individuals from the other
reporting agencies.
(F) A description of the information and data used to
develop any initiative or campaign intended to advance
military service or national service, including with respect
to any activity carried out under subsection (b).
(3) Consultation.--The Chair of the Interagency Council on
Service, the Secretary of Defense, the Chief Executive
Officer of the Corporation for National and Community
Service, and the Director of the Peace Corps shall undertake
studies of recruiting efforts that are necessary to carry out
the provisions of this subsection. Such studies may be
conducted using any funds appropriated to those entities
under Federal law other than this Act.
(e) Reports to Congress on Lessons Learned Regarding
Retention and Recruitment.--The Chair of the Interagency
Council on Service shall--
(1) conduct a study on--
(A) the effectiveness of past advertising campaigns for
military service, national service, and public service; and
(B) the role of vaccine requirements on the retention and
recruitment of individuals for military service, national
service, and public service; and
(2) not later than 270 days after the date of enactment of
this Act, submit a report on the findings of and lessons
learned from the study under paragraph (1) to--
(A) the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs of the Senate; and
(B) the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of
Representatives.
(f) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Interagency council on service.--The term ``Interagency
Council on Service'' means the Interagency Council on Service
established by subsection (a)(1).
(2) Military department.--The term ``military department''
means each of the military departments listed in section 102
of title 5, United States Code.
(3) Military service.--The term ``military service'' means
active service (as defined in subsection (d)(3) of section
101 of title 10, United States Code) or active status (as
defined in subsection (d)(4) of such section) in one of the
Armed Forces (as defined in subsection (a)(4) of such
section).
(4) National service.--The term ``national service'' means
participation, other than military service or public service,
in a program that--
(A) is designed to enhance the common good and meet the
needs of communities, the States, or the United States;
(B) is funded or facilitated by--
(i) an institution of higher education as defined in
section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.
1001); or
(ii) the Federal Government or a State, Tribal, or local
government; and
(C) is a program authorized in--
(i) the Peace Corps Act (22 U.S.C. 2501 et seq.);
(ii) section 171 of the Workforce Innovation and
Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3226) relating to the YouthBuild
Program;
(iii) the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973 (42 U.S.C.
4950 et seq.); or
(iv) the National and Community Service Act of 1990 (42
U.S.C. 12501 et seq.).
(5) Public service.--The term ``public service'' means
civilian employment in the Federal Government or a State,
Tribal, or local government.
(6) Service.--The term ``service'' means a personal
commitment of time, energy, and talent to a mission that
contributes to the public good by protecting the Nation and
the citizens of the United States, strengthening communities,
States, or the United States, or promoting the general social
welfare.
(7) State service commission.--The term ``State Service
Commission'' means a State Commission on National and
Community Service maintained by a State pursuant to section
178 of the National and Community Service Act of 1990 (42
U.S.C. 12638).
(g) No Additional Funds.--No additional funds are
authorized to be appropriated for the purpose of carrying out
this section.
(h) Gao Report.--Not later than 30 months after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United
States shall report to Congress on the effectiveness of this
section and the amendments made by this section.
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