[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 103 (Thursday, June 18, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2942-S2943]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 5859. Mr. REED (for himself and Ms. Collins) submitted an
amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill S. 4784, to
authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2027 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 C of title VIII, add the following:
SEC. 850. JOB CORPS SHIPBUILDING-DEFENSE INDUSTRIAL BASE
PIPELINE ACT OF 2026.
(a) Alignment of Job Corps With the Defense Industrial
Base.--
(1) In general.--The National Imperative for Industrial
Skills program of the Department of Defense (or a successor
program) shall maximize the use of and expand on the
activities of Job Corps centers and registered apprenticeship
programs to train the skilled industrial workers that are
needed in the defense industrial base.
(2) Referral of military recruits to job corps.--Military
recruiters shall make each military recruit who is ineligible
to enlist in the military as a result of the requirements of
section 520 of title 10, United States Code, aware of the
opportunity to enroll in Job Corps and registered
apprenticeship programs in order to meet the standards for
enlistment or learn skills that can contribute to the defense
industrial base.
(3) Job corps trade realignment.--In order to address
shortages of skilled industrial workers in the defense
industrial base, the Secretary of Defense may, through the
National Imperative for Industrial Skills program (or a
successor program) and grants to Job Corps center operators
as provided in accordance with section 158(f) of the
Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3208(f)),
support the change of trades offered at a Job Corps center,
including at a Job Corps transition hub at an existing center
or at a new site in close proximity to a shipyard or other
defense industrial base suppliers, to align with the needs of
the defense industrial base, including through investments in
curricula development, equipment, and facilities.
(4) Definitions.--For purposes of this subsection:
(A) Enrollee; job corps; job corps center.--The terms
``enrollee'', ``Job Corps'', and ``Job Corps center'' have
the meanings given such terms in section 142 of the Workforce
Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3192).
(B) Job corps center operator.--The term ``Job Corps center
operator'' has the meaning given the term ``operator'' in
such section of such Act.
(C) Job corps transition hub.--The term ``Job Corps
transition hub'' means an advanced career training program
under section 148 of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity
Act (29 U.S.C. 3198) that facilitates the onboarding and
retention of enrollees into the defense industrial base.
(D) Registered apprenticeship program.--The term
``registered apprenticeship program'' means an apprenticeship
program that is registered under the Act of August 16, 1937
(commonly known as the ``National Apprenticeship Act''; 50
Stat. 664, chapter 663; 29 U.S.C. 50 et seq.).
(b) Extension of Shipbuilding Special Incentive to the Job
Corps.--Section 8696(b)(2) of title 10, United States Code,
is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(G) The Job Corps program established under section 143
of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C.
3193) or an individual Job Corps center operator as defined
in section 142 of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity
Act (29 U.S.C. 3192).''.
(c) Job Corps Conforming Reforms.--
(1) Success in military recruitment as a graduate of job
corps.--Section 142(5) of the Workforce Innovation and
Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3192(5)) is amended by inserting
``enlisted in the military with a score on the Armed Forces
Qualification Test that is above the thirty-first
percentile,'' before ``or completed''.
(2) Grants to job corps centers.--Section 158(f) of the
Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3208(f))
is amended--
(A) by striking the heading and inserting ``External
Funding'';
(B) by striking ``The Secretary may accept on behalf of the
Job Corps or individual Job Corps centers charitable
donations of cash'' and inserting the following:
``(1) In general.--The Secretary (or the Secretary of
Agriculture, as appropriate), on behalf of the Job Corps, or
a Job Corps center operator, on behalf of such center, may
accept grants and charitable donations of cash'';
(C) by inserting ``grants and'' before ``donations are'';
(D) by striking ``available for appropriate use'' and
inserting ``used exclusively''; and
(E) by adding at the end the following:
``(2) Transfer of property.--Notwithstanding sections
501(b) and 522 of title 40, United States Code, any property
acquired by a Job Corps center shall be directly transferred,
on a nonreimbursable basis, to the Secretary.
``(3) Prohibition of offset using external funding.--An
operator that accepts a grant or charitable donation under
paragraph (1) may not use the grant or charitable donation to
fulfill the cost of any obligation imposed on the operator
under an agreement under section 147.
``(4) Prohibition on restrictions for job corps
placement.--A grant or charitable donation under paragraph
(1) may not include terms that restrict the placement or
employment options of an enrollee or graduate.
``(5) Public reporting.-- The Secretary shall publicly
disclose on annual basis a list of grants and charitable
donations received under paragraph (1), which shall include
the amount and source of each grant or charitable donation
and the Job Corps center that was designated as the
beneficiary of each grant or charitable donation.''.
(3) Local authority to realign trades.--Section 151 of the
Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3201) is
amended by adding at the end the following:
``(d) Local Authority.--Subject to the limitations of the
budget approved by the Secretary for a Job Corps center, the
operator of a Job Corps center shall have the authority,
without prior approval from the Secretary, to--
``(1) hire staff and provide staff professional
development;
``(2) set terms and enter into agreements with Federal,
State, or local educational partners, such as secondary
schools, institutions of higher education, child development
centers, units of Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps
programs established under section 2031 of title 10, United
States Code, or employers; and
``(3) engage with and educate stakeholders (including
eligible applicants for the Job Corps) about Job Corps
operations, selection procedures, and activities.''.
(4) Streamlined enrollment of veterans and military
recruits into the defense industrial base.--
(A) In general.--Subsection (b) of section 144 of the
Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3194) is
amended--
(i) in the heading, by inserting ``and Certain Other Armed
Forces Members'' after ``Veterans''; and
(ii) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by inserting
``or a member of the Armed Forces eligible for pre-separation
counseling of the Transition Assistance Program under section
1142 of title 10, United States Code,'' after ``a veteran''.
(B) Background check exemption.--Section 145(b) of the
Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3195(b))
is amended--
(i) in paragraph (1)(C), by inserting ``except with respect
to an individual described in paragraph (4),'' before ``the
individual''; and
(ii) by adding at the end the following:
``(4) Individuals exempted from background check.--An
individual described in this paragraph is--
``(A) an individual who is--
``(i)(I) a member of the Armed Forces eligible for pre-
separation counseling of the
[[Page S2943]]
Transition Assistance Program under section 1142 of title 10,
United States Code; or
``(II) a veteran who left the Armed Forces not more than 90
days before the date on which the veteran applies to enroll
in the Job Corps; and
``(ii) not ineligible for retired pay as provided by
section 12740 of title 10, United States Code; or
``(B) a military recruit who--
``(i) is ineligible to enlist in the military as a result
of the requirements of section 520 of title 10, United States
Code; and
``(ii) not more than 90 days before the date on which the
recruit applies to enroll in the Job Corps, passed a
background check as part of the enlistment process.''.
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