[House Report 107-476]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



107th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session                                                     107-476

======================================================================



 
                         JOBS FOR VETERANS ACT

                                _______
                                

  May 20, 2002.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 
              State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

   Mr. Smith of New Jersey, from the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, 
                        submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                        [To accompany H.R. 4015]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

  The Committee on Veterans' Affairs, to whom was referred the 
bill (H.R. 4015) to amend title 38, United States Code, to 
revise and improve employment, training, and placement services 
furnished to veterans, and for other purposes, having 
considered the same, reports favorably thereon with an 
amendment and recommends that the bill as amended do pass.

  The amendment is as follows:
  Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the 
following:

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; REFERENCES TO TITLE 38, UNITED STATES CODE; 
                    TABLE OF CONTENTS.

  (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Jobs for Veterans 
Act''.
  (b) References to Title 38, United States Code.--Except as otherwise 
expressly provided, whenever in this Act an amendment or repeal is 
expressed in terms of an amendment to, or repeal of, a section or other 
provision, the reference shall be considered to be made to a section or 
other provision of title 38, United States Code.
  (c) Table of Contents.--The table of contents of this Act is as 
follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; references to title 38, United States Code.
Sec. 2. Priority of service for veterans in Department of Labor job 
training programs.
Sec. 3. Performance incentive awards for quality veterans employment, 
training, and placement services.
Sec. 4. Refinement of job training and placement functions of the 
Department.
Sec. 5. Additional improvements in veterans employment and training 
services.
Sec. 6. Committee to raise employer awareness of skills of veterans and 
benefits of hiring veterans.
Sec. 7. Sense of Congress commending veterans and military service 
organizations.
Sec. 8. Study on economic benefits to the United States of long-term 
sustained employment of veterans.

SEC. 2. PRIORITY OF SERVICE FOR VETERANS IN DEPARTMENT OF LABOR JOB 
                    TRAINING PROGRAMS.

  (a) Veterans' Job Training Assistance.--
          (1) In general.--Chapter 42 is amended by adding at the end 
        the following new section:

``Sec. 4215. Priority of service for veterans in Department of Labor 
                    job training programs

  ``(a) Definitions.--In this section:
          ``(1) The term `covered person' means any of the following 
        individuals:
                  ``(A) A veteran.
                  ``(B) The spouse of any of the following individuals:
                          ``(i) Any veteran who died of a service-
                        connected disability.
                          ``(ii) Any member of the Armed Forces serving 
                        on active duty who, at the time of application 
                        for assistance under this section, is listed, 
                        pursuant to section 556 of title 37 and 
                        regulations issued thereunder, by the Secretary 
                        concerned in one or more of the following 
                        categories and has been so listed for a total 
                        of more than 90 days: (I) missing in action, 
                        (II) captured in line of duty by a hostile 
                        force, or (III) forcibly detained or interned 
                        in line of duty by a foreign government or 
                        power.
                          ``(iii) Any veteran who has a total 
                        disability resulting from a service-connected 
                        disability.
                          ``(iv) Any veteran who died while a 
                        disability so evaluated was in existence.
          ``(2) The term `qualified job training program' means any 
        workforce preparation, development, or delivery program or 
        service that is directly funded, in whole or in part, by the 
        Department of Labor and includes the following:
                  ``(A) Any such program or service that uses 
                technology to assist individuals to access workforce 
                development programs (such as job and training 
                opportunities, labor market information, career 
                assessment tools, and related support services).
                  ``(B) Any such program or service under the public 
                employment service system, one-stop career centers, the 
                Workforce Investment Act of 1998, a demonstration or 
                other temporary program, and those programs implemented 
                by States or local service providers based on Federal 
                block grants administered by the Department of Labor.
                  ``(C) Any such program or service that is a workforce 
                development program targeted to specific groups.
          ``(3) The term `priority of service' means, with respect to 
        any qualified job training program, that a covered person shall 
        be given priority over nonveterans for the receipt of 
        employment, training, and placement services provided under 
        that program, notwithstanding any other provision of law.
  ``(b) Entitlement to Priority of Service.--(1) A covered person is 
entitled to priority of service under any qualified job training 
program if the person otherwise meets the eligibility requirements for 
participation in such program.
  ``(2) The Secretary of Labor may establish priorities among covered 
persons for purposes of this section to take into account the needs of 
disabled veterans and special disabled veterans, and such other factors 
as the Secretary determines appropriate.
  ``(c) Administration of Programs at State and Local Levels.--An 
entity of a State or a political subdivision of the State that 
administers or delivers services under a qualified job training program 
shall--
          ``(1) provide information and priority of service to covered 
        persons regarding benefits and services that may be obtained 
        through other entities or service providers; and
          ``(2) ensure that each covered person who applies to or who 
        is assisted by such a program is informed of the employment-
        related rights and benefits to which the person is entitled 
        under this section.
  ``(d) Addition to Annual Report.--In the annual report required under 
section 4107(c) of this title for the program year beginning in 2002 
and each subsequent program year, the Secretary of Labor shall evaluate 
whether covered persons are receiving priority of service and are being 
fully served by qualified job training programs, and whether the levels 
of service of such programs are in proportion to the incidence of 
representation of veterans in the labor market, including within groups 
that the Secretary may designate for priority under such programs, if 
any.''.
          (2) Clerical amendment.--The table of sections at the 
        beginning of chapter 42 is amended by inserting after the item 
        relating to section 4214 the following new item:

``4215. Priority of service for veterans in Department of Labor job 
training programs.''.

  (b) Employment of Veterans With Respect to Federal Contracts.--
          (1) In general.--Section 4212(a) is amended to read as 
        follows:
  ``(a)(1) Any contract in the amount of $100,000 or more entered into 
by any department or agency of the United States for the procurement of 
personal property and nonpersonal services (including construction) for 
the United States, shall contain a provision requiring that the party 
contracting with the United States take affirmative action to employ 
and advance in employment qualified covered veterans. This section 
applies to any subcontract entered into by a prime contractor in 
carrying out any such contract.
  ``(2) In addition to requiring affirmative action to employ such 
qualified covered veterans under such contracts and subcontracts and in 
order to promote the implementation of such requirement, the Secretary 
of Labor shall prescribe regulations requiring that--
          ``(A) each such contractor for each such contract shall 
        immediately list all of its employment openings with the 
        appropriate employment service delivery system (as defined in 
        section 4101(7) of this title), and may also list such openings 
        with one-stop career centers under the Workforce Investment Act 
        of 1998, other appropriate service delivery points, or 
        America's Job Bank (or any additional or subsequent national 
        electronic job bank established by the Department of Labor), 
        except that the contractor may exclude openings for executive 
        and senior management positions and positions which are to be 
        filled from within the contractor's organization and positions 
        lasting three days or less;
          ``(B) each such employment service delivery system shall give 
        such qualified covered veterans priority in referral to such 
        employment openings; and
          ``(C) each such employment service delivery system shall 
        provide a list of such employment openings to States, political 
        subdivisions of States, or any private entities or 
        organizations under contract to carry out employment, training, 
        and placement services under chapter 41 of this title.
  ``(3) In this section:
          ``(A) The term `covered veteran' means any of the following 
        veterans:
                  ``(i) Disabled veterans.
                  ``(ii) Veterans who served on active duty in the 
                Armed Forces during a war or in a campaign or 
                expedition for which a campaign badge has been 
                authorized.
                  ``(iii) Veterans who, while serving on active duty in 
                the Armed Forces, participated in a United States 
                military operation for which an Armed Forces service 
                medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985 (61 
                Fed. Reg. 1209).
                  ``(iv) Recently separated veterans.
          ``(B) The term `qualified', with respect to an employment 
        position, means having the ability to perform the essential 
        functions of the position with or without reasonable 
        accommodation for an individual with a disability.''.
          (2) Conforming and technical amendments.--(A) Section 4212(c) 
        is amended--
                  (i) by striking ``suitable''; and
                  (ii) by striking ``subsection (a)(2) of this 
                section'' and inserting ``subsection (a)(2)(B)''.
          (B) Section 4212(d)(1) is amended--
                  (i) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by 
                striking ``of this section'' after ``subsection (a)''; 
                and
                  (ii) by amending subparagraphs (A) and (B) to read as 
                follows:
          ``(A) the number of employees in the workforce of such 
        contractor, by job category and hiring location, and the number 
        of such employees, by job category and hiring location, who are 
        qualified covered veterans;
          ``(B) the total number of new employees hired by the 
        contractor during the period covered by the report and the 
        number of such employees who are qualified covered veterans; 
        and''.
          (C) Section 4212(d)(2) is amended by striking ``of this 
        subsection'' after ``paragraph (1)''.
          (D) Section 4211(6) is amended by striking ``one-year 
        period'' and inserting ``three-year period''.
          (3) Effective date.--The amendments made by this subsection 
        shall apply with respect to contracts entered into on or after 
        the first day of the first month that begins 12 months after 
        the date of the enactment of this Act.
  (c) Employment Within the Federal Government.--
          (1) Purpose.--The second sentence of section 4214(a)(1) is 
        amended--
                  (A) by inserting ``, competent'' after ``effective''; 
                and
                  (B) by striking ``major'' and inserting ``uniquely 
                qualified''.
          (2) Appointments.--Section 4214(b) is amended--
                  (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ``readjustment'' 
                and inserting ``recruitment'';
                  (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ``to--'' and all 
                that follows through the period at the end and inserting 
                ``to qualified covered veterans.'';
                  (C) in paragraph (3)--
                          (i) by striking subparagraphs (A) and (B);
                          (ii) by redesignating subparagraphs (C) and 
                        (D) as subparagraphs (B) and (C), respectively,
                          (iii) in subparagraph (B), as so 
                        redesignated, by striking ``The limitations of 
                        subparagraphs (A) and (B) of this paragraph'' 
                        and inserting ``The limitation of subparagraph 
                        (A)'';
                          (iv) in subparagraph (C), as so redesignated, 
                        by striking ``clause (i) of subparagraphs (A) 
                        and (B) of this paragraph'' and inserting 
                        ``subparagraph (A)''; and
                          (v) by inserting before subparagraph (B), as 
                        so redesignated, the following new 
                        subparagraph:
  ``(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), a qualified covered 
veteran may receive such an appointment only within the 10-year period 
that begins on the date of the veteran's last discharge or release from 
active duty.''.
          (3) Technical amendments.--(A) Section 4214(a) is amended--
                  (i) in the third sentence of paragraph (1), by 
                striking ``disabled veterans and certain veterans of 
                the Vietnam era and of the post-Vietnam era'' and 
                inserting ``qualified covered veterans (as defined in 
                paragraph (2)(B))''; and
                  (ii) in paragraph (2), to read as follows:
  ``(2) In this section:
          ``(A) The term `agency' has the meaning given the term 
        `department or agency' in section 4211(5) of this title.
          ``(B) The term `qualified covered veteran' means a veteran 
        described in section 4212(a)(3) of this title.''.
          (B) Clause (i) of section 4214(e)(2)(B) is amended by 
        striking ``of the Vietnam era''.
          (C) Section 4214(g) is amended by striking ``qualified'' the 
        first place it occurs and all that follows through ``era'' the 
        first place it occurs and inserting ``qualified covered 
        veterans''.

SEC. 3. PERFORMANCE INCENTIVE AWARDS FOR QUALITY VETERANS EMPLOYMENT, 
                    TRAINING, AND PLACEMENT SERVICES.

  (a) Performance Incentive Awards for Quality Employment, Training, 
and Placement Services.--
          (1) In general.--Chapter 41 is amended by adding at the end 
        the following new section:

``Sec. 4112. Performance incentive awards for quality employment, 
                    training, and placement services

  ``(a) Program of Performance Incentive Awards.--(1) The Secretary 
shall carry out a program, consistent with the provisions of this 
section, of performance incentive awards to States to encourage the 
improvement and modernization of employment, training, and placement 
services provided under this chapter. The Secretary shall carry out the 
program through the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans' 
Employment and Training.
  ``(2) The Secretary shall make performance incentive awards for each 
program year, beginning with the program year that begins in fiscal 
year 2004, with respect to services provided under this chapter during 
the preceding program year.
  ``(b) Criteria for Eligibility for Awards.--The Secretary shall 
establish criteria for eligibility for performance incentive awards for 
purposes of this section in consultation with representatives of 
States, political subdivisions of States, and other providers of 
employment, training, and placement services under the Workforce 
Investment Act of 1998 consistent with the performance measures 
established under section 4102A(b)(7) of this title.
  ``(c) Determination of Amount of Award.--(1) The Secretary shall 
determine the amount of performance incentive awards in a State under 
this section by measuring the performance of the State in providing 
employment, training, and placement services furnished veterans and 
eligible persons in each State through employment service delivery 
systems, through disabled veterans' outreach program specialists, and 
through local veterans' employment representatives during the previous 
program year based on the measures of performance established under 
section 4102A(b)(7) of this title.
  ``(2) In determining the amount of awards under paragraph (1), the 
Secretary shall--
          ``(A) provide greater amounts to those States which the 
        Secretary determines furnished, during the preceding fiscal 
        year, the highest quality employment, training, and placement 
        services based on measures of performance;
          ``(B) provide awards to those States that have made 
        significant improvements in the delivery of such services, as 
        determined by the Secretary, but do not meet the criteria under 
        subparagraph (A); and
          ``(C) consider the applicable annual unemployment data for 
        the State and other factors, such as prevailing economic 
        conditions, that affect performance of individuals providing 
        employment, training, and placement services in the State.
  ``(d) Use of Award.--Amounts received by a State under this section 
may be used--
          ``(1) to hire additional State veterans employment and 
        training staff; or
          ``(2) for such other purposes related to the provision of 
        employment, placement, and training services as the Secretary 
        may approve for such services furnished under this chapter to 
        veterans and eligible persons.
  ``(e) Relationship of Award to Grant Amounts or Other Compensation.--
A performance incentive award under this section is in addition to 
amounts made available to a State under section 4102A(b)(5) of this 
title.
  ``(f) Availability for Obligation.--Amounts received in a performance 
incentive award under this section may be obligated by the State during 
the program year in which the award was received and the subsequent 
program year.
  ``(g) Appropriations.--The Secretary shall carry out the program 
under this section from amounts appropriated pursuant to the 
authorization under section 4106(b)(2) of this title. Such amounts 
shall only be available to carry out the program under this section.''.
          (2) Clerical amendment.--The table of sections at the 
        beginning of chapter 41 is amended by adding at the end the 
        following new item:

``4112. Performance incentive awards for quality employment, training, 
and placement services.''.

  (b) Authorization of Appropriations.--Section 4106(b) is amended--
          (1) by inserting ``(1)'' after ``(b)''; and
          (2) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
  ``(2) In addition to amounts authorized to be appropriated under 
paragraph (1), there are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary 
to carry out the program of performance incentive awards under section 
4112 of this title the following:
          ``(A) For the program year beginning during fiscal year 2004, 
        $10,000,000.
          ``(B) For the program year beginning during fiscal year 2005, 
        $25,000,000.
          ``(C) For the program year beginning during fiscal year 2006, 
        $50,000,000.
          ``(D) For the program year beginning during fiscal year 2007, 
        $75,000,000.
          ``(E) For the program year beginning during fiscal year 2008, 
        $100,000,000.
          ``(F) For the program year beginning during fiscal year 2009 
        and each subsequent fiscal year, such sums as are necessary.''.

SEC. 4. REFINEMENT OF JOB TRAINING AND PLACEMENT FUNCTIONS OF THE 
                    DEPARTMENT.

  (a) Revision of Department Level Senior Officials and Functions.--
          (1) In general.--Sections 4102A and 4103 are amended to read 
        as follows:

``Sec. 4102A. Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans' Employment and 
                    Training; program functions; Regional 
                    Administrators

  ``(a) Establishment of Position of Assistant Secretary of Labor for 
Veterans' Employment and Training.--(1) There is established within the 
Department of Labor an Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans' 
Employment and Training, appointed by the President by and with the 
advice and consent of the Senate, who shall formulate and implement all 
departmental policies and procedures to carry out (A) the purposes of 
this chapter, chapter 42, and chapter 43 of this title, and (B) all 
other Department of Labor employment, unemployment, and training 
programs to the extent they affect veterans. The Assistant Secretary of 
Labor for Veterans' Employment and Training shall be a veteran.
  ``(2) The employees of the Department of Labor administering chapter 
43 of this title shall be administratively and functionally responsible 
to the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans' Employment and 
Training.
  ``(3)(A) There shall be within the Department of Labor a Deputy 
Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans' Employment and Training. The 
Deputy Assistant Secretary shall perform such functions as the 
Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans' Employment and Training 
prescribes. The Deputy Assistant Secretary shall be a veteran.
  ``(B) No individual may be appointed as a Deputy Assistant Secretary 
of Labor for Veterans' Employment and Training unless the individual 
has at least five years of continuous service in the Federal civil 
service in the executive branch immediately preceding appointment as 
the Deputy Assistant Secretary. For purposes of determining such 
continuous service of an individual, there shall be excluded any 
service by the individual in a position--
          ``(i) of a confidential, policy-determining, policy-making, 
        or policy-advocating character;
          ``(ii) in which the individual served as a noncareer 
        appointee in the Senior Executive Service, as such term is 
        defined in section 3132(a)(7) of title 5; or
          ``(iii) to which the individual was appointed by the 
        President.
  ``(b) Program Functions.--The Secretary shall carry out the following 
functions:
          ``(1) Except as expressly provided otherwise, carry out all 
        provisions of this chapter and chapter 43 of this title through 
        the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans' Employment and 
        Training and administer through such Assistant Secretary all 
        programs under the jurisdiction of the Secretary for the 
        provision of employment and training services designed to meet 
        the needs of all veterans and persons eligible for services 
        furnished under this chapter.
          ``(2) In order to make maximum use of available resources in 
        meeting such needs, encourage all such programs, and all 
        grantees and contractors under such programs to enter into 
        cooperative arrangements with private industry and business 
        concerns (including small business concerns owned by veterans 
        or disabled veterans), educational institutions, trade 
        associations, and labor unions.
          ``(3) Ensure that maximum effectiveness and efficiency are 
        achieved in providing services and assistance to eligible 
        veterans under all such programs by coordinating and consulting 
        with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs with respect to (A) 
        programs conducted under other provisions of this title, with 
        particular emphasis on coordination of such programs with 
        readjustment counseling activities carried out under section 
        1712A of this title, apprenticeship or other on-the-job 
        training programs carried out under section 3687 of this title, 
        and rehabilitation and training activities carried out under 
        chapter 31 of this title and (B) determinations covering 
        veteran population in a State.
          ``(4) Ensure that employment, training, and placement 
        activities are carried out in coordination and cooperation with 
        appropriate State public employment service officials.
          ``(5) Subject to subsection (c), make available for use in 
        each State by grant or contract such funds as may be necessary 
        to support--
                  ``(A) disabled veterans' outreach program specialists 
                appointed under section 4103A(a)(1) of this title,
                  ``(B) local veterans' employment representatives 
                assigned under section 4104(b) of this title, and
                  ``(C) the reasonable expenses of such specialists and 
                representatives described in subparagraphs (A) and (B), 
                respectively, for training, travel, supplies, and other 
                business expenses, including travel expenses and per 
                diem for attendance at the National Veterans' 
                Employment and Training Services Institute established 
                under section 4109 of this title.
          ``(6) Monitor and supervise on a continuing basis the 
        distribution and use of funds provided for use in the States 
        under paragraph (5).
          ``(7) Establish, and update as appropriate, a comprehensive 
        performance accountability system (as described in subsection 
        (f)) and carry out annual performance reviews of veterans 
        employment, training, and placement services provided through 
        employment service delivery systems, through disabled veterans' 
        outreach program specialists, and through local veterans' 
        employment representatives in States receiving grants, 
        contracts, or awards under this chapter.
  ``(c) Conditions for Receipt of Funds.--(1) The distribution and use 
of funds under subsection (b)(5) in order to carry out sections 
4103A(a) and 4104(a) of this title shall be subject to the continuing 
supervision and monitoring of the Secretary and shall not be governed 
by the provisions of any other law, or any regulations prescribed 
thereunder, that are inconsistent with this section or section 4103A or 
4104 of this title.
  ``(2)(A) A State shall submit to the Secretary an application for a 
grant or contract under subsection (b)(5). The application shall 
contain the following information:
          ``(i) A plan that describes the manner in which the State 
        shall furnish employment, training, and placement services 
        required under this chapter for the program year, including a 
        description of--
                  ``(I) duties assigned by the State to disabled 
                veterans' outreach program specialists and local 
                veterans' employment representatives consistent with 
                the requirements of sections 4103A and 4104 of this 
                title; and
                  ``(II) the manner in which such specialists and 
                representatives are integrated in the employment 
                service delivery systems in the State.
          ``(ii) The veteran population to be served.
          ``(iii) Such additional information as the Secretary may 
        require to make a determination with respect to awarding a 
        grant or contract to the State.
  ``(B)(i) Subject to the succeeding provisions of this subparagraph, 
of the amount available under subsection (b)(5) for a fiscal year, the 
Secretary shall make available to each State with an application 
approved by the Secretary an amount of funding in proportion to the 
number of veterans seeking employment using such criteria as the 
Secretary may establish in regulation, including civilian labor force 
and unemployment data, for the State on an annual basis. The proportion 
of funding shall reflect the ratio of--
          ``(I) the total number of veterans residing in the State that 
        are seeking employment; to
          ``(II) the total number of veterans seeking employment in all 
        States.
  ``(ii) The Secretary shall phase in over the three fiscal-year period 
that begins on October 1, 2002, the manner in which amounts are made 
available to States under subsection (b)(5) and this subsection, as 
amended by the Jobs for Veterans Act.
  ``(iii) In carrying out this paragraph, the Secretary may establish 
minimum funding levels and hold-harmless criteria for States.
  ``(3)(A) As a condition of a grant or contract under this section for 
a program year, in the case of a State that the Secretary determines 
has an entered-employment rate for veterans that is deficient for the 
preceding program year, the State shall develop and implement a 
corrective action plan to improve that rate for veterans in the State. 
The State shall submit the corrective action plan to the Secretary.
  ``(B) To carry out subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall establish in 
regulations a uniform national threshold entered-employment rate for 
veterans for a program year by which determinations of deficiency may 
be made under subparagraph (A).
  ``(C) In making a determination with respect to a deficiency under 
subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall take into account the applicable 
annual unemployment data for the State and consider other factors, such 
as prevailing economic conditions, that affect performance of 
individuals providing employment, training, and placement services in 
the State.
  ``(4) In determining the terms and conditions of a grant or contract 
under which funds are made available to a State in order to carry out 
section 4103A or 4104 of this title, the Secretary shall take into 
account--
          ``(A) the results of reviews, carried out pursuant to 
        subsection (b)(7), of the performance of the employment, 
        training, and placement service delivery system in the State, 
        and
          ``(B) the monitoring carried out under this section.
  ``(5) Each grant or contract by which funds are made available to a 
State shall contain a provision requiring the recipient of the funds--
          ``(A) to comply with the provisions of this chapter; and
          ``(B) on an annual basis, to notify to Secretary of, and 
        provide supporting rationale for, each nonveteran who is 
        employed as a disabled veterans' outreach program specialist 
        and local veterans' employment representative for a period in 
        excess of 6 months.
  ``(6) Each State shall coordinate employment, training, and placement 
services furnished to veterans and eligible persons under this chapter 
with such services furnished with respect to such veterans and persons 
under the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 and the Wagner-Peyser Act.
  ``(d) Participation in Other Federally Funded Job Training 
Programs.--The Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans' Employment 
and Training shall promote and monitor participation of qualified 
veterans and eligible persons in employment and training opportunities 
under title I of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 and other 
federally funded employment and training programs.
  ``(e) Regional Administrators.--(1) The Secretary shall assign to 
each region for which the Secretary operates a regional office a 
representative of the Veterans' Employment and Training Service to 
serve as the Regional Administrator for Veterans' Employment and 
Training in such region. A person may not be assigned after October 9, 
1996, as such a Regional Administrator unless the person is a veteran.
  ``(2) Each such Regional Administrator shall carry out such duties as 
the Secretary may require to promote veterans employment and 
reemployment within the region that the Administrator serves.
  ``(f) Establishment of Performance Standards and Outcomes Measures.--
(1) By not later than 3 months after the date of the enactment of this 
section, the Assistant Secretary of Labor forVeterans' Employment and 
Training shall establish and implement a comprehensive performance 
accountability system to measure the performance of employment service 
delivery systems, disabled veterans' outreach program specialists, and 
local veterans' employment representatives providing employment, 
training, and placement services under this chapter in a State to 
provide accountability of that State to the Secretary for purposes of 
subsection (c).
  ``(2) Such standards and measures shall--
          ``(A) be consistent with State performance measures 
        applicable under section 136(b) of the Workforce Investment Act 
        of 1998; and
          ``(B) be appropriately weighted to provide special 
        consideration for placement of (i) veterans requiring intensive 
        services (as defined in section 4101(9) of this title), such as 
        special disabled veterans and disabled veterans, and (ii) 
        veterans who enroll in readjustment counseling under section 
        1712A of this title.

``Sec. 4103. Directors and Assistant Directors for Veterans' Employment 
                    and Training; additional Federal personnel

  ``(a) Directors and Assistant Directors.--(1) The Secretary shall 
assign to each State a representative of the Veterans' Employment and 
Training Service to serve as the Director for Veterans' Employment and 
Training, and shall assign full-time Federal clerical or other support 
personnel to each such Director.
  ``(2) Full-time Federal clerical or other support personnel assigned 
to Directors for Veterans' Employment and Training shall be appointed 
in accordance with the provisions of title 5 governing appointments in 
the competitive service and shall be paid in accordance with the 
provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of title 5.
  ``(b) Additional Federal Personnel.--The Secretary may also assign as 
supervisory personnel such representatives of the Veterans' Employment 
and Training Service as the Secretary determines appropriate to carry 
out the employment, training, and placement services required under 
this chapter, including Assistant Directors for Veterans' Employment 
and Training.''.
          (2) Clerical amendments.--The items relating to sections 
        4102A and 4103, respectively, in the table of sections at the 
        beginning of chapter 41 are amended to read as follows:

``4102A. Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans' Employment and 
Training; program functions; Regional Administrators.
``4103. Directors and Assistant Directors for Veterans' Employment and 
Training; additional Federal personnel.''.
          (3) Conforming amendment relating to performance standards.--
        (A)(i) Section 4104A is repealed.
          (ii) The table of sections at the beginning of chapter 41 is 
        amended by striking the item relating to section 4104A.
          (B) Section 4107(b) is amended by striking ``The Secretary 
        shall establish definitive performance standards'' and 
        inserting ``The Secretary shall apply performance standards 
        established under section 4102A(f) of this title''.
          (4) Effective date.--The amendments made by this subsection 
        shall take effect on December 1, 2002, and shall apply to 
        appointments made on or after that date.
  (b) Revision of Statutorily Defined Duties of Disabled Veterans' 
Outreach Program Specialists and Local Veterans' Employment 
Representatives.--
          (1) Disabled veterans' outreach program specialists.--Section 
        4103A is amended by striking all after the heading and 
        inserting the following:
  ``(a) Requirement for Employment by States of a Sufficient Number of 
Specialists.--(1) Subject to approval by the Secretary, a State shall 
employ such full- or part-time disabled veterans' outreach program 
specialists as the State determines appropriate and efficient to carry 
out intensive services under this chapter to meet the employment needs 
of eligible veterans with the following priority in the provision of 
services:
          ``(A) Special disabled veterans.
          ``(B) Other disabled veterans.
          ``(C) Other eligible veterans in accordance with priorities 
        determined by the Secretary taking into account applicable 
        rates of unemployment and the employment emphases set forth in 
        chapter 42 of this title.
  ``(2) In the provision of services in accordance with this 
subsection, maximum emphasis in meeting the employment needs of 
veterans shall be placed on assisting economically or educationally 
disadvantaged veterans.
  ``(b) Requirement for Qualified Veterans.--A State shall, to the 
maximum extent practicable, employ qualified veterans to carry out the 
services referred to in subsection (a). Preference shall be given in 
the appointment of such specialists to qualified disabled veterans.''.
          (2) Local veterans' employment representatives.--Section 4104 
        is amended by striking all after the heading and inserting the 
        following:
  ``(a) Requirement for Employment by States of a Sufficient Number of 
Representatives.--Subject to approval by the Secretary, a State shall 
employ such full- and part-time local veterans' employment 
representatives as the State determines appropriate and efficient to 
carry out employment, training, and placement services under this 
chapter.
  ``(b) Principal Duties.--As principal duties, local veterans' 
employment representatives shall--
          ``(1) conduct outreach to employers in the area to assist 
        veterans in gaining employment, including conducting seminars 
        for employers and, in conjunction with employers, conducting 
        job search workshops and establishing job search groups; and
          ``(2) facilitate employment, training, and placement services 
        furnished to veterans in a State under the applicable State 
        employment service delivery systems.
  ``(c) Preference for Qualified Veterans.--A State shall, to the 
maximum extent practicable, employ qualified veterans to carry out the 
services referred to in subsection (a).
  ``(d) Reporting.--Each local veterans' employment representative 
shall be administratively responsible to the manager of the employment 
service delivery system and shall provide reports, not less frequently 
than quarterly, to the manager of such office and to the Director for 
Veterans' Employment and Training for the State regarding compliance 
with Federal law and regulations with respect to special services and 
priorities for eligible veterans and eligible persons.''.
          (3) Effective date.--The amendments made by this subsection 
        shall take effect on December 1, 2002, and shall apply to 
        appointments made on or after that date.
  (c) Requirement To Promptly Establish One-Stop Employment Services.--
By not later than 18 months after the date of the enactment of this 
Act, the Secretary of Labor shall provide one-stop services and 
assistance to covered persons electronically by means of the Internet, 
as defined in section 231(e)(3) of the Communications Act of 1934, and 
such other electronic means to enhance the delivery of such services 
and assistance.
  (d) Requirement for Budget Line Item for Training Services 
Institute.--
          (1) In general.--The last sentence of section 4106(a) is 
        amended to read as follows: ``Each budget submission with 
        respect to such funds shall include a separate listing of the 
        amount for the National Veterans' Employment and Training 
        Services Institute together with information demonstrating the 
        compliance of such budget submission with the funding 
        requirements specified in the preceding sentence.''.
          (2) Effective date.--The amendment made by paragraph (1) 
        shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act, and 
        apply to budget submissions for fiscal year 2004 and each 
        subsequent fiscal year.
  (e) Conforming Amendments.--(1) Section 4107(c)(5) is amended by 
striking ``(including the need'' and all that follows through 
``representatives)''.
  (2) Section 3117(a)(2)(B) is amended to read as follows:
          ``(B) utilization of employment, training, and placement 
        services under chapter 41 of this title; and''.

SEC. 5. ADDITIONAL IMPROVEMENTS IN VETERANS EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING 
                    SERVICES.

  (a) Inclusion of Intensive Services.--
          (1) In general.--(A) Section 4101 is amended by adding at the 
        end the following new paragraph:
          ``(9) The term `intensive services' means local employment 
        and training services of the type described in section 
        134(d)(3) of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998.''.
          (B) Section 4102 is amended by striking ``job and job 
        training counseling service program,'' and inserting ``job and 
        job training intensive services program,''.
          (C) Section 4106(a) is amended by striking ``proper 
        counseling'' and inserting ``proper intensive services''.
          (D) Section 4107(a) is amended by striking ``employment 
        counseling services'' and inserting ``intensive services''.
          (E) Section 4107(c)(1) is amended by striking ``the number 
        counseled'' and inserting ``the number who received intensive 
        services''.
          (F) Section 4109(a) is amended by striking ``counseling,'' 
        each place it appears and inserting ``intensive services,''.
          (2) Effective date.--The amendments made by paragraph (1) 
        shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act.
  (b) Additional VETS Duty To Implement Transitions to Civilian 
Careers.--
          (1) In general.--(A) Section 4102 is amended by striking the 
        period and inserting ``, including programs carried out by the 
        Veterans' Employment and Training Service to implement all 
        efforts to ease the transition of service members to civilian 
        careers that are consistent with, or an outgrowth of, the 
        military experience of the service members.''.
          (B) Such section is further amended by striking ``and 
        veterans of the Vietnam era'' and inserting ``and veterans who 
        served on active duty during a war or in a campaign or 
        expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized''.
          (2) Effective date.--The amendments made by paragraph (1) 
        shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act.
  (c) Modernization of Employment Service Delivery Points To Include 
Technological Innovations.--
          (1) In general.--Section 4101(7) is amended to read as 
        follows:
          ``(7) The term `employment service delivery system' means a 
        service delivery system at which or through which labor 
        exchange services, including employment, training, and 
        placement services, are offered in accordance with the Wagner-
        Peyser Act.''.
          (2) Effective date.--The amendments made by paragraph (1) 
        shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act.
  (d) Increase in Accuracy of Reporting Services Furnished to 
Veterans.--
          (1) In general.--(A) Section 4107(c)(1) is amended--
                  (i) by striking ``veterans of the Vietnam era,''; and
                  (ii) by striking ``and eligible persons who 
                registered for assistance with'' and inserting 
                ``eligible persons, recently separated veterans (as 
                defined in section 4211(6) of this title), and 
                servicemembers transitioning to civilian careers who 
                registered for assistance with, or who are identified 
                as veterans by,''.
          (B) Section 4107(c)(2) is amended--
                  (i) by striking ``the job placement rate'' the first 
                place it appears and inserting ``the rate of entered 
                employment (as determined in a manner consistent with 
                State performance measures applicable under section 
                136(b) of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998)''; and
                  (ii) by striking ``the job placement rate'' the 
                second place it appears and inserting ``such rate of 
                entered employment (as so determined)''.
          (C) Section 4107(c)(4) is amended by striking ``sections 
        4103A and 4104'' and inserting ``section 4212(d)''.
          (D) Section 4107(c) is amended--
                  (i) by striking ``and'' at the end of paragraph (4);
                  (ii) by striking the period at the end of paragraph 
                (5) and inserting ``; and''; and
                  (iii) by adding at the end the following new 
                paragraph:
          ``(6) a report on the operation during the preceding program 
        year of the program of performance incentive awards for quality 
        employment services under section 4112 of this title, including 
        an analysis of the amount of incentives distributed to each 
        State and the rationale for such distribution.''.
          (E) Section 4107(b), as amended by section 4(a)(3)(B), is 
        further amended by striking the second sentence and inserting 
        the following: ``Not later than February 1 of each year, the 
        Secretary shall report to the Committees on Veterans' Affairs 
        of the Senate and the House of Representatives on the 
        performance of States and organizations and entities carrying 
        out employment, training, and placement services under this 
        chapter, as measured under subsection (b)(7) of section 4102A 
        of this title. In the case of a State that the Secretary 
        determines has not met the minimum standard of performance 
        (established by the Secretary under subsection (f) of such 
        section), the Secretary shall include an analysis of the extent 
        and reasons for the State's failure to meet that minimum 
        standard, together with the State's plan for corrective action 
        during the succeeding year.''.
          (2) Effective date.--The amendments made by paragraph (1) 
        shall apply to reports for program years beginning on or after 
        July 1, 2002.
  (e) Clarification of Authority of NVETSI To Provide Training for 
Personnel of Other Departments and Agencies.--Section 4109 is amended 
by adding at the end the following new subsection:
  ``(c)(1) Nothing in this section shall be construed as preventing the 
Institute to enter into contracts or agreements with departments or 
agencies of the United States or of a State, or with other 
organizations, to carry out training of personnel of such departments, 
agencies, or organizations in the provision of services referred to in 
subsection (a).
  ``(2) All proceeds collected by the Institute under a contract or 
agreement referred to in paragraph (1) shall be applied to the 
applicable appropriation.''.

SEC. 6. COMMITTEE TO RAISE EMPLOYER AWARENESS OF SKILLS OF VETERANS AND 
                    BENEFITS OF HIRING VETERANS.

  (a) Establishment of Committee.--There is established within the 
Department of Labor a committee to be known as the President's National 
Hire Veterans Committee (hereinafter in this section referred to as the 
``Committee'').
  (b) Duties.--The Committee shall establish and carry out a national 
program to do the following:
          (1) To furnish information to employers with respect to the 
        training and skills of veterans and disabled veterans, and the 
        advantages afforded employers by hiring veterans with such 
        training and skills.
          (2) To facilitate employment of veterans and disabled 
        veterans through participation in America's Career Kit national 
        labor exchange, and other means.
  (c) Membership.--(1) The Secretary of Labor shall appoint 15 
individuals to serve as members of the Committee, of whom one shall be 
appointed from among representatives nominated by each organization 
described in subparagraph (A) and of whom eight shall be appointed from 
among representatives nominated by organizations described in 
subparagraph (B).
          (A) Organizations described in this subparagraph are the 
        following:
                  (i) The Ad Council.
                  (ii) The National Committee for Employer Support of 
                the Guard and Reserve.
                  (iii) Veterans' service organizations that have a 
                national employment program.
                  (iv) State employment security agencies.
                  (v) One-stop career centers.
                  (vi) State departments of veterans affairs.
                  (vii) Military service organizations.
          (B) Organizations described in this subparagraph are such 
        businesses, small businesses, industries, companies in the 
        private sector that furnish placement services, civic groups, 
        workforce investment boards, and labor unions as the Secretary 
        of Labor determines appropriate.
  (2) The following shall be ex officio, nonvoting members of the 
Committee:
          (A) The Secretary of Veterans Affairs.
          (B) The Secretary of Defense.
          (C) The Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans' Employment 
        and Training.
          (D) The Administrator of the Small Business Administration.
          (E) The Postmaster General.
          (F) The Director of the Office of Personnel Management.
  (3) A vacancy in the Committee shall be filled in the manner in which 
the original appointment was made.
  (d) Administrative Matters.--(1) The Committee shall meet not less 
frequently than once each calendar quarter.
  (2) The Secretary of Labor shall appoint the chairman of the 
Committee.
  (3)(A) Members of the Committee shall serve without compensation.
  (B) Members of the Committee shall be allowed reasonable and 
necessary travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, 
at rates authorized for persons serving intermittently in the 
Government service in accordance with the provisions of subchapter I of 
chapter 57 of title 5 while away from their homes or regular places of 
business in the performance of the responsibilities of the Committee.
  (4) The Secretary of Labor shall provide staff and administrative 
support to the Committee to assist it in carrying out its duties under 
this section. The Secretary shall assure positions on the staff of the 
Committee include positions that are filled by individuals that are 
now, or have ever been, employed as one of the following:
          (A) Staff of the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans' 
        Employment and Training under section 4102A of title 38, United 
        States Code as in effect on the date of the enactment of this 
        Act.
          (B) Directors for Veterans' Employment and Training under 
        section 4103 of such title as in effect on such date.
          (C) Assistant Director for Veterans' Employment and Training 
        under such section as in effect on such date.
          (D) Disabled veterans' outreach program specialists under 
        section 4103A of such title as in effect on such date.
          (E) Local veterans' employment representatives under section 
        4104 of such title as in effect on such date.
  (5) Upon request of the Committee, the head of any Federal department 
or agency may detail, on a nonreimbursable basis, any of the personnel 
of that department or agency to the Committee to assist it in carrying 
out its duties.
  (6) The Committee may contract with and compensate government and 
private agencies or persons to furnish information to employers under 
subsection (b)(1) without regard to section 3709 of the Revised 
Statutes (41 U.S.C. 5).
  (e) Report.--Not later than December 31, 2003, 2004, and 2005, the 
Secretary of Labor shall submit to Congress a report on the activities 
of the Committee under this section during the previous fiscal year, 
and shall include in such report data with respect to placement and 
retention of veterans in jobs attributable to the activities of the 
Committee.
  (f) Termination.--The Committee shall terminate 60 days after 
submitting the report that is due on December 31, 2005.
  (g) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to the Secretary of Labor from the employment security 
administration account (established in section 901 of the Social 
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1101)) in the Unemployment Trust Fund 
$3,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2003 through 2005 to carry out this 
section.

SEC. 7. SENSE OF CONGRESS COMMENDING VETERANS AND MILITARY SERVICE 
                    ORGANIZATIONS.

  It is the sense of Congress that--
          (1) veterans and military service organizations are to be 
        commended for the continued assistance the organizations 
        provide veterans; and
          (2) veterans and military service organizations are 
        encouraged to provide job placement assistance to veterans who 
        are job-ready by making personal computers with access to 
        electronic job placement services and programs available to 
        veterans at local posts and through other means.

SEC. 8. STUDY ON ECONOMIC BENEFITS TO THE UNITED STATES OF LONG-TERM 
                    SUSTAINED EMPLOYMENT OF VETERANS.

  (a) Study.--The Secretary of Labor shall enter into a contract with 
an appropriate organization or entity to conduct a study to quantify 
the economic benefit to the United States attributable to the provision 
of employment and training services under chapter 41 of title 38, 
United States Code, in assisting veterans to attain long-term, 
sustained employment. Such study shall include analyses on the impact 
of such employment on Federal, State, and local tax generated by reason 
of such employment, the contributions of such employment on the 
domestic gross national product, and such other indicators of the 
effect of such employment on the economy of the United States.
  (b) Report.--A condition of the contract under subsection (a) shall 
be that the organization submit to the Secretary of Labor a report on 
the study conducted by the organization not later than 18 months after 
the date on which that Secretary enters into such contract.
  (c) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to the Secretary of Labor $1,000,000 to carry out the 
provisions of this section, such sums to remain available until 
expended.

                              Introduction

    The bill, H.R. 4015, is based in part on bills that were 
introduced and considered in the 106th Congress. On January 19, 
1999, the Honorable Bob Filner, Ranking Member of the 
Subcommittee on Benefits, introduced H.R. 364, to provide for a 
Veterans' Employment and Training Bill of Rights, to strengthen 
preference for veterans in hiring, and for other purposes. The 
Subcommittee held a hearing on this bill and draft legislative 
concepts for Veterans' Employment and Training legislation on 
October 28, 1999, and heard testimony from 16 witnesses.
    On June 27, 2000, the Honorable Jack Quinn, Chairman, and 
the Honorable Bob Filner, Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on 
Benefits, along with the Honorable Bob Stump and the Honorable 
Lane Evans, Chairman and Ranking Member of the Veterans' 
Affairs Committee, respectively, introduced H.R. 4765, the 21st 
Century Veterans Employment and Training Act, to amend title 
38, United States Code, to improve employment and training 
services provided to veterans and disabled veterans. The 
Subcommittee held hearings on this bill on July 12 and 13, 
2000, and heard testimony from 17 witnesses.
    On March 20, 2002, the Honorable Mike Simpson, Chairman of 
the Subcommittee on Benefits, and the Honorable Silvestre 
Reyes, Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Benefits, along 
with the Honorable Christopher Smith and the Honorable Lane 
Evans, Chairman and Ranking Member of the Veterans' Affairs 
Committee, respectively, and the Honorable Jack Quinn and the 
Honorable Ronnie Shows, introduced H.R. 4015 to amend title 38, 
United States Code, to revise and improve employment, training, 
and placement services furnished to veterans, and for other 
purposes.
    The reported bill, H.R. 4015, as amended, reflects the 
Committee's consideration of that bill. Some aspects of H.R. 
4015 are substantively identical to, or are derived from, H.R. 
364 or H.R. 4765.
    On April 18, 2002, the Subcommittee met to receive 
testimony on H.R. 4015. Witnesses included Honorable Frederico 
Juarbe, Jr., Assistant Secretary for Veterans' Employment and 
Training, U.S. Department of Labor; Rex Hall, Chairman, 
Veterans' Advisory Committee, National Association of State 
Workforce Agencies; Roger Madsen, Director, Idaho Department of 
Labor; T. P. O'Mahoney, Commissioner Representing Labor, Texas 
Workforce Commission; Ken Mayfield, President-Elect, National 
Association of Counties; Bruce Wyngaard, Operations Director, 
Ohio Civil Service Employees Association, AFSCME Local 11; 
Dennis A. Beagle, Executive Board Member, New York State 
Employees Federation; Wesley Poriotis, Chief Executive Officer, 
Wesley, Brown & Bartle Company, Inc.; Rick Weidman, Director, 
Government Relations, Vietnam Veterans of America; Steve 
Robertson, Legislative Director, The American Legion; James N. 
Magill, Director, National Employment Policy, Veterans of 
Foreign Wars of the United States; Carl Blake, Legislative 
Director, Paralyzed Veterans of America; Richard Jones, 
National Legislative Director, AMVETS; and Brian Lawrence, 
Associate Legislative Director, Disabled American Veterans. The 
Subcommittee also received written testimony submitted by 
William Crandell, Ph.D., Legislative Director, Association of 
Service Disabled Veterans; T.M. Hale, Senior Vice President, 
Resource Consultants, Inc; and the New Jersey Department of 
Labor.
    On May 2, 2002, the Subcommittee on Benefits met and 
unanimously ordered H.R. 4015, as amended, reported favorably 
to the full Committee.
    On May 9, 2002, the full Committee met and ordered H.R. 
4015, as amended, reported favorably to the House by unanimous 
voice vote.

                      Summary of the Reported Bill

    H.R. 4015, as amended, would:

    1. Provide priority of service to veterans and spouses of 
certain veterans for the receipt of employment, training, and 
placement services in any job training program directly funded, 
in whole or in part, by the Department of Labor, 
notwithstanding any other provision of law.
    2. Provide, with respect to Federal contracts and 
subcontracts in the amount of $100,000 or more, that the 
contractor and any subcontractor take affirmative action to 
employ and advance in employment qualified veterans, including 
immediately listing employment openings for such contracts 
through the appropriate employment delivery system.
    3. Change ``Veterans Readjustment Authority (VRA)'' to 
``Veterans Recruitment Authority'' and change eligibility for 
such non-competitive appointment in the Federal government from 
Vietnam era and post-Vietnam era veterans to qualified covered 
veterans (see paragraph four) within the 10-year period that 
begins on the date of the veteran's last discharge; the 10-year 
period would not apply to a veteran with a service-connected 
disability of 30 percent or more.
    4. Make eligible as ``covered veterans'' for Federal 
contracts and subcontracts and the Veterans Recruitment 
Authority:

           disabled veterans;
           veterans who served on active duty during a 
        war or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign 
        badge has been authorized;
           veterans who, while serving on active duty 
        in the Armed Forces, participated in a United States 
        military operation for which an Armed Forces service 
        medal was awarded; or
           veterans discharged or released from 
        military service within the past three years.

    5. Require the Secretary to carry out a program of 
performance incentive awards to states to encourage the 
improvement and modernization of employment, training and 
placement services to veterans.
    6. Authorize additional funds to be appropriated for the 
Secretary to carry out the program of performance incentive 
awards of $10 million for the program year beginning in fiscal 
year 2004; $25 million for the program year beginning in fiscal 
year 2005; $50 million for the program year beginning in fiscal 
year 2006; $75 million for the program year beginning in fiscal 
year 2007; and $100 million for the program year beginning in 
fiscal year 2008.
    7. Establish the position of Deputy Assistant Secretary 
for Veterans' Employment and Training as a career federal civil 
service position, with such individual having at least five 
years of continuous Federal service in the executive branch 
immediately preceding appointment as Deputy Assistant 
Secretary; and require such person to be a veteran.
    8. Set forth conditions for receipt of funding by states 
to include a requirement that a State submit an application for 
a grant or contract describing the manner in which the State is 
to furnish employment, training, and placement services
    9. Revise the methods by which the Secretary furnishes 
Disabled Veterans' Outreach Program Specialist (DVOPs) and 
Local Veterans' Employment Representative (LVER) funds to a 
state. Require the Secretary to make funds available for a 
fiscal year to each state in proportion to the number of 
veterans seeking employment using such criteria as the 
Secretary may establish in regulation, including civilian labor 
force and unemployment data, for the state on an annual basis. 
The proportion of funding would reflect the ratio of the total 
number of veterans residing in the state that are seeking 
employment to the total number of veterans seeking employment 
in all states.
    10. Require that the Secretary phase-in over the three 
fiscal year period that begins on October 1, 2002, the funding 
described by paragraph nine above.
    11. Require the Secretary to establish minimum funding 
levels and hold-harmless criteria in administering funding to 
the states.
    12. Require that when a state has an entered-employment 
rate that the Secretary determines is deficient for the 
preceding year, the state must develop and implement a 
corrective action plan that is submitted to the Secretary.
    13. Require the Secretary to establish in regulations a 
uniform national threshold entered-employment rate for a 
program year by which determinations of deficiency may be made. 
The Secretary must take into account the applicable annual 
unemployment data for the state and consider other factors, 
such as prevailing economic conditions, that affect performance 
of individuals providing employment, training, and placement 
services in the state.
    14. Require the Secretary to assign to each region a 
representative of the Veterans' Employment and Training Service 
to serve as Regional Administrator for Veterans' Employment and 
Training. The Regional Administrator must be a veteran.
    15. Require the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans' 
Employment and Training to establish and implement a 
comprehensive accountability system to measure the performance 
of delivery systems in a state. Such standards and measures 
must be (1) consistent with state performance measures 
applicable under section 136(b) of the Workforce Investment Act 
of 1998, and (2) appropriately weighted to provide special 
consideration for veterans requiring intensive services, such 
as special disabled veterans and disabled veterans, and for 
veterans who enroll in readjustment counseling services 
furnished by the Department of Veterans Affairs.
    16. Require the Secretary to assign to each state a 
representative of the Veterans Employment and Training Service 
(VETS) to serve as the Director for Veterans' Employment and 
Training (DVET) and full-time Federal clerical or other support 
personnel to each Director; authorize the Secretary to assign 
as supervisory personnel such representatives of VETS as the 
Secretary determines appropriate.
    17. Require, subject to approval by the Secretary, that 
states employ a sufficient number of full or part-time DVOPs to 
carry out intensive services to meet the employment needs of 
special disabled veterans, other disabled veterans and other 
eligible veterans. To the maximum extent practicable such 
employees are to be qualified veterans. Preference would be 
given to qualified disabled veterans.
    18. Require, subject to approval by the Secretary, that a 
state employ such full and part-time LVERs as the state 
determines appropriate and efficient to carry out employment, 
training and placement services. To the maximum extent 
practicable, such employees are to be qualified veterans.
    19. Require the Secretary, within 18 months of enactment, 
to enhance the delivery of services by providing ``one-stop'' 
services and assistance to covered persons electronically by 
the Internet and by other electronic means.
    20. Clarify the authority of the National Veterans' 
Employment and Training Services Institute (NVETSI) to enter 
into contracts or agreements with departments or agencies of 
the United States or of a state, or with other organizations, 
to carry out training in providing veterans' employment, 
training, and placement services. Further, require that each 
annual budget submission include a separate listing of the 
amount for NVETSI.
    21. Authorize $3 million to be appropriated to the 
Secretary of Labor from the employment security administration 
account in the Unemployment Trust Fund for each of fiscal years 
2003 through 2005 to establish within the Department of Labor 
the President's National Hire Veterans Committee. The Committee 
would furnish information to employers with respect to the 
training and skills of veterans and disabled veterans, and with 
respect to the advantages afforded employers by hiring 
veterans.
    22. Express the sense of Congress commending veterans and 
military service organizations, and encourage them to provide 
job placement assistance to veterans who are job-ready by 
making personal computers available to them with access to 
electronic job placement services and programs.
    23. Authorize $1 million for the Secretary of Labor to 
enter into a contract with an appropriate organization or 
entity to conduct an 18-month study to quantify the economic 
benefit to the United States attributable to the provision of 
employment and training services provided under chapter 41 of 
title 38, United States Code, in helping veterans to attain 
long-term, sustained employment.

                               Background

    In response to legislation introduced during the 107th 
Congress, the Honorable Mike Simpson, Chairman of the 
Subcommittee on Benefits, requested a legislative history from 
the Congressional Research Service (CRS) on veterans' 
employment and training services under the depression-era 
Wagner-Peyser Act, the World War II-era Veterans' Employment 
Service, and the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) of 1998. The 
Committee believes this information is useful in light of the 
need for a Veterans' Employment and Training Service (VETS) 
delivery system compatible with the WIA and one-stop career 
centers. Such a delivery system should also reflect self-
service for job-ready veterans through America's Job Bank and 
America's Talent Bank, which are Internet-based job services 
for applicants and employers, and greater emphasis on 
accountability for performance of publicly funded programs. The 
paper submitted by the Domestic Social Policy Division of the 
CRS follows:

Background Information on Programs Under the Jurisdiction of the 
  Veterans' Employment and Training Service (VETS) of the Department 
  of Labor

    Preparatory to the Committee's consideration of the Jobs 
for Veterans Act (H.R. 4015), on April 30, 2002 Subcommittee on 
Benefits Chairman Michael K. Simpson asked for background 
information on employment services provided to veterans, 
especially disabled veterans following their armed forces 
active duty service. In addition, you requested a brief 
discussion of the implications of Public Law 105-220 for these 
services.
    Veterans' employment services, governed by 38 USC Section 
4100, are provided by Disabled Veterans Outreach Program 
specialists (DVOPs), and Local Veterans' Employment 
Representatives (LVERs). These specialists and representatives 
are employed by State Employment Service Agencies (SESA), and 
paid from funds raised under authority of the Federal 
Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA). Training for these specialists and 
representatives is often provided through the National 
Veterans' Training Institute (NVTI). The employment services 
and NVTI are administered through the Veterans' Employment and 
Training Service (VETS) of the Department of Labor (DoL).
Origins of Employment Services for Unemployed Workers
    A formal mechanism for matching specific job opportunities 
with qualified persons is a rational response to 
industrialization, in which efficiency is enhanced by a 
predictable and dependable labor force, and workers are 
vulnerable to displacement during economic downturns. During 
the 19th Century, public offices specifically designed to 
accomplish these reciprocal purposes were established, first by 
cities, and subsequently by several states. At the onset of 
World War I, the need for a national manpower pool to support 
the war effort led to the formation of the U.S. public 
employment service system, which then substantially disappeared 
following the end of the war and declining defense industry 
demand for workers. During the Depression of the 1930s, the 
federal government tried several approaches that many hoped 
would relieve the financial hardship of displaced workers, as 
well as revitalize the economy and stimulate recovery. As part 
of the recovery efforts, many public jobs were created, thereby 
combining work relief for the unemployed with the economic 
stimulus of increased spending by displaced workers who would 
otherwise be without income.
    To help link these public jobs with workers who needed 
them, Congress resurrected the concept of a publicly-supported 
system of employment services when it passed the Wagner-Peyser 
Act of 1933, which called for the development of federal-state 
employment service offices. In 1935, as part of the Social 
Security Act, Congress expanded the role of the employment 
service offices by establishing an unemployment insurance 
benefit program, thereby creating a governmental interest in 
determining whether benefit applicants were ready, able, and 
looking for work.
Development of Employment and Training Services for Veterans
    The broad nature of the Great Depression made the scope and 
import of a national employment service part of a strategy of 
economic recovery. Yet, the federal-state employment service 
focused, at least initially, on the circumstances of individual 
workers, local employers, and the communities in which they 
resided. With the onset of World War II, however, the scope of 
employment service offices expanded under federal authority to 
promote the efficient matching of defense industry needs with 
available manpower, an exchange that reflected the interstate 
nature of a national response to a national crisis. Then, as 
the war neared conclusion, Congress considered the widespread 
economic implications of a massive demobilization of individual 
troops, and established a national priority for the placement 
of veterans in available jobs as part of the Servicemen's 
Readjustment Act for 1944 (commonly known as the GI Bill). The 
GI Bill helped returning service-members and a recovering 
national economy adjust to each other.
    In adopting special employment services for returning 
troops, Congress expanded the role of the Employment Service to 
include a variety of case-specific services to help individual 
veterans become more employable. The law established a system 
of priorities giving veterans hiring advantages over 
nonveterans in the pursuit of federal government jobs, and 
early notice about the availability of other jobs in the 
nonfederal sector. To assure that these objectives would be 
vigorously pursued, Congress provided for grants to states for 
the specific purpose of hiring persons who would become expert 
in the placement of veterans needing jobs. These special 
experts, referred to as Local Veterans' Employment 
Representatives (LVERs) assisted veterans looking for work, and 
as well combed the community for employers with jobs suitable 
for such veterans.


         SPECIAL EMPLOYMENT ASSISTANCE FOR VIETNAM ERA VETERANS


    In January of 1977, DOL initiated a three-part plan to 
reduce high unemployment among veterans of the Vietnam Era, 
especially disabled veterans. Employment opportunities for the 
Vietnam Era veterans were perceived as particularly limited 
because of wide-spread economic problems, but also because such 
veterans were not enjoying the advantages of returning from 
active duty to a public grateful for their military service.
    One part of the plan focused on Help through Industry 
Retraining and Employment (HIRE), while another established a 
hiring goal of 35 percent more veterans in public employment. 
The third part of the plan was the Disabled Veterans Outreach 
Program (DVOP), which envisioned a strong outreach program to 
identify veterans in need of special employment services, as 
well as the active cultivation of employers attuned to the 
responsibility to hire veterans, especially disabled veterans 
and those from the Vietnam Era. Many DVOP specialists were 
themselves disabled veterans, who were thereby perceived to 
have special affinities with the disabled veterans needing 
employment assistance.
    DVOP specialists and LVERs were mostly located in local 
State Employment Service Agency (SESA) offices, although by 
law, one-fourth of DVOP staff were stationed at least some of 
the time at veterans outreach contact points in VA facilities, 
military installations, and veterans service organization 
offices. In the spring of 1977, program staff began referring 
eligible veterans to training and supportive services, 
educational opportunities, and appropriate job openings that 
the staff identified among federal contractors with special 
veterans priority obligations. \1\ In addition, the DVOP 
specialists and LVERs set out to develop working relationships 
with other job sources, such as labor unions, community 
organizations, and employers. By July 1979, the unemployment 
rate for the same group had declined to 3.5 percent from 5.7 
percent 2 years earlier, with an actual decline of 111,000 in 
the number of unemployed Vietnam Era veterans during the same 
period, according to DOL reports.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ The Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974 
requires employers with federal contracts of $10,000 or more to list 
all openings (except certain exempt managerial positions) with local 
SESA offices. The Act also requires ``affirmative action'' programs for 
the hiring of veterans, and local employment service offices are 
expected to monitor contractor compliance, submitting the names of 
employers suspected of noncompliance to DOL for investigation and 
eventual resolution.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------


     CURRENT OPERATIONS OF THE DVOPS AND LVERS EMPLOYMENT SERVICES


    Under current law, LVERs are authorized under a formula 
that provides for one representative for an employment service 
office with at least 1,100 veterans registered for assistance, 
with an additional representative for each 1,500 registered 
veterans above that level. Time is allocated among local 
employment service offices at the rate of one half-time LVER 
for each office in which between 350 and 1,100 veterans were 
registered for employment services. Current law provides for 
one DVOP specialist for each 7,400 veterans between the ages of 
20 and 64 who are residing within a state.
    The actual number of positions is governed by the level of 
appropriations Congress provides to fill the authorized 
positions. For FY2000, an appropriation of $80.215 million 
supports grants for 1,328 DVOP specialists, while $77.253 
million supports 1,173 LVERs. About $2 million is available for 
training of DVOP specialists and LVERs through the National 
Veterans' Training Institute (NVTI).

Implications for VETS Programs of P.L. 105-220, the Workforce 
        Investment Act of 1998 (WIA)

    When Congress enacted the Workforce Investment Act of 1998, 
its stated purpose was to ``consolidate, coordinate, and 
improve employment, training, literacy, and vocational 
rehabilitation programs.'' WIA contains provisions which codify 
a concept called the One-Stop Career Center system, and the Act 
requires that employment services be delivered through state 
One-Stop offices. \2\ Under requirements of WIA, local areas 
established, by July 1, 2000, One-Stop career centers with 
access to services provided under multiple programs. Unemployed 
persons will have streamlined access to employment, education, 
training, counseling, and job availability information, that in 
the past was generally available only in separate locations.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \2\ For further information on the employment service and the 
implications of passage of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998, see 
CRS Report RL30248, The Employment Service: The Federal-State Public 
Labor Exchange System, by Alison Pasternak and Ann Lordeman.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    WIA envisions employment service offices being able to take 
advantage of modern electronic data processing to expedite 
finding appropriate jobs for qualified applicants, as well as 
to help potential employees identify available jobs, and assist 
with their applications. In key ways, the new system mimics the 
essential characteristics that guided federal employment 
service policy during wartime, by identifying job opportunities 
and workforce applicants across geographical boundaries. 
Instead of a localized objective of matching job seekers with 
work in their hometowns, the WIA approach, as did the wartime 
employment services before it, allows workers to seek suitable 
employment in far off places, while giving employers a 
nationwide pool of potential applicants from which to draw.
    The WIA does not specifically address the role of DOL 
Veterans Employment and Training service programs and personnel 
within One-Stop offices. However, Title 38 limits LVERs and 
DVOP specialists to providing assistance only to veterans, an 
apparent conflict with the function of a One-Stop career 
center, in which services are integrated through a case-
management concept that guides clientele to particular staff 
most able to provide the services the individual client needs. 
Thus, without changes to the way in which LVERs and DVOPs 
function in employment service offices, veterans may not 
benefit from the greater access to national job market 
information that WIA facilitates. Further, DVOP specialists and 
LVERs may need retraining to take advantage of the new 
employment service capability at their fingertips.
    By enacting WIA, Congress encouraged the utilization of 
modern technological capabilities and a global approach to job 
searches. This broad national approach is also intended to 
provide individualized, intensive assistance to specific 
individuals needing employment search assistance. This restyled 
employment services approach appears to be consistent with the 
national responsibility Congress has previously accepted with 
respect to veterans, especially disabled veterans, and their 
employment search needs.

                    Discussion of the Reported Bill

    Although our country's economic, social, and military 
environment have changed dramatically over the past few 
decades, the legal framework, policy and operational direction 
governing the provision of employment services remain from an 
earlier era that had its genesis in the Great Depression. 
Veterans' employment services are today provided in accordance 
with prescriptive and inflexible process-oriented provisions of 
law that have become obsolete as new employment delivery 
methods have evolved. From May 1997 to June 2001, the General 
Accounting Office issued eight reports criticizing the U.S. 
Department of Labor, Veterans' Employment and Training Service 
(VETS), for deficiencies in performance, performance 
measurement, and strategic planning. \1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ Veterans' Employment and Training Service: Flexibility and 
Accountability Needed to Improve Service to Veterans (GAO-01-928, 
September, 2001)
    Veterans' Employment and Training Service: Further Changes Needed 
to Strengthen Its Performance Measurement System (GAO-01-757T, June, 
2001)
    Veterans' Employment and Training Service: Proposed Performance 
Measurement System Improved, But Further Changes Needed (GAO-01-580, 
May, 2001)
    Veterans' Employment and Training Service: Better Planning Needed 
to Address Future Needs (GAO/T-HEHS-00-206, September, 2000)
    Veterans' Employment and Training Service: Strategic and 
Performance Plans Lack Vision and Clarity (GAO/T-HEHS-99-177, July, 
1999)
    Veterans' Employment and Training Service: Assessment of the Fiscal 
Year 1999 Performance Plan (GAO/HEHS-98-240R, September, 1998)
    Veterans' Employment and Training Service: Services Provided in 
Labor Department Programs (GAO/HEHS-98-7, October, 1997)
    Veterans' Employment and Training Service: Focusing on Program 
Results to Improve Agency Performance (GAO/T-HEHS-97-129, May, 1997)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Veterans bring a unique combination of skill, discipline, 
character, and talent to the marketplace. Although hiring 
veterans is a good business decision, veterans are a unique 
national resource that too often goes unrecognized and 
underused. The Gallup Organization's 1998 National Survey of 
Employers, requested by the Commission on Servicemembers and 
Veterans Transition Assistance, found that only 26 percent of 
employers actively recruited veterans. When asked where 
employers look to hire veterans, 48 percent incorrectly 
identified the Department of Veterans Affairs, and only 25 
percent cited the local Job Service office in their state.

    Priority of service for veterans in Department of Labor job 
training programs. Section 2 of the reported bill would provide 
priority of service for veterans and other covered persons in 
Department of Labor funded job training programs. It would 
define ``priority of service'' with respect to any qualified 
job training program to give priority to eligible veterans and 
other covered persons over non-veterans for the receipt of 
employment, training, and placement services under those 
programs, notwithstanding any other provision of law. A 
``covered person'' means: (1) a veteran; (2) a spouse of any of 
the following individuals: (a) veteran who died of a service-
connected disability, (b) any member of the armed forces who, 
at the time of application for assistance under this section is 
listed for more than 90 days, pursuant to section 556 of title 
37, United States Code, by the Secretary concerned in one or 
more of the following categories: (i) missing in action, (ii) 
captured in the line of duty by a hostile force, or (iii) 
forcibly detained or interned in the line of duty by a foreign 
government or power, (c) a veteran who has a total disability 
resulting from a service-connected disability, or (d) a veteran 
who died while a disability so evaluated was in existence.
    Section 2 also would authorize the Secretary of Labor to 
set priorities among eligible persons, taking into account the 
needs of disabled and special disabled veterans, and any other 
factors the Secretary considers appropriate.
    In regard to the priority of service, the Committee notes 
the testimony submitted for the record by the New Jersey 
Department of Labor as being illustrative of the view of many 
organizations: ``The State of New Jersey fully supports 
broadening the mandate to provide priority of service to 
veterans in all DOL Job Training programs, in addition to the 
separate section 168 programs under the Workforce Investment 
Act of 1998. We attempt to do this now for all of our programs 
and are encouraged that this provision would be enacted into 
law.''
    The Committee believes this is an appropriate policy 
because veterans earn priority through honorable and often 
hazardous service to the nation. In effect, this section would 
codify current practice in some DOL-funded programs where 
veterans are participating at a level that exceeds parity.
    The DOL Employment and Training Administration ``9002 
Report'' for 1999 shows 2,149,156 total workforce participants, 
of which 4.5 percent of the veteran population was identified 
as ``economically disadvantaged.'' This is compared to 5.4 
percent of the non-veteran population that was identified as 
``economically disadvantaged.'' Although veterans were slightly 
less likely to be ``economically disadvantaged,'' veterans 
nevertheless represented six percent of adults who received 
service in the Title II-A ``economically disadvantaged'' 
program for program year 1999 and received services beyond 
initial assessment.
    With respect to the Title III ``dislocated worker'' 
program, Bureau of Labor Statistics on the Employment Situation 
of Vietnam Era Veterans, September 1999, published in June 
2000, Tables 1 and 8, show there were 14.9 million veterans in 
the Civilian Labor Force, representing 10.9 percent of it. In 
program year 1999, veterans participated in the ``dislocated 
worker'' program at 11 percent, slightly above parity. The 
Committee believes that with the enactment of its first-in-line 
policy, veterans participation can be higher. See, Social 
Policy Research Associates, PY 99 SPIR Data Book, April 2001, 
Table II-3.
    The Committee views its first-in-line priority as promoting 
even greater improvements in current DOL performance in which 
veterans' participation is beyond parity. Veterans have earned 
such priority by serving in our All-Volunteer Force. See, 
Social Policy Research Associates, PY 99 SPIR Data Book, April 
2001.
    Section 2 also would provide, with respect to Federal 
contracts and subcontracts in the amount of $100,000 or more 
entered into by any department or agency of the United States 
for the procurement of personal property and non personal 
services (including construction), a provision requiring that 
the contractor or subcontractor take affirmative action to 
employ and advance in employment qualified covered veterans. In 
this section, a ``covered veteran'' is defined as (1) a 
disabled veteran, (2) a veteran who served on active duty in 
the Armed Forces during a war or in a campaign or expedition 
for which a campaign badge is authorized, (3) a veteran who, 
while serving on active duty in the Armed Forces, participated 
in a United States military operation, for which an Armed 
Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 
12985, and (4) a recently-separated veteran (within three years 
after discharge or release from military service).
    The testimony of Mr. Bruce Wyngaard, Operations Director, 
Ohio Civil Service Employees Association (American Federation 
of State, County, and Municipal Employees Local 11), 
illustrates the view of many witnesses who testified with 
respect to federal contracts: ``We strongly support the 
provision in the legislation that would require contractors to 
list their job openings with the appropriate employment service 
delivery system. AFSCME believes mandatory listing of job 
vacancies with the employment service is essential to building 
an effective national labor exchange for veterans. . . .''
    Section 2 further would make various changes to the 
language in section 4214(a)(1) of title 38, United States Code, 
regarding the obligation of the United States to assist 
veterans of the Armed Forces in readjusting to civilian life 
since veterans, who by virtue of their military service, have 
lost opportunities to pursue education and training oriented 
toward civilian careers.
    Finally, section 2 would change ``Veterans Readjustment 
Authority (VRA)'' to ``Veterans Recruitment Authority.'' 
Eligibility for such non-competitive appointment to Federal 
service would change from Vietnam era and post-Vietnam era 
veterans to ``qualified covered veterans'' (as discussed in the 
Summary at paragraph four) within the 10-year period that 
begins on the date of the veteran's last discharge or release 
from active duty; the 10-year limitation would not apply to a 
veteran with a service-connected disability of 30 percent or 
more. The Committee believes that VRA, as revised by the 
reported bill, would serve as a valuable tool to recruit future 
veterans to Federal civilian service.

    Performance incentive awards for quality veterans 
employment, training, and placement services. Section 3 of H.R. 
4015, as amended, would require the Secretary to carry out a 
program of performance incentive cash awards to states to 
encourage the improvement and modernization of employment, 
training and placement services to veterans. The performance 
incentive cash awards for each program year would be with 
respect to services provided during the preceding program year, 
beginning with fiscal year 2004.

    This section also would require the Secretary to:

         establish eligibility criteria for such 
        awards through a consultative process with states, 
        political subdivisions of states, and other providers 
        of employment, training, and placement services under 
        the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 consistent with 
        the other performance measures for services authorized 
        by this chapter;
         determine the amount of performance incentive 
        awards in a state under this section by measuring the 
        performance of a state in providing employment, 
        training and placement services furnished veterans and 
        eligible persons in each state through employment 
        service delivery systems, through disabled veterans' 
        outreach program specialists, and through local 
        veterans' employment representatives during the 
        previous program year based on the measures of 
        performance established under this chapter;
         provide greater amounts to states that 
        provide the highest quality services during the 
        previous year based on measures of performance;
         provide awards to states that have made 
        significant improvements in the delivery of services, 
        but may not have provided the highest quality services; 
        and
         consider the applicable annual state 
        employment data and other factors, such as prevailing 
        economic conditions, that affect performance of 
        individuals providing employment, training, and 
        placement services in the state.

    The performance awards would be in addition to state VETS 
program grants for disabled veterans' outreach program 
specialists and local veterans' employment representatives, and 
expenses for them to attend the National Veterans' Employment 
and Training Services Institute. Award funds could be obligated 
during the program year in which the cash award was received 
and the subsequent program year.
    Section 3 would authorize the amount of performance 
incentive awards to be appropriated for the Secretary, in 
addition to amounts authorized to be appropriated to carry out 
chapters 41, 42, and 43 of title 38, United States Code as 
follows: $10 million for the program year beginning in fiscal 
year 2004, $25 million for the program year beginning in fiscal 
year 2005, $50 million for the program year beginning in fiscal 
year 2006, $75 million for the program year beginning in fiscal 
year 2007, and $100 million for the program year beginning in 
fiscal year 2008.
    The testimony of witnesses at the April 18, 2002 hearing of 
the Subcommittee on Benefits on H.R. 4015 strongly supported 
this section. The Honorable Frederico Juarbe, Jr., Assistant 
Secretary of Veterans' Employment and Training, stated, 
``incorporating the expectation of high performance is an 
essential component of an effective workforce system. H.R. 
4015, as amended, provides incentives not only to those states 
that provide the highest level of performance, but also to 
those states that show significant improvements.''
    Mr. Rex Hall, Chairman, Veterans' Advisory Committee, 
National Association of State Workforce Agencies, stated that, 
``we welcome the establishment of an incentive program that 
rewards states for good performance. . . . The states welcome 
this initiative and believe that replacing the current 
performance measures under Title 38 with outcome-based measures 
that are similar to the new labor exchange (Wagner-Peyser Act) 
will result in better services to veterans and will be more 
aligned with the current delivery structure in states.''
    William Crandell, Ph. D., of the Association of Service 
Disabled Veterans noted, ``The method your bill has chosen . . 
. wisely relies on performance incentives rather than 
punishment. Give state managers a shot at earning a larger 
budget, and many will take you up on it.'' The Committee 
believes that this provision would give every state an equal 
opportunity to excel.

    Refinement of job training and placement functions of the 
Department. Section 4 of H.R. 4015, as amended, would revise 
the functions of Department level senior officials, continuing 
within the Department of Labor (DOL) the position of Assistant 
Secretary for Veterans' Employment and Training (ASVET), to be 
appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the 
Senate to formulate and implement all departmental policies and 
procedures to carry out chapters 41, 42, and 43 of title 38, 
United States Code, and all other DOL employment, unemployment, 
and training programs to the extent they affect veterans. The 
bill would require that such individual be a veteran.
    Additionally, section 4 would revise the qualifications for 
the position of Deputy Assistant Secretary for Veterans' 
Employment and Training. No individual would be eligible for 
appointment to such position unless the individual has at least 
five years of continuous service in the Federal civil service 
in the executive branch immediately preceding appointment as 
Deputy Assistant Secretary. For purposes of determining such 
continuous service of the individual, the reported bill 
excludes certain specified types of executive branch service. 
The reported bill would require the Deputy Assistant Secretary 
to be a veteran.
    Section 4 also would specify program functions of the 
Veterans' Employment and Training Service. The Committee notes 
this section of the bill largely follows current law with 
respect to the seven duties of the ASVET listed under section 
4102A(b), but with certain clarifying or substantive revisions. 
For example, this section:

         adds veteran and disabled veteran-owned 
        business concerns to the entities that programs, 
        grantees and contractors would be encouraged to enter 
        into cooperative arrangements in order to meet 
        veterans' employment and training needs;
         clarifies that the ASVET carries out 
        employment, job training, and placement activities with 
        appropriate state employment service officials and 
        other providers;
         replaces ``fringe benefits'' with ``other 
        business expenditures'' in regard to expenses for which 
        state grantees or contractors may be reimbursed for 
        specialists' and representatives', including for 
        attendance at the National Veterans' Employment and 
        Training Services Institute;
         deletes the monitoring of appointments and 
        assignment requirements for disabled veterans' outreach 
        program specialists and local veterans' employment 
        representatives; and
         requires the Secretary to establish and 
        update as appropriate, a comprehensive performance 
        accountability system and carry out annual performance 
        reviews of veterans employment, training, and placement 
        services provided through employment service delivery 
        systems, through disabled veterans' outreach program 
        specialists, and through local veterans' employment 
        representatives in states receiving grants, contracts, 
        or awards under this chapter.

    This section would revise the methods by which the 
Secretary furnishes DVOP and LVER funds to a state by requiring 
the Secretary to make funds available for each fiscal year in 
proportion to the number of veterans seeking employment using 
such criteria as the Secretary may establish in regulation, 
including civilian labor force and unemployment rates. The 
proportion of funding would reflect the ratio of the total 
number of veterans residing in the state that are seeking 
employment to the total number of veterans seeking employment 
in all states.
    The Secretary would be required to phase-in over the three 
fiscal year period that begins on October 1, 2002, the manner 
in which amounts are made available to the states for DVOPs and 
LVERs, as amended by this Act. It also would give the Secretary 
the discretionary authority to establish minimum funding levels 
and hold-harmless criteria for states in administering funding 
to the states. This flexibility is especially appropriate for 
smaller states with limited staffing to maintain a continuity 
of service during swings in unemployment rates. This provision 
was derived from suggestions from the U.S. Department of Labor 
and the National Association of State Workforce Agencies.
    As revised by this bill, section 4102(c)(3) of title 38, 
United States Code, would require that when a state has an 
entered-employment rate that the Secretary determines is 
deficient for the preceding year, the state must develop and 
implement a corrective action plan that is submitted to the 
Secretary. The Secretary would also be required to establish in 
regulations a uniform national threshold entered-employment 
rate for a program year by which determinations of deficiency 
may be made. In making such determinations, the Secretary would 
be required to take into account the applicable annual 
unemployment data for the state and consider other factors, 
such as prevailing economic conditions, that affect performance 
of individuals providing employment, training, and placement 
services in the state. In determining the terms and conditions 
of a grant or contract for DVOP and LVER services, the 
Secretary would be required to take into account (1) the 
results of reviews carried out through the comprehensive 
performance accountability system regarding the performance of 
the employment, training and placements delivery system in each 
state, and (2) the on-going monitoring of this performance.
    Each grant or contract by which funds would be made 
available to a state would be required to contain a provision 
that the recipient of the funds comply with the provisions of 
chapter 41 of title 38, United States Code, and on an annual 
basis, notify the Secretary of Labor and provide supporting 
rationale for each non-veteran who is employed as a DVOP and 
LVER for a period in excess of six months. States also would be 
required to coordinate employment, training, and placement 
services furnished to veterans and eligible persons under this 
chapter with such services furnished to such veterans and 
persons under the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 and the 
Wagner-Peyser Act.
    As stated above, the ASVET, not later than three months 
after enactment, would be required to establish and implement a 
comprehensive performance accountability system to measure the 
performance of employment service delivery systems (including 
Wagner-Peyser personnel), disabled veterans' outreach program 
specialists, and local veterans' employment representatives, 
providing employment, training and placement services in a 
state. The standards and measures would have to be consistent 
with state performance measures applicable under section 136(b) 
of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998, and be appropriately 
weighted to provide special consideration for placement of 
veterans requiring intensive services (as defined in section 
4101(9) of title 38, United States Code), such as special 
disabled and disabled veterans, and veterans who enroll in 
readjustment counseling under section 1712A of title 38, United 
States Code.
    Subject to the approval by the Secretary, states would be 
required to employ a sufficient number of full or part-time 
DVOPs to carry out intensive services to meet the employment 
needs of eligible veterans with the following priority in the 
provision of services: (1) special disabled veterans, (2) other 
disabled veterans, and (3) other eligible veterans in 
accordance with priorities determined by the Secretary taking 
into account applicable rates of unemployment and the 
unemployment criteria set forth in chapter 42 of title 38, 
United States Code. This section would also require the 
Secretary to place maximum emphasis on meeting the employment 
needs of veterans who are economically or educationally 
disadvantaged. A state, to the maximum extent practicable, 
would be required to employ qualified veterans to carry out 
DVOP services, and give preference in hiring to qualified 
disabled veterans. While it is the Committee's intention that 
these positions ordinarily be filled by eligible veterans and 
preferably eligible disabled veterans, the Committee recognizes 
that under certain circumstances, it may be appropriate or 
necessary to employ a nonveteran in these positions on a 
temporary or permanent basis. The reporting requirement for the 
States to provide information and rationale to the Secretary 
whenever a nonveteran is employed for more than six months is 
intended to permit monitoring of the states efforts and to 
assure that veterans are employed in these positions to ``the 
maximum extent practicable''.
    The reported bill would provide for the principal duties of 
LVERs to include conducting outreach to employers to assist 
veterans in gaining employment, and, in conjunction with 
employers, conducting job search workshops and establishing job 
search groups. Duties would also include facilitating 
employment, training and placement services furnished to 
veterans in a state under the applicable state employment 
delivery system. States would be required, to the maximum 
extent practicable, to employ qualified veterans to carry out 
duties of LVERs. The Committee expects that veterans would 
ordinarily fill such positions, but permits nonveterans to be 
hired when necessary to assure services to veterans.
    Further, the Secretary of Labor, within 18 months of 
enactment, would be required to provide one-stop services and 
assistance to covered persons electronically by the Internet 
and other electronic means, to enhance the delivery of such 
services. For the one-stop office, the Committee expects that 
the Secretary would establish a virtual Job Service website 
with four platforms: transition and job readiness, resources, 
job fair and employer support, plus on-line access to veterans 
case managers. The system should complement, not supplant, 
similar efforts of state employment security agencies. 
Electronic links to services of such agencies should be 
provided when feasible. The Department of Defense would market 
and promote such services to transitioning servicemembers, and 
the Department of Labor and the individual state would promote 
with employers the use of the website for recruiting.
    The U.S. Army has had comprehensive Internet-based 
employment assistance services available (located at 
www.acap.army.mil) since 1996 for active-duty clients and 
family members. Veterans are provided access to the system for 
up to 90 days after leaving active duty. The written testimony 
of Resource Consultants, Inc. (RCI), at the July 12, 2000 and 
April 18, 2002 hearings of the Subcommittee on Benefits stated:

          The (Army) Internet-based service includes a 
        comprehensive listing of available jobs that is updated 
        daily, job search tutorials, an e-mail-based job 
        assistance help line, links to the major Internet-based 
        job listing services, and similar services. It has been 
        a popular service with clients able to continue job 
        searches away from an ACAP site, as well as for having 
        access to a job counselor by mail.

    The Committee encourages the Secretary of Labor to consult 
with the Secretary of the Army in developing the Internet-based 
``one-stop'' job service office for veterans and 
servicemembers, as would be required by the provision.
    The reported bill would remove from law highly prescriptive 
provisions that the Committee believes limit the flexibility of 
states' and counties' abilities to serve both veterans and 
employers, including detailed descriptions for DVOP and LVER 
positions; the rigid method for assigning DVOPs and LVERs to 
local employment offices; and intrusive authority of state 
Directors for Veterans' Employment and Training to participate 
in the annual performance rating of DVOPs and LVERs in state or 
county merit systems.
    The reported bill would make states and counties more 
accountable with respect to outcomes and results, but allows 
them greater flexibility. Assistant Secretary Juarbe testified 
at the Subcommittee on Benefits hearing on April 18, 2002, that 
``flexibility is critical to making services more accessible to 
veterans.'' T. P. O'Mahoney, Commissioner representing Labor 
for the Texas Workforce Commission, testified as well that 
``the cornerstone of this new [Workforce Investment Act] system 
is local control accompanied by flexibility and integration of 
programs to deliver high quality services . . .'' Mr. O'Mahoney 
also stated ``the authorization for half-time DVOP staff will 
certainly improve total operations and allow more 
flexibility.''
    The Committee emphasizes that under the proposed 38 U.S.C. 
4102A(c), entitled ``Conditions for Receipt of Funds'', each 
state would be required to describe in an annual plan the 
manner in which DVOPs and LVERs are integrated in the 
employment service delivery systems in the state. The Committee 
agrees with testimony from both Assistant Secretary Juarbe and 
the witnesses from the National Association of State Workforce 
Agencies that in meeting the needs of veterans in the 21st 
century workplace, veterans' services need to be closely 
aligned with the Workforce Investment Act of 1998.

    Additional improvements in veterans employment and training 
services. Section 5 of H.R. 4015, as amended, would make 
several definitional and reporting changes in law to conform 
better to the Workforce Investment Act, including:

         defining ``intensive services'' as local 
        employment and training services of the type described 
        in section 134(d)(3) of the Workforce Investment Act of 
        1998;
         replacing ``job and job training counseling 
        service program'' with ``job and job training intensive 
        services program''; and
         replacing ``employment counseling services'' 
        and ``counseling'' with ``intensive services.''

    Section 5 would add programs easing the transition of 
servicemembers to civilian careers to those programs the 
Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans' Employment and 
Training administers.
    This section would update use of various terms to more 
accurately capture outcomes, such as: (1) replacing ``and 
eligible persons who are registered for assistance with'' with 
``eligible persons, and servicemembers transitioning to 
civilian life who registered for assistance with or who are 
identified as veterans by,'' (2) replacing ``job placement 
rate'' the first place it appears with ``the rate of entered 
employment (as determined in a manner consistent with state 
performance measures applicable under section 136(b) of the 
Workforce Investment Act of 1998),'' and (3) replacing ``the 
job placement rate'' the second place it appears with ``such 
rate of entered employment''.
    This section would require the Secretary of Labor to 
include in the Department's annual report to the House and 
Senate Committees on Veterans' Affairs information on (1) the 
operation during the preceding program year of the program of 
performance incentive awards for quality employment services, 
including an analysis of the amount of incentive awards 
distributed to each State and the rationale for such 
distribution, and (2) in the case of a state that has not met 
the minimum standard of performance as established by the 
Secretary, the Secretary's analysis of the extent and reason 
for the state's failure to meet that minimum standard, together 
with the state's plan for corrective action during the 
succeeding year.
    Finally, this section would clarify that National Veterans' 
Employment and Training Services Institute should have 
authority to provide training for personnel of other 
departments or agencies.

    Committee to raise employer awareness of skills of veterans 
and benefits of hiring veterans. Section 6 would establish 
within the Department of Labor a committee to be known as the 
President's National Hire Veterans Committee. The Committee's 
duties would include (1) furnishing information to employers 
with respect to the training and skills of veterans and 
disabled veterans and the advantages afforded employers by 
hiring veterans with such training and skills, and (2) 
facilitating employment of veterans and disabled veterans 
through participation in America's Career Kit national labor 
exchange and through other means.
    The Secretary of Labor would be authorized to appoint 15 
individuals to serve as members of the Committee, of whom one 
would be appointed from among names submitted by the following 
representatives: the Ad Council, the National Committee for 
Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve, veterans' service 
organizations that have a national employment program, state 
employment security agencies, one-stop career centers, state 
departments of veterans affairs, and military service 
organizations.
    Eight individuals would be appointed from among businesses, 
small businesses, industries, companies in the private sector 
that furnish placement services, civic groups, Workforce 
Investment Boards, and labor unions.
    Non-voting ex officio members of the Committee would 
include the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, the Secretary of 
Defense, the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans' 
Employment and Training, the Administrator of the Small 
Business Administration, the Postmaster General, and the 
Director of the Office of Personnel Management. In the event of 
a vacancy on the Committee, the position would be filled in the 
manner in which the original appointment was made.
    This section would provide as well that the Committee would 
meet not less frequently than once each calendar quarter. The 
Secretary of Labor would appoint the Chairman of the Committee. 
Members of the Committee would serve without compensation, but 
would be permitted travel and per diem reimbursement in lieu of 
subsistence while away from their homes or regular places of 
business in the performance of the responsibilities of the 
Committee. The Secretary would provide staff and administrative 
support to the Committee to assist it in carrying out its 
duties. The Secretary would assure positions on the staff of 
the Committee include positions that are filled by individuals 
that are now, or have been, employed as one of the following: 
(1) staff of the Assistant Secretary for Veterans' Employment 
and Training, (2) Directors or Assistant Directors for 
Veterans' Employment and Training, (3) DVOPs, or (4) LVERs.
    With respect to administrative support, upon request from 
the Committee, the head of any Federal department or agency 
would be authorized to detail on a non-reimbursable basis 
personnel of that department or agency to the Committee to 
assist it in carrying out its duties. The Committee could 
contract with and compensate government and private agencies or 
persons to furnish information to employers with respect to the 
training and skills of veterans and disabled veterans, and the 
advantages of hiring veterans.
    Not later than December 31 of each year from 2003 to 2005, 
the Secretary would be required to submit a report to Congress 
on the activities of the Committee for the previous fiscal 
year, including data with respect to placement and retention of 
veterans in jobs attributable to the activities of the 
Committee. The Committee would terminate 60 days after 
submitting its final report due on December 31, 2005. This 
section would authorize $3 million to be appropriated to the 
Secretary of Labor from the employment security administration 
account (established in section 901 of the Social Security Act) 
of the Unemployment Trust Fund for each of fiscal years 2003 
through 2005 for the President's National Hire Veterans 
Committee.
    Assistant Secretary Juarbe, testifying in support of the 
provisions establishing the Committee, stated at the 
subcommittee's April 18, 2002, hearing, ``. . . the National 
Hire Veterans Committee has the potential to add significant 
value to the entire employment and training community.'' Roger 
Madsen, Director of the Idaho Job Service, testified at the 
same hearing, ``the added influence of our federal partner in 
marketing the skills and experience of our veterans is most 
welcome.'' Mr. Wesley Poriotis, Chairman of the non-profit 
Center for Military and Private-Sector Initiatives, also 
testified before the subcommittee on April 18, 2002, that:

          What the country needs is a truly forceful diverse 
        National Hire Veterans Committee that is structured to 
        include high-level corporate level executive leadership 
        . . . those with the ``clout'' to open the floodgates 
        of corporate and business hiring for veterans.
          The major task [is] eliminating what is clearly a 
        pervasive bias of corporate deselection of veterans for 
        quality employment opportunity at all levels, in all 
        functions and disciplines and in all industries. This 
        is especially true for the consumer package goods, 
        pharmaceutical, retail, financial services, and other 
        non-defense growth sectors.
          Veterans as a class of individuals are vastly under-
        employed and are suffering from . . . stereotypes, 
        myths, and deselective biases leading to artificial 
        blockage into the corporate sector. . . . With only one 
        of six Americans under the age of 65 having served in 
        the military, nearly all of the corporate hiring 
        managers and their human resources support personnel 
        had no point of reference about the military, its 
        leadership, its work ethic, and its resourcefulness to 
        manage projects from initiation to completion.

    The committee recommends that the President's National Hire 
Veterans Committee consult the Business Roundtable, the 
Corporate Conference Board, the U.S. and State Chamber of 
Commerce, the Small Business Association, international 
business organizations, and other similar groups. It should 
reach out and market veterans as a unique national resource to 
the consumer package goods, pharmaceutical, retail, financial 
services and other non-defense segments.

    Sense of Congress commending veterans and military 
organizations. Section 7 would commend veterans and military 
service organizations for the continued assistance the 
organizations provide veterans; and it would encourage them to 
provide job placement assistance to veterans who are job-ready 
by making personal computers available through access to 
electronic job placement services and programs at local posts 
and through other means.

    Study on economic benefits to the United States of long-
term sustained employment of veterans. Section 8 would require 
the Secretary of Labor to enter into a contract with an 
appropriate organization or entity to conduct a study to 
quantify the economic benefit to the United States attributable 
to the provision of employment and training services under 
chapter 41 of title 38, United States Code, in assisting 
veterans to attain long-term, sustained employment. The study 
would include analyses on the impact of such employment on 
federal, state, and local tax revenues generated by reason of 
such employment; the contributions of such employment on the 
domestic gross national product, and such other indicators of 
the effect of such employment on the economy of the United 
States. This section would authorize $1,000,000 to be 
appropriated for the Secretary to carry out the study and such 
sums would remain available until expended. The Secretary would 
be required to submit a report on the study not later than 18 
months after the date on which the Secretary enters into such 
contract.

                      Section-By-Section Analysis

    Section 1(a) of the bill would provide that this Act may be 
cited as the ``Jobs for Veterans Act''.

    Section 1(b) would provide that unless otherwise expressly 
provided, whenever in this Act an amendment or repeal is 
expressed in terms of an amendment to, or repeal of, a section 
or other provision, the reference shall be considered to be 
made to a section or other provisions of title 38, United 
States Code.

    Section 1(c) would set forth the table of contents of this 
Act.

    Section 2(a)(1) of the bill would amend chapter 42 of title 
38, United States Code, by adding a new section: ``Section 
4215. Priority of service for veterans in Department of Labor 
job training programs''.

    Section 4215(a)(1) would define as ``covered persons'' for 
purposes of priority under this section: (1) a veteran, (2) a 
spouse of any of the following individuals, (a) a veteran who 
died of a service-connected disability, (b) any member of the 
armed forces who, at the time of application for assistance 
under this section, is listed, pursuant to section 556 of title 
37 and regulations issued thereunder, by the Secretary 
concerned in one or more of the following categories and has 
been so listed for a total of more than 90 days as (i) missing 
in action, (ii) captured in the line of duty by a hostile 
force, or (iii) forcibly detained or interned in line of duty 
by a foreign government or power, (c) a veteran who has a total 
disability resulting from a service-connected disability, or 
(d) a veteran who died while a disability so evaluated was in 
existence.

    Section 4215(a)(2) would define ``qualified job training 
program'' as any work force preparation, development, or 
delivery program or service that is directly funded, in whole 
or in part, by the Department of Labor. Qualified job training 
program would include the following: (1) any program or service 
that uses technology to assist individuals to access work force 
development programs (such as job and training opportunities, 
labor market information, career assessment tools, and related 
support services); (2) any program or service under the public 
employment service system, one-stop career centers, the 
Workforce Investment Act of 1998, a demonstration or other 
temporary program, and those programs implemented by States or 
local service providers based on Federal block grants 
administered by the Department of Labor; and (3) any program or 
service that is a workforce development program targeted to 
specific groups.

    Section 4215(a)(3) would define ``priority of service'' 
with respect to any qualified job training program. A covered 
person shall be given priority over non-veterans for the 
receipt of employment, training, and placement services 
provided under that program, notwithstanding any other 
provision of law.

    Section 4215(b)(1) would create a new entitlement to 
priority of service for covered persons under any qualified job 
training program if the person otherwise meets eligibility 
requirements for participation in such program.

    Section 4215(b)(2) would provide that the Secretary of 
Labor may establish priorities among covered persons for 
purposes of this section to take into account the needs of 
disabled veterans and special disabled veterans, and such other 
factors as the Secretary determines appropriate.

    Section 4215(c)(1) would require that any entity of a State 
or a political subdivision of the State that administers or 
delivers services under a qualified job training program shall 
provide information and priority of service to covered persons 
regarding benefits and services that may be obtained through 
other entities or service providers.

    Section 4215(c)(2) would ensure that each covered person 
who applies to or is assisted by a program is informed of the 
employment-related rights and benefits to which the person is 
entitled under this section.

    Section 4215(d) would insert additional requirements of the 
Secretary of Labor for inclusion in the annual report required 
under section 4107(c) of title 38, United States Code, for the 
program year beginning in 2002. The Secretary shall evaluate 
whether covered persons are receiving priority of service and 
are being fully served by qualifying job training programs. 
Further, the report would evaluate whether the levels of 
service of such programs are in proportion to the incidence of 
representation of veterans in the labor market, including 
within groups that the Secretary may designate for priority 
under such programs, if any.

    Section 2(b)(1) would amend section 4212(a) of title 38, 
United States Code, to require that any contract in the amount 
of $100,000 or more entered into by any department or agency of 
the United States for the procurement of personal property and 
nonpersonal services (including construction) for the United 
States, shall contain a provision requiring that the party 
contracting with the United States take affirmative action to 
employ and advance in employment of qualified covered veterans. 
This section applies to any subcontract entered into by a prime 
contractor in carrying out any such contract.

    Section 4212(a)(2) would require the Secretary of Labor, in 
addition to requiring affirmative action to employ such 
qualified covered veterans under such contracts and 
subcontracts and in order to promote the implementation of such 
requirement, to prescribe regulations. Section 4212(a)(2)(A) 
would require that these regulations shall require each 
contractor for each contract to immediately list all of its 
employment openings with the appropriate employment service 
delivery system (as defined in section 4101(7) of title 38, 
United States Code). Such contractors may also list such 
openings with other entities. These entities would include one-
stop career centers under the Workforce Investment Act of 1998, 
other appropriate service delivery points, or America's Job 
Bank (or any additional or subsequent national electronic job 
bank established by the Department of Labor). Contractors may 
exclude openings for executive and senior management positions, 
which are to be filled from within the contractor's 
organization and positions lasting three days or less.

    Section 4212(a)(2)(B) would require each employment 
delivery system to give qualified covered veterans priority in 
referral to employment openings.

    Section 4212(a)(2)(C) would require each employment 
delivery system to provide a list of employment openings to 
States, political subdivisions of States, or any private 
entities or organizations under contract to carry out 
employment, training, and placement services under chapter 41 
of title 38, United States Code.

    Section 4212(a)(3)(A) would define a ``covered veteran'' 
for purposes of federal contracts as a veteran who (1) is 
disabled; (2) served on active duty in the Armed Forces during 
a war or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge 
has been authorized; (3) while serving on active duty in the 
Armed Forces, participated in a United States military 
operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded; 
or (4) is a recently separated veteran.

    Section 4212(a)(3)(B) would define the term ``qualified,'' 
with respect to an employment position, as having the ability 
to perform the essential functions of the position with or 
without reasonable accommodation for an individual with a 
disability.

    Section 2(b)(2) would make conforming and technical changes 
to other provisions in chapter 42 of title 38, United States, 
Code, to reflect the substantive changes made in section 4212 
described above.

    Section 2(b)(3) would require that the amendments made by 
this subsection shall apply with respect to contracts entered 
into on or after the first day of the first month that begins 
12 months after the date of the enactment of this Act.

    Section 2(c)(1) would amend section 4214(a)(1) to emphasize 
the desirability of recruiting veterans into a competent 
Federal work force and that veterans constitute a uniquely 
qualified recruiting source.

    Section 2(c)(2)(A) would amend section 4214(b) by renaming 
the ``Veterans' Readjustment Appointment Program'' as the 
``Veterans' Recruitment Appointment Program.''

    Section 2(c)(2)(B) would amend section 4214(b)(2) by 
revising the scope of the Veterans' Recruitment Appointment 
Program so that it applies to qualified covered veterans as 
that term is defined above in the revisions to section 
4212(a)(3).

    Section 2(c)(2)(C)(i) through (v) would make technical 
amendments to section 4214(b).

    Section 2(c)(3)(A) and (B) would make technical amendments 
to section 4214(a)(1).

    Section 2(c)(3)(C) would amend section 4214(g) (pertaining 
to the Department of Veterans Affairs) by substituting 
``qualified covered veterans'' for the phrase ``qualified 
special disabled veterans and qualified veterans of the Vietnam 
era.''

    Section 3(a)(1) of the bill would amend chapter 41 of title 
38, United States Code, by adding a new section: ``Section 4112 
entitled ``Performance incentive awards for quality employment, 
training, and placement services''.

    Section 4112(a)(1) of title 38, United State Code, would 
require the Secretary of Labor to carry out a program, 
consistent with the provisions of this section, of performance 
incentive awards to States to encourage the improvement and 
modernization of employment, training, and placement services 
provided under chapter 41 of title 38, United States Code. The 
Secretary shall carry out the program through the Assistant 
Secretary of Labor for Veterans' Employment and Training.

    Section 4112(a)(2) would require that the Secretary make 
performance incentive awards for each program year, beginning 
with the program year that begins in fiscal year 2004, with 
respect to services provided under chapter 41 of title 38, 
United States Code, during the preceding program year.

    Section 4112(b) would require that the Secretary establish 
criteria for eligibility for performance incentive awards for 
purposes of this section in consultation with representatives 
of States, political subdivisions of States, and other 
providers of employment, training, and placement services under 
the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 consistent with the 
performance measures established under section 4102A(b)(7) of 
title 38, United State Code.

    Section 4112(c)(1) would require that the Secretary shall 
determine the amount of performance incentive awards in a State 
under this section by measuring the performance of the State in 
providing employment, training, and placement services 
furnished veterans and eligible persons in each State through 
employment service delivery systems, through disabled veterans' 
outreach program specialists, and through local veterans' 
employment representatives during the previous program year 
based on the measures of performance established under section 
4102A(b)(7).

    Section 4112(c)(2)(A) would require that in determining the 
amount of performance incentive awards, the Secretary provide 
greater amounts to those States which the Secretary determines 
furnished, during the preceding fiscal year, the highest 
quality employment, training, and placement services based on 
measures of performance.

    Section 4112(c)(2)(B) would require that the Secretary 
provide awards to those States that have made significant 
improvements in the delivery of such services, as determined by 
the Secretary, but that do not meet criteria under subparagraph 
(A).

    Section 4112(c)(2)(C) would require the Secretary to 
consider the applicable annual unemployment data for the State 
and other factors, such as prevailing economic conditions, that 
affect performance of individuals providing employment, 
training, and placement services in the State.

    Section 4112(d) would require that amounts received by a 
State under this section be used to hire additional State 
veterans employment and training staff; or for such other 
purposes related to the provision of employment, placement, and 
training services as the Secretary may approve for services 
furnished under this chapter to veterans and eligible persons.

    Section 4112(e) would require that a performance award be 
in addition to amounts made available to a State under section 
4102A(b)(5).

    Section 4112(f) would allow amounts made in a performance 
incentive award under this section to be obligated by the State 
during the program year in which the award was received and the 
subsequent program year.

    Section 4112(g) would require that the Secretary shall 
carry out performance incentive awards from amounts 
appropriated pursuant to the authorization under section 
4106(b)(2) of title 38, United States Code, and restrict the 
use of such amounts only to carry out this program.

    Section 3(a)(2) would amend the table of sections at the 
beginning of chapter 41 of title 38, United States Code, 
relating to section 4111.

    Section 3(b)(1) and (2) would amend section 4106(b) by 
providing that in addition to amounts authorized to be 
appropriated for carrying out the ``regular program'' of 
employment services, there are authorized to be appropriated to 
the Secretary to carry out the program of performance incentive 
awards under section 4112 of title 38 the following: $10 
million for the program for the program year beginning in 
fiscal year 2004; $25 million for the program year beginning in 
fiscal year 2005; $50 million for the program year beginning in 
fiscal year 2006; $75 million for the program year beginning in 
fiscal year 2007; and $100 million for the program year 
beginning in fiscal year 2008; and for the program year 
beginning during fiscal year 2009 and each subsequent fiscal 
year, such sums as are necessary.

    Section 4(a)(1) of the bill would amend sections 4102A and 
4103 of title 38, United States Code, by adding program 
functions to the title.

    Section 4102A(a)(1) would restate the duties of the 
Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans' Employment and 
Training, appointed by the President with the advice and 
consent of the Senate. This individual shall formulate and 
implement all departmental policies and procedures to carry out 
(A) the purposes of this chapter, chapter 42, and chapter 43 of 
this title, and (B) all other Department of Labor employment, 
unemployment, and training program to the extent they affect 
veterans. The Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans' 
Employment and Training shall be a veteran.

    Section 4102A(a)(2) would restate without substantive 
change the existing requirement that the employees of the 
Department of Labor administering chapter 43 of this title 
shall be administratively and functionally responsible to the 
Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans' Employment and 
Training (ASVET).

    Section 4102A(a)(3)(A) would provide within the Department 
of Labor a Deputy Assistant Secretary for Veterans' Employment 
and Training (DASVET), who shall perform such functions as the 
ASVET prescribes, and who shall be a veteran.

    Section 4102A(a)(3)(B) would classify the DASVET as a 
career Federal civil service position, in which the individual 
shall have at least five years of continuous service in the 
executive branch immediately preceding appointment as the 
DASVET. Further, this section would require for purposes of 
determining continuous service of the individual that there 
shall be excluded any service by the individual in a position 
(1) of a confidential, policy-determining, policy-making, or 
policy-advocating character, and (2) in which the individual 
served as a non-career appointee in the Senior Executive 
Service, as such term is defined in section 3132(a)(7) of title 
5, or (3) to which the individual was appointed by the 
President.

    Section 4102A(b) would require that the Secretary carry out 
certain specific program functions.

    Section 4102A(b)(1) would require that except as expressly 
provided otherwise, the Secretary shall carry out provisions of 
this chapter and chapter 43 of title 38, United State Code, 
through the ASVET. Further, the Secretary shall administer 
through the Assistant Secretary all programs under the 
jurisdiction of the Secretary for the provision of employment 
and training services designed to meet the needs of all 
veterans and persons eligible for services furnished under this 
chapter.

    Section 4102A(b)(2) would require that to make maximum use 
of available resources in meeting such needs, the Secretary 
shall encourage all veterans employment and training programs, 
and all grantees and contractors under such programs, to enter 
into cooperative arrangements with private industry and 
business concerns (including small business concerns owned by 
veterans or disabled veterans), educational institutions, trade 
associations, and labor unions.

    Section 4102A(b)(3) would require the Secretary to ensure 
that maximum effectiveness and efficiency are achieved in 
providing services and assistance to eligible veterans under 
all such programs by coordinating and consulting with the 
Secretary of Veterans Affairs with respect to (A) programs 
conducted under other provisions of this title, with particular 
emphasis on coordination of such programs with readjustment 
counseling activities carried out under section 1712A of title 
38, United States Code, apprenticeship or other on-job training 
programs carried out under section 3687 of this title, and 
rehabilitation and training activities carried out under 
chapter 31 of this title and (B) determinations covering 
veteran population in a State.

    Section 4102A(b)(4) would require the Secretary to ensure 
that employment, training, and placement activities are carried 
out in coordination and cooperation with appropriate State 
public employment service officials.

    Section 4102A(b)(5), subject to subsection (c), would make 
available for use in each State by grant or contract such funds 
as may be necessary to support--(A) disabled veterans' outreach 
program specialists appointed under section 4103(a)(1) of this 
title, (B) local veterans' employment representatives assigned 
under section 4104(b) of this title, and (C) the reasonable 
expenses of such specialists and representatives described in 
subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively, for training, travel, 
supplies, and other business expenses. These would include 
travel expenses and per diem for attendance at the National 
Veterans' Employment and Training Services Institute 
established under section 4109 of this title.

    Section 4102A(b)(6) would require the Secretary to monitor 
and supervise on a continuing basis the distribution and use of 
funds provided for use in the States under paragraph (5).

    Section 4102A(b)(7) would establish, and update as 
appropriate, a comprehensive performance accountability system 
(as described in subsection (f)) and carry out annual 
performance reviews of veterans employment, training, and 
placement services provided through employment service delivery 
systems, through disabled veterans' outreach program 
specialists (DVOPs), and through local veterans' employment 
representatives (LVERs) in States receiving grants, contracts, 
or awards under this chapter.

    Section 4102A(c)(1) would require that the distribution of 
funds to carry out services furnished by disabled veterans' 
outreach program specialists and local veterans' employment 
representatives be subject to the continuing supervision and 
monitoring of the Secretary and not be governed by the 
provisions of any other law, or any regulations prescribed 
thereunder, that are inconsistent with this section or sections 
4103A or 4104.

    Section 4102A(c)(2)(A) would require that a State submit to 
the Secretary an application for a grant or contract for 
services that contain a plan that describes the manner in which 
the State shall furnish employment, training and placement 
services required under chapter 41 for the program year. Such 
plan would include a description of duties assigned by the 
State to disabled veterans' outreach program specialists and 
local veterans' employment representatives consistent with the 
requirements of sections 4013A and 4104 of this title; the 
manner in which disabled veterans' outreach program specialists 
and local veterans' employment representatives are to be 
integrated in the employment service delivery systems in the 
State; the veteran population to be served; and such additional 
information as the Secretary may require to make a 
determination with respect to awarding a grant or contract to 
the State.

    Section 4102A(c)(B)(i) would revise, subject to the 
provisions of this subparagraph, the methods by which the 
Secretary furnishes DVOP and LVER funds to a State. This 
section would require the Secretary to make funds available for 
a fiscal year and make available to each State with an 
application approved by the Secretary, an amount of funding in 
proportion to the number of veterans seeking employment using 
such criteria as the Secretary may establish in regulation, 
including civilian labor force and unemployment data, for the 
State on an annual basis. The proportion of funding shall 
reflect the ratio of the total number of veterans residing in 
the State that are seeking employment, to the total number of 
veterans seeking employment in all States.

    Section 4102A(c)(B)(ii) would require the Secretary to 
phase in over the three fiscal year period that begins on 
October 1, 2002, the manner in which amounts are made available 
to the States under subsection (b)(5) and this subsection, as 
amended by this Act.

    Section 4102A(c)(B)(iii) would give the Secretary the 
discretionary authority to establish minimum funding levels and 
hold-harmless criteria for States in administering funding to 
the States.

    Section 4102A(c)(3)(A) would provide that when a State has 
an entered-employment rate for veterans that the Secretary 
determines is deficient for the preceding year, the State would 
be required to develop and implement a corrective action plan 
that is submitted to the Secretary.

    Section 4102A(c)(3)(B) would require the Secretary to 
establish in regulations a uniform national threshold entered-
employment rate for a program year by which determinations of 
deficiency may be made.

    Section 4102A(c)(3)(C) would require that in making such 
determinations, the Secretary shall take into account the 
applicable annual unemployment data for the State and consider 
other factors, such as prevailing economic conditions, that 
affect performance of individuals providing employment, 
training, and placement services in the State.

    Section 4102A(c)(4) would provide that in determining the 
terms and conditions of a grant or contract for DVOP and LVER 
services, the Secretary must take into account (A) the results 
of reviews carried out through the comprehensive performance 
accountability system, regarding the performance of the 
employment, training, and placements delivery system in each 
State; and (B) the monitoring carried out under this section.

    Section 4102A(c)(5)(A) and (B) would require that each 
grant or contract by which funds are made available to a State 
shall contain a provision requiring the recipient of the funds 
to comply with the provisions of chapter 41 of title 38, United 
States Code; and on an annual basis, notify the Secretary of, 
and provide supporting rationale for, each non-veteran who is 
employed as a DVOP and LVER for a period in excess of six 
months.

    Section 4102A(c)(6) would require that each State 
coordinate employment, training, and placement services 
furnished to veterans and eligible persons under this chapter 
with such services furnished with respect to such veterans and 
persons under the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 and the 
Wagner-Peyser Act.

    Section 4102A(d) would require the Assistant Secretary for 
Veterans' Employment and Training to promote and monitor 
participation of qualified veterans and eligible persons in 
employment and training opportunities under title I of the 
Workforce Investment Act of 1998, and other federally-funded 
employment and training programs.

    Section 4102A(e)(1) would retain current law requirements 
that the Secretary of Labor assign regional administrators to 
each region and that after October 9, 1996, any person assigned 
to such position must be a veteran.

    Section 4102A(e)(2) would mandate that regional 
administrators carry out duties required by the Secretary to 
promote employment and reemployment of veterans in the region 
involved.

    Section 4102A(f)(1) would require the Assistant Secretary 
for Veterans' Employment and Training, not later than three 
months after enactment, to establish and implement a 
comprehensive performance accountability system to measure the 
performance of employment service delivery systems, disabled 
veterans' outreach program specialists, and local veterans' 
employment representatives, providing employment, training, and 
placement services in a State.

    Section 4102A(f)(2)(A) would require that such standards 
and measures shall be consistent with State performance 
measures applicable under section 136(b) of the Workforce 
Investment Act of 1998.

    Section 4102A(f)(2)(b) would require that such standards 
and measures be appropriately weighted to provide special 
consideration for placement of veterans requiring intensive 
services (as defined in section 4101(9) of this title), such as 
special disabled and disabled veterans, and veterans who enroll 
in readjustment counseling under section 1712A of this title.

    Section 4 of the bill would also amend the section heading 
of section 4103 to read ``Directors and Assistant Directors for 
Veterans' Employment and Training''; additional Federal 
Personnel.'

    Section 4103(a)(1) would require the Secretary to assign to 
each State a representative of VETS to serve as the Director 
for Veterans' Employment and Training (DVET) and full-time 
Federal clerical or other support personnel to each Director.

    Section 4103(a)(2) would require that full-time Federal 
clerical or other support personnel assigned to Directors for 
Veterans' Employment and Training be appointed in accordance 
with the provisions of title 5 governing appointments in the 
competitive service and be paid in accordance with the 
provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of 
title 5.

    Section 4103(b)(1) would permit the Secretary to assign as 
supervisory personnel such representatives of Veterans' 
Employment and Training Service (VETS) as the Secretary 
determines appropriate, including Assistant Directors for 
Veterans' Employment and Training (ADVETs).

    Section 4103(b)(2) would amend items relating to sections 
4102A and 4103, respectively, at the beginning of chapter 41 in 
title 38, United States Code.

    Section 4103(b)(3)(A)(i) would repeal section 4104A.

    Section 4103(b)(3)(A)(ii) would amend the sections in 
chapter 41 by striking the item related to section 4104A.

    Section 4103 (b)(3)(B) would amend section 4107(b) by 
substituting ``The Secretary shall establish performance 
standards established under section 4102A(f) of this title'' 
for ``The Secretary shall establish definitive performance 
standards''.

    Section 4103(b)(4) would require that the amendments made 
by this subsection take effect on December 1, 2002, and apply 
to appointments made on or after that date.

    Section 4(b) would revise the statutorily defined duties of 
DVOPs and LVERs.

    Section 4(b)(1) would amend section 4103A regarding DVOPs.

    Section 4103A(a)(1) would require that subject to the 
approval of the Secretary, a State shall employ such full- or 
part-time DVOPs and LVERs as the State determines appropriate 
and efficient to carry out intensive services under this 
chapter to meet the employment needs of eligible veterans with 
the following priority in provision of services: special 
disabled veterans; other disabled veterans; and other eligible 
veterans in accordance with priorities determined by the 
Secretary taking into account applicable rates of unemployment 
and the employment emphases set forth in chapter 42 of title 
38, United States Code.

    Section 4103A(a)(2) would require that the Secretary place 
maximum emphasis on meeting the employment needs of veterans 
who are economically or educationally disadvantaged.

    Section 4103A(b) would require that a State, to the maximum 
extent practicable, employ qualified veterans to carry out DVOP 
services, and that preference to qualified disabled veterans be 
given in hiring such specialists.

    Section 4(b)(2) would amend section 4104(a) to require that 
subject to the approval of the Secretary, a State employ such 
full and part-time LVERs as the State determines appropriate 
and efficient to carry out employment, training, and placement 
services under this chapter.

    Section 4104(b)(1) would require as a principal duty, LVERs 
conduct outreach to employers in the area to assist veterans in 
gaining employment, including conducting seminars and, in 
conjunction with employers, conducting job search workshops and 
establishing job search groups.

    Section 4104(b)(2) would require that a LVER facilitate 
employment, training, and placement services furnished to 
veterans in a State under the applicable State employment 
delivery system.

    Section 4104(c) would require that a State, to the extent 
practicable, employ qualified veterans to carry out duties of 
LVERs.

    Section 4104(d) would require that each LVER be 
administratively responsible to the manager of the employment 
service delivery system and provide reports, not less 
frequently than quarterly, to the manager of such office and to 
the DVET regarding compliance with Federal law and regulations 
with respect to special services and priorities for eligible 
veterans and eligible persons.

    Section 4(b)(3) would establish an effective date of 
December 1, 2002, for this subsection revising duties of DVOPs 
and LVERs, and apply to appointments made on or after that 
date.

    Section 4(c) would require that not later than 18 months 
after the date of enactment, the Secretary provide one-stop 
services and assistance to eligible veterans and persons 
electronically by means of the Internet, as defined in section 
231(e)(3) of the Communications Act of 1934, and such other 
electronic means to enhance the delivery of such services and 
assistance.

    Section 4(d)(1) would amend 4106(a) by substituting for the 
last sentence: ``Each budget submission with respect to such 
funds shall include a separate listing of the amount for the 
National Veterans' Employment and Training Services Institute 
together with information demonstrating the compliance of such 
budget submission with the funding requirements specified in 
the preceding sentence.''

    Section 4(d)(2) would establish an effective date for the 
above provision with respect to NVETSI take effect on the date 
of enactment of this Act, and apply to budget submissions for 
fiscal year 2004 and each subsequent fiscal year.

    Section 4(e)(1) would make conforming amendments to section 
4107(c)(5).

    Section 4(e)(2) would make a conforming amendment to 
section 3117(a)(1)(B) to read ``utilization of employment, 
training, and placement services under chapter 41 of this 
title.''

    Section 5(a)(1)(A) of the bill would amend section 4101 of 
title 38, United State Code, by adding at the end a new 
paragraph 9 to define the term ``intensive services'' as local 
employment and training services of the type described in 
section 134(d)(3) of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998.

    Section 5(a)(1)(B) would amend section 4102 by substituting 
``job and job training intensive service program'' for ``job 
and job training counseling service program''.

    Section 5(a)(1)(C) would amend section 4106(a) by 
substituting ``proper intensive services'' for ``proper 
counseling''.

    Section 5(a)(1)(D) would amend section 4107(a) by 
substituting ``intensive services'' for ``employment counseling 
services''.

    Section 5(a)(1)(E) would amend section 4107(c)(1) 
substituting ``the number who received intensive services'' for 
``the number counseled''.

    Section 5(a)(1)(F) would amend section 4109(a) by 
substituting ``intensive services'' for ``counseling''.

    Section 5(a)(2) would provide that the definitions and 
reporting changes made in this section to take effect on the 
date of enactment of this Act.

    Section 5(b)(1)(A) would amend section 4102 to add to the 
programs the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans' 
Employment and Training administers those programs to ease the 
transition of servicemembers to civilian careers that are 
consistent with, or an outgrowth of, the military experience of 
the servicemembers.

    Section 5(b)(1)(B) would amend section 4102 substituting 
``veterans who served on active duty during a war or in a 
campaign or expedition for which a campaign has been 
authorized'' for ``veterans of the Vietnam era.''

    Section 5(b)(2) would provide that the amendments made by 
paragraph (1) take effect on the date of enactment of this Act.

    Section 5(c)(1) would amend section 4101(7) to define the 
term ``employment service delivery system'' to mean a system at 
which or through which labor exchange services, including 
employment, training or placement services, are offered in 
accordance with the Wagner-Peyser Act.

    Section 5(c)(2) would provide that the amendment made by 
paragraph (4) take effect on the date of enactment of this Act.

    Section 5(d)(1)(A) would amend section 4107(c)(1), with 
respect to the Secretary of Labor's annual report to the 
Committees on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and the House of 
Representatives in carrying out employment and training 
services to veterans and eligible persons. This section would 
repeal the reporting requirement for ``veterans of the Vietnam 
era'' and ``eligible persons who registered for assistance 
with'' the public employment service system. This section would 
add a new reporting requirement to include ``eligible persons, 
recently separated veterans (as defined in section 4211(6) of 
this title) and servicemembers transitioning to civilian 
careers who registered for assistance with, or who are 
identified as veterans by'' the public employment system.

    Section 5(d)(1)(B) would amend section 4107(c)(2), with 
respect to requirements for an annual report by the Secretary, 
to substitute ``the rate of entered employment (as determined 
in a manner consistent with State performance measures 
applicable under section 136(b) of the Workforce Investment Act 
of 1998)'' for ``the job placement rate'' the first time it 
appears. This section would further substitute ``such rate of 
entered employment (as so determined)'' for ``the job placement 
rate'' the second time it appears.

    Section 5(d)(1)(C) would amend section 4107(c)(4) by 
substituting ``section 4212(d)'' for ``sections 4103A and 
4104''.

    Section 5(d)(1)(D) further would amend section 4107(c) by 
adding at the end a new paragraph requiring a report on the 
operation during the preceding year of the program of 
performance incentive awards for quality employment services 
under section 4112 of the title, including an analysis of the 
amount of incentives distributed to each State and the rational 
for such distribution.

    Section 5(d)(1)(E) further would amend section 4107(b) by 
substituting for the second sentence the following: ``Not later 
than February 1 of each year, the Secretary shall report to the 
Committees' on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and the House of 
Representatives on the performance of States and organizations 
and entities carrying out employment, training, and placement 
services under this chapter, as measured under subsection 
(b)(7) of section 4102A of this title. In the case of a State 
that the Secretary determines has not met the minimum standard 
of performance (established by the Secretary under subsection 
(f) of this section), the Secretary shall include an analysis 
of the extent and reasons for the State's failure to meet that 
minimum standard, together with the State's plan for the 
corrective action during the succeeding year.''

    Section 5(d)(2) would require that the amendments made by 
paragraph (1) shall apply to reports for program years 
beginning on or after July 1, 2002.

    Section 5(e) would amend section 4109 by adding at the end 
a new subsection (c)(1) providing that nothing in this section 
be construed as preventing the National Veterans' Employment 
and Training Services Institute to enter into contracts or 
agreements with departments or agencies of the United States or 
of a State, or with other organizations, to carry out training 
of personnel of such departments, agencies, or organizations in 
the provision of services referred to in subsection (a). This 
section would also amend section 4109 to require in (c)(2) that 
all proceeds collected by the Institute under such contract or 
agreement referred to in paragraph (1) above shall be applied 
to the applicable appropriation.

    Section 6(a) of the bill would establish within the 
Department of Labor a committee to be known as the President's 
National Hire Veterans Committee.

    Section 6(b) would require that the Committee shall carry 
out a national program to: (1) furnish information to employers 
with respect to the training and skills of veterans and 
disabled veterans and the advantages afforded employers by 
hiring veterans with such training and skills, and (2) 
facilitate employment of veterans and disabled veterans in 
America's Career Kit national labor exchange, and other means.

    Section 6(c)(1)(A) and (B) would require the Secretary of 
Labor to appoint 15 individuals to serve as members of the 
Committee, of whom seven shall be appointed from among 
representatives nominated by the following organizations: The 
Ad Council, The National Committee for Employer Support of the 
Guard and Reserve, veterans' service organizations that have a 
national employment program, State employment security 
agencies, one-stop career centers, State departments of 
veterans affairs, and military service organizations. The 
Secretary would be required to appoint eight members from among 
representatives nominated by businesses, small businesses, 
industries, companies in the private sector that furnish 
placement services, civic groups, workforce investment boards, 
and labor unions.

    Section 6(c)(2) would set forth the following ex officio, 
nonvoting members of the Committee: The Secretary of Veterans 
Affairs, the Secretary of Defense, the Assistant Secretary of 
Labor for Veterans' Employment and Training, the Administrator 
of the Small Business Administration, the Postmaster General, 
and the Director of the Office of Personnel Management.

    Section 6(c)(3) would provide that a vacancy in the 
Committee be filled in the manner in which the original 
appointment was made.

    Sections 6(d)(1) through (2)(d)(6) would set forth 
Committee's administrative requirements with respect to 
frequency of meetings, appointing a chairman, compensation, 
reasonable and necessary travel expenses, staffing and 
administrative support, non-reimbursable details, and 
contracting authority.

    Section 6(e) would require the Secretary of Labor to report 
annually to Congress, not later than December 31, 2003 through 
2005, on the activities of the Committee during the previous 
fiscal year, and include in such report data with respect to 
placement and retention of veterans in jobs attributable to the 
activities of the Committee.

    Section 6(f) would require that the Committee terminate 60 
days after submitting the report that is due on December 31, 
2005.

    Section 6(g) would authorize appropriations of $3,000,000 
for each of fiscal years 2003 through 2005 to the Secretary of 
Labor from the Employment Security Administration account 
(established in section 901 of the Social Security Act (42 
U.S.C. 1101)) in the Unemployment Trust Fund to carry out the 
provisions of section 6.

    Section 7 of the bill would provide a sense of the Congress 
commending veterans and military service organizations for the 
continued assistance they provide veterans, and encourage that 
such organizations provide job placement assistance to veterans 
who are job-ready by making personal computers available with 
access to electronic job placement services and programs 
available at local posts and through other means.

    Section 8(a) of the bill would require the Secretary of 
Labor to enter into a contract with an appropriate organization 
or entity to conduct a study on the economic benefits to the 
United States attributable to the provisions of services under 
chapter 41 in assisting long-term sustained employment of 
veterans. This section also specifies the analyses such study 
shall include.

    Section 8(b) would require that a condition of the contract 
under subsection (a) be that the organization submit to the 
Secretary of Labor a report on the study conducted by the 
organization not later than 18 months after the date on which 
that Secretary enters into such contract.

    Section 8(c) would authorize $1,000,000 be appropriated to 
the Secretary of Labor to carry out the provisions of this 
section, such sums to remain available until expended.

                    Performance Goals and Objectives

    The reported bill would authorize performance incentive 
awards for, and enhancements in, the delivery of veterans 
employment, training, and placement services under laws 
administered by the Secretary of Labor in accordance with 
chapters 41, 42, and 43 of title 38, United States Code. 
Program performance goals and objectives are established in 
annual performance plans and are subject to the Committee's 
regular oversight.

                  Statement of Administration's Views

 Statement of Frederico Juarbe Jr., Assistant Secretary for Veterans' 
Employment and Training, before the Subcommittee on Benefits, Committee 
  on Veterans' Affairs, U.S. House of Representatives, April 18, 2002

Mr. Chairman and Distinguished Members of the Subcommittee:

    Thank you for inviting me to testify today on H.R. 4015, the ``Jobs 
for Veterans Act.'' This is my first opportunity to appear before this 
Subcommittee as the Assistant Secretary for Veterans' Employment and 
Training and it is an honor for me.
    The Administration is deeply committed to helping our veterans find 
high-quality jobs. Our Nation's veterans deserve nothing less than 
access to high-quality services in both employment and training. This 
Administration understands and deeply appreciates the patriotism, 
dedication, skills and experiences veterans bring to the civilian labor 
force.
    We appreciate the keen interest of this Subcommittee in helping to 
move the Veterans' Employment and Training Service (VETS) into the 21st 
century by removing many of the statutory roadblocks that have tied us 
to the past.
    As the Subcommittee is aware, the Administration also has a 
proposal for improving employment services for veterans, which will be 
introduced in the near future. That proposal reflects the core 
principles of competitive, performance-based funding as the best way to 
improve services to veterans. The proposal would, on a temporary basis 
until such time as the competitive provisions are in place, transfer 
administration of the grants programs for the current Disabled Veteran 
Outreach Program (DVOP), the Local Veteran Employment Representative 
(LVER), and the Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program (HVRP) to the 
Department of Veterans Affairs. The DVOP and LVER programs would remain 
in effect until the Secretary of Veterans Affairs implements a new 
program of employment-related services that would require competition, 
be results-based, and provide an integrated, seamless continuum of 
services to veterans.
    We are continuing to review H.R. 4015 and do not presently have a 
position on every provision of the bill. However, because the bill has 
a number of elements that have similar goals to the Administration's 
plan, we can support the intent of a number of aspects of H.R. 4015. I 
will now comment on some of the major provisions of H.R. 4015.
    The repeal of the statutorily defined duties of DVOP Specialists 
and LVERs has long been necessary and would go a long way toward 
improving Chapter 41 of Title 38 of the United States Code. This would 
provide us, and those delivering services in the respective states, 
with needed flexibility and would help provide a renewed focus on the 
best ways of achieving the mission and goals of this agency. The 
Department of Labor endorses the idea of providing states the 
flexibility to deploy resources to secure needed coverage in rural, 
remote or underserved areas. Under H.R. 4015, states would be able to 
more effectively determine where DVOPs and LVERs should be placed with 
the use of half-time DVOPs, similar to half-time LVERs. In our view, 
flexibility is critical to making services more accessible to veterans.
    Incorporating the expectation of high performance is an essential 
component of an effective workforce system. H.R. 4015 provides 
incentives not only to those states that provide the highest levels of 
performance, but also to those states that show significant 
improvements. In addition, the Committee's proposal permits incentive 
awards to be used for additional staffing, modernization of service 
delivery and pilot projects to test new approaches to enhance services 
to America's veterans. We believe that the Administration's bill would 
provide stronger incentives for high performance by adding consequences 
for poor performance. Our bill also takes a different approach to 
modernizing service delivery through pilot projects coordinated at the 
national level.
    Other positive elements of this bill include the elimination of the 
state residency requirement and relief from the application of formula 
requirements. Residence and formula requirements have hindered the 
deployment of staff in response to workload requirements and deprived 
deserving individuals of opportunities for career growth. We believe 
that veterans should fill the political and senior-level positions, and 
intend to act accordingly, but we note that the legislation should be 
amended to provide that the holders of those positions'' should'' be a 
veteran, rather than ``shall'' be a veteran. Also, the legislation 
should be amended to provide that no person ``should'' rather than 
``may'' be appointed as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor for 
Veterans' Employment and Training unless the person has five years of 
Government service as a career civil servant. As a constitutional 
matter, the Congress cannot unduly burden the nomination and 
appointment power of the President, in the case of the Assistant 
Secretary, and the appointment power of the Secretary, in the case of 
the other positions, by substantially restricting the pool of qualified 
persons from which the nomination or appointment may be made.
    If there is one consistent message that I hear from our state 
partners, it is to give the states greater flexibility. The current 
staffing grant formula process for the allocation and assignment of 
positions does not address the individual requirements of states in 
providing services to veterans. Economic and demographic conditions, 
including consideration for rural, urban, inner city, and suburban 
areas, are just a few of the factors that impact on a state's need to 
determine assignment of positions. By removing the current restrictions 
on the assignment and types of positions funded by formula, this bill 
would allow the states the opportunity to develop service delivery 
plans that address their unique needs and situations.
    As the Subcommittee knows, the Veterans' Employment and Training 
Service will implement new state performance measures that are aligned 
with those of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA), beginning in July of 
this year. This makes it easier for service providers to achieve the 
overall national goal of integrating and streamlining employment and 
training services through the One-Stop delivery system.
    The Subcommittee has recognized the important role employers play 
in the employment and training arena by the establishment of the 
``President's National Hire Veterans Committee'' in H.R. 4015. The Hire 
Veterans Committee would increase employers' awareness of the 
advantages of hiring veterans and utilizing their military training to 
enhance the employers' workforce. The Hire Veterans Committee also may 
be able to help narrow the skill gaps between military and civilian 
licensing and certification requirements. In sum, the Hire Veterans 
Committee has the potential to add significant value to the entire 
employment and training community.
    In conclusion, VETS supports bringing Title 38 up to date to meet 
the needs of the 21st century veteran and the 21st century workplace. 
The Administration commends the Subcommittee on its bipartisan approach 
to do that. We look forward to continuing to work with this 
Subcommittee on both H.R. 4015 and the Administration's proposal in an 
effort to enhance veterans' training and employment.
    Thank you again for the opportunity to address these important 
issues.

               Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate

    The following letter was received from the Congressional 
Budget Office concerning the cost of the reported bill:

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                      Washington, DC, May 10, 2002.
Hon. Christopher H. Smith
Chairman, Committee on Veterans' Affairs,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.

    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 4015, the Jobs for 
Veterans Act.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contacts are Christina 
Hawley Sadoti (for federal costs), who can be reached at 226-
2820, and Leo Lex (for the state and local impact), who can be 
reached at 226-3220.

            Sincerely,
                                            Dan L. Crippen,
                                                          Director.

    Enclosure.

  Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate               May 10, 2002

  H.R. 4015, Jobs for Veterans Act, As ordered reported by the House 
             Committee on Veterans' Affairs on May 9, 2002

Summary

    H.R. 4015 would make changes to provisions that govern 
federal employment and training programs for veterans, and also 
would raise the threshold at which contractors with the federal 
government must comply with veterans employment provisions. The 
bill also would authorize a new grant program of incentive 
awards to states that meet certain performance measures, and 
would create a President's National Hire Veterans Committee. 
Assuming the appropriation of the amounts authorized in the 
bill, CBO estimates that the new provisions would cost $72 
million over the 2003-2007 period. This bill would not affect 
direct spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go 
procedures would not apply.
    H.R. 4015 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA). 
The bill would place new requirements on states that administer 
job training and employment programs and receive federal 
funding. Consequently, those requirements are conditions of 
federal assistance and not intergovernmental mandates. The bill 
also would increase funding for veterans employment programs 
through new incentive awards to states.

Estimated Cost to the Federal Government

    The estimated budgetary impact of H.R. 4015 is shown in the 
following table. The cost of this legislation falls within 
budget function 700 (veterans benefits and services).


----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                      By Fiscal Year, in Millions of Dollars

                                                               -------------------------------------------------
                                                                  2003      2004      2005      2006      2007
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                                  CHANGES IN SPENDING SUBJECT TO APPROPRIATION

Performance Incentive Awards
  Authorization Level.........................................         0        10        25        50        75
  Estimated Outlays...........................................         0         1         6        19        38
President's National Hire Veterans Committee
  Authorization Level.........................................         3         3         3         0         0
  Estimated Outlays...........................................         1         3         3         2         0
Department of Labor Study
  Authorization Level.........................................         1         0         0         0         0
  Estimated Outlays...........................................         *         1         0         0         0
    Total Changes
      Authorization Level.....................................         4        13        28        50        75
      Estimated Outlays.......................................         2         5         9        20        38
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Notes: Components may not sum to totals because of rounding.
* = Less than $500,000.


Basis of Estimate

    For this estimate, CBO assumes that H.R. 4015 will be 
enacted by September 30, 2002, and that the authorized amounts 
will be appropriated for each year. Outlays are based on 
historical spending patterns for similar programs.
    H.R. 4015 would authorize performance incentive awards for 
states to encourage the improvement and modernization of 
employment, training, and placement services for veterans. The 
bill would authorize appropriations of $10 million in 2004, $25 
million in 2005, $50 million in 2006, $75 million in 2007, $100 
million in 2008, and such sums as may be necessary for 2009 and 
subsequent fiscal years.
    In addition, H.R. 4015 would authorize a committee within 
the Department of Labor (DOL) to raise employer awareness of 
the skills of veterans and of the benefits of hiring veterans. 
The bill would authorize $3 million each year for fiscal years 
2003 through 2005 for this President's National Hire Veterans 
Committee.
    H.R. 4015 would authorize the appropriation of $1 million 
for DOL to produce a study on the economic benefit to the 
United States attributable to providing employment and training 
services to veterans.
    H.R. 4015 would increase the threshold amount of $25,000 to 
$100,000 for contracts under which a contractor must comply 
with veterans employment provisions. While the increase in the 
threshold could decrease administrative costs to review 
contracts, CBO does not estimate any significant impact.
    In addition, the legislation would amend the definition of 
a covered veteran in the veterans employment provisions of 
federal contracts. The bill would add certain post-Vietnam 
veterans to be included in the definition of covered veterans. 
Although this change would increase administrative costs, CBO 
estimates the cost of implementing this provision would be 
insignificant.

Pay-as-you-go Considerations: None.

Estimated Impact on State, Local, and Tribal Governments

    H.R. 4015 contains no intergovernmental mandates as defined 
in UMRA. The bill would place new requirements on states that 
administer job training and employment programs and receive 
federal funding. Consequently, those requirements are 
conditions of federal assistance and not intergovernmental 
mandates. The bill also would increase funding for veterans 
employment programs through new incentive awards to states.

Estimated Impact on the Private Sector

    This bill contains no private-sector mandates as defined in 
UMRA.

Estimate prepared by:

  Federal Spending: Christina Hawley Sadoti and Matthew 
    Pickford
  Impact on State, Local, and Tribal Governments: Leo Lex
  Impact on the Private Sector: Ralph Smith

Estimate approved by:

  Peter H. Fontaine
  Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis

                  Applicability to Legislative Branch

    The reported bill would not be applicable to the 
legislative branch under the Congressional Accountability Act, 
Public Law 104-1, because the bill would only affect certain 
Department of Labor programs and recipients.

                     Statement of Federal Mandates

    The reported bill would not establish a federal mandate 
under the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act, Public Law 104-4.
    Statement of Constitutional Authority
    Pursuant to Article I, section 8 of the United States 
Constitution, the reported bill is authorized by Congress' 
power ``[T]o provide for the common Defense and general Welfare 
of the United States.''

         Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported

  In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by 
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (existing law 
proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new 
matter is printed in italics, existing law in which no change 
is proposed is shown in roman):

                     TITLE 38, UNITED STATES CODE

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


              PART III--READJUSTMENT AND RELATED BENEFITS

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


   CHAPTER 31--TRAINING AND REHABILITATION FOR VETERANS WITH SERVICE-
                        CONNECTED DISABILITIES

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


Sec. 3117. Employment assistance

  (a)(1) * * *
          (A) direct placement of such veteran in employment;
          [(B) utilization of the services of disabled veterans 
        outreach program specialists under section 4103A of 
        this title; and]
          (B) utilization of employment, training, and 
        placement services under chapter 41 of this title; and

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


    CHAPTER 41--JOB COUNSELING, TRAINING, AND PLACEMENT SERVICE FOR 
                                VETERANS

Sec.
4100.    Findings.
     * * * * * * *
[4102A.    Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans' Employment and 
          Training; Regional Administrators.
[4103.    Directors and Assistant Directors for Veterans' Employment and 
          Training.]
4102A.    Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans' Employment and 
          Training; Program functions; Regional Administrators.
4103.    Directors and Assistant Directors for Veterans' Employment and 
          Training; Additional federal personnel.
     * * * * * * *
[4104A.    Performance of disabled veterans' outreach program 
          specialists and local veterans' employment representatives.]
     * * * * * * *
4112.    Performance incentive awards for quality employment, training, 
          and placement services.

          

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *
Sec. 4101. Definitions

  For the purposes of this chapter--
          (1) * * *

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *

          [(7) The term ``local employment service office'' 
        means a service delivery point which has an intrinsic 
        management structure and at which employment services 
        are offered in accordance with the Wagner-Peyser Act.]
          (7) The term ``employment service delivery system'' 
        means a service delivery system at which or through 
        which labor exchange services, including employment, 
        training, and placement services, are offered in 
        accordance with the Wagner-Peyser Act.

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *

          (9) The term ``intensive services'' means local 
        employment and training services of the type described 
        in section 134(d)(3) of the Workforce Investment Act of 
        1998.

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


Sec. 4102. Purpose

  The Congress declares as its intent and purpose that there 
shall be an effective (1) [job and job training counseling 
service program,] job and job training intensive services 
program, (2) employment placement service program, and (3) job 
training placement service program for eligible veterans and 
eligible persons and that, to this end policies and regulations 
shall be promulgated and administered by an Assistant Secretary 
of Labor for Veterans' Employment and Training, established by 
section 4102A of this title, through a Veterans' Employment and 
Training Service within the Department of Labor, so as to 
provide such veterans and persons the maximum of employment and 
training opportunities, with priority given to the needs of 
disabled veterans [and veterans of the Vietnam era] and 
veterans who served on active duty during a war or in a 
campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been 
authorized through existing programs, coordination and merger 
of programs and implementation of new programs[.], including 
programs carried out by the Veterans' Employment and Training 
Service to implement all efforts to ease the transition of 
servicemembers to civilian careers that are consistent with, or 
an outgrowth of, the military experience of the servicemembers.

[Sec. 4102A. Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans' Employment and 
                    Training; Regional Administrators

  [(a)(1) There is established within the Department of Labor 
an Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans' Employment and 
Training, appointed by the President by and with the advice and 
consent of the Senate, who shall be the principal advisor to 
the Secretary with respect to the formulation and 
implementation of all departmental policies and procedures to 
carry out (A) the purposes of this chapter, chapter 42, and 
chapter 43 of this title, and (B) all other Department of Labor 
employment, unemployment, and training programs to the extent 
they affect veterans. The employees of the Department of Labor 
administering chapter 43 of this title shall be 
administratively and functionally responsible to the Assistant 
Secretary of Labor for Veterans' Employment and Training.
  [(2) There shall be within the Department of Labor a Deputy 
Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans' Employment and 
Training. The Deputy Assistant Secretary shall perform such 
functions as the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans' 
Employment and Training prescribes. The Deputy Assistant 
Secretary shall be a veteran.
  [(b) The Secretary shall--
          [(1) except as expressly provided otherwise, carry 
        out all provisions of this chapter and chapter 43 of 
        this title through the Assistant Secretary of Labor for 
        Veterans' Employment and Training and administer 
        through such Assistant Secretary all programs under the 
        jurisdiction of the Secretary for the provision of 
        employment and training services designed to meet the 
        needs of disabled veterans, veterans of the Vietnam 
        era, and all other eligible veterans and eligible 
        persons;
          [(2) in order to make maximum use of available 
        resources in meeting such needs, encourage all such 
        programs and all grantees under such programs to enter 
        into cooperative arrangements with private industry and 
        business concerns (including small business concerns), 
        educational institutions, trade associations, and labor 
        unions;
          [(3) ensure that maximum effectiveness and efficiency 
        are achieved in providing services and assistance to 
        eligible veterans under all such programs by 
        coordinating and consulting with the Secretary of 
        Veterans Affairs with respect to (A) programs conducted 
        under other provisions of this title, with particular 
        emphasis on coordination of such programs with 
        readjustment counseling activities carried out under 
        section 1712A of this title, apprenticeship or other 
        on-the-job training programs carried out under section 
        3687 of this title, and rehabilitation and training 
        activities carried out under chapter 31 of this title, 
        and (B) the Veterans' Job Training Act (29 U.S.C. 1721 
        note);
          [(4) ensure that job placement activities are carried 
        out in coordination and cooperation with appropriate 
        State public employment service officials;
          [(5) subject to subsection (c)(2) of this section, 
        make available for use in each State, directly or by 
        grant or contract, such funds as may be necessary (A) 
        to support (i) disabled veterans' outreach program 
        specialists appointed under section 4103A(a)(1) of this 
        title, and (ii) local veterans' employment 
        representatives assigned under section 4104(b) of this 
        title, and (B) to support the reasonable expenses of 
        such specialists and representatives for training, 
        travel, supplies, and fringe benefits, including travel 
        expenses and per diem from attendance at the National 
        Veterans' Employment and Training Services Institute 
        established under section 4109 of this title;
          [(6) monitor and supervise on a continuing basis the 
        distribution and use of funds provided for use in the 
        States under paragraph (5) of this subsection; and
          [(7) monitor the appointment of disabled veterans' 
        outreach specialists and the assignment of local 
        veterans' employment representatives in order to ensure 
        compliance with the provisions of sections 4103A(a)(1) 
        and 4104(a)(4), respectively, of this title.
  [(c)(1) The distribution and use of funds under subsection 
(b)(5) of this section in order to carry out sections 4103A(a) 
and 4104(a) of this title shall be subject to the continuing 
supervision and monitoring of the Secretary and shall not be 
governed by the provisions of any other law, or any regulations 
prescribed thereunder, that are inconsistent with this section 
or section 4103A or 4104 of this title.
  [(2) In determining the terms and conditions of a grant or 
contract under which funds are made available in a State in 
order to carry out section 4103A or 4104 of this title, the 
Secretary shall take into account (A) the results of the 
evaluations, carried out pursuant to section 4103(c)(15) of 
this title, of the performance of local employment offices in 
the State, and (B) the monitoring carried out under this 
section.
  [(3) Each grant or contract by which funds are made available 
in a State shall contain a provision requiring the recipient of 
the funds to comply with the provisions of this chapter.
  [(d) The Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans' 
Employment and Training shall promote and monitor participation 
of qualified veterans and eligible persons in employment and 
training opportunities under title I of the Workforce 
Investment Act of 1998 and other federally funded employment 
and training programs.
  [(e)(1) The Secretary shall assign to each region for which 
the Secretary operates a regional office a representative of 
the Veterans' Employment and Training Service to serve as the 
Regional Administrator for Veterans' Employment and Training in 
such region. A person may not be assigned after October 9, 
1996, as such a Regional Administrator unless the person is a 
veteran.
  [(2) Each such Regional Administrator shall be responsible 
for--
          [(A) ensuring the promotion, operation, and 
        implementation of all veterans' employment and training 
        programs and services within the region;
          [(B) monitoring compliance with section 4212 of this 
        title with respect to veterans' employment under 
        Federal contracts within the region;
          [(C) protecting and advancing veterans' reemployment 
        rights within the region; and
          [(D) coordinating, monitoring, and providing 
        technical assistance on veterans' employment and 
        training programs with respect to all entities 
        receiving funds under grants from or contracts with the 
        Department of Labor within the region.

[Sec. 4103. Directors and Assistant Directors for Veterans' Employment 
                    and Training

  [(a) The Secretary shall assign to each State a 
representative of the Veterans' Employment Service to serve as 
the Director for Veterans' Employment and Training, and shall 
assign full-time Federal clerical or other support personnel to 
each such Director. The Secretary shall also assign to each 
State one Assistant Director for Veterans' Employment and 
Training per each 250,000 veterans and eligible persons of the 
State veterans population and such additional Assistant 
Directors for Veterans' Employment and Training as the 
Secretary shall determine, based on the data collected pursuant 
to section 4107 of this title, to be necessary to assist the 
Director for Veterans' Employment and Training to carry out 
effectively in that State the purposes of this chapter. Full-
time Federal clerical or other support personnel assigned to 
Directors for Veterans' Employment and Training shall be 
appointed in accordance with the provisions of title 5 
governing appointments in the competitive service and shall be 
paid in accordance with the provisions of chapter 51 and 
subchapter III of chapter 53 of title 5.
  [(b)(1)(A) Each Director for Veterans' Employment and 
Training and Assistant Director for Veterans' Employment and 
Training (i) shall, except as provided in subparagraph (B) of 
this paragraph, be a qualified veteran who at the time of 
appointment has been a bona fide resident of the State for at 
least two years, and (ii) shall be appointed in accordance with 
the provisions of title 5 governing appointments in the 
competitive service and shall be paid in accordance with the 
provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of 
title 5.
  [(B) If, in appointing a Director or Assistant Director for 
any State under this section, the Secretary determines that 
there is no qualified veteran available who meets the residency 
requirement in subparagraph (A)(i), the Secretary may appoint 
as such Director or Assistant Director any qualified veteran.
  [(2) Each Director for Veterans' Employment and Training and 
Assistant Director for Veterans' Employment and Training shall 
be attached to the public employment service system of the 
State to which they are assigned. They shall be 
administratively responsible to the Secretary for the execution 
of the veterans' and eligible persons' counseling and placement 
policies of the Secretary through the public employment service 
system and in cooperation with other employment and training 
programs administered by the Secretary by grantees of Federal 
or federally funded employment and training programs in the 
State, or directly by the State.
  [(c) In cooperation with the staff of the public employment 
service system and the staffs of each such other program in the 
State, the Director for Veterans' Employment and Training and 
Assistant Directors for Veterans' Employment and Training 
shall--
          [(1)(A) functionally supervise the provision of 
        services to eligible veterans and eligible persons by 
        such system and such program and their staffs, and (B) 
        be functionally responsible for the supervision of the 
        registration of eligible veterans and eligible persons 
        in local employment offices for suitable types of 
        employment and training and for counseling and 
        placement of eligible veterans and eligible persons in 
        employment and job training programs, including the 
        program conducted under the Veterans' Job Training Act 
        (Public Law 98-77; 29 U.S.C. 1721 note);
          [(2) engage in job development and job advancement 
        activities for eligible veterans and eligible persons, 
        including maximum coordination with appropriate 
        officials of the Department of Veterans Affairs in that 
        agency's carrying out of its responsibilities under 
        subchapter II of chapter 77 of this title and in the 
        conduct of job fairs, job marts, and other special 
        programs to match eligible veterans and eligible 
        persons with appropriate job and job training 
        opportunities and otherwise to promote the employment 
        of eligible veterans and eligible persons;
          [(3) assist in securing and maintaining current 
        information as to the various types of available 
        employment and training opportunities, including 
        maximum use of electronic data processing and 
        telecommunications systems and the matching of an 
        eligible veteran's or an eligible person's particular 
        qualifications with an available job or on-job training 
        or apprenticeship opportunity which is commensurate 
        with those qualifications;
          [(4) promote the interest of employers and labor 
        unions in employing eligible veterans and eligible 
        persons and in conducting on-job training and 
        apprenticeship programs for such veterans and persons;
          [(5) maintain regular contact with employers, labor 
        unions, training programs and veterans' organizations 
        with a view to keeping them advised of eligible 
        veterans and eligible persons available for employment 
        and training and to keeping eligible veterans and 
        eligible persons advised of opportunities for 
        employment and training;
          [(6) promote and facilitate the participation of 
        veterans in Federal and federally funded employment and 
        training programs and directly monitor the 
        implementation and operation of such programs to ensure 
        that eligible veterans, veterans of the Vietnam era, 
        disabled veterans, and eligible persons receive such 
        priority or other special consideration in the 
        provision of services as is required by law or 
        regulation;
          [(7) assist in every possible way in improving 
        working conditions and the advancement of employment of 
        eligible veterans and eligible persons;
          [(8) supervise the listing of jobs and subsequent 
        referrals of qualified veterans as required by section 
        4212 of this title;
          [(9) be responsible for ensuring that complaints of 
        discrimination filed under such section are resolved in 
        a timely fashion;
          [(10) working closely with appropriate Department of 
        Veterans Affairs personnel engaged in providing 
        counseling or rehabilitation services under chapter 31 
        of this title, cooperate with employers to identify 
        disabled veterans who have completed or are 
        participating in a vocational rehabilitation training 
        program under such chapter and who are in need of 
        employment;
          [(11) cooperate with the staff of programs operated 
        under section 1712A of this title in identifying and 
        assisting veterans who have readjustment problems and 
        who may need employment placement assistance or 
        vocational training assistance; and
          [(12) when requested by a Federal or State agency or 
        a private employer, assist such agency or employer in 
        identifying and acquiring prosthetic and sensory aids 
        and devices which tend to enhance the employability of 
        disabled veterans;
          [(13) monitor the implementation of Federal laws 
        requiring veterans preference in employment and job 
        advancement opportunities within the Federal Government 
        and report to the Office of Personnel Management or 
        other appropriate agency, for enforcement or other 
        remedial action, any evidence of failure to provide 
        such preference or to provide priority or other special 
        consideration in the provision of services to veterans 
        as is required by law or regulation;
          [(14) monitor, through disabled veterans' outreach 
        program specialists and local veterans' employment 
        representatives, the listing of vacant positions with 
        State employment agencies by Federal agencies, and 
        report to the Office of Personnel Management or other 
        appropriate agency, for enforcement or other remedial 
        action, any evidence of failure to provide priority or 
        other special consideration in the provision of 
        services to veterans as is required by law or 
        regulation; and
          [(15)(A) not less frequently than annually, conduct, 
        subject to subclause (B) of this clause, an evaluation 
        at each local employment office of the services 
        provided to eligible veterans and eligible persons and 
        make recommendations for corrective action as 
        appropriate; and
          [(B) carry out such evaluations in the following 
        order of priority: (I) offices that demonstrated less 
        than satisfactory performance during either of the two 
        previous program years, (II) offices with the largest 
        number of veterans registered during the previous 
        program year, and (III) other offices as resources 
        permit.]

Sec. 4102A. Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans' Employment and 
                    Training; program functions; Regional 
                    Administrators

  (a) Establishment of Position of Assistant Secretary of Labor 
for Veterans' Employment and Training.--(1) There is 
established within the Department of Labor an Assistant 
Secretary of Labor for Veterans' Employment and Training, 
appointed by the President by and with the advice and consent 
of the Senate, who shall formulate and implement all 
departmental policies and procedures to carry out (A) the 
purposes of this chapter, chapter 42, and chapter 43 of this 
title, and (B) all other Department of Labor employment, 
unemployment, and training programs to the extent they affect 
veterans. The Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans' 
Employment and Training shall be a veteran.
  (2) The employees of the Department of Labor administering 
chapter 43 of this title shall be administratively and 
functionally responsible to the Assistant Secretary of Labor 
for Veterans' Employment and Training.
  (3)(A) There shall be within the Department of Labor a Deputy 
Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans' Employment and 
Training. The Deputy Assistant Secretary shall perform such 
functions as the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans' 
Employment and Training prescribes. The Deputy Assistant 
Secretary shall be a veteran.
  (B) No individual may be appointed as a Deputy Assistant 
Secretary of Labor for Veterans' Employment and Training unless 
the individual has at least five years of continuous service in 
the Federal civil service in the executive branch immediately 
preceding appointment as the Deputy Assistant Secretary. For 
purposes of determining such continuous service of an 
individual, there shall be excluded any service by the 
individual in a position--
          (i) of a confidential, policy-determining, policy-
        making, or policy-advocating character;
          (ii) in which the individual served as a noncareer 
        appointee in the Senior Executive Service, as such term 
        is defined in section 3132(a)(7) of title 5; or
          (iii) to which the individual was appointed by the 
        President.
  (b) Program Functions.--The Secretary shall carry out the 
following functions:
          (1) Except as expressly provided otherwise, carry out 
        all provisions of this chapter and chapter 43 of this 
        title through the Assistant Secretary of Labor for 
        Veterans' Employment and Training and administer 
        through such Assistant Secretary all programs under the 
        jurisdiction of the Secretary for the provision of 
        employment and training services designed to meet the 
        needs of all veterans and persons eligible for services 
        furnished under this chapter.
          (2) In order to make maximum use of available 
        resources in meeting such needs, encourage all such 
        programs, and all grantees and contractors under such 
        programs to enter into cooperative arrangements with 
        private industry and business concerns (including small 
        business concerns owned by veterans or disabled 
        veterans), educational institutions, trade 
        associations, and labor unions.
          (3) Ensure that maximum effectiveness and efficiency 
        are achieved in providing services and assistance to 
        eligible veterans under all such programs by 
        coordinating and consulting with the Secretary of 
        Veterans Affairs with respect to (A) programs conducted 
        under other provisions of this title, with particular 
        emphasis on coordination of such programs with 
        readjustment counseling activities carried out under 
        section 1712A of this title, apprenticeship or other 
        on-the-job training programs carried out under section 
        3687 of this title, and rehabilitation and training 
        activities carried out under chapter 31 of this title 
        and (B) determinations covering veteran population in a 
        State.
          (4) Ensure that employment, training, and placement 
        activities are carried out in coordination and 
        cooperation with appropriate State public employment 
        service officials.
          (5) Subject to subsection (c), make available for use 
        in each State by grant or contract such funds as may be 
        necessary to support--
                  (A) disabled veterans' outreach program 
                specialists appointed under section 4103A(a)(1) 
                of this title,
                  (B) local veterans' employment 
                representatives assigned under section 4104(b) 
                of this title, and
                  (C) the reasonable expenses of such 
                specialists and representatives described in 
                subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively, for 
                training, travel, supplies, and other business 
                expenses, including travel expenses and per 
                diem for attendance at the National Veterans' 
                Employment and Training Services Institute 
                established under section 4109 of this title.
          (6) Monitor and supervise on a continuing basis the 
        distribution and use of funds provided for use in the 
        States under paragraph (5).
          (7) Establish, and update as appropriate, a 
        comprehensive performance accountability system (as 
        described in subsection (f)) and carry out annual 
        performance reviews of veterans employment, training, 
        and placement services provided through employment 
        service delivery systems, through disabled veterans' 
        outreach program specialists, and through local 
        veterans' employment representatives in States 
        receiving grants, contracts, or awards under this 
        chapter.
  (c) Conditions for Receipt of Funds.--(1) The distribution 
and use of funds under subsection (b)(5) in order to carry out 
sections 4103A(a) and 4104(a) of this title shall be subject to 
the continuing supervision and monitoring of the Secretary and 
shall not be governed by the provisions of any other law, or 
any regulations prescribed thereunder, that are inconsistent 
with this section or section 4103A or 4104 of this title.
  (2)(A) A State shall submit to the Secretary an application 
for a grant or contract under subsection (b)(5). The 
application shall contain the following information:
          (i) A plan that describes the manner in which the 
        State shall furnish employment, training, and placement 
        services required under this chapter for the program 
        year, including a description of--
                  (I) duties assigned by the State to disabled 
                veterans' outreach program specialists and 
                local veterans' employment representatives 
                consistent with the requirements of sections 
                4103A and 4104 of this title; and
                  (II) the manner in which such specialists and 
                representatives are integrated in the 
                employment service delivery systems in the 
                State.
          (ii) The veteran population to be served.
          (iii) Such additional information as the Secretary 
        may require to make a determination with respect to 
        awarding a grant or contract to the State.
  (B)(i) Subject to the succeeding provisions of this 
subparagraph, of the amount available under subsection (b)(5) 
for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall make available to each 
State with an application approved by the Secretary an amount 
of funding in proportion to the number of veterans seeking 
employment using such criteria as the Secretary may establish 
in regulation, including civilian labor force and unemployment 
data, for the State on an annual basis. The proportion of 
funding shall reflect the ratio of--
          (I) the total number of veterans residing in the 
        State that are seeking employment; to
          (II) the total number of veterans seeking employment 
        in all States.
  (ii) The Secretary shall phase in over the three fiscal-year 
period that begins on October 1, 2002, the manner in which 
amounts are made available to States under subsection (b)(5) 
and this subsection, as amended by the Jobs for Veterans Act.
  (iii) In carrying out this paragraph, the Secretary may 
establish minimum funding levels and hold-harmless criteria for 
States.
  (3)(A) As a condition of a grant or contract under this 
section for a program year, in the case of a State that the 
Secretary determines has an entered-employment rate for 
veterans that is deficient for the preceding program year, the 
State shall develop and implement a corrective action plan to 
improve that rate for veterans in the State. The State shall 
submit the corrective action plan to the Secretary.
  (B) To carry out subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall 
establish in regulations a uniform national threshold entered-
employment rate for veterans for a program year by which 
determinations of deficiency may be made under subparagraph 
(A).
  (C) In making a determination with respect to a deficiency 
under subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall take into account 
the applicable annual unemployment data for the State and 
consider other factors, such as prevailing economic conditions, 
that affect performance of individuals providing employment, 
training, and placement services in the State.
  (4) In determining the terms and conditions of a grant or 
contract under which funds are made available to a State in 
order to carry out section 4103A or 4104 of this title, the 
Secretary shall take into account--
          (A) the results of reviews, carried out pursuant to 
        subsection (b)(7), of the performance of the 
        employment, training, and placement service delivery 
        system in the State, and
          (B) the monitoring carried out under this section.
  (5) Each grant or contract by which funds are made available 
to a State shall contain a provision requiring the recipient of 
the funds--
          (A) to comply with the provisions of this chapter; 
        and
          (B) on an annual basis, to notify to Secretary of, 
        and provide supporting rationale for, each nonveteran 
        who is employed as a disabled veterans' outreach 
        program specialist and local veterans' employment 
        representative for a period in excess of 6 months.
  (6) Each State shall coordinate employment, training, and 
placement services furnished to veterans and eligible persons 
under this chapter with such services furnished with respect to 
such veterans and persons under the Workforce Investment Act of 
1998 and the Wagner-Peyser Act.
  (d) Participation in Other Federally Funded Job Training 
Programs.--The Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans' 
Employment and Training shall promote and monitor participation 
of qualified veterans and eligible persons in employment and 
training opportunities under title I of the Workforce 
Investment Act of 1998 and other federally funded employment 
and training programs.
  (e) Regional Administrators.--(1) The Secretary shall assign 
to each region for which the Secretary operates a regional 
office a representative of the Veterans' Employment and 
Training Service to serve as the Regional Administrator for 
Veterans' Employment and Training in such region. A person may 
not be assigned after October 9, 1996, as such a Regional 
Administrator unless the person is a veteran.
  (2) Each such Regional Administrator shall carry out such 
duties as the Secretary may require to promote veterans 
employment and reemployment within the region that the 
Administrator serves.
  (f) Establishment of Performance Standards and Outcomes 
Measures.--(1) By not later than 3 months after the date of the 
enactment of this section, the Assistant Secretary of Labor for 
Veterans' Employment and Training shall establish and implement 
a comprehensive performance accountability system to measure 
the performance of employment service delivery systems, 
disabled veterans' outreach program specialists, and local 
veterans' employment representatives providing employment, 
training, and placement services under this chapter in a State 
to provide accountability of that State to the Secretary for 
purposes of subsection (c).
  (2) Such standards and measures shall--
          (A) be consistent with State performance measures 
        applicable under section 136(b) of the Workforce 
        Investment Act of 1998; and
          (B) be appropriately weighted to provide special 
        consideration for placement of (i) veterans requiring 
        intensive services (as defined in section 4101(9) of 
        this title), such as special disabled veterans and 
        disabled veterans, and (ii) veterans who enroll in 
        readjustment counseling under section 1712A of this 
        title.

Sec. 4103. Directors and Assistant Directors for Veterans' Employment 
                    and Training; Additional Federal personnel

  (a) Directors and Assistant Directors.--(1) The Secretary 
shall assign to each State a representative of the Veterans' 
Employment and Training Service to serve as the Director for 
Veterans' Employment and Training, and shall assign full-time 
Federal clerical or other support personnel to each such 
Director.
  (2) Full-time Federal clerical or other support personnel 
assigned to Directors for Veterans' Employment and Training 
shall be appointed in accordance with the provisions of title 5 
governing appointments in the competitive service and shall be 
paid in accordance with the provisions of chapter 51 and 
subchapter III of chapter 53 of title 5.
  (b) Additional Federal Personnel.--The Secretary may also 
assign as supervisory personnel such representatives of the 
Veterans' Employment and Training Service as the Secretary 
determines appropriate to carry out the employment, training, 
and placement services required under this chapter, including 
Assistant Directors for Veterans' Employment and Training.

Sec. 4103A. Disabled veterans' outreach program

  [(a)(1) The amount of funds made available for use in a State 
under section 4102A(b)(5)(A)(i) of this title shall be 
sufficient to support the appointment of one disabled veterans' 
outreach program specialist for each 7,400 veterans who are 
between the ages of 20 and 64 residing in such State. Each such 
specialist shall be a qualified veteran. Preference shall be 
given in the appointment of such specialists to qualified 
disabled veterans. If the Secretary finds that no qualified 
disabled veteran is available for such appointment, such 
appointment may be given to any qualified veteran. Each such 
specialist shall be compensated at rates comparable to those 
paid other professionals performing essentially similar duties 
in the State government of the State concerned.
  [(2) Specialists appointed pursuant to this subsection shall 
be in addition to and shall not supplant employees assigned to 
local employment service offices pursuant to section 4104 of 
this title.
  [(b)(1) Pursuant to regulations prescribed by the Secretary 
of Labor, disabled veterans' outreach program specialists shall 
be assigned only those duties directly related to meeting the 
employment needs of eligible veterans, with priority for the 
provision of services in the following order:
          [(A) Services to special disabled veterans.
          [(B) Services to other disabled veterans.
          [(C) Services to other eligible veterans in 
        accordance with priorities determined by the Secretary 
        taking into account applicable rates of unemployment 
        and the employment emphases set forth in chapter 42 of 
        this title.

In the provision of services in accordance with this paragraph, 
maximum emphasis in meeting the employment needs of veterans 
shall be placed on assisting economically or educationally 
disadvantaged veterans.
  [(2) Not more than three-fourths of the disabled veterans' 
outreach program specialists in each State shall be stationed 
at local employment service offices in such State. The 
Secretary, after consulting the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
and the Director for Veterans' Employment and Training assigned 
to a State under section 4103 of this title, may waive the 
limitation in the preceding sentence for that State so long as 
the percentage of all disabled veterans' outreach program 
specialists that are stationed at local employment service 
offices in all States does not exceed 80 percent. Specialists 
not so stationed shall be stationed at centers established by 
the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide a program of 
readjustment counseling pursuant to section 1712A of this 
title, veterans assistance offices established by the 
Department of Veterans Affairs pursuant to section 7723 of this 
title, and such other sites as may be determined to be 
appropriate in accordance with regulations prescribed by the 
Secretary after consultation with the Secretary of Veterans 
Affairs.
  [(c) Each disabled veterans' outreach program specialist 
shall carry out the following functions for the purpose of 
providing services to eligible veterans in accordance with the 
priorities set forth in subsection (b) of this section:
          [(1) Development of job and job training 
        opportunities for such veterans through contacts with 
        employers, especially small- and medium-size private 
        sector employers.
          [(2) Pursuant to regulations prescribed by the 
        Secretary after consultation with the Secretary of 
        Veterans Affairs, promotion and development of 
        apprenticeship and other on-job training positions 
        pursuant to section 3687 of this title.
          [(3) The carrying out of outreach activities to 
        locate such veterans through contacts with local 
        veterans organizations, the Department of Veterans 
        Affairs, the State employment service agency and local 
        employment service offices, and community-based 
        organizations.
          [(4) Provision of appropriate assistance to 
        community-based groups and organizations and 
        appropriate grantees under other Federal and federally 
        funded employment and training programs including 
        including title I of the Workforce Investment Act of 
        1998 in providing services to such veterans.
          [(5) Provision of appropriate assistance to local 
        employment service office employees with responsibility 
        for veterans in carrying out their responsibilities 
        pursuant to this chapter.
          [(6) Consultation and coordination with other 
        appropriate representatives of Federal, State, and 
        local programs (including the program conducted under 
        the Veterans' Job Training Act (Public Law 98-77; 29 
        U.S.C. 1721 note)) for the purpose of developing 
        maximum linkages to promote employment opportunities 
        for and provide maximum employment assistance to such 
        veterans.
          [(7) The carrying out of such other duties as will 
        promote the development of entry-level and career job 
        opportunities for such veterans.
          [(8) Development of outreach programs in cooperation 
        with appropriate Department of Veterans Affairs 
        personnel engaged in providing counseling or 
        rehabilitation services under chapter 31 of this title, 
        with educational institutions, and with employers in 
        order to ensure maximum assistance to disabled veterans 
        who have completed or are participating in a vocational 
        rehabilitation program under such chapter.
          [(9) Provision of vocational guidance or vocational 
        counseling services, or both, to veterans with respect 
        to veterans' selection of and changes in vocations and 
        veterans' vocational adjustment.
          [(10) Provision of services as a case manager under 
        section 14(b)(1)(A) of the Veterans' Job Training Act 
        (Public Law 98-77; 29 U.S.C. 1721 note).
          [(11) Coordination of employment services with 
        training assistance provided to veterans by entities 
        receiving funds under section 2021 of this title.]
  (a) Requirement for Employment by States of a Sufficient 
Number of Specialists.--(1) Subject to approval by the 
Secretary, a State shall employ such full- or part-time 
disabled veterans' outreach program specialists as the State 
determines appropriate and efficient to carry out intensive 
services under this chapter to meet the employment needs of 
eligible veterans with the following priority in the provision 
of services:
          (A) Special disabled veterans.
          (B) Other disabled veterans.
          (C) Other eligible veterans in accordance with 
        priorities determined by the Secretary taking into 
        account applicable rates of unemployment and the 
        employment emphases set forth in chapter 42 of this 
        title.
  (2) In the provision of services in accordance with this 
subsection, maximum emphasis in meeting the employment needs of 
veterans shall be placed on assisting economically or 
educationally disadvantaged veterans.
  (b) Requirement for Qualified Veterans.--A State shall, to 
the maximum extent practicable, employ qualified veterans to 
carry out the services referred to in subsection (a). 
Preference shall be given in the appointment of such 
specialists to qualified disabled veterans.

Sec. 4104. Local veterans' employment representatives

  [(a)(1) For any fiscal year, the total of the amount of funds 
made available for use in the States under section 
4102A(b)(5)(A)(ii) of this title shall be sufficient to support 
the appointment of 1,600 full-time local veterans' employment 
representatives and the States' administrative expenses 
associated with the appointment of that number of such 
representatives and shall be allocated to the several States so 
that each State receives funding sufficient to support--
          [(A) the number of such representatives who were 
        assigned in such State on January 1, 1987, for which 
        funds were provided under this chapter, plus one 
        additional such representative;
          [(B) the percentage of the 1,600 such representatives 
        for which funding is not provided under subparagraph 
        (A) of this paragraph which is equal to the average of 
        (i) the percentage of all veterans residing in the 
        United States who reside in such State, (ii) the 
        percentage of the total of all eligible veterans and 
        eligible persons registered for assistance with local 
        employment service offices in the United States who are 
        registered for assistance with local employment service 
        offices in such State, and (iii) the percentage of all 
        full-service local employment service offices in the 
        United States which are located in such State; and
          [(C) the State's administrative expenses associated 
        with the appointment of the number of such 
        representatives for which funding is allocated to the 
        State under subparagraphs (A) and (B) of this 
        paragraph.
  [(2)(A) The local veterans' employment representatives 
allocated to a State pursuant to paragraph (1) of this 
subsection shall be assigned by the administrative head of the 
employment service in the State, after consultation with the 
Director for Veterans' Employment and Training for the State, 
so that as nearly as practical (i) one full-time representative 
is assigned to each local employment service office at which at 
least 1,100 eligible veterans and eligible persons are 
registered for assistance, (ii) one additional full-time 
representative is assigned to each local employment service 
office for each 1,500 eligible veterans and eligible persons 
above 1,100 who are registered at such office for assistance, 
and (iii) one half-time representative is assigned to each 
local employment service office at which at least 350 but less 
than 1,100 eligible veterans and eligible persons are 
registered for assistance.
  [(B) In the case of a service delivery point (other than a 
local employment service office described in subparagraph (A) 
of this paragraph) at which employment services are offered 
under the Wagner-Peyser Act, the head of such service delivery 
point shall be responsible for ensuring compliance with the 
provisions of this title providing for priority services for 
veterans and priority referral of veterans to Federal 
contractors.
  [(3) For the purposes of this subsection, an individual shall 
be considered to be registered for assistance with a local 
employment service office during a program year if the 
individual--
          [(A) registered, or renewed such individual's 
        registration, for assistance with the office during 
        that program year; or
          [(B) so registered or renewed such individual's 
        registration during a previous program year and, in 
        accordance with regulations which the Secretary shall 
        prescribe, is counted as still being registered for 
        administrative purposes.
  [(4) In the appointment of local veterans' employment 
representatives, preference shall be given to qualified 
eligible veterans or eligible persons. Preference shall be 
accorded first to qualified service-connected disabled 
veterans; then, if no such disabled veteran is available, to 
qualified eligible veterans; and, if no such eligible veteran 
is available, then to qualified eligible persons.
  [(b) Local veterans' employment representatives shall perform 
the following functions:
          [(1) Functionally supervise the providing of services 
        to eligible veterans and eligible persons by the local 
        employment service staff.
          [(2) Maintain regular contact with community leaders, 
        employers, labor unions, training programs, and 
        veterans' organizations for the purpose of (A) keeping 
        them advised of eligible veterans and eligible persons 
        available for employment and training, and (B) keeping 
        eligible veterans and eligible persons advised of 
        opportunities for employment and training.
          [(3) Provide directly, or facilitate the provision 
        of, labor exchange services by local employment service 
        staff to eligible veterans and eligible persons, 
        including intake and assessment, counseling, testing, 
        job-search assistance, and referral and placement.
          [(4) Encourage employers and labor unions to employ 
        eligible veterans and eligible persons and conduct on-
        the-job training and apprenticeship programs for such 
        veterans and persons.
          [(5) Promote and monitor the participation of 
        veterans in federally funded employment and training 
        programs, monitor the listing of vacant positions with 
        State employment agencies by Federal agencies, and 
        report to the Director for Veterans' Employment and 
        Training for the State concerned any evidence of 
        failure to provide priority or other special 
        consideration in the provision of services to veterans 
        as is required by law or regulation.
          [(6) Monitor the listing of jobs and subsequent 
        referrals of qualified veterans as required by section 
        4212 of this title.
          [(7) Work closely with appropriate Department of 
        Veterans Affairs personnel engaged in providing 
        counseling or rehabilitation services under chapter 31 
        of this title, and cooperate with employers in 
        identifying disabled veterans who have completed or are 
        participating in a vocational rehabilitation training 
        program under such chapter and who are in need of 
        employment.
          [(8) Refer eligible veterans and eligible persons to 
        training, supportive services, and educational 
        opportunities, as appropriate.
          [(9) Assist, through automated data processing, in 
        securing and maintaining current information regarding 
        available employment and training opportunities.
          [(10) Cooperate with the staff of programs operated 
        under section 1712A of this title in identifying and 
        assisting veterans who have readjustment problems and 
        who may need services available at the local employment 
        service office.
          [(11) When requested by a Federal or State agency, a 
        private employer, or a service-connected disabled 
        veteran, assist such agency, employer, or veteran in 
        identifying and acquiring prosthetic and sensory aids 
        and devices needed to enhance the employability of 
        disabled veterans.
          [(12) Facilitate the provision of guidance or 
        counseling services, or both, to veterans who, pursuant 
        to section 5(b)(3) of the Veterans' Job Training Act 
        (29 U.S.C. 1721 note), are certified as eligible for 
        participation under such Act; and
          [(13) coordinate employment services with training 
        assistance provided to veterans by entities receiving 
        funds under section 2021 of this title.
  [(c) Each local veterans' employment representative shall be 
administratively responsible to the manager of the local 
employment service office and shall provide reports, not less 
frequently than quarterly, to the manager of such office and to 
the Director for Veterans' Employment and Training for the 
State regarding compliance with Federal law and regulations 
with respect to special services and priorities for eligible 
veterans and eligible persons.]
  (a) Requirement for Employment by States of a Sufficient 
Number of Representatives.--Subject to approval by the 
Secretary, a State shall employ such full- and part-time local 
veterans' employment representatives as the State determines 
appropriate and efficient to carry out employment, training, 
and placement services under this chapter.
  (b) Principal Duties.--As principal duties, local veterans' 
employment representatives shall--
          (1) conduct outreach to employers in the area to 
        assist veterans in gaining employment, including 
        conducting seminars for employers and, in conjunction 
        with employers, conducting job search workshops and 
        establishing job search groups; and
          (2) facilitate employment, training, and placement 
        services furnished to veterans in a State under the 
        applicable State employment service delivery systems.
  (c) Preference for Qualified Veterans.--A State shall, to the 
maximum extent practicable, employ qualified veterans to carry 
out the services referred to in subsection (a).
  (d) Reporting.--Each local veterans' employment 
representative shall be administratively responsible to the 
manager of the employment service delivery system and shall 
provide reports, not less frequently than quarterly, to the 
manager of such office and to the Director for Veterans' 
Employment and Training for the State regarding compliance with 
Federal law and regulations with respect to special services 
and priorities for eligible veterans and eligible persons.

[Sec. 4104A. Performance of disabled veterans' outreach program 
                    specialists and local veterans' employment 
                    representatives

  [(a)(1) Subject to paragraph (2) of this subsection, each 
State employment agency shall develop and apply standards for 
the performance of disabled veterans' outreach program 
specialists appointed under section 4103A(a) of this title and 
local veterans' employment representatives assigned under 
section 4104(b) of this title.
  [(2)(A) Such standards shall be consistent with the duties 
and functions specified in section 4103A(b) of this title with 
respect to such specialists and section 4104(b)(1) through (12) 
of this title with respect to such representatives.
  [(B) In developing such standards, the State employment 
agency--
          [(i) shall take into account (I) the prototype 
        developed under paragraph (3) of this subsection, and 
        (II) the comments submitted under clause (ii) of this 
        subparagraph by the Director for Veterans' Employment 
        and Training for the State;
          [(ii) shall submit to such Director proposed 
        standards for comment;
          [(iii) may take into account the State's personnel 
        merit system requirements and other local circumstances 
        and requirements; and
          [(iv) may request the assistance of such Director.
  [(C) Such standards shall include as one of the measures of 
the performance of such a specialist the extent to which the 
specialist, in serving as a case manager under section 
14(b)(1)(A) of the Veterans' Job Training Act (29 U.S.C. 1721 
note), facilitates rates of successful completion of training 
by veterans participating in programs of job training under the 
Act.
  [(3)(A) The Secretary, after consultation with State 
employment agencies or their representatives, or both, shall 
provide to such agencies a prototype of performance standards 
for use by such agencies in the development of performance 
standards under subsection (a)(1) of this section.
  [(B) Each Director for Veterans' Employment and Training--
          [(i) shall, upon the request of the State employment 
        agency under paragraph (2)(B)(iv) of this subsection, 
        provide appropriate assistance in the development of 
        performance standards,
          [(ii) may, within 30 days after receiving proposed 
        standards under paragraph (2)(B)(ii) of this 
        subsection, provide comments on the proposed standards, 
        particularly regarding the consistency of the proposed 
        standards with such prototype.
  [(b)(1) Directors for Veterans' Employment and Training and 
Assistant Directors for Veterans' Employment and Training shall 
regularly monitor the performance of the specialists and 
representatives referred to in subsection (a)(1) of this 
section through the application of the standards required to be 
prescribed by subsection (a)(1).
  [(2) A Director for Veterans' Employment and Training for a 
State may submit to the head of the employment service in the 
State recommendations and comments in connection with each 
annual performance rating of such specialists and 
representatives in the State.]

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


Sec. 4106. Estimate of funds for administration; authorization of 
                    appropriations

  (a) The Secretary shall estimate the funds necessary for the 
proper and efficient administration of this chapter and 
chapters 42 and 43 of this title. Such estimated sum shall 
include the annual amounts necessary for salaries, rents, 
printing and binding, travel, and communications. Sums thus 
estimated shall be included as a special item in the annual 
budget for the Department of Labor. Estimated funds necessary 
for [proper counseling] proper intensive services, placement, 
and training services to eligible veterans and eligible persons 
provided by the various State public employment service 
agencies shall each be separately identified in the budgets of 
those agencies as approved by the Department of Labor. Funds 
estimated pursuant to the first sentence of this subsection 
shall include amounts necessary in all of the States for the 
purposes specified in paragraph (5) of section 4102A(b) of this 
title and to fund the National Veterans' Employment and 
Training Services Institute under section 4109 of this title 
and shall be approved by the Secretary only if the level of 
funding proposed is in compliance with such sections. [Each 
budget submission with respect to such funds shall include 
separate listings of the amount for the National Veterans' 
Employment and Training Services Institute and of the proposed 
numbers, by State, of disabled veterans' outreach program 
specialists appointed under section 4103A of this title and 
local veterans' employment representatives assigned under 
section 4104 of this title, together with information 
demonstrating the compliance of such budget submission with the 
funding requirements specified in the preceding sentence.] Each 
budget submission with respect to such funds shall include a 
separate listing of the amount for the National Veterans' 
Employment and Training Services Institute together with 
information demonstrating the compliance of such budget 
submission with the funding requirements specified in the 
preceding sentence.
  (b)(1) There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as 
may be necessary for the proper and efficient administration of 
this chapter.
  (2) In addition to amounts appropriated pursuant to the 
authorization under paragraph (1), there are authorized to be 
appropriated to the Secretary to carry out the program of 
performance incentive awards under section 4112 of this title 
the following:
          (A) For the program year beginning during fiscal year 
        2004, $10,000,000.
          (B) For the program year beginning during fiscal year 
        2005, $25,000,000.
          (C) For the program year beginning during fiscal year 
        2006, $50,000,000.
          (D) For the program year beginning during fiscal year 
        2007, $75,000,000.
          (E) For the program year beginning during fiscal year 
        2008, $100,000,000.
          (F) For the program year beginning during fiscal year 
        2009 and each subsequent fiscal year, such sums as are 
        necessary.

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


Sec. 4107. Administrative controls; annual report

  (a) The Secretary shall establish administrative controls for 
the following purposes:
          (1) To insure that each eligible veteran, especially 
        veterans of the Vietnam era and disabled veterans and 
        each eligible person, who requests assistance under 
        this chapter shall promptly be placed in a satisfactory 
        job or job training opportunity or receive some other 
        specific form of assistance designed to enhance such 
        veteran's and eligible person's employment prospects 
        substantially, such as individual job development or 
        [employment counseling services] intensive services.

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *

  (b) [The Secretary shall establish definitive performance 
standards] The Secretary shall apply performance standards 
established under section 4102A(f) of this title for 
determining compliance by the State public employment service 
agencies with the provisions of this chapter and chapter 42 of 
this title. [A full report as to the extent and reasons for any 
noncompliance by any such State agency during any fiscal year, 
together with the agency's plan for corrective action during 
the succeeding year, shall be included in the annual report of 
the Secretary of Labor required by subsection (c) of this 
section.] Not later than February 1 of each year, the Secretary 
shall report to the Committees on Veterans' Affairs of the 
Senate and the House of Representatives on the performance of 
States and organizations and entities carrying out employment, 
training, and placement services under this chapter, as 
measured under subsection (b)(7) of section 4102A of this 
title. In the case of a State that the Secretary determines has 
not met the minimum standard of performance (established by the 
Secretary under subsection (f) of such section), the Secretary 
shall include an analysis of the extent and reasons for the 
State's failure to meet that minimum standard, together with 
the State's plan for corrective action during the succeeding 
year.
  (c) Not later than February 1 of each year, the Secretary 
shall report to the Committees on Veterans' Affairs of the 
Senate and the House of Representatives on the success during 
the preceding program year of the Department of Labor and its 
affiliated State employment service agencies in carrying out 
the provisions of this chapter and programs for the provision 
of employment and training services to meet the needs of 
eligible veterans and eligible persons. The report shall 
include--
          (1) specification, by State and by age group, of the 
        numbers of eligible veterans, [veterans of the Vietnam 
        era,] disabled veterans, special disabled veterans, 
        [and eligible persons who registered for assistance 
        with] eligible persons, recently separated veterans (as 
        defined in section 4211(6) of this title), and 
        servicemembers transitioning to civilian careers who 
        registered for assistance with, or who are identified 
        as veterans by, the public employment service system 
        and, for each of such categories, the numbers referred 
        to and placed in permanent and other jobs, the numbers 
        referred to and placed in jobs and job training 
        programs supported by the Federal Government, [the 
        number counseled] the number who received intensive 
        services, and the number who received some, and the 
        number who received no, reportable service;
          (2) a comparison of [the job placement rate] the rate 
        of entered employment (as determined in a manner 
        consistent with State performance measures applicable 
        under section 136(b) of the Workforce Investment Act of 
        1998) for each of the categories of veterans and 
        persons described in clause (1) of this subsection with 
        [the job placement rate] such rate of entered 
        employment (as so determined) for nonveterans of the 
        same age groups registered for assistance with the 
        public employment system in each State;

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *

          (4) a report on activities carried out during the 
        preceding program year under [sections 4103A and 4104] 
        section 4212(d) of this title; [and]
          (5) a report on the operation during the preceding 
        program year of programs for the provision of 
        employment and training services designed to meet the 
        needs of eligible veterans and eligible persons, 
        including an evaluation of the effectiveness of such 
        programs during such program year in meeting the 
        requirements of section 4102A(b) of this title, the 
        efficiency with which services were provided through 
        such programs during such year, and such 
        recommendations for further legislative action 
        [(including the need for any changes in the formulas 
        governing the appointment of disabled veterans' 
        outreach program specialists under section 4103A(a)(2) 
        of this title and the assignment of local veterans' 
        employment representatives under section 4104(b) of 
        this title and the allocation of funds for the support 
        of such specialists and representatives)] relating to 
        veterans' employment and training as the Secretary 
        considers appropriate[.]; and
          (6) a report on the operation during the preceding 
        program year of the program of performance incentive 
        awards for quality employment services under section 
        4112 of this title, including an analysis of the amount 
        of incentives distributed to each State and the 
        rationale for such distribution.

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


Sec. 4109. National Veterans' Employment and Training Services 
                    Institute

  (a) In order to provide for such training as the Secretary 
considers necessary and appropriate for the efficient and 
effective provision of employment, job-training, [counseling,] 
intensive services, placement, job-search, and related services 
to veterans, the Secretary shall establish and make available 
such funds as may be necessary to operate a National Veterans' 
Employment and Training Services Institute for the training of 
disabled veterans' outreach program specialists, local 
veterans' employment representatives, Directors for Veterans' 
Employment and Training, and Assistant Directors for Veterans' 
Employment and Training, Regional Administrators for Veterans' 
Employment and Training, and such other personnel involved in 
the provision of employment, job-training, [counseling,] 
intensive services, placement, or related services to veterans 
as the Secretary considers appropriate, including travel 
expenses and per diem for attendance at the Institute.

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *

  (c)(1) Nothing in this section shall be construed as 
preventing the Institute to enter into contracts or agreements 
with departments or agencies of the United States or of a 
State, or with other organizations, to carry out training of 
personnel of such departments, agencies, or organizations in 
the provision of services referred to in subsection (a).
  (2) All proceeds collected by the Institute under a contract 
or agreement referred to in paragraph (1) shall be applied to 
the applicable appropriation.

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


Sec. 4112. Performance incentive awards for quality employment, 
                    training, and placement services

  (a) Program of Performance Incentive Awards.--(1) The 
Secretary shall carry out a program, consistent with the 
provisions of this section, of performance incentive awards to 
States to encourage the improvement and modernization of 
employment, training, and placement services provided under 
this chapter. The Secretary shall carry out the program through 
the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans' Employment and 
Training.
  (2) The Secretary shall make performance incentive awards for 
each program year, beginning with the program year that begins 
in fiscal year 2004, with respect to services provided under 
this chapter during the preceding program year.
  (b) Criteria for Eligibility for Awards.--The Secretary shall 
establish criteria for eligibility for performance incentive 
awards for purposes of this section in consultation with 
representatives of States, political subdivisions of States, 
and other providers of employment, training, and placement 
services under the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 consistent 
with the performance measures established under section 
4102A(b)(7) of this title.
  (c) Determination of Amount of Award.--(1) The Secretary 
shall determine the amount of performance incentive awards in a 
State under this section by measuring the performance of the 
State in providing employment, training, and placement services 
furnished veterans and eligible persons in each State through 
employment service delivery systems, through disabled veterans' 
outreach program specialists, and through local veterans' 
employment representatives during the previous program year 
based on the measures of performance established under section 
4102A(b)(7) of this title.
  (2) In determining the amount of awards under paragraph (1), 
the Secretary shall--
          (A) provide greater amounts to those States which the 
        Secretary determines furnished, during the preceding 
        fiscal year, the highest quality employment, training, 
        and placement services based on measures of 
        performance;
          (B) provide awards to those States that have made 
        significant improvements in the delivery of such 
        services, as determined by the Secretary, but do not 
        meet the criteria under subparagraph (A); and
          (C) consider the applicable annual unemployment data 
        for the State and other factors, such as prevailing 
        economic conditions, that affect performance of 
        individuals providing employment, training, and 
        placement services in the State.
  (d) Use of Award.--Amounts received by a State under this 
section may be used--
          (1) to hire additional State veterans employment and 
        training staff; or
          (2) for such other purposes related to the provision 
        of employment, placement, and training services as the 
        Secretary may approve for such services furnished under 
        this chapter to veterans and eligible persons.
  (e) Relationship of Award to Grant Amounts or Other 
Compensation.--A performance incentive award under this section 
is in addition to amounts made available to a State under 
section 4102A(b)(5) of this title.
  (f) Availability for Obligation.--Amounts received in a 
performance incentive award under this section may be obligated 
by the State during the program year in which the award was 
received and the subsequent program year.
  (g) Appropriations.--The Secretary shall carry out the 
program under this section from amounts appropriated pursuant 
to the authorization under section 4106(b)(2) of this title. 
Such amounts shall only be available to carry out the program 
under this section.

            CHAPTER 42--EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING OF VETERANS

Sec.
4211.    Definitions.
     * * * * * * *
4215.    Priority of service for veterans in Department of Labor job 
          training programs.

Sec. 4211. Definitions

  As used in this chapter--
  (1) * * *

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *

  (6) The term ``recently separated veteran'' means any veteran 
during the [one-year] three-year period beginning on the date 
of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty.

Sec. 4212. Veterans' employment emphasis under Federal contracts

  [(a) Any contract in the amount of $25,000 or more entered 
into by any department or agency for the procurement of 
personal property and nonpersonal services (including 
construction) for the United States, shall contain a provision 
requiring that the party contracting with the United States 
shall take affirmative action to employ and advance in 
employment qualified special disabled veterans, veterans of the 
Vietnam era, recently separated veterans, and any other 
veterans who served on active duty during a war or in a 
campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been 
authorized. The provisions of this section shall apply to any 
subcontract entered into by a prime contractor in carrying out 
any contract for the procurement of personal property and non-
personal services (including construction) for the United 
States. In addition to requiring affirmative action to employ 
such veterans under such contracts and subcontracts and in 
order to promote the implementation of such requirement, the 
President shall implement the provisions of this section by 
promulgating regulations which shall require that (1) each such 
contractor undertake in such contract to list immediately with 
the appropriate local employment service office all of its 
employment openings except that the contractor may exclude 
openings for executive and top management positions, positions 
which are to be filled from within the contractor's 
organization, and positions lasting three days or less, and (2) 
each such local office shall give such veterans priority in 
referral to such employment openings.]
  (a)(1) Any contract in the amount of $100,000 or more entered 
into by any department or agency of the United States for the 
procurement of personal property and nonpersonal services 
(including construction) for the United States, shall contain a 
provision requiring that the party contracting with the United 
States take affirmative action to employ and advance in 
employment qualified covered veterans. This section applies to 
any subcontract entered into by a prime contractor in carrying 
out any such contract.
  (2) In addition to requiring affirmative action to employ 
such qualified covered veterans under such contracts and 
subcontracts and in order to promote the implementation of such 
requirement, the Secretary of Labor shall prescribe regulations 
requiring that--
          (A) each such contractor for each such contract shall 
        immediately list all of its employment openings with 
        the appropriate employment service delivery system (as 
        defined in section 4101(7) of this title), and may also 
        list such openings with one-stop career centers under 
        the Workforce Investment Act of 1998, other appropriate 
        service delivery points, or America's Job Bank (or any 
        additional or subsequent national electronic job bank 
        established by the Department of Labor), except that 
        the contractor may exclude openings for executive and 
        senior management positions and positions which are to 
        be filled from within the contractor's organization and 
        positions lasting three days or less;
          (B) each such employment service delivery system 
        shall give such qualified covered veterans priority in 
        referral to such employment openings; and
          (C) each such employment service delivery system 
        shall provide a list of such employment openings to 
        States, political subdivisions of States, or any 
        private entities or organizations under contract to 
        carry out employment, training, and placement services 
        under chapter 41 of this title.
  (3) In this section:
          (A) The term ``covered veteran'' means any of the 
        following veterans:
                  (i) Disabled veterans.
                  (ii) Veterans who served on active duty in 
                the Armed Forces during a war or in a campaign 
                or expedition for which a campaign badge has 
                been authorized.
                  (iii) Veterans who, while serving on active 
                duty in the Armed Forces, participated in a 
                United States military operation for which an 
                Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant 
                to Executive Order 12985 (61 Fed. Reg. 1209).
                  (iv) Recently separated veterans.
          (B) The term ``qualified'', with respect to an 
        employment position, means having the ability to 
        perform the essential functions of the position with or 
        without reasonable accommodation for an individual with 
        a disability.

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *

  (c) The Secretary of Labor shall include as part of the 
annual report required by section 4107(c) of this title the 
number of complaints filed pursuant to subsection (b) of this 
section, the actions taken thereon and the resolutions thereof. 
Such report shall also include the number of contractors 
listing [suitable] employment openings, the nature, types, and 
number of positions listed and the number of veterans receiving 
priority pursuant to [subsection (a)(2) of this section] 
subsection (a)(2)(B).
  (d)(1) Each contractor to whom subsection (a) [of this 
section] applies shall, in accordance with regulations which 
the Secretary of Labor shall prescribe, report at least 
annually to the Secretary of Labor on--
          [(A) the number of employees in the work force of 
        such contractor, by job category and hiring location, 
        who are special disabled veterans, veterans of the 
        Vietnam era, recently separated veterans, or other 
        veterans who served on active duty during a war or in a 
        campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has 
        been authorized;
          [(B) the total number of new employees hired by the 
        contractor during the period covered by the report and 
        the number of such employees who are special disabled 
        veterans, veterans of the Vietnam era, recently 
        separated veterans, or other veterans who served on 
        active duty during a war or in a campaign or expedition 
        for which a campaign badge has been authorized; and]
          (A) the number of employees in the work force of such 
        contractor, by job category and hiring location, and 
        the number of such employees, by job category and 
        hiring location, who are qualified covered veterans;
          (B) the total number of new employees hired by the 
        contractor during the period covered by the report and 
        the number of such employees who are qualified covered 
        veterans; and

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *

  (2) The Secretary of Labor shall ensure that the 
administration of the reporting requirement under paragraph (1) 
[of this subsection] is coordinated with respect to any 
requirement for the contractor to make any other report to the 
Secretary of Labor.

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


Sec. 4214. Employment within the Federal Government

  (a)(1) The United States has an obligation to assist veterans 
of the Armed Forces in readjusting to civilian life since 
veterans, by virtue of their military service, have lost 
opportunities to pursue education and training oriented toward 
civilian careers. The Federal Government is also continuously 
concerned with building an effective, competent work force, and 
veterans constitute a [major] uniquely qualified recruiting 
source. It is, therefore, the policy of the United States and 
the purpose of this section to promote the maximum of 
employment and job advancement opportunities within the Federal 
Government for [disabled veterans and certain veterans of the 
Vietnam era and of the post-Vietnam era] qualified covered 
veterans (as defined in paragraph (2)(B)) who are qualified for 
such employment and advancement.
  [(2) For the purposes of this section, the term ``agency'' 
means a department, agency, or instrumentality in the executive 
branch.]
  (2) In this section:
          (A) The term ``agency'' has the meaning given the 
        term ``department or agency'' in section 4211(5) of 
        this title.
          (B) The term ``qualified covered veteran'' means a 
        veteran described in section 4212(a)(3) of this title.
  (b)(1) To further the policy stated in subsection (a) of this 
section, veterans referred to in paragraph (2) of this 
subsection shall be eligible, in accordance with regulations 
which the Office of Personnel Management shall prescribe, for 
veterans [readjustment] recruitment appointments, and for 
subsequent career-conditional appointments, under the terms and 
conditions specified in Executive Order Numbered 11521 (March 
26, 1970), except that--
          (A)  * * *

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *

  (2) This subsection applies [to--
          [(A) a veteran of the Vietnam era; and
          [(B) veterans who first became a member of the Armed 
        Forces or first entered on active duty as a member of 
        the Armed Forces after May 7, 1975, and were discharged 
        or released from active duty under conditions other 
        than dishonorable.] to qualified covered veterans.
  (3)[(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (C) of this 
paragraph, a veteran of the Vietnam era may receive an 
appointment under this section only during the period ending--
          [(i) 10 years after the date of the veteran's last 
        discharge or release from active duty; or
          [(ii) December 31, 1995,

whichever is later.
  [(B) Except as provided in subparagraph (C) of this 
paragraph, a veteran described in paragraph (2)(B) of this 
subsection may receive such an appointment only within the 10-
year period following the later of--
          [(i) the date of the veteran's last discharge or 
        release from active duty; or
          [(ii) December 31, 1989.]
  (A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), a qualified 
covered veteran may receive such an appointment only within the 
10-year period that begins on the date of the veteran's last 
discharge or release from active duty.
  [(C) The limitations of subparagraphs (A) and(B)] (B) The 
limitation of subparagraph (A) of this paragraph shall not 
apply to a veteran who has a service-connected disability rated 
at 30 percent or more.
  [(D)] (C) For purposes of [clause (i) of subparagraphs (A) 
and (B) of this paragraph] subparagraph (A), the last discharge 
or release from active duty shall not include any discharge or 
release from active duty of less than ninety days of continuous 
service unless the individual involved is discharged or 
released for a service-connected disability, for a medical 
condition which preexisted such service and which the Secretary 
determines is not service connected, for hardship, or as a 
result of a reduction in force described in section 
3011(a)(1)(A)(ii)(III) of this title or of an involuntary 
separation described in section 3018A(a)(1).

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *

  (e)(1)  * * *
  (2) Information shown for an agency under clauses (A) through 
(D) of paragraph (1) of this subsection--
          (A)  * * *
          (B) shall be shown separately (i) for veterans [of 
        the Vietnam era] who are entitled to disability 
        compensation under the laws administered by the 
        Secretary or whose discharge or release from active 
        duty was for a disability incurred or aggravated in 
        line of duty, and (ii) for other veterans.

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *

  (g) To further the policy stated in subsection (a) of this 
section, the Secretary may give preference to [qualified 
special disabled veterans and qualified veterans of the Vietnam 
era] qualified covered veterans for employment in the 
Department as veterans' benefits counselors and veterans' 
claims examiners and in positions to provide the outreach 
services required under section 7722 of this title, to serve as 
veterans' representatives at certain educational institutions 
as provided in section 7724 of this title, or to provide 
readjustment counseling under section 1712A of this title to 
veterans of the Vietnam era.

Sec. 4215. Priority of service for veterans in Department of Labor job 
                    training programs

  (a) Definitions.--In this section:
          (1) The term ``covered person' means any of the 
        following individuals:
                  (A) A veteran.
                  (B) The spouse of any of the following 
                individuals:
                          (i) Any veteran who died of a 
                        service-connected disability.
                          (ii) Any member of the Armed Forces 
                        serving on active duty who, at the time 
                        of application for assistance under 
                        this section, is listed, pursuant to 
                        section 556 of title 37 and regulations 
                        issued thereunder, by the Secretary 
                        concerned in one or more of the 
                        following categories and has been so 
                        listed for a total of more than 90 
                        days: (I) missing in action, (II) 
                        captured in line of duty by a hostile 
                        force, or (III) forcibly detained or 
                        interned in line of duty by a foreign 
                        government or power.
                          (iii) Any veteran who has a total 
                        disability resulting from a service-
                        connected disability.
                          (iv) Any veteran who died while a 
                        disability so evaluated was in 
                        existence.
          (2) The term ``qualified job training program'' means 
        any workforce preparation, development, or delivery 
        program or service that is directly funded, in whole or 
        in part, by the Department of Labor and includes the 
        following:
                  (A) Any such program or service that uses 
                technology to assist individuals to access 
                workforce development programs (such as job and 
                training opportunities, labor market 
                information, career assessment tools, and 
                related support services).
                  (B) Any such program or service under the 
                public employment service system, one-stop 
                career centers, the Workforce Investment Act of 
                1998, a demonstration or other temporary 
                program, and those programs implemented by 
                States or local service providers based on 
                Federal block grants administered by the 
                Department of Labor.
                  (C) Any such program or service that is a 
                workforce development program targeted to 
                specific groups.
          (3) The term ``priority of service'' means, with 
        respect to any qualified job training program, that a 
        covered person shall be given priority over nonveterans 
        for the receipt of employment, training, and placement 
        services provided under that program, notwithstanding 
        any other provision of law.
  (b) Entitlement to Priority of Service.--(1) A covered person 
is entitled to priority of service under any qualified job 
training program if the person otherwise meets the eligibility 
requirements for participation in such program.
  (2) The Secretary of Labor may establish priorities among 
covered persons for purposes of this section to take into 
account the needs of disabled veterans and special disabled 
veterans, and such other factors as the Secretary determines 
appropriate.
  (c) Administration of Programs at State and Local Levels.--An 
entity of a State or a political subdivision of the State that 
administers or delivers services under a qualified job training 
program shall--
          (1) provide information and priority of service to 
        covered persons regarding benefits and services that 
        may be obtained through other entities or service 
        providers; and
          (2) ensure that each covered person who applies to or 
        who is assisted by such a program is informed of the 
        employment-related rights and benefits to which the 
        person is entitled under this section.
  (d) Addition to Annual Report.--In the annual report required 
under section 4107(c) of this title for the program year 
beginning in 2002 and each subsequent program year, the 
Secretary of Labor shall evaluate whether covered persons are 
receiving priority of service and are being fully served by 
qualified job training programs, and whether the levels of 
service of such programs are in proportion to the incidence of 
representation of veterans in the labor market, including 
within groups that the Secretary may designate for priority 
under such programs, if any.

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