119-hr3560

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3560 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

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119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 3560

 To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out a pilot 
program to employ veterans in certain wildland firefighting activities.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 May 21, 2025

 Mr. Neguse (for himself and Mr. Fitzpatrick) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, and in 
addition to the Committees on Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Armed 
Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 
 each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the 
 jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out a pilot 
program to employ veterans in certain wildland firefighting activities.

 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

 This Act may be cited as the ``Veteran Wildland Firefighter 
Employment Act of 2025''.

SEC. 2. PILOT PROGRAM TO EMPLOY VETERANS IN POSITIONS RELATING TO 
 FEDERAL WILDLAND FIREFIGHTING ACTIVITIES.

    (a) Establishment.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs, in 
coordination with the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the 
Interior, shall jointly establish a pilot program to employ veterans in 
wildland firefighting activities.

    (b) Duties.--Under such pilot program--

    (1) the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall be responsible 
 for administering such pilot program; and

    (2) the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the 
 Interior shall be responsible for--
        (A) identifying vacant positions in the Department 
 of Agriculture and the Department of the Interior, 
 respectively, that are appropriate for veterans 
 selected for participation in such pilot program; and
        (B) to the extent practicable, employing such 
 veterans in such positions.
            (c) Application of Civil Service Laws.--A veteran employed under 
the pilot program under subsection

    (a) shall be treated as an employee.
            (d) Best Practices.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall 
establish guidelines that include best practices for departments and 
agencies of the Federal Government that carry out programs to employ 
veterans who are transitioning from service in the Armed Forces. Such 
guidelines shall include--

    (1) lessons learned under the Warrior Training Advancement 
 Course of the Department of Veterans Affairs; and

    (2) methods to realize cost savings based on such lessons.

    (e) Partnership.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs, the 
Secretaries concerned, and the Secretary of Defense may enter into a 
partnership to include the pilot program under subsection

    (a) as part 
of the Skillbridge program under 

section 1143 of title 10, United 
States Code.

    (f) Reports.--

    (1) Initial report.--Not later than 60 days after the date 
 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
 and the Secretaries concerned shall jointly submit to the 
 appropriate congressional committees a report on the pilot 
 program under subsection

    (a) , including--
        (A) a description of how such pilot program will be 
 carried out in a manner to reduce the unemployment of 
 veterans; and
        (B) any recommendations for legislative actions to 
 improve such pilot program.

    (2) Implementation.--Not later than one year after the date 
 on which the Secretary of Veterans Affairs commences such pilot 
 program, such Secretary and the Secretaries concerned shall 
 jointly submit to the appropriate congressional committees a 
 report on the implementation of such pilot program.

    (3) Final report.--Not later than 30 days after the date on 
 which such pilot program concludes, the Secretary of Veterans 
 Affairs and the Secretaries concerned shall jointly submit to 
 the appropriate congressional committees a report that 
 includes--
        (A) an identification of--
            (i) the number of veterans who applied to 
 participate in such pilot program;
            (ii) the number of such veterans employed 
 pursuant to such pilot program; and
            (iii) the number of veterans described in 
 clause
            (ii) who transitioned to full-time 
 positions with the Federal Government after 
 participating in such pilot program; and
        (B) any other information the Secretaries determine 
 appropriate with respect to measuring the effectiveness 
 of such pilot program.

    (g) Termination Date.--The authority to carry out the pilot program 
under subsection

    (a) shall terminate on the date that is two years 
after the date on which the Secretary of Veterans Affairs commences 
such pilot program.

    (h) 

=== Definitions. ===
-In this section:

    (1) The term ``appropriate congressional committees'' means 
 the following:
        (A) The Committee on Agriculture of the House of 
 Representatives.
        (B) The Committee on Natural Resources of the House 
 of Representatives.
            (C) The Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the House 
 of Representatives.
            (D) The Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and 
 Forestry of the Senate.
        (E) The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 
 of the Senate.
        (F) The Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the 
 Senate.

    (2) The term ``employee'' has the meaning given such term 
 in 

section 2105 of title 5, United States Code.

    (3) The term ``wildland firefighting activities'' means any 
 temporary, seasonal, or permanent position at the Department of 
 Agriculture or the Department of the Interior, and Tribal 
 Firefighters, that maintains group, emergency incident 
 management, or fire qualifications, as established annually by 
 the Standards for Wildland Fire Position Qualifications 
 published by the National Wildfire Coordinating Group, that 
 primarily engages in or supports wildland fire management, 
 including forestry and rangeland technicians and positions 
 concerning aviation, engineering heavy equipment operations, 
 dispatch, or fire and fuels management.
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