[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2150 Reported in Senate (RS)]
<DOC>
Calendar No. 384
118th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 2150
[Report No. 118-173]
To establish an Interagency Council on Service to promote and
strengthen opportunities for military service, national service, and
public service for all people of the United States, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
June 22, 2023
Mr. Reed (for himself and Mr. Young) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security
and Governmental Affairs
May 9, 2024
Reported by Mr. Peters, with an amendment
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed
in italic]
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish an Interagency Council on Service to promote and
strengthen opportunities for military service, national service, and
public service for all people of the United States, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
<DELETED>SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.</DELETED>
<DELETED> This Act may be cited as the ``Unity through Service Act
of 2023''.</DELETED>
<DELETED>SEC. 2. INTERAGENCY COUNCIL ON SERVICE.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (a) Establishment.--</DELETED>
<DELETED> (1) In general.--There is established an
Interagency Council on Service (in this section referred to as
the ``Council'').</DELETED>
<DELETED> (2) Functions.--The Council shall--</DELETED>
<DELETED> (A) advise the President with respect to
promoting, strengthening, and expanding opportunities
for military service, national service, and public
service for all people of the United States;
and</DELETED>
<DELETED> (B) review, assess, and coordinate
holistic recruitment strategies and initiatives of the
executive branch to foster an increased sense of
service and civic responsibility among all people of
the United States and to explore ways of enhancing
connectivity of interested applicants to national
service programs and opportunities.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (b) Composition.--</DELETED>
<DELETED> (1) Membership.--The Council shall be composed of
members who are representatives of--</DELETED>
<DELETED> (A) the Secretary of State;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (B) the Secretary of Defense;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (C) the Attorney General;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (D) the Secretary of the
Interior;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (E) the Secretary of Commerce;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (F) the Secretary of Labor;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (G) the Secretary of Health and Human
Services;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (H) the Secretary of Education;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (I) the Secretary of Veterans
Affairs;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (J) the Secretary of Homeland
Security;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (K) the Director of the Office of
Management and Budget;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (L) the Director of National
Intelligence;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (M) the Director of the Office of
Personnel Management;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (N) the Director of the Peace
Corps;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (O) the Director of Selective Service
System;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (P) the Chief Executive Officer of the
Corporation for National and Community Service;
and</DELETED>
<DELETED> (Q) such other officers as the President
may designate.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (2) Chair.--From the members of the Council under
paragraph (1) who have been nominated by the President for the
position of the member described in such paragraph, and
appointed to such position with the advice and consent of the
Senate, the President shall annually designate a Chair of the
Council.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (3) Meetings.--The Council shall meet on a
quarterly basis or more frequently as the Chair of the Council
may direct.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (c) Responsibilities of the Council.--The Council shall--
</DELETED>
<DELETED> (1) assist and advise the President in the
establishment of strategies, goals, objectives, and priorities
to promote service and civic responsibility among all people of
the United States;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (2) develop and recommend to the President common
recruitment strategies and outreach opportunities for
increasing the participation, and propensity of people of the
United States to participate, in military service, national
service, and public service in order to address national
security and domestic investment;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (3) serve as a forum for Federal officials
responsible for military service, national service, and public
service programs to, as feasible and practicable--</DELETED>
<DELETED> (A) coordinate and share best practices
for service recruitment; and</DELETED>
<DELETED> (B) develop common interagency, cross-
service initiatives and pilots for service
recruitment;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (4) lead a strategic, interagency coordinated
effort on behalf of the Federal Government to develop joint
awareness and recruitment, retention, and marketing initiatives
involving military service, national service, and public
service, including the sharing of marketing and recruiting
research between and among Council members;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (5) consider approaches for assessing impacts of
service on the needs of the United States and individuals
participating in and benefitting from such service;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (6) consult, as the Council considers advisable,
with representatives of non-Federal entities, including State,
local, and Tribal governments, State and local educational
agencies, State Service Commissions, institutions of higher
education, nonprofit organizations, philanthropic
organizations, and the private sector, in order to promote and
develop initiatives to foster and reward military service,
national service, and public service;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (7) not later than 2 years after the date of
enactment of this Act, and quadrennially thereafter, prepare
and submit to the President and Congress a Service Strategy,
which shall set forth--</DELETED>
<DELETED> (A) a review of programs and initiatives
of the Federal Government relating to the mandate of
the Council;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (B) a review of Federal Government online
content relating to the mandate of the Council,
including user experience with such content;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (C) current and foreseeable trends for
service to address the needs of the United
States;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (D) recommended service recruitment
strategies and branding opportunities to address
outreach and communication deficiencies identified by
the Council; and</DELETED>
<DELETED> (E) to the extent practical, a joint
service messaging strategy for military service,
national service, and public service;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (8) identify any notable initiatives by State,
local, and Tribal governments and by public and nongovernmental
entities to increase awareness of and participation in national
service programs; and</DELETED>
<DELETED> (9) perform such other functions as the President
may direct.</DELETED>
<DELETED>SEC. 3. JOINT MARKET RESEARCH TO ADVANCE MILITARY AND NATIONAL
SERVICE.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (a) Program Authorized.--The Secretary of Defense, the
Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation for National and Community
Service, and the Director of the Peace Corps may carry out a joint
market research, market studies, recruiting, and advertising program to
complement the existing programs of the military departments, the
national service programs administered by the Corporation, and the
Peace Corps.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (b) Information Sharing Permitted.--Section 503 of title
10, United States Code, shall not be construed to prohibit sharing of
information among, or joint marketing efforts of, the Department of
Defense, the Corporation for National and Community Service, and the
Peace Corps to carry out this section.</DELETED>
<DELETED>SEC. 4. TRANSITION OPPORTUNITIES FOR MILITARY SERVICEMEMBERS
AND NATIONAL SERVICE PARTICIPANTS.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (a) Employment Assistance.--Section 1143(c)(1) of title
10, United States Code, is amended by inserting ``the Corporation for
National and Community Service,'' after ``State employment
agencies,''.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (b) Employment Assistance, Job Training Assistance, and
Other Transitional Services: Department of Labor.--Section 1144 of
title 10, United States Code, is amended--</DELETED>
<DELETED> (1) in subsection (b), by adding at the end the
following:</DELETED>
<DELETED> ``(11) Provide information on public service
opportunities, training on public service job recruiting, and
the advantages of careers with the Federal Government.'';
and</DELETED>
<DELETED> (2) in subsection (f)(1)(D)--</DELETED>
<DELETED> (A) by redesignating clause (v) as clause
(vi); and</DELETED>
<DELETED> (B) by inserting after clause (iv) the
following new clause:</DELETED>
<DELETED> ``(v) National and community service,
taught in conjunction with the Chief Executive Officer
of the Corporation for National and Community
Service.''.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (c) Authorities and Duties of the Chief Executive
Officer.--Section 193A(b) of the National and Community Service Act of
1990 (42 U.S.C. 12651d(b)) is amended--</DELETED>
<DELETED> (1) in paragraph (24), by striking ``and'' at the
end;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (2) in paragraph (25), by striking the period at
the end and inserting ``; and''; and</DELETED>
<DELETED> (3) by adding at the end the following new
paragraph:</DELETED>
<DELETED> ``(26) ensure that individuals completing a
partial or full term of service in a program under subtitle C
or E or part A of title I of the Domestic Volunteer Service Act
of 1973 (42 U.S.C. 4951 et seq.) receive information about
military and public service opportunities for which they may
qualify or in which they may be interested.''.</DELETED>
<DELETED>SEC. 5. JOINT REPORT TO CONGRESS ON INITIATIVES TO INTEGRATE
MILITARY AND NATIONAL SERVICE.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (a) Reporting Requirement.--Not later than 4 years after
the date of enactment of this Act and quadrennially thereafter, the
Chair of the Interagency Council on Service, in coordination with the
Secretary of Defense, the Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation
for National and Community Service, and the Director of the Peace
Corps, shall submit to Congress a joint report on cross-service
marketing, research, and promotion, including recommendations for
increasing joint advertising and recruitment initiatives for the Armed
Forces, programs administered by the Corporation for National and
Community Service, and the Peace Corps.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (b) Contents of Report.--Each report under subsection (a)
shall include the following:</DELETED>
<DELETED> (1) The number of Peace Corps volunteers and
participants in national service programs administered by the
Corporation for National and Community Service, who previously
served as a member of the Armed Forces.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (2) The number of members of the Armed Forces who
previously served in the Peace Corps or in a program
administered by the Corporation for National and Community
Service.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (3) An assessment of existing (as of the date of
the report submission) joint recruitment and advertising
initiatives undertaken by the Department of Defense, the Peace
Corps, or the Corporation for National and Community
Service.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (4) An assessment of the feasibility and cost of
expanding such existing initiatives.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (5) An assessment of ways to improve the ability
of the reporting agencies to recruit individuals from the other
reporting agencies.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (c) Consultation.--The Chair of the Interagency Council on
Service, the Secretary of Defense, the Chief Executive Officer of the
Corporation for National and Community Service, and the Director of the
Peace Corps shall undertake studies of recruiting efforts that are
necessary to carry out the provisions of this section. Such studies may
be conducted using any funds appropriated to those entities under
Federal law other than this Act.</DELETED>
<DELETED>SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.</DELETED>
<DELETED> In this Act:</DELETED>
<DELETED> (1) Interagency council on service.--The term
``Interagency Council on Service'' means the Interagency
Council on Service established under section 2.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (2) Military department.--The term ``military
department'' means each of the military departments listed in
section 102 of title 5, United States Code.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (3) Military service.--The term ``military
service'' means active service (as defined in subsection (d)(3)
of section 101 of title 10, United States Code) or active
status (as defined in subsection (d)(4) of such section) in one
of the Armed Forces (as defined in subsection (a)(4) of such
section).</DELETED>
<DELETED> (4) National service.--The term ``national
service'' means participation, other than military service or
public service, in a program that--</DELETED>
<DELETED> (A) is designed to enhance the common good
and meet the needs of communities, the States, or the
United States;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (B) is funded or facilitated by--
</DELETED>
<DELETED> (i) an institution of higher
education as defined in section 101 of the
Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001);
or</DELETED>
<DELETED> (ii) the Federal Government or a
State, Tribal, or local government;
and</DELETED>
<DELETED> (C) is a program authorized in--</DELETED>
<DELETED> (i) the Peace Corps Act (22 U.S.C.
2501 et seq.);</DELETED>
<DELETED> (ii) section 171 of the Workforce
Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3226)
relating to the YouthBuild Program;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (iii) the Domestic Volunteer
Service Act of 1973 (42 U.S.C. 4950 et seq.);
or</DELETED>
<DELETED> (iv) the National and Community
Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12501 et
seq.).</DELETED>
<DELETED> (5) Public service.--The term ``public service''
means civilian employment in the Federal Government or a State,
Tribal, or local government.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (6) Service.--The term ``service'' means a
personal commitment of time, energy, and talent to a mission
that contributes to the public good by protecting the Nation
and the citizens of the United States, strengthening
communities, States, or the United States, or promoting the
general social welfare.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (7) State service commission.--The term ``State
Service Commission'' means a State Commission on National and
Community Service maintained by a State pursuant to section 178
of the National and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C.
12638).</DELETED>
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Unity through Service Act of 2023''.
SEC. 2. INTERAGENCY COUNCIL ON SERVICE.
(a) Establishment.--
(1) In general.--There is established an Interagency
Council on Service (in this section referred to as the
``Council'').
(2) Functions.--The Council shall--
(A) advise the President with respect to promoting,
strengthening, and expanding opportunities for military
service, national service, and public service for all
people of the United States; and
(B) review, assess, and coordinate holisti