S.Amdt. 4233

SA 4233. Mr. HELLER submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by
him to the bill S. 2943, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year
2017 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military
construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy,
to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for
other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

At the end of subtitle E of title V, add the following:

[[Page S3226]]

SEC. 565. REPORT AND GUIDANCE ON JOB TRAINING, EMPLOYMENT
SKILLS TRAINING, APPRENTICESHIPS, AND
INTERNSHIPS AND SKILLBRIDGE INITIATIVES FOR
MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES WHO ARE BEING
SEPARATED.

(a) Report Required.--Not later than 90 days after the date
of the enactment of this Act, the Under Secretary of Defense
for Personnel and Readiness shall submit to the Committees on
Armed Services of the Senate and the House of
Representatives, and make available to the public, a report
evaluating the success of the Job Training, Employment Skills
Training, Apprenticeships, and Internships (known as JTEST-
AI) and SkillBridge initiatives, under which civilian
businesses and companies make available to members of the
Armed Forces who are being separated from the Armed Forces
training or internship opportunities that offer a high
probability of employment for the members after their
separation.
(b) Elements.--In preparing the report required by
subsection (a), the Under Secretary shall use the
effectiveness metrics described in Enclosure 5 of Department
of Defense Instruction No. 1322.29. The report shall include
the following:
(1) An assessment of the successes of the Job Training,
Employment Skills Training, Apprenticeships, and Internships
and SkillBridge initiatives.
(2) Recommendations by the Under Secretary on ways in which
the administration of the initiatives could be improved.
(3) Recommendations by civilian companies participating in
the initiatives on ways in which the administration of the
initiatives could be improved.
(4) Testimony from a sample of members of the Armed Forces
who are participating in each of the initiatives regarding
the effectiveness of such initiatives and the members'
support for such initiatives.
(5) Testimony from a sample of recently separated members
of the Armed Forces who participated in each of the
initiatives regarding the effectiveness of such initiatives
and the members' support for such initiatives.
(c) Issuance of Guidance.--Not later than 180 days after
the submittal of the report required by subsection (a), the
Under Secretary shall issue guidance to commanders of units
of the Armed Forces for the purpose of encouraging
commanders, consistent with unit readiness, to permit members
of the Armed Forces under their command who are being
separated from the Armed Forces to participate in the Job
Training, Employment Skills Training, Apprenticeships, and
Internships or SkillBridge initiative.
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