S.Amdt. 4284

SA 4284. Mr. REID (for Mr. Blumenthal) submitted an amendment
intended to be proposed by Mr. Reid 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 H of title V, add the following:

SEC. 597. ENHANCEMENT OF USE OF VETERANS' SERVICE
ORGANIZATIONS TO CARRY OUT THE TRANSITION
ASSISTANCE PROGRAM OF THE DEPARTMENT OF
DEFENSE.

(a) In General.--Section 1144 of title 10, United States
Code, is amended--
(1) in subsection (d)(4), by inserting ``subject to
subsection (e),'' before ``use representatives'';
(2) by redesignating subsections (e) and (f) as subsections
(f) and (g), respectively; and
(3) by inserting after subsection (d) the following new
subsection (e):
``(e) Use of Veterans' Service Organizations.--The
Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and
appropriate veterans' service organizations shall jointly
enter into a memorandum of understanding regarding the manner
in which representatives of veterans' service organizations
are used for purposes of the program established under this
section, including the nature and

[[Page S3317]]

scope of access of such representatives to military
installations for that purpose. The memorandum of
understanding shall apply to any veterans' service
organization whose representatives are used for purposes of
the program, regardless of whether or not the organization is
expressly a party to the memorandum of understanding.''.
(b) Veterans' Service Organization Defined.--Such section
is further amended by adding at the end the following new
subsection:
``(h) Veterans' Service Organization Defined.--In this
section, the term `veterans' service organization' means any
organization recognized by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs
for the representation of veterans under section 5902 of
title 38.''.
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