S.Amdt. 4374

SA 4374. Mrs. MURRAY submitted an amendment intended to be proposed
by her 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. MILITARY APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAMS.

(a) Promotion Required.--The Secretary of Defense shall, in
consultation with the Secretary of Labor, promote the
enhancement and implementation of military apprenticeship
programs that provide an opportunity for members of the Armed
Forces to improve their job skills and obtain certificates of
completion for registered apprenticeship programs while on
active duty. The Secretary of Defense also shall promote
connections between military training, education, and
transition activities and registered apprenticeship programs
in order to improve employment outcomes for veterans and help
ready-to-hire employers connect to this skilled workforce.
(b) Voluntary Goals.--In carrying out subsection (a), the
Secretary of Defense shall establish voluntary goals for each
Armed Force relating to--
(1) the number of members participating in activities
relating to registered apprenticeships prior to separation
from active duty;
(2) the establishment of partnerships with registered
apprenticeship programs through the United Services Military
Apprenticeship Program, Skill Bridge programs, Transition
Assistance Program, tuition assistance programs, and other
appropriate mechanisms; and
(3) the number of veterans entering registered
apprenticeship programs upon separation from active duty.
(c) Biennial Report.--Not later than two years after the
date of the enactment of this Act, and every two years
thereafter, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the
appropriate committees of Congress a report describing the
activities undertaken pursuant to this section during the
two-year period ending on the date of such report, including
a description and assessment of the progress made in
achieving the voluntary goals established under subsection
(b).
(d) Appropriate Committees of Congress Defined.--In this
section, the term ``appropriate committees of Congress''
means--
(1) the Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate; and
(2) the Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on
Education and the Workforce of the House of Representatives.
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