S.Amdt. 4403

SA 4403. Mr. WYDEN 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 I of title X, add the following:

SEC. 1097. OUTDOOR RECREATION ACCESS FOR SERVICEMEMBERS AND
VETERANS.

(a) In General.--The Secretary of Agriculture and the
Secretary of the Interior are encouraged to work with the
Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs on
ways to ensure veterans have access to the outdoors and to
outdoor programs as a part of the basic services provided to
veterans.
(b) Inclusion of Information.--Each branch of the Armed
Forces is encouraged to include information about outdoor
recreation in the materials and counseling services provided
in the Transition Assistance Program, including--
(1) the benefits of outdoor recreation for physical and
mental health;
(2) maps of parks, trails, and other recreation sites
within 200 miles of military bases;
(3) resources to access guided outdoor trips; and
(4) information regarding the Public Land Corps of the
National Park Service.
(c) Outdoor Recreation Program Attendance.--Each branch of
the Armed Forces is encouraged to permit members of the Armed
Forces on active duty status, at the discretion of the
commander of the member, to use not more than 7 days of a
Permissive Temporary Duty Assignment allotted to the member
to attend an outdoor recreation program following deployment.
______