S.Amdt. 783

SA 783. Mr. SCHATZ submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by
him to the bill H.R. 2810, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year
2018 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 appropriate place, insert the following:

SEC. ___. PARTICIPATION OF VETERANS SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS IN
TRANSITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.

(a) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that
the Secretary of Defense, in collaboration with the Secretary
of Labor, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and the
Secretary of Veterans Affairs, should establish a process by
which a representative of a veterans service organization may
be present at any portion of the program carried out under
section 1144 of title 10, United States Code, relating to the
submittal of claims to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs for
compensation under chapter 11 or 13 of title 38, United
States Code.
(b) Report.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 540 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall
submit to Congress a report on participation of veterans
service organizations in the program carried out under
section 1144 of title 10, United States Code.
(2) Contents.--The report required by paragraph (1) shall
include the following:
(A) An assessment of the compliance of facilities of the
Department of Defense with the directives included in the
memorandum of the Secretary of Defense entitled
``Installation Access and Support Services for Nonprofit Non-
Federal Entities'' and dated December 23, 2014.
(B) The number of military bases that have complied with
such directives.
(C) How many veterans service organizations have been
present at a portion of a program as described in paragraph
(1).
(3) Veterans service organization defined.--In this
subsection, the term ``veterans service organization'' means
any organization recognized by the Secretary for the
representation of veterans under section 5902 of title 38.
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