S.Amdt. 2403

SA 2403. Mr. MERKLEY (for himself and Mr. Daines) submitted an
amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill H.R. 3684, to
authorize funds for Federal-aid highways, highway safety programs, and
transit programs, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on
the table; as follows:

At the end of title VIII of division D, add the following:

SEC. 408__. FOREST SERVICE HIRE AUTHORITY.

Section 12518 of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018
(16 U.S.C. 1725b) is amended--
(1) in subsection (b)--
(A) in paragraph (3), by striking the period at the end and
inserting a semicolon;
(B) by redesignating paragraphs (1) through (3) as
subparagraphs (A) through (C), respectively, and indenting
appropriately;
(C) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A) (as so
redesignated)--
(i) by striking ``Land'' and inserting ``Lands''; and
(ii) by striking ``applies to a former resource assistant''
and inserting the following: ``applies to--
``(1) a former resource assistant''; and
(D) by adding at the end the following:
``(2) except as provided in paragraph (1), a former
participant in the Public Lands Corps program established by
section 204 of the Public Lands Corps Act of 1993 (16 U.S.C.
1723) who--
``(A) successfully fulfilled the requirements of a
qualified candidate and program participation; and
``(B) earned a high school diploma or equivalent diploma of
completion, or completed a workforce development training
program; and
``(3) a graduate of a Civilian Conservation Center program
described in section 147(d) of the Workforce Innovation and
Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3197(d)) who successfully
completed a training program focused on forestry, wildland
firefighting, or another topic relating to the mission of the
Forest Service.''; and
(2) in subsection (c)--
(A) by striking the period at the end and inserting a
semicolon;
(B) by striking ``date on which the candidate'' and
inserting the following: ``date on which--
``(1) in the case of a qualified candidate described in
subsection (b)(1), the candidate''; and
(C) by adding at the end the following:
``(2) in the case of a qualified candidate described in
subsection (b)(2), the later of--
``(A) the candidate successfully fulfilled the requirements
described in subsection (b)(2)(A); or
``(B) the candidate earned a diploma or competed a program
described in subsection (b)(2)(B); or
``(3) in the case of a qualified candidate described in
subsection (b)(3), the candidate graduated from the Civilian
Conservation Center.''.
______