S.Amdt. 6115

SA 6115. Ms. ERNST (for herself and Mr. Kelly) submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to amendment SA 5499 submitted by Mr. Reed (for himself and Mr. Inhofe) and intended to be proposed to the bill H.R. 7900, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2023 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 E of title V, add the following:

SEC. 564. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE REVIEW OF USE OF TRANSITION PROGRAMS BY MEMBERS OF SPECIAL OPERATIONS FORCES.

(a) Review.--The Comptroller General of the United States shall review the use of Department of Defense transition programs by members of the Armed Forces assigned to special operations forces.

(b) Preliminary Briefing and Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall provide to the appropriate committees of Congress a briefing and report on the preliminary findings of the review conducted under subsection (a).

(c) Final Briefing.--Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall provide to the appropriate committees of Congress a briefing on the final results of the review conducted under subsection (a).

(d) Final Report.--

(1) In general.--The Comptroller General shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report containing the final results of the review conducted under subsection (a) on a date agreed to at the time of the briefing provided under subsection (b).

(2) Elements.--The report required by paragraph (1) shall include an examination of the following:

(A) The extent to which members of the Armed Forces assigned to special operations forces participate in Department of Defense transition programs.

(B) What unique challenges those members face in making the transition to civilian life and the extent to which existing Department of Defense transition programs address those challenges.

(C) The extent to which the Secretary of Defense directs those members to transition resources provided by nongovernmental entities.

(e) Definitions.--In this section:

(1) Appropriate committees of congress.--The term “appropriate committees of Congress” means--

(A) the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate; and

(B) the Committee on Armed Services of the House of Representatives.

(2) Department of defense transition programs.--The term “Department of Defense transition programs” means programs (including the Transition Assistance Program and Skillbridge) carried out under laws administered by the Secretary of Defense that help members of the Armed Forces make the transition to civilian life.

(3) Skillbridge.--The term “Skillbridge” means the programs to provide job training and employment skills training carried out under section 1143(e) of title 10, United States Code.

(4) Special operation forces.--The term “special operations forces” means the forces described in section 167(j) of title 10, United States Code.

(5) Transition assistance program.--The term “Transition Assistance Program” means the program of preseparation counseling, employment assistance, and other transitional services provided under sections 1142 and 1144 of title 10, United States Code.