,i  #aacth ,,congress  #b;d ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #eefc  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,september #ah1 #bjad
 ,mr4 ,crdenas 7for himself1 ,mr4       
,jolly1 ,ms4 ,brownley of ,california1  
,mr4 ,mc,govern1 ,mr4 ,carson of        
,indiana1 ,mr4 ,veasey1 ,mr4 ,cicilline1
 ,mr4 ,jones1 and ,mr4 ,butterfield7    
introduced the following bill2 which was
 referred to the ,committee on          
,education and the ,workforce1 and in   
addition to the ,committee on ,veterans'
 ,affairs1 for a period to be           
subsequently determined by the ,speaker1
 in each case for consideration of such 
provisions as fall within the           
jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
,a ,,bill  ,to authorize the ,secretary 
of ,labor to award special recognition  
to employers for veteran-friendly       
employment practices4  #a4 ,short title 
,this ,act may be cited as the ,honoring
 the ,hiring of ,heroes ,act4  #b4      
,veteran-,friendly ,business ,awards    
7a7 ,authorization and ,criteria for    

award ,not later than #a year after the 
date of enactment of this ,act1 the     
,secretary of ,labor 7in this ,act      
referred as the ,secretary7 and the     
,secretary of ,veterans ,affairs shall  
jointly establish a program to award    
special recognition to employers for    
veteran-friendly employment practices   
and1 in coordination with the           
,secretaries of ,defense and ,commerce1 
shall establish criteria for determining
 recipients of such awards4  7b7        
,recognition ,an award of recognition   
granted under the program established by
 the ,secretary under this ,act shall be
 known as an ,employment ,salute ,award4
  7c7 ,eligibility  7#a7 ,employer      
defined ,as used in this ,act1 the term 
employer means any person engaged in a  
business affecting commerce who has     
employees1 but does not include the     
,united ,states or any ,state or        
political subdivision of a ,state4  7#b7
 ,categories ,the ,secretary shall      
establish different categories of       

employers eligible for the awards based 
on the size of the employers4           
,recognition shall be awarded separately
 for employers having from #a to #ej    
employees1 from #ea to #ejj employees1  
and more than #ejj employees4  7d7      
,application ,an employer seeking an    
award of recognition under this ,act    
shall provide the ,secretary with an    
application at such time and containing 
such information as the ,secretary shall
 require after establishing the criteria
 described in subsection 7a74  7e7      
,application fee and funding  7#a7 ,fee 
authorized ,the ,secretary may assess a 
reasonable application fee on employers 
seeking such an award4  7#b7            
,establishment of fund ,there is        
established in the ,treasury of the     
,united ,states a separate account for  
the deposit of fees collected under this
 subsection to be known as the          
,employment ,salute ,award ,fund4  7#c7 
,deposit ,the ,secretary shall deposit  
any fees collected pursuant to paragraph

 7#a7 into the ,fund established by     
paragraph 7#b74  7#d7 ,use ,amounts in  
the ,employment ,salute ,award ,fund    
shall be available to the ,secretary1 as
 provided in paragraph 7#e71 for making 
expenditures to carry out the program   
established pursuant to subsection 7a74 
7#e7 ,authorization of appropriations   
,there is authorized to be appropriated 
from the ,employment ,salute ,award     
,fund to the ,secretary for each fiscal 
year in which fees are collected under  
this subsection an amount equal to the  
total amount collected during the       
previous fiscal year from fees assessed 
pursuant to this subsection4 ,such      
amounts are authorized to remain        
available until expended4  7#f7         
,crediting and ,availability of ,fees   
,fees authorized under paragraph 7#a7   
shall be collected and available for    
obligation only to the extent and in the
 amount provided in advance in          
appropriations ,acts4  7f7              
,publicization ,the ,secretary shall    

publicize the recipients of the award by
 listing such recipients in a separate  
section on the ,department of ,labor's  
website and through such other methods  
as the ,secretary may determine4  7g7   
,no monetary award ,an award granted    
under a program established pursuant to 
subsection 7a7 shall be for recognition 
only and not be monetary in nature4