,i  #aaeth ,,congress  #b;d ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #eeec  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,april #ah1 #bjah    
,mr4 ,bacon 7for himself and ,ms4       
,rosen7 introduced the following bill2  
which was referred to the ,committee on 
,armed ,services  ,a ,,bill  ,to direct 
the ,secretary of ,defense to take      
certain steps to improve the ,transition
 ,assistance ,program1 and for other    
purposes4  #a4 ,short title ,this ,act  
may be cited as the ,loya-,sears        
,warrior ,transition ,assistance ,reform
 ,act of #bjah4  #b4 ,findings ,congress
 finds the following3  7#a7 ,congress   
affirms the importance of ,,tap in      
preparing members of the ,armed ,forces 
of the ,united ,states to rejoin civil  
society as productive citizens following
 their service4  7#b7 ,despite          
considerable effort and investment in   
military transition assistance programs 
over many years1 strong evidence exists 
that many veterans remain unprepared for
 transition and encounter significant   

challenges in living healthy and        
productive lives4  7#c7 ,congress       
observes with concern the unacceptably  
high rates of suicide1 unemployment1 and
 homelessness that persist among        
,america's veteran population4  7#d7    
,while difficult to precisely establish 
the causal basis of this crisis1        
,congress is concerned that management  
controls should be improved to ensure   
the ,department of ,defense complies    
with current statutes regarding ,,tap   
attendance and participation1 effective 
allocation of transition assistance     
resources1 and effective measurement of 
,,tap outcomes with timely feedback to  
the ,department of ,defense and its     
interagency partners in the ,departments
 of ,veterans ,affairs and ,labor4  #c4 
,required actions ,not later than #abj  
days after the date of the enactment of 
this ,act1 the ,secretary of ,defense   
shall provide an action plan to the     
congressional defense committees to     
accomplish the following with regards to

 all members of the regular and reserve 
components of the ,armed ,forces3 7#a7  
,mandate initiation of ,,tap one year   
before separation from the ,armed       
,forces4  7#b7 ,standardize ,,tap       
curriculum across all military          
departments4  7#c7 ,ensure unit and     
installation compliance with applicable 
statutes governing ,,tap program        
management and individual attendance4   
7#d7 ,implementation1 in consultation   
with the ,secretaries of ,veterans      
,affairs and ,labor1 of standardized    
performance metrics to measure ,,tap    
participation and outcome-based         
objective benchmarks in order to-- 7,a7 
provide feedback to stakeholders of each
 of the ,departments of ,defense1       
,veterans ,affairs1 and ,labor2  7,b7   
improve program curriculum2  7,c7 share 
best practices2 and  7,d7 facilitate    
effective oversight of ,,tap4  #d4      
,report  7a7 ,report required ,not later
 than #ahj days after the date of the   
enactment of this ,act1 the ,secretary  

of ,defense1 in consultation with the   
,secretaries of ,veterans ,affairs and  
,labor1 shall provide a report to the   
congressional defense committees        
containing recommendations to improve   
the efficacy of ,,tap4  7b7 ,elements   
,the report under this section shall    
include recommendations regarding the   
following3 7#a7 ,methods to improve and 
expand the duration and practical       
utility of the ,,tap curriculum in order
 to effectively prepare members of the  
,armed ,forces to rejoin the civilian   
labor force4  7#b7 ,ways to more        
effectively utilize national and local  
veterans service organizations to       
support veterans throughout transition4 
7#c7 ,proposed changes to law or policy 
to improve the ability of ,,tap to      
prepare members of the ,armed ,forces to
 rejoin civil society in productive     
manners4  #e4 ,definitions ,in this     
,act3 7#a7 ,the term ,,tap means the    
,transition ,assistance ,program under  
sections #aadb and #aadd of title #aj1  

,united ,states ,code4  7#b7 ,the terms 
military departments and congressional  
defense committees have the meaning     
given those terms in section #aja of    
title #aj1 ,united ,states ,code4