National Defense Workforce Opportunity Act

National Defense Workforce Opportunity Act

This bill requires the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment of the Department of Defense to establish and manage a coalition among institutions of higher education, vocational programs, workforce development boards, labor organizations, and organizations representing defense industrial base contractors to focus on career development for individuals seeking careers in manufacturing.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5105 Introduced in House (IH)]

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117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 5105

To establish a coalition to promote educational opportunities preparing 
 individuals for careers in the defense industrial base, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            August 27, 2021

  Mrs. Bice of Oklahoma (for herself and Mr. Norcross) introduced the 
 following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To establish a coalition to promote educational opportunities preparing 
 individuals for careers in the defense industrial base, and for other 
                               purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``National Defense Workforce 
Opportunity Act''.

SEC. 2. DEFENSE INDUSTRIAL BASE COALITION FOR CAREER DEVELOPMENT.

    (a) In General.--The Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and 
Sustainment shall establish and manage a coalition among institutions 
of higher education, vocational programs, workforce development boards, 
labor organizations, and organizations representing defense industrial 
base contractors to focus on career development for individuals seeking 
careers in manufacturing. The goals of the coalition shall be--
            (1) to highlight the importance of expertise in 
        manufacturing careers;
            (2) to share experiences of successful partnerships between 
        such organizations and institutions of higher education to 
        create opportunities for individuals attending such 
        institutions to be hired by defense industrial base 
        contractors; and
            (3) to encourage opportunities for donating used equipment 
        of defense industrial base contractors to institutions of 
        higher education for use in training such individuals.
    (b) Report.--Not later than 270 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition 
and Sustainment, in coordination with the coalition established under 
subsection (a), shall submit to the congressional defense committees a 
report including--
            (1) the results of any cooperative work-education program 
        established by defense laboratories pursuant to section 2195 of 
        title 10, United States Code;
            (2) an assessment of whether such programs could be 
        expanded to include individuals attending secondary schools and 
        vocational programs to create opportunities for such 
        individuals to be hired by defense industrial base contractors; 
        and
            (3) recommendations for whether incentive contracts are 
        needed to encourage defense industrial base contractors to 
        provide career development for individuals seeking careers in 
        manufacturing.
    (c) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Defense industrial base contractor.--The term ``defense 
        industrial base contractor'' means a prime contractor or 
        subcontractor (at any tier) in the defense industrial base.
            (2) Institution of higher education.--The term 
        ``institution of higher education'' means section 101 of the 
        Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001).
            (3) Labor organization.--The term ``labor organization'' 
        has the meaning given such term in section 2(5) of the National 
        Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 152(5)).
            (4) Secondary school.--The term ``secondary school'' has 
        the meaning given in section 8101 of the Elementary and 
        Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801).
            (5) Vocational program.--The term ``vocational program'' 
        has the meaning given the term ``area career and technical 
        education school'' in section 3 of the Carl D. Perkins Career 
        and Technical Education Act of 2006 (20 U.S.C. 2302).
            (6) Workforce development board.--The term ``workforce 
        development board'' means a State board or a local board, as 
        such terms are defined in section 3 of the Workforce Innovation 
        and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3102).
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