Conference Agreement Includes Heller Provisions to Help Veterans Find Jobs, Promote STEM Programs in Nevada's Schools
Press Release
U.S. Senator Dean Heller (R-NV) today announced that the final conference agreement to accompany the Department of Defense and Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies appropriations bill (H.R.6157) includes several provisions Heller authored to help Nevada's veterans find jobs, promote science, engineering, technology, and mathematics (STEM) programs that benefit pre-kindergarden-12 students, and support babies born dependent on opioids or other substances.
For example, Heller, along with U.S. Senator Jon Tester (D-MT), secured a provision to ensure up to $3.5 million is available to carry out a pilot program on apprenticeships for service members transitioning to civilian life. Heller also worked with U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) to require the Department of Education (DOE) to provide a report on how the agency is coordinating with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) to promote STEM programs that benefit pre-kindergarden-12 students. Finally, Heller worked with U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) to author a provision included in the conference agreement that will strengthen the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC's) efforts to leverage birth defects surveillance systems to improve its ability to monitor the occurrence of neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS).
"As a senior member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Veteran's Affairs, I believe that we must lay the groundwork to ensure that our nation's Armed Forces have the tools they need to succeed when they come back to civilian life," said Heller. "I am pleased the conference agreement includes my measure that funds apprenticeship programs for individuals who have bravely served our country. Not only does this agreement include my proposal to help Nevada's veterans get ahead, it also contains my provisions that promote STEM programs for Nevada's youth and strengthen efforts to monitor the occurrence of neonatal abstinence syndrome to better protect mothers and babies."
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