H.R. 2324 — Unity through Service Act of 2025

This section establishes the Interagency Council on Service to advise the President on promoting, strengthening, and expanding opportunities for military service, national service, and public service, and to review, assess, and coordinate executive branch recruitment strategies to foster civic responsibility. The Council comprises representatives from 16 specified federal departments, agencies, and offices—including the Departments of Defense, State, Education, Veterans Affairs, and Homeland Security; the Corporation for National and Community Service; and others designated by the President—is chaired by a Senate-confirmed member annually designated by the President, and meets quarterly or more frequently as directed. The Council must (1) assist the President in establishing service strategies, goals, and priorities; (2) recommend common recruitment strategies to increase participation in military, national, and public service; (3) coordinate best practices and develop interagency recruitment initiatives among relevant federal officials; (4) lead joint federal awareness, recruitment, retention, and marketing efforts; (5) assess service impacts; (6) consult with non-federal entities such as state, local, Tribal, and educational organizations; (7) submit to the President and Congress, not later than two years after enactment and quadrennially thereafter, a Service Strategy reviewing federal programs and online content, service trends, recruitment strategies, and joint messaging; (8) identify notable non-federal service initiatives; and (9) perform other functions as directed by the President.

This section authorizes the Secretary of Defense, the Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation for National and Community Service, and the Director of the Peace Corps to conduct a joint market research, recruiting, and advertising program to complement existing military department, national service, and Peace Corps programs. It clarifies that 10 U.S.C. §503, which governs military recruiting campaigns and related personally identifiable and directory information, does not prohibit information sharing or joint marketing efforts among these entities to carry out the authorized program.

This section expands transition assistance for separating servicemembers and spouses under the Department of Labor program (10 U.S.C. 1144) by requiring (1) provision of information on public service opportunities, training on public service job recruiting, and advantages of federal government careers and (2) inclusion of national and community service as a counseling topic taught in conjunction with the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) chief executive officer; requires coordination with the CNCS in Department of Defense and Homeland Security employment assistance programs for separating servicemembers (10 U.S.C. 1143); and directs the CNCS chief executive officer to inform completers of national and community service programs of qualifying military and public service opportunities.

This section directs the Chair of the Interagency Council on Service, in coordination with the Secretary of Defense, the Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), and the Director of the Peace Corps, to submit a joint report to nine specified congressional committees not later than four years after enactment and quadrennially thereafter on cross-service marketing, research, and promotion to increase joint advertising and recruitment for the Armed Forces, CNCS programs (i.e., AmeriCorps and related national service), and the Peace Corps. The report must include (1) the number of Peace Corps volunteers and CNCS participants who previously served in the Armed Forces and vice versa, (2) an assessment of existing joint recruitment and advertising initiatives by the Department of Defense, Peace Corps, or CNCS, (3) the feasibility and cost of expanding such initiatives, (4) ways to improve cross-agency recruitment, and (5) a description of information and data used for relevant initiatives or campaigns, including under section 3; the required studies may use existing agency funds other than those appropriated by this Act.

This section directs the Chair of the Interagency Council on Service to conduct a study on (1) the effectiveness of past advertising campaigns for military service, national service, and public service; and (2) the role of vaccine requirements in the retention and recruitment of individuals for such service, and to submit a report on the study's findings and lessons learned to the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and the House Committee on Homeland Security not later than 270 days after enactment.

This section establishes definitions for terms used in the Act, including (1) Interagency Council on Service, meaning the council established by section 2(a); (2) military department, meaning each military department listed in section 102 of title 5, United States Code; (3) military service, meaning active service (10 U.S.C. §101(d)(3)) or active status (10 U.S.C. §101(d)(4)) in the armed forces (10 U.S.C. §101(a)(4)); (4) national service, meaning participation other than military or public service in specified community programs (e.g., Peace Corps, YouthBuild) funded by higher education institutions or governments; (5) public service, meaning civilian employment in the federal government or a state, tribal, or local government; (6) service, meaning a personal commitment of time, energy, and talent to missions benefiting national protection, communities, or social welfare; and (7) State service commission, meaning a state commission on national and community service maintained pursuant to the National and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. §12638).

This section directs the Comptroller General of the United States to submit to Congress, not later than 30 months after enactment of this Act, a report on the effectiveness of this Act and the amendments made by this Act.