[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 6 (Wednesday, January 26, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E87-E88]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    H.R. XXXX, EXTENSION OF THE PRESIDENT'S NATIONAL HIRE VETERANS 
                               COMMITTEE

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. MICHAEL K. SIMPSON

                                of idaho

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, January 26, 2005

  Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Speaker, fundamentally, hiring former servicemembers 
is a good business decision. They are a competitive business asset and 
a unique national resource. They represent the very best of commitment, 
reliability, and resolve.
  In the 107th Congress, President Bush signed into law the Jobs for 
Veterans Act (Public Law 107-288), which I authored with my friend 
Silvestre Reyes. It established the President's National Hire Veterans 
Committee (NHVC) with a mission to reach out to employers and make them 
fully aware of the skills and attributes veterans offer to the civilian 
workforce. As we fight the war on terrorism, America's sons and 
daughters continue selflessly to volunteer for military service and 
then join the civilian workforce better prepared to make a significant 
contribution to our private economy. The NHVC expires on December 31, 
2005.
  Since its genesis in 2003, the President's National Hire Veterans 
Committee has initiated a nationwide marketing campaign which has 
brought more employers seeking veterans to the Department of Labor's 
One-Stop Career Centers.
  NHVC launched a sophisticated website, www.hirevetsfirst.gov that 
helps employers and veterans while embracing the existing workforce 
development systems. Prior to this website there was no single national 
location of which I am aware for the either the employer or the veteran 
to find relevant information about each other.
  NHVC initiated a unique advertising campaign to attract human 
resource specialists, business executives, and public sector employers. 
These are highly effective ads conveying a message of the value that 
veterans bring to the workplace. To guide employers to the website, a 
wrap-around cover ``outsert'' program, mailed to selected executive 
readers of Business Week, contains interviews with four business 
leaders  including Robert Lutz, Vice Chairman of General Motors; 
Jackson Moore, CEO-designate of Regions Financial Corporation; and Bob 
Nardelli CEO of Home Depot.

  NHVC has also been a catalyst for local and statewide initiatives to 
support jobs for veterans. NHVC worked with the governors of many 
states, including my home state of Idaho, to declare Hire Vets First 
month. The Committee is working directly with employers throughout 
America, and in a cooperative venture with NHVC, Home Depot hired over 
13,000 veterans in 2004.
  Mr. Speaker, we must continue to convey the message of the 
competitive value and bottom-line results that veterans add to our 
economy. We must ensure that we as a nation properly leverage in our 
domestic economy the investment of over $17 billion a year in training 
our military. But more importantly, we must continue to commend the 
virtues of our veterans who have the ability to learn new skills, and a 
propensity for teamwork, self discipline, loyalty and many other 
characteristics

[[Page E88]]

that translate into productivity, innovation, and leadership.
  Hiring former servicemembers is good for business, it's good for 
veterans, and it's good for America. I urge my colleagues to support 
H.R. XXXX, providing for a 3-year extension of the President's National 
Hire Veterans Committee.

                          ____________________