[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 135 (Friday, December 8, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2178-E2179]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 EXPRESSING SENSE OF HOUSE REGARDING HIRING OF MEMBERS OF ARMED FORCES

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                           HON. RUSH D. HOLT

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, December 5, 2006

  Mr. HOLT. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the sentiment that motivated the 
gentleman from California, Mr. Hunter, to offer this resolution. I 
agree with him that our Government must set the example when we choose 
to exhort employers to hire veterans. That's why I was pleased that in 
July of this year, the House passed by voice vote a concurrent 
resolution I offered with Mr. Brown of South Carolina that calls upon 
the President to establish a permanent national ``Hire a Veteran 
Week.''
  The purpose of our bipartisan bill is simple. On a yearly basis, the 
President would lead a week-long effort to remind employers--both 
government and private sector--of the importance and value of hiring 
veterans. According to the most recent U.S. Labor Department data, in 
August 2005, 20- to 24-year-old veterans had an unemployment rate of 
18.7 percent compared with their nonveteran counterparts. For all of 
2005, the annual rate was 15.6 percent for 20- to 24-year-old veterans 
compared with 8.7 percent for non-veterans in that age group. Women 
veterans also suffer higher rates of unemployment than nonveterans. The 
unemployment rate for women veterans aged 25-34 stands at 6.9 percent 
versus 6 percent for their civilian counterparts. More alarmingly, 
women veterans aged 45-54 have twice the rate of unemployment than 
their non-veteran counterparts--7.1 percent versus 3.3 percent.
  These aren't simply numbers; these are men and women who put on our 
country's uniform to protect each and every one of us. We can and must 
do more to help them find good-paying jobs that allow them to build a 
career and a life in the Nation they served and protected. That process 
should begin with a yearly reminder to all employers to actively seek 
out veterans as potential employees. I have been deeply disappointed 
that to date the Senate has not elected to follow the House's lead and 
pass my ``Hire a Veteran Week'' legislation. Should the Senate not pass 
this bill before the 109th Congress adjourns sine die, it will 
represent yet another failure of this Congress to meet the real needs 
of veterans.
  My colleague from California, Mr. Hunter, is correct that Congress 
should take the lead and set the example when it comes to veterans' 
employment issues. That's why in 2005 I introduced the American 
Veterans Congressional Internship Program, H.R. 1242, a bipartisan bill 
that would allow each Member of Congress to hire a veteran as a paid 
intern for 1 year.
  The benefits of this bill are clear. House and Senate Members would 
be able to take advantage of the experience and can-do work ethic of 
veterans, while veterans would get the chance to directly influence 
policy decisions and contribute to legislation that will affect them 
and their fellow veterans. I regret the 109th Congress failed to act on 
this commonsense bill, and I intend to reintroduce it and push for its 
speedy passage in the 110th Congress.

  One thing we should all be able to agree on is that our outreach to 
veterans seeking jobs should be buttressed with concrete action by 
Congress to fund job training and placement programs, particularly for 
young veterans and women veterans.
  That we have a long way to go in meeting the employment and training 
needs of our veterans was made clear by John Rowan, the current 
president of Vietnam Veterans of America, in testimony he gave before 
the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee on March 30 of this year. Mr. 
Rowan noted that:

       In fact, there is no real national strategy to assist 
     returning veterans, including National Guard and Reservists, 
     who are unemployed or under-employed--and some 15 percent of 
     our newest veterans have yet to find

[[Page E2179]]

     gainful employment. Similarly, there is no effective 
     mechanism in place for enforcing veterans' preference, and we 
     have an Administration that appeals a case against a disabled 
     veteran who had finally won his case before the Merit System 
     Protection Board pursuant to The Veterans Employment 
     Opportunities Act of 1998.
       It is imperative that re-education and work skills 
     upgrades, including selfemployment, be made a priority by 
     those agencies of government that provide these services, 
     especially considering the battalions of seriously and 
     permanently disabled veterans returning from Afghanistan and 
     Iraq.

  This indictment of our current federal efforts on behalf of veterans 
seeking employment is a wake up call. I hope that when the 110th 
Congress convenes in January 2007, my colleagues will join me in 
helping create a national strategy to help returning veterans get the 
job training and employment opportunities they've earned for their 
service to America.

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