[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 2]
[House]
[Page 1931]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          HELMETS TO HARDHATS

  (Mr. HIGGINS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. HIGGINS. Mr. Speaker, earlier this month, I met with the 
executive director of the not-for-profit organization Helmets to 
Hardhats. Since 2003, Helmets to Hardhats has partnered with the 
Department of Defense, over 82,000 American businesses, and organized 
labor to help returning veterans prepare for and find work.
  The current unemployment rate for returning veterans under the age of 
24 is an unacceptable 38 percent. Helmets to Hardhats gives veterans 
the tools they need to start long-term careers in the construction 
trades. In 2008 alone, the organization placed nearly 1,800 military 
veterans into construction careers.
  Mr. Speaker, the last of our combat troops has left Iraq, and we are 
winding down our military operations in Afghanistan. These veterans 
have put their lives on the line overseas, and they deserve the 
assistance of a grateful Nation when they return in order to ensure 
that they can participate in the economy and in lasting careers.
  With that in mind, I congratulate Helmets to Hardhats, and I 
encourage my colleagues to do the same.

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