[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 16365]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1215
                          SUPPORT OUR VETERANS

  (Mr. HIGGINS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. HIGGINS. Mr. Speaker, this week the House will consider a number 
of bills to honor and support our veterans.
  These are good bills, but they are not enough. A good and grateful 
Nation would also make sure a strong commitment is made to helping our 
veterans find work when they return home.
  Mr. Speaker, the current unemployment rate for post-9/11 veterans is 
10 percent; and among young veterans between the ages of 18 and 24, it 
is 22 percent. This is unacceptable. We owe it to our veterans to 
support programs like the not-for-profit Helmets to Hardhats, which 
partners with the Department of Defense, American businesses, and 
organized labor to help returning veterans prepare for work in the 
construction trades.
  We must also be sure that veterans have the ability to get the 
educational benefits they have earned without being constrained by 
deadline, as my legislation, the Veterans Educational Flexibility Act, 
would do.
  Along with the commitment to nation-building right here at home, we 
can create good American jobs that can't be outsourced and give back to 
those who have served our Nation.

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