Congress debt fights hold up Hiring Heroes Act of 2011

Veterans employment legislation faces delays
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Oct 4, 2011 16:55:03 EDT
Congress is finding it hard to pass jobs-creating legislation for veterans by Veterans’ Day.

There is bipartisan support for a veterans employment package — with details to be determined — but passage has not been a top priority in Congress, making it difficult for a compromise to be signed into law by Nov. 11, the nominal deadline set by supporters of the legislation.

Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, which has increasingly complained that the Obama administration and Congress are not doing enough to help unemployed veterans, announced in March that it viewed Nov. 11 as a deadline for the government to reduce the number of jobless veterans.

Lawmakers interpreted this as a deadline for passage of legislation that would reduce the jobless rate in the future, not by Veterans Day — and even that deadline may not be met.

The Democratic-controlled Senate has been sitting since July 18 on the Hiring Heroes Act of 2011, a comprehensive package of employment and training provisions passed by the Senate Veterans’ Committee on July 7. The bill, S 951, was set aside during fights involving the debt ceiling and deficit reduction, overhaul of patent laws and an effort to prevent shutdown of the entire federal government at the start of the fiscal year.
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