President Obama signs Veterans' Jobs Bill

Neglecting Veterans Is a Disservice to Our Economy
Posted by Justin Constantine on November 21, 2011 at 12:00 PM EST
We have all heard about the compelling attributes my fellow service members bring to the table when they look for jobs as they transition out of the military – leadership experience, goal-oriented, can-do attitude, great work ethic, etc. Yet we have also heard about the disturbing unemployment statistics for today’s youngest veterans – those in the 24-36 age group. How can this be true, and what is this Administration doing about it?

Unfortunately, our youngest veterans are entering the private workforce at a very challenging time. Many of them are likely to be employed in industries such as construction, manufacturing and transportation, which have all struggled in the last few years. Further, many of these vets come from and return to rural parts of the country, and do not have the benefit of a college degree. Another critical issue is that there currently does not exist a truly effective and cohesive transition assistance program for them. And on top of all that, a staggering number of our returning service members suffer from behavioral health issues, including Post Traumatic Stress, but these issues are not being adequately addressed. The unemployment of today’s young vets is very complicated and cannot be considered in a vacuum.

I was honored to stand behind President Obama today as he signed into law his job bill for military veterans. In a nutshell, this law encourages private industry to hire unemployed veterans and wounded warriors through several generous tax credits. On its own, the law is not an overall panacea to our veterans’ unemployment problems; when considered together with other related initiatives announced by President Obama however, the public-private partnership it fosters will certainly be a big help. And this is critical, because as we end the war in Iraq and wind down the war in Afghanistan, over one million service members are projected to leave the military between 2011 and 2016.

Some of these far-reaching initiatives include: a challenge to the private sector to hire or train 100,000 unemployed veterans or their spouses by the end of 2013; “Gold Cards” issued to service members in transition to help jump-start their job search process; the Veterans Job Bank connecting unemployed vets to job openings with companies that want to hire them; My Next Move for Veterans; and an interagency task force is now developing reforms to ensure that every service member receives the training, education and credentials they need for a successful transition.
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