The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“VETERANS OPPORTUNITY TO WORK ACT OF 2011” mentioning the U.S. Dept of Labor was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E1893-E1894 on Oct. 18, 2011.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
VETERANS OPPORTUNITY TO WORK ACT OF 2011
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SPEECH OF
HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE
of texas
in the house of representatives
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2433, ``the Veterans Opportunity to Work Act 2011.'' This legislation would provide honorably discharged, unemployed veterans who are between the ages of 35 to 60 with who are currently not eligible for certain veterans benefits will be provided with retraining assistance for a limited period of time.
The Veterans Opportunity to Work Act provides services for the courageous men and women who served in the Armed Forces. It is in a spirit of deep gratitude and appreciation that I fight to provide for our veterans with the tools they need to find employment after serving our country. It is the responsibility of all Members of Congress and the Administration to fulfill our moral obligation to those who have fought to protect our freedom and democracy.
In the State of Texas, we have nearly 1.7 million veterans, and 18th District is home to 32,000 of them. Of the 200,000 veterans of military service who live and work in Houston; more than 13,000 are veterans from Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, and Operation Iraqi Freedom. Additionally, there are almost 34,000 soldiers from Texas currently deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan. I am supporting this legislation to ensure that our men and women in uniform are taken care of when they return from combat.
According to the Department of Labor as of June 2011 there are over 1 million unemployed veterans; over 632,000 are between the ages of 35 and 54. As Iraq and Afghanistan veterans come home, and as Vietnam, Cold War, and Persian Gulf War veterans can't find or lost their jobs, this results in a real loss of talented leaders and workers. Currently, there are 236,000 Vietnam Era veterans; 258,000 Cold War Era veterans; 182,000 Persian Gulf War veterans, and 192,000 Iraq and Afghanistan Era Veterans who are unemployed. These men and women have faced the enemy and lived to tell the tale, the least we can do is give them an opportunity to retain and enhance their skills in order to attain civilian employment.
This legislation addresses a need to find ways to provide training and employment assistance for the men and women who have fought for our country. Post 9/11 veterans who are now leaving the military may go to school on the 9/11 GI Bill; however veterans of previous conflicts are not afforded the same opportunity. To address the needs of these veterans this bill will provide for a limited time an educational benefit to unemployed veterans between the ages of 35 to 60 at community colleges and technical training schools.
After dedicating their lives to serving our country it is important to assist veterans at all stages of their transition back to civilian life. A major part of transiting into civilian life is to ensure that skills that were attained while in service are translatable to civilian employment. Veterans face a variety of obstacles to employment namely the language used to describe particular skill sets in the military does not correspond with the terminology used by civilian employers. This disconnect has created problems for veterans who are seeking certain types of employment and or licenses. The veterans are not able to translate their skills into terms that would demonstrate to civilian employers that they already posses the certain key skills.
In order to address this obstacle to employment, The Veterans Opportunity to Work Act (VOW) makes the Transition Assistance Program mandatory. The Department of Labor must thereby create a system by which licensure and certifications are translatable to those available at the state level. This is done in an effort to address the barriers between the skills and training received in the military and requirements for civilian licenses and other credentials'.
In addition, under H.R. 2433 the Department of Labor must work with states to implement new performance measures to evaluate the priority of services provided to eligible veterans and mandates that Disabled Veterans Outreach Program Specialists and Local Veterans Employment Representatives sole duty will be to assist eligible veterans in finding suitable employment.
Throughout my tenure in Congress, I have remained committed to meeting both the needs of veterans of previous wars, and to those who are now serving. Veterans have kept their promise to serve our nation; they have willingly risked their lives to protect the country we all love. We must now ensure that we keep our promises to our veterans.
I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 2433, the Veterans Opportunity to Work Act.
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