The Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs has approved legislation that would require broad job skills trainingfor all U.S. service members before leaving the military.
The legislation, aimed at cutting the high unemployment rate among veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, was unanimously endorsed Wednesday by the panel.
The legislation would provide “veterans with the broad job skills training and support they need to break down barriers to employment,”Senator Patty Murray, (D-Wash.), chairman of the committee said in a statement. “For the first time, this comprehensive bill will require service members to learn how to translate the skills they learned in the military into the working world.”
The Hiring Heroes Act of 2011 would require all departing service members to participate in the Transition Assistance Program, which is administered by the Labor Department in partnership with the Defense Departmentand the Department of Veterans Affairs. The training, which is now voluntary, includes job-search techniques, resume writing and interviewing tips.
“We ask our military men and women to risk their lives for our cuntry each and every day,” said Sen. Mark Begich, (D-Alaska), a bill co-sponsor. “The least we can do is make sure they don’t have to struggle to stay healthy or get back to work when they come home.”
More than one in four veterans between the ages of 20 and 24 are unemployed, according to Labor Department figures.
The bill would modify federal hiring practices to encourage the hiring of separating service members and would allow service members to begin the federal employment hiring process prior to separation. “It will . . . ensure that more veterans have jobs waiting for them when they leave the military by streamlining the path to private and federal employment,” Murray said.
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