(Washington, D.C.) –Today,
U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member of the Senate Veterans’
Affairs Committee, called for a broad new legislative approach to improve the
Post-9/11 G.I. Bill at a hearing of the committee regarding improvements to the
bill. Murray heralded the bill as a “big step forward” in offering real
incentives to service members and their families, yet addressed concerns that
the bill does not extend far enough to meet their educational or workplace
needs. Murray pointed out that many disciplined,
technically skilled veterans have difficulties finding work, especially as they
struggle to have employers understand how the skills they learned in the
military will translate to the civilian working world.
“In
addition to the difficulties and delays in trying to access their new benefits
over the last year, veterans across Washington state have expressed their
frustration at not being able to use their Post- 9/11 G.I. Bill benefits for
apprenticeship and distance learning education programs,” said Senator Patty
Murray. “When it comes to making sure veterans have the ability to thrive
in the civilian workplace however, education benefits are just one piece of the
larger challenge. Far too often, veterans are faced with difficult transitions
and unique challenges as they go from the battlefield to the working world. I
believe that these transitions need to be easier and these challenges
eliminated, which is why I introduced the Veteran Employment Assistance Act
earlier this year to comprehensively address this issue.”
The
Veteran Employment Assistance Act (S. 3234) includes a series of proposals to
create new employment programs, expand existing ones, and assess how to improve
the ones we have now. A provision of the bill placed before the committee
today, the Post-9/11 Veterans’ Job Training Act (S. 2769), would expand the
Post-9/11 G.I. Bill to allow returning veterans to use their benefits for
apprenticeship and worker training programs. This provision would help them
acquire the skills they need to find stable, family-wage jobs in their communities.
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