Kaine's Bill to Find Jobs for Veterans
Freshman Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., believes that more — much more — needs to be done to aid military veterans in their search for jobs. He brought that message to Lynchburg last week as he spoke to about 40 veterans, business representatives and others at American Legion Post 16.
Kaine pointed out that veterans of the post-9/11 era face rates of unemployment that are a couple of points higher than the rate for non-veterans, which currently stands at about 7.6 percent. “It strikes me that there’s something not quite right about that,” he said, adding, “In fact, it should be the reverse.”
He’s right about that, especially considering that many of the veterans have returned home from assignments in Iraq and Afghanistan.
With his first bill submitted in the Senate, Kaine has launched an effort to help military veterans find work after they complete their tour of duty. The idea behind the “Troop Talent Act of 2013” is to help service members get useful civilian certifications that align with the military specialties and skills they learned while serving their country.
The measure calls for more information about relevant civilian certifications to be provided to service members during their time in the military. It also expands a program offering soldiers the opportunity to earn civilian certifications as they serve.
Five occupational specialties included in the program are aircraft mechanics, automotive mechanics, health care, supply and logistics and truck driving. Kaine wants to add information technology to the list.
The senator acknowledged barriers to employment exist for some veterans, including physical and mental health challenges. But the credentials issue is a place to start tackling the disproportionate unemployment levels for this generation of veterans.
“The individuals who served — we owe it to them,” Kaine said. And he made it clear that in his estimation the nation is not doing the job needed to get more veterans back to work.
A Vietnam veteran at the meeting knew all too well the plight of veterans returning home from war. Edward Payne told the gathering that everyone welcomes the troops back home, “but they go to look for a job and can’t find one.” That can lead to failed marriages and a host of other problems brought on by the absence of a weekly or monthly paycheck.
Veterans in that situation, he said, don’t know where to turn. “These are people,” Payne added, “they are not numbers.”
Sarah Bonner, a U.S. Air Force veteran and 1999 graduate of Heritage High School, served in Germany and worked with many soldiers coming to and leaving the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan. One of the challenges she has had to deal with is an unresponsive Department of Veterans Affairs. She told Kaine that she’s still waiting for an answer from the VA on a GI-bill related issue dating back to 2011.
Kaine said that was not the first story he has heard about the department not responding and that he had a meeting scheduled with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki about delays in addressing veterans’ claims.
It should come as some comfort to unemployed veterans and those waiting for a response from the VA on requests for information that Sen. Kaine is aware of their plight and has made it one of his priorities. It’s the least the full Senate and the Congress can do for veterans who have been asked to serve their country in the hostile environments of the Mideast.
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