House seeks to get more vets on its payroll - Army News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Army Times

House seeks to get more vets on its payroll

The House of Representatives, which has no policies to grant veterans preference when hiring for jobs, is now looking for ways to get more war veterans on the payroll as staff members and support workers.

Daniel Beard, the House’s chief administrative officer, said he is not sure lawmakers will ever endorse a formal system that gives veterans an edge in employment, as the executive branch of the government does, but he is looking for short-term and long-term changes that would open more opportunities for combat veterans.

Beard is operating under the urging of House Democratic leaders. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland and Administration Committee Chairman Robert Brady of Pennsylvania told Beard to create a hiring program for veterans.

In a letter Wednesday, the three lawmakers said they have “no doubt that there are many jobs within the House work force that would benefit from the advanced skills and dedication of these men and women who have bravely served our country.”

The letter asks Beard to look in particular at jobs for severely disabled veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Beard said in an interview that making changes in the legislative hiring rules to provide veterans preference like the rest of the federal government could be difficult because each member of the House has his or her own policy for hiring staff. Preference for veterans has been discussed by the House before but never adopted because of difficulty in getting broad agreement, he said.

As a short-term step, Beard said he wants to find a way to make wounded veterans more aware of jobs that come open. He thinks there are openings, suggesting that disabled veterans could go to work immediately in House call centers answering telephones.

Beard said he does not know how many veterans work for the House now, as that question has not been part of any employee surveys.

In their pre-Veterans Day letter, Pelosi, Hoyer and Brady said they want the House to help because “the transition from a military to a civilian career can be difficult.”

“From our visits with our wounded military over the past several years, we are well aware that these service men and women possess a wide range of valuable skills and experiences, as well as enthusiasm for hard work, which would be enormously valuable to any employer,” the three lawmakers said.

The letter asks Beard to develop a program “that will give severely wounded service men and women the opportunity to consider employment by the House of Representatives,” which congressional aides said is not the same thing as preferential hiring.

The federal government, in theory, awards extra points to veterans so that they would be hired ahead of a similarly qualified non-veteran, although there are widespread complaints that federal managers ignore the military service of an applicant when hiring.

At a September hearing about federal hiring practices before the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, Brian Lawrence of Disabled American Veterans said his office hears complaints about ignored and overlooked preference rights “on a daily basis.” Lawrence has since been hired as a member of the Republican staff of the House Veterans’ Affairs economic opportunity subcommittee, which is responsible for overseeing veterans employment issues.