Congress passes veterans employment bill - Army News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Army Times

Congress passes veterans employment bill

A landmark $1.7 billion package of veterans employment aid has passed Congress and is on its way to the White House, where President Obama has vowed to sign it into law.

Passage of the bill — filled with new programs and tweaks in old ones in an effort to help veterans find work in a difficult economy — is a sign that even in a year filled with partisan bickering, there are some issues that transcend politics, said Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., the House Veterans Affairs Committee chairman, who ushered the bill through the House.

Called the Vow to Hire Heroes Act of 2011, the bill passed the House on a 422-0 vote Wednesday.

Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., voted against the package Nov. 10 when it was passed as an amendment. On final passage, the Senate approved the measure on a 95-0 vote.

The overwhelming votes are partly the result of the fact the bill is fully paid for. The bill achieves this by:

• adjusting ambulance reimbursement fees

• adjusting origination fees on veterans’ home loans

• continuing through 2016 programs that reduce pensions for some veterans in nursing homes who are covered by Medicare

• using Social Security and tax records to verify incomes for veterans receiving income-based pensions.

The bill represents a compromise between Miller and his committee, the White House and the Senate Veterans Affairs’ Committee chairwoman, Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash.

Murray called the bill “a huge step forward in rethinking the way we treat our men and women in uniform after they leave the military.”

“Our veterans have the drive, discipline, and self confidence to succeed in any workplace. But for too long at the end of their career, we’ve patted them on the back for their service and pushed them out into the job market alone,” Murray said.

Wide support for the bill comes at a time when there are almost 1 million unemployed veterans, and when the unemployment rate for veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan era is 12.1 percent, higher than the 9.1 percent national unemployment rate.

Miller said veterans, clearly, need help.

“Today’s economy has eliminated literally millions of jobs, many of which will never return,” he said. “Nearly 1 million veterans need our help in acquiring the skills needed for today’s job market.”

Miller also vowed to closely monitor how the bill is implemented.

“Today’s victory is only the first step,” he said. “I will continue to champion this issue until we reach the final step when our veterans are out of the unemployment lines and on the path to success.”

Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., a Navy Reserve officer, said passage of the bill shows “Republicans and Democrats across the Senate and House can work together.”

Speaking of veterans, Kirk said, “We owe these men and women everything and this measure — a bipartisan measure – is one of the ways we can say thank you.”

“Too many in Congress are focused on dividing this country instead of finding common ground to better serve its citizens,” said Sen. Jon Tester, D-Montana, a member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee. “I’m pleased this bipartisan measure got folks working together to do what’s best for America’s veterans, because they deserve no less.”

There are jobs, said Tester, and he wants veterans to have a chance of filling them.

“There are millions of jobs going unfilled because employers cannot find workers with the right skills,” he said.

To help make that happen, the bill creates a new education benefit that would provide up to 12 months of Montgomery GI Bill payments to veterans ages 35 to 60 who have no other employment assistance. Over two years, 100,000 veterans who receive training in a new skill where jobs are available.

“This landmark legislation will not only help put America’s veterans back to work, but also give them the self-confidence, financial security, and dignity that a job provides,” Miller said, crediting veterans’ service organizations for keeping the heat on Congress to react the jobless problems facing veterans.

In addition to the job training program, the bill includes improvements in transition assistance programs for separating service members, including new rules making the classes mandatory except under exceptional circumstances.

To give service members a head start on finding jobs, it allows service members to apply for federal employment even before they are separated or retired and also allows placement in apprenticeships or on-the-job training programs with the military or defense contractors while on terminal leave.

There are tax credits, proposed by the White House, for businesses who hire unemployed veterans, and there are renewed efforts at tackling one of the biggest hurdles in finding post-service work, the translation of military skills and training into civilian work.

In a statement, Obama congratulated Congress for “coming together to pass these tax credits that will encourage businesses to hire America’s veterans.”

“No veteran who fought for our country should have to fight for a job when they come home,” Obama said, saying he was looking forward to signing the bill into law.

Miller said he hopes the bipartisanship that led to the jobs bill passing can carry over into other veterans’ legislation.

Politics should never get in the way of helping our veterans,” Miller said. “I have a great relationship with Senator Murray and, together, I think we can get meaningful legislation passed over the next year.”

Passage of the bill is a major legislative achievement for both Miller and Murray, who are in their first year heading the veterans committees.

Miller, though, wasn’t basking in glory.

“Today was a victory for our veterans, not for me or any other politician,” he said. “I did this because there was a real problem and we needed to act. That is what we need to continue to focus on, what is best for our veterans.”