Two critical pieces of legislation introduced by U.S. Senator Blanche Lincoln to benefit the brave men and women who have honorably served the nation are today being taken up by the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, a sign that they could soon move from the Committee to consideration by the full Senate.
The first piece of legislation, the "Veterans Employment Act," would address the rising unemployment rate among the nation's veterans, which is affecting Arkansas's 260,000 servicemen and women. The second, the "Honor America's Guard-Reserve Retirees Act," would ensure that the men and women of the National Guard and Reserves who have served the nation for 20 or more years receive the designation "veteran" under the law, a designation that they have earned and deserve.
"Throughout my career in public service, I have worked to provide the brave Arkansans who serve this country with the benefits and services they have earned," Lincoln said. "It is my job to ensure we enact policies that deliver the respect and recognition that these men and women deserve."
The Veterans Employment Act
The Veterans Employment Act would address the rising unemployment rate among the nation's veterans, which is affecting Arkansas's 260,000 servicemen and women who have returned from war. The current national unemployment rate for veterans who have served in the military since September 2001 reached 10.2 percent in 2009, whereas the young men in that group aged 18-24 face an unemployment rate of 21.6 percent. The legislation would address unemployment among servicemen and women by improving training, skills transition, education, and small business assistance programs to benefit veterans.
"Our veterans are well-trained, highly-skilled, dedicated individuals who are an incredible asset to our workforce in Arkansas, but they often need assistance to translate military expertise into civilian employment," Lincoln said. "The job market is a difficult place to be these days, and while we work on strengthening our overall economy to put Arkansans back to work, we can also enact policies that give a little bit of extra help to those who have made incredible sacrifices for our country's well being."
The legislation:
* Establishes a Veterans Business Program within the Small Business Administration (SBA) to provide critical entrepreneurial training and counseling to veterans.
* Includes a Lincoln provision to expand the Post-9/11 GI Bill, which will allow returning veterans to use their benefits for apprenticeship and worker training programs that will help them acquire the skills they need to find stable, family-wage jobs in their communities. http://lincoln.senate.gov/newsroom/2010-4-14-2.cfm
* Creates pilot programs to test ways transitioning servicemembers can build on the technical skills learned in the military and better market those skills in the civilian workforce. It establishes a Veterans Conservation Corps Grant Program and a Veterans Energy/Green Jobs Grant Program to connect veterans with the green jobs market of the future.
* Takes steps to make current job assistance programs work better for veterans. It examines the expansion of the National Guard Employment Enhancement Project (NGEEP), which would provide transition assistance to National Guard members. In addition, it requires the Department of Defense and the Department of Labor Veterans and Employment and Training Service to examine the Transition Assistance program for active duty service members and recommend how to update and upgrade the program to meet the needs of today's veterans.
Honor America's Guard-Reserve Retirees Act
The "Honor America's Guard-Reserve Retirees Act" is bipartisan legislation that would grant full veteran status to members of the reserve components who have 20 or more years of service and do not otherwise qualify under current law.
As defined by current law, members of the reserve components who have completed 20 or more years of service are considered "military retirees." Upon reaching age 60, they are eligible for all of the benefits received by active duty military retirees, such as military retired pay, government health care and other benefits of service, including a number of veterans' benefits. However, if they have not served a qualifying period of federal active duty other than active duty for training, they are denied full standing as a "veteran" of the armed forces.
"This issue is a matter of honor for our men and women who have served in uniform, and the designation of "veteran' is one that should be proudly conveyed upon them," Lincoln said. "This legislation will ensure that those who were never activated, but nonetheless served their nation faithfully for 20 or more years are given the recognition they deserve. All members of the reserve forces volunteer for service and are ready to be activated to defend our nation. Twenty or more years of service should be sufficient qualifying service for full veteran status under law."
This legislation seeks to change only the legal definition of "veteran," not the legal qualifications for access to any benefits.
Lincoln's legislation is endorsed by The Military Coalition--a consortium of nationally prominent uniformed services and veterans associations representing over 5.5 million members.
"While these events may not seem of importance to some, for those who wore the same uniform, were subject to the same code of military justice, received the same training and spent twenty years or more being liable for call-up, this lack of recognition fails to acknowledge their sacrifice," Lincoln said. "I have heard from many Arkansans who have called on me to support this initiative, and I am proud to be leading this effort in the United States Senate."
For her work on behalf of servicemembers, veterans and their families, Senator Lincoln last month received the Military Officers Association of America's (MOAA) 2010 Colonel Arthur T. Marix Congressional Leadership award for her key role in authoring bills needed to secure improvements for servicemembers, veterans and their families. She has also been awarded the 2008 G.V. "Sonny" Montgomery Eagle Award from the Enlisted Association of the National Guard of the United States (EANGUS), the 2009 Award of Merit from the Military Coalition, the 2009 National Legislative Advocacy Award from the Association of the United States Navy and the 2009 Minuteman of the Year Award from the Reserve Officers Association (ROA).