U.S. House of Representatives Passes Two Pieces of Legislation Submitted by Rep. Mark Takano

Press Release

Earlier today, the United States House of Representatives passed two pieces of legislation submitted by Representative Mark Takano (D-CA) as amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act.

The Work for Warriors Act (H.R. 4363), introduced with Rep. Paul Cook (R-CA), will create a pilot program to explore the replication and expansion of California's WFW model nationwide. These direct employment pilot programs would enhance the efforts of the Department of Defense to provide employment services to members of the Guard and Reserve.

The second amendment would require the Secretary of Defense to report to Congress, no later than 30 days after enactment of this law, on the barriers to implementing audit reporting requirements and recommendations to ensure reporting deadlines are met.

"I'm proud that Republicans and Democrats came together to approve these pieces of legislation," said Takano. "The Work for Warriors program in California is a successful, cost-effective model for putting our heroes back to work. By creating a pilot program to explore its expansion nationwide, we can replicate its success. It is also important to ensure that taxpayer money is being well spent at the Department of Defense. With the Department of Defense consuming such a large portion of our budget, we must have an accurate and timely audit its finances."

Background Information on Work for Warriors Program: Created by the state of California in 2012, the Work for Warriors program set out to reduce unemployment amongst California National Guard members by 25 percent. Since then, the program has placed more than 2,400 guard members in jobs -- and at a fraction of the cost. Some federal veterans' employment programs cost as much as $10,000 per placement. The Work for Warriors program, however, costs only $500 per placement.

Earlier this month, the Department of Defense agreed to an additional $1 million in funding to the Work for Warriors Program.

Additional Background Information: The NDAA of 2010 required the first ever complete audit of the Department of Defense's financial statements and set a number of compliance deadlines. Earlier this month, the Department announced that it would miss one of its key deadlines.

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