Blog Post

House introduces Veterans Opportunity to Work (VOW) Act
Posted by Tom Tarantino on July 12 2011

Loyalty. Discipline. Respect. Leadership. Those are values that any employer would like to see in new employees - and those are the values that make veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan our country's next Greatest Generation. Yet, America’s newest veterans face serious employment challenges. In 2010, the unemployment rate for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans was a staggering 11.5 percent. In June, veteran joblessness hit 13.3 percent, leaving over 260,000 combat veterans struggling to find jobs in the most severe economic recession in decades.

Last week, the House Veterans Affairs Committee introduced H.R. 2433 the Veterans Opportunity to Work (VOW) Act.  This critical piece of legislation will help veterans of all generations find jobs, and receive the job training and retraining needed to stay competitive in this economy. 

If enacted into law this bill would:

• Make Transition Assistance Programs (TAP) mandatory for all separating service members
• Add metrics to judge the effectiveness of the TAP program
• Provide grants to veterans who need additional job training
• Study how military skills translate into civilian certifications
• Strengthen USERRA laws

IAVA applauds the leadership of Chairman Jeff Miller (FL-1) and calls on House leadership to swiftly pass this bill. This Friday, July 15th, IAVA will testify in support of the VOW Act, urging the House Veterans Affairs Committee to bring it to the House floor this summer. Watch the testimony live here.

Veteran of Iraq or Afghanistan? Or an employer looking to hire veterans? Visit IAVA's Combat to Career HQ for ways to get involved and help lower new veteran unemployment by Veterans Day 2011.

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