*Update: The hearing was delayed and came to order at 10:24 a.m. The live stream is now available.
The House Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity will host a hearing this morning to address growing concerns of unemployment among members of the National Guard. The hearing will come to order at 10 a.m. in room 334 of the Cannon House Office Building. To view the archived webcast from the proceedings, click here.
This morning’s hearing comes in the wake of persistent reports from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics indicating that military men and women serving in the National Guard and Reserve face unemployment at rates of up to 30 percent in certain states. The VFW, which has been vocal on the issue of unemployment in the Guard, will be on hand for the hearing and plans to submit testimony for the record.
Ted Daywalt, president and founder of the VFW-supported employment resource VetJobs, will testify before the subcommittee alongside National Guard leaders from the across the country and Acting Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans Employment and Training Service Ismael “Junior” Ortiz. To view a full list of participants, click here.
The VFW is concerned that unemployment among the Guard and Reserve not only threatens the immediate readiness of the military’s operational reserve force, but also threatens the future viability of the all-volunteer force, which has relied heavily on the reserve component over the last decade.
Veterans’ employment remains a top priority for the VFW in the current Congressional session. VFW leaders hope to build on the success of last session’s passage of the VOW to Hire Heroes Act by ensuring that reserve component service members also have the kinds of job opportunities they deserve.
Updates and VFW reaction from today’s hearing will be available later today on this blog.
it was awesome!!
ReplyDelete