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News from Rep. Stephanie Herseth
For Immediate Release
Contact: Russ Levsen, 202-226-4449

HOUSE APPROVES HERSETH AMENDMENT FOR VETERANS ASSISTANCE

Increases Funding to Help Recent Vets Start and Operate Own Business

June 28, 2006, Washington, D.C. - The U.S. House of Representatives today approved an amendment offered by Rep. Stephanie Herseth (D-SD), Rep. Susan Davis (D-CA) and Rep. Lane Evans (D-IL) to increase funding for the National Veterans Business Development Corporation. The Corporation helps recent veterans who want to start and operate their own business after they return from military service. The amendment, which would increase funding for the Corporation by $1 million to match FY 2006 levels, was adopted as part of the FY 2007 Science, State, Justice and Commerce Appropriation Act.

Herseth said, "It is crucial that we give America's veterans the opportunity to start and operate their own businesses once they leave military service. Without level funding, the Corporation will be forced to cut back and reduce services to veterans just when our tens of thousands of men and women are returning from service in Iraq and Afghanistan. This program makes an enormous difference in helping recent veterans assimilate back into civilian life and contribute to local economies."

Herseth is the Ranking Member, or highest ranking Democrat, on the House Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee for Economic Opportunity and has made veterans issues a focus of her work in Congress. On Monday, June 19, Rep. Herseth hosted a field hearing on economic opportunity and transitional veterans' assistance at Ellsworth Air Force Base.

The National Veterans Business Development Corporation is a federally chartered 501(c)(3) organization that was created by the Veterans Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development Act of 1999. This Act recognized that America "has done too little to assist veterans...in playing a greater role in the economy of the United States." The Corporation is charged with creating and enhancing entrepreneurial business opportunities for veterans, including service-disabled veterans.

Over the past year, the Corporation has helped over 8,000 veterans undergo business management training, and more than 550 veteran-run businesses have been started as a result of this assistance. More than 200,000 service members will retire from the Armed Forces this year. The Corporation, which began operating in 1999, has helped thousands of veterans overcome the obstacles and barriers of starting a business once they leave military service.

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