Washington, DC -- Congressman Eliot Engel (D-NY-17) supports President Barack Obama’s Veterans Job Corps initiative to help returning veterans find employment, a plan he advocated in his State of the Union address. 

“The unemployment rate has declined for five straight months, to its lowest mark since January 2009, but the unemployment rate for veterans stands at a whopping 13.1%.  This has to change.  While the private sector has added almost four million jobs in the last two years, we need to find ways to do more for our brave men and women who served their country.  They made great sacrifices for us and the least we can do is make their transition back home successful,” said Rep. Engel.  “The President outlined several very good ideas in his State of the Union, and I call on my colleagues in Congress to act on them now.”

Among the details of the Veterans Jobs Corps are:

·         New incentives to hire veterans as first responders – This expands on the already-successful Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) and Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) programs. 

·         Putting veterans to work preserving and restoring America – This would develop a conservation program to put up to 20,000 veterans to work rebuilding America in such ways as, restoring habitat, protecting cultural resources, operating facilities, etc.

·         Promoting entrepreneurship for future small business ownership – This training program would help veterans learn the fundamentals of small business ownership, and aid them along the way to becoming part of the nation’s job-creating backbone.

“It’s common sense to help our veterans.  It provides them with employment while bolstering our police and fire departments who have suffered from local budget cuts. It is a logical step for service members to move from defending us overseas to defending us at home,” said Rep. Engel.

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