Rep. Mark Takano and Rep. Paul Cook Form Bipartisan Work for Warriors Caucus

Washington DC – This week, Rep. Mark Takano (D-Riverside) and Rep. Paul Cook (R-Victorville) formed the Work for Warriors Caucus, a bipartisan Congressional caucus which will promote and increase awareness of California’s extremely successful Work for Warriors program.

 

The Work for Warriors program was established in 2012 and originally used only state funding to achieve its mission of reducing unemployment in the California National Guard by 25%. Due to the success of the program, the Department of Defense provided an additional $1 million earlier this year to maintain and expand its operations. Takano and Cook recently sent a letter to Secretary Hagel, requesting an additional $1 million.

 

The Work for Warriors program has successfully placed more than 1,700 guardsmen in jobs – averaging 2-3 placements per day. While successful federal veterans’ employment initiatives typically cost over $10,000 per placement, the Work for Warriors program has a total per placement cost of roughly $500. 

 

Takano and Cook will serve as the Caucus co-chairs. Current members include Rep. Mike Honda (D-Cupertino), Rep. Jim Costa (D-Fresno), Rep. Julia Brownley (D-Ventura), Rep. Raul Ruiz (D-Palm Springs), and Rep. Judy Chu (D-Pasadena).

 

“The Work for Warriors program has been a tremendous success in California and the formation of this bipartisan caucus will ensure that its mission of finding jobs for our heroes will remain a top priority,” said Rep. Takano. “I thank my fellow co-chair, Representative Cook, for his commitment to the success of the Work for Warriors program, and I look forward to helping California’s Guardsmen find jobs, support their families and contribute to their communities.”

 

“The Work for Warriors Caucus will promote the Work for Warriors program which has been tremendously successful in helping California National Guard members find employment in the civilian job market,” said Rep. Cook.  “It’s one of the most effective programs of its kind. I hope that our caucus can help to make the program even more successful and expand it to other states.”  

 

“The Work for Warriors program is a model for the rest of the Nation and today’s announcement of a Work for Warriors Caucus is a great leap forward to bringing tens of thousands of jobs to our unemployed warfighters,” said Major General David Baldwin, the Adjutant General of California. “Frankly, these two men, Congressman Takano and Congressman Cook, have shown us in the military that amongst all this partisanship in Washington, they can get things done.  I look forward to working with both Congressmen Cook and Takano to build support for the Work for Warriors program on a national level and bringing jobs to our returning men and women in uniform.”

 

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