Military Connection: Bills Provide Veteran Support: By Debbie Gregory

The House unanimously passed two bills that will greatly benefit veterans, providing additional support services for training programs and military sexual trauma.

H.R. 2942 reauthorizes the VA’s Professional Certification and Licensure Advisory Committee, which manages licensing and certification for job training programs for veterans returning from war. H.R. 2527 provides counseling and treatment for veterans who suffered military sexual trauma during inactive duty or training. Both of these bills were passed by voice-vote and are a component of the House GOP’s spotlight on the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The idea is to assist veterans obtain a suitable veteran job, and this issue must continue to be an important issue as House at the forefront of what we do to assist veterans as they transition out of the military.

According to H.R. 2942’s sponsor, Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick (D-Ariz.) many veterans return home after duty and may not have licenses or veteran certifications for certain types of civilian jobs. “In a tough job market, this creates one more barrier for our transitioning military men and women that can mean the difference between finding and not finding a job,” Kirkpatrick said.

The Arizona Democrat said that re-establishing the committee would enable more veterans to find veteran jobs upon returning home. “In addition to teamwork, perseverance, loyalty and leadership, our military service members possess technical skills that are valuable to employers,” Kirkpatrick said.

Rep. Dina Titus (D-Nev.) sponsored H.R. 2527. Addressing the previous exclusion of military sexual assault that excluded those on inactive duty, Titus said, “This omission is simply unacceptable and leaves so many who have served our country without any assistance or support during a devastating time.”

With these two new bills passed, veteran job training programs, veteran jobs and military sexual trauma support will be available to these veterans.