Washington, D.C.  – U.S. Representative John D. Dingell (D-MI15) hosted a Veteran’s Employment roundtable on Thursday to make local leaders aware of recent initiatives that the federal government is taking to combat veteran’s unemployment.

“This roundtable was a great opportunity for me to hear directly from local leaders about what other problems they are seeing in the veteran community, and what we can do together to help solve them,” said Dingell.  “Only when we all accept responsibility for caring for our returning warriors will the problem get any better.”

The Administration and Congress want to ensure that veterans are educated, trained and able to translate their military skills into success in the civilian workforce.  As we complete our withdrawal from Iraq and begin winding down in Afghanistan, there is going to be an influx of veterans returning back home.  Over one million service-members are projected to leave the military by 2016.  It is imperative that we have the proper support systems in place to ensure that our returning warriors have the resources they need to make the necessary transition back to civilian life. 

The unemployment rate among Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans in December was 13.1 percent (7.7 percent among all veterans).  Congressman Dingell explained to local leaders about recent initiatives the federal government is taking to combat veteran’s unemployment.  In addition, they discussed how we can all work together to help our veterans as they return, and what problems local leaders are seeing in Southeast Michigan with returning veterans.

“The rates of unemployment among our veterans continue to be at unacceptably high levels,” said Dingell.  “While the Obama Administration deserves credit for taking the initiative on this important issues by proposing two recently-enacted tax credits for firms which hire veterans, it is clear more needs to be done at the community level.  I hope to continue this important conversation over the coming weeks and months so we can make real progress on these pressing problems facing veterans.”
 

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