Veterans Employment Rights Realignment Act of 2009
Floor Speech
VETERANS EMPLOYMENT RIGHTS REALIGNMENT ACT OF 2009 -- (House of Representatives - May 19, 2009)
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Mr. BOOZMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 1089 as amended, the Veterans Employments Rights Realignment Act of 2009 which would amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for the investigation and enforcement of the employment and unemployment rights of veterans and members of the Armed Forces employed by Federal executive agencies through the Office of Special Counsel and for other purposes.
This bill was introduced by the chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity, Ms. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, on February 13, 2009. Mr. Speaker, as I stated earlier today when speaking about H.R. 466, as amended, the Uniform Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act provides significant protections to veterans returning to civilian employment. In the past, enforcement of these rights was limited to the Department of Labor's veterans employment and training services--VETS. Unfortunately, the VETS case investigation and enforcement process took too long and the 108th Congress required a comparison of the time it took the Office of Special Counsel and VETS to process employee claims involving Federal agencies.
I believe that having the Office of Special Counsel handle all Federal claims is the right way to go because of their expertise in dealing with Federal agencies in other similar matters.
I am hopeful that H.R. 1089, as amended, will not only shorten the time it takes to complete action on the case but that veterans will ultimately see a friendlier Federal bureaucracy when it comes to veterans returning to their former Federal employer.
I appreciate Ms. Herseth Sandlin's leadership in this area in bringing forward this important legislation. I want to thank Chairman Filner and Ranking Member Steve Buyer in moving this bill in a timely manner.
And having no further speakers, I yield back the balance of my time.
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