Boosting Rates of American Veteran Employment Act
Floor Speech
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Ms. TITUS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I rise in support of H.R. 1382, as amended, the Boosting Rates of American Veteran Employment Act, or BRAVE Act, of 2015.
According to the April 2015 Bureau of Labor Statistics report, almost 7 percent of post-9/11 veterans are unemployed, which is higher than the national average.
These men and women have dutifully served their country. Now it is our job as Members of Congress to craft policies that will improve and increase employment opportunities for them. This includes improving the Federal contracting process to incentivize private sector companies to hire more veterans when they come home.
The Department of Veterans Affairs establishes long-term contracts with private sector businesses to provide veterans medical equipment, supplies, services, and other things. Currently, the VA gives preference for these contracts to veteran-owned small businesses, but it does not give preference to businesses that actively employ veterans. This bipartisan BRAVE Act allows the VA to consider the proportion of veterans employed by a prospective contractor when awarding those Federal contracts. It also encourages and incentivizes current VA contractors to employ more veterans.
H.R. 1382 deters companies from exaggerating the number of veterans they employ in order to become more competitive for procurement, requiring debarment for any company that knowingly misrepresents its proportion of veteran employees.
H.R. 1382 does not require offsets nor does it add any burdens on taxpayers. This bipartisan legislation will reward companies who hire veterans, thus incentivizing the private sector recruitment of veteran employees. It is, indeed, a win-win-win policy for the private sector, for the Federal Government, and, most importantly, for the veterans, themselves.
I want to thank Miss Rice, who is the sponsor of this bill, Chairman Miller for bringing it to the floor, and Dr. Wenstrup and Mr. Takano--the chairman and ranking member of the Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity--for their work on the bill.
I reserve the balance of my time.
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