Dear Friends,
Every Veterans Day, Americans come together to remember those who have served our country around the world in the name of freedom and democracy.
The debt that we owe to them is immeasurable. Their sacrifices and those of their families are freedom’s foundation. Without the brave efforts of all the soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen and their families, our country would not live so freely.
On this Veterans Day, we continue to have combat troops deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan. The President is keeping his commitment to end the American war in Iraq in a responsible way with the recent announcement of the drawdown of U.S. forces to zero in Iraq by the end of this year.
This honors the remarkable sacrifice and service of our men and women in uniform over the last eight years, while giving Iraq the best opportunity to build a prosperous and democratic future.
Now, more than ever, we renew our commitment to keep our promises to the nation’s more than 2 million troops and reservists, their families, and 23 million veterans, including more than 770,000 here in Georgia and more than 50,000 in the Fourth District.
Let us also honor the memory of the more than 4,400 Americans who have died in Iraq and more than 1,800 who have died in Afghanistan. We also honor the sacrifices of our wounded: 32,000 U.S. troops in Iraq and 14,600 in Afghanistan. Since 2001, more than 63,000 Georgians have been deployed overseas.
As part of keeping our promises to our veterans, the President and Congress are focused on taking major steps to help our men and women in uniform obtain good jobs when they come home. With one-in-five young returning veterans (between the ages of 18 and 24) from Iraq and Afghanistan looking for work, we have an obligation to make sure our veterans have the necessary tools to navigate this difficult labor market and succeed in the civilian workforce.
I support President Obama’s American Jobs Act and the Hiring Heroes Act that will:
► Provide tax credits for hiring veterans looking for work,
► Strengthen much-needed training programs for separating service members,
► Encourage businesses and government contractors to hire the brave men and women who have developed valuable skills and professionalism while in the armed forces, and
► Ensure that service members leave the military career-ready,
► Effective today, Post-9/11 veterans will be able download the Veteran Gold Card, which entitles them to enhanced services including six months of personalized case management, assessments and counseling,
► Launch the Veterans Job Bank, at National Resource Directory, an easy to use tool to help veterans find job postings from companies looking to hire them. It already searches over 500,000 job postings and is growing. In a few easy steps, companies can make sure the job postings on their own websites are part of this Veterans Job Bank.
With hundreds of thousands of our veterans returning from foreign battlefields to face a tough economy at home, we must ensure that they get the support they have earned. I applaud President Obama for his leadership in putting our veterans back to work. A cutting edge Veterans Job Bank and a Gold Card for enhanced services for our veterans are the kinds of proposals that all Americans can get behind. We owe the men and women who serve our country, and the families that sacrifice to support them, our thanks and dedication as they transition back to civilian life.
Veterans Events in the Fourth
DeKalb: Veterans Day Celebration 2011, Thursday, Nov. 10 on the Decatur Square at 1:30.
Gwinnett: Veterans Day Ceremony on Friday, November 11, 2011, at 11 a.m. at the Gwinnett Fallen Heroes Memorial in Lawrenceville.
Conyers: Veterans Day program at the Walk of Heroes Veterans War Memorial located at 3001 Black Shoals Road on Friday, November 11 at 11 a.m.
Thank you!
