“No one should fight overseas and then have to fight to get a job at home,” President Barack Obama said on Veterans Day, in support of a White House initiative.
Speaking during his weekly address to the nation, Obama said, “We need to serve them as well as they served us,” and “that requires more than a simple ‘Thank You.”’
The president called on Congress to pass the Veterans Jobs Corps, which was modeled after former President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Civilian Conservation Corps.
The $1 billion bill is designed to establish a network of training centers and put veterans to work on public projects. It was blocked in the Senate in September after Republicans questioned the price tag, instead suggesting the government focus on making current veterans’ training programs more effective.
Young Vets
Recently returned veterans have higher unemployment rates than older veterans, as well as the general population. The government’s recent job report has post-9/11 veterans unemployment at 10 percent—the third straight month of double-digit unemployment, according to a statement from Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans for America.
As services shrink, and “as more than a million of our troops return to civilian life, we’re going to have to work even harder” to help them get back to work, said Obama.
Proud and Strong
At a formal wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, Obama paid tribute to all generations who have served in the nation’s military, and acknowledged one the nation’s oldest veterans, 107-year-old Richard Overton.
“This is the life of one American veteran, living proud and strong in the land he helped keep free,” Obama said.
Overton rose slowly and stood to loud applause when Obama mentioned his name. He then stood a second time at the president’s request and drew more applause.
Obama used his remarks to remind the nation that thousands of service members are still at war in Afghanistan. The war is expected to formally conclude at the end of next year, though the United States may keep a small footprint in the country.
Obama said the nation has a responsibility to ensure that the returning troops are the “best cared-for and best respected veterans in the world.” The country’s obligations to those who served “endure long after the battle ends,” he said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
