November 4, 2009

WASHINGTON, D.C. – As the nation prepares to honor its brave veterans next week, Congressman André Carson released the following statement on a series of bills that passed the House this week aimed at improving economic opportunity for veterans. The Veterans Small Business Assistance and Servicemembers Protection Act and the Veterans Retraining Act both improve job retraining opportunities for discharged veterans and better enable the Department of Veterans Affairs to promote entrepreneurship and growth among veteran-owned small businesses.

“Next week, on Veterans Day, Americans across the country will thank our veterans and honor the selfless service of those who answered our nation’s call to duty in times of peace and war.  This week, Congress has stood united to express the sincere gratitude of a nation and to reaffirm our commitment to care for our service members, veterans, and their families.” 

“In these difficult economic times, it is more important than ever that we provide widespread opportunities for our veterans to utilize the skills and leadership they learned in the military to enter fruitful new careers.  With the job training and entrepreneurship assistance provided by these bills, veterans of all skill levels and backgrounds will have a chance to build a sound financial future for themselves and their families.”

On Monday, the House also passed the Military Spouses Residency Relief Act, which ensures that military spouses are able to maintain their residency status for purposes of taxation and voting when they are forced to move because of orders received by their service member spouse.

Congressman Carson had the opportunity to present this legislation on the House floor, stating:

“The sacrifices that military children and spouses have to make in order to stay as one united family are difficult. This is especially true at a time when our country is fighting to protect freedom at home and abroad . . . We need to recognize that military families serve too. It is only fitting to provide military spouses with the ability to retain certain state residency benefits which are already afforded to our men and women in uniform.”

For more information on this legislation and other efforts to improve benefits for veterans, visit http://veterans.house.gov/.

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