President Obama 'Won't Wait' For Congress on Veteran Job Creation Either--Will Take Executive Action

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from HuffPo: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/25/obama-jobs-veterans-executive_n_1030135.html


President Obama To Take Executive Action On Veteran Job Creation

The White House said on Tuesday that President Barack Obama will take executive action to help military veterans find work, bypassing congressional Republicans to show voters he is serious about creating jobs.

"Today, we are announcing two new initiatives that will help create jobs for veterans at community health centers and expand opportunities for veterans to become physician assistants," a White House official said.

The White House will lay out more details later on Tuesday . . .

More veterans may be entering the workforce after Obama decided last week to pull the remaining 40,000 U.S. troops home from Iraq by the end of the year. Jobs may be difficult to find because the U.S. unemployment rate is stuck above 9 percent due to tepid job growth during a slow-growth economy.

"While we will continue to work with Congress to bring up the American Jobs Act piece by piece, we will increase our focus on taking executive actions that fight for the middle class because the American people simply can't wait for the Republican Congress to act," the White House official said.

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read:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/25/obama-jobs-veterans-executive_n_1030135.html

[socialindependocrat]

1. Go - "O"

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2. One of two new hiring initiatives introduced to help increase opportunities for vets

. . . comes via community health centers.

“The Health Resources and Services Administration supports a network of community health centers that deliver high-quality primary care services at more than 8,000 service delivery sites across the nation,” said Mary Wakefield, administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration.

“Today we're challenging those health centers to hire 8,000 veterans – that's approximately one veteran per health center site – over the next three years.”

Wakefield said with the support of the Recovery Act and Affordable Care Act, health centers have added new full-time positions since 2009. “In fact, community health centers have added more than 18,600 new full-time positions in many of the nation's most economically distressed communities,” she said. “Just last year, … health centers employed more than 131,000 staff.”

Wakefield also discussed another new initiative to assist with veteran hirings.

“We are working to speed up the process of training military medics to become physician assistants,” she said. “Nearly $45 million has been invested to support accredited physician assistant training programs in the past two years.”

Wakefield said 57 active physician assistant training grants are available through HRSA. “Going forward, we'll be giving priority in physician assistant grant awards to universities and to colleges that help to credential veterans,” she added.


read more: http://www.defense.gov/News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=65809

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3. White House blog post

Posted by Matt Flavin on October 25, 2011 at 10:53 AM EDT

I think all Americans can agree that veterans shouldn’t have to fight for a job once they’ve come home from the fight overseas. But, all too often, those who have sacrificed so much for America struggle to find a job worthy of their talents. As the President has said, “if you can save a life in Afghanistan, you can save a life in an ambulance. If you can oversee millions of dollars of assets in Iraq, you can help a business balance its books here at home.” Ensuring our nation’s veterans get the opportunities they have earned has been one of President Obama’s top priorities as Commander in Chief.

That's why President Obama called for a new Returning Heroes Tax Credit of up to $5,600 for firms that hire unemployed veterans and a Wounded Warriors Tax Credit that will increase the existing tax credit up to $9,600 for firms that hire veterans with service-connected disabilities.These credits are included in the American Jobs Act. Unfortunately, these tax credits that could help companies hire veterans are held up in Congress.

While we will continue to work with Congress to bring up the American Jobs Act piece by piece, we will increase our focus on taking executive actions that fight for the middle class because the American people simply can’t wait. That’s why today, the Obama Administration is announcing two new initiatives to help create jobs for veterans.

1. Hiring 8,000 Veterans in Three Years: The Community Health Center Veterans Hiring Challenge

Today, the Obama Administration challenged Community Health Centers to hire 8,000 veterans – approximately one veteran per health center site – over the next three years. The National Association of Community Health Centers will also contribute to this effort and joined the Administration in announcing this Community Health Center Veterans Hiring Challenge.

2. Helping Veterans Become Physician Assistants

Under this initiative, the Administration will make it easier for veterans to use the training they have received in the military to become physician assistants. We will begin to give priority in physician assistant grant awards to universities and colleges that help train veterans for careers as physician assistants. In an effort to expand the number of training programs that accommodate veterans, the Administration also will identify model programs that offer expedited curricula for veterans and that offer enhanced veteran recruiting, retention, and mentoring services, and help bring these best practices to other programs.

These efforts build on previous Administration efforts to create jobs for veterans including sending 600,000 veterans back to school on the Post-9/11 GI Bill and hiring over 100,000 veterans into the federal government over the past year and a half. And just last week, First Lady Michelle Obama announced that the American Logistics Association (ALA) and their 270 affiliate companies committed to hiring 25,000 veterans and military spouses by the end of 2013. This commitment is part of the First Lady and Dr. Jill Biden’s Joining Forces initiative to support veterans and military families. The ALA’s commitment will fulfill a quarter of the President’s challenge to the private sector to hire or train 100,000 veterans and military spouses by the end of 2013.

This work is also happening across the federal agencies.The Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs, are working closely with other agencies and the President’s economic and domestic policy teams, to lead a new task force to ensure that every member of the military receives the training, education, and credentials they need to transition to the civilian workforce or to pursue higher education. This initiative includes the design of a “Transition Boot Camp,” which will give service members additional counseling and guidance and help them depart their active duty service “career-ready.”

Over the weeks and months ahead, we’ll continue to take actions like these that will improve the economy and help middle class families including our nation's veterans because we simply can't wait.


read: http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/10/25/we-can-t-wait-supporting-our-veterans