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Honoring Veterans, Help in Hiring
A difficult job market is challenging the soldiers, sailors and airmen who have protected America’s interests by serving in the Armed Forces. The unemployment rate for veterans is higher than for non-veterans nationwide. These men and women are extremely capable. They have valuable skills to offer the workplace. They need job opportunities. This week, the U.S. Senate took action to help by passing tax legislation to encourage employers to hire veterans.
The proposal builds on previous legislation that Senator Max Baucus and I put forward as part of our bipartisan work on the Senate’s tax policy committee. Our law expired at the end of 2010. What’s now being renewed would increase the reward for employers for hiring qualified veterans who have recently completed their service in the military. The new tax credit also would make it easier for veterans and small businesses to use. Those men and women who were activated by their states as members of the National Guard will be eligible to benefit from this tax incentive.
The veterans hiring measure passed the Senate as our nation pauses for Veterans Day.
The eleventh day of the eleventh month is designated as Veterans Day to celebrate as a nation and honor America’s living veterans for their courage, patriotism and sacrifice.
Veterans Day was first called Armistice Day in honor of veterans of World War I. That conflict was called the “war to end all wars,” but of course it did not do so. In World War I, industrial advancements in warfare and the use of chemical weapons led to killing on a massive scale. Combined with the excruciating nature of trench fighting, the horrors of modern war were brought to a new level. This led many people to believe that future wars should be avoided at all cost, that any situation would be preferable to fighting another such war.
Then, in the span of only about 20 years, the rise of Adolf Hitler tested that thesis to the breaking point. The fascist threat was repelled at the cost of much blood and sacrifice by members of what some have called the greatest generation. In Korea, Vietnam, the Persian Gulf War and other conflicts, American blood was spilled on foreign soil to contain threats to American liberty. During the last decade, a new generation of patriots has answered the call of duty. To those who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan, I thank you for defending my freedom and the freedom of all Americans. Those words cannot be said enough.
Like all those uniformed men and women in whose footsteps they follow, members of the Armed Forces continue to make the words “land of the free and home of the brave” ring true. We owe our liberty and our way of life to them.
America’s veterans put their lives on the line to defend freedom, protect national security and secure the safety of loved ones here at home. It’s our duty and our privilege to honor them on Veterans Day for their outstanding service and tremendous sacrifices.
November 11, 2011
A difficult job market is challenging the soldiers, sailors and airmen who have protected America’s interests by serving in the Armed Forces. The unemployment rate for veterans is higher than for non-veterans nationwide. These men and women are extremely capable. They have valuable skills to offer the workplace. They need job opportunities. This week, the U.S. Senate took action to help by passing tax legislation to encourage employers to hire veterans.
The proposal builds on previous legislation that Senator Max Baucus and I put forward as part of our bipartisan work on the Senate’s tax policy committee. Our law expired at the end of 2010. What’s now being renewed would increase the reward for employers for hiring qualified veterans who have recently completed their service in the military. The new tax credit also would make it easier for veterans and small businesses to use. Those men and women who were activated by their states as members of the National Guard will be eligible to benefit from this tax incentive.
The veterans hiring measure passed the Senate as our nation pauses for Veterans Day.
The eleventh day of the eleventh month is designated as Veterans Day to celebrate as a nation and honor America’s living veterans for their courage, patriotism and sacrifice.
Veterans Day was first called Armistice Day in honor of veterans of World War I. That conflict was called the “war to end all wars,” but of course it did not do so. In World War I, industrial advancements in warfare and the use of chemical weapons led to killing on a massive scale. Combined with the excruciating nature of trench fighting, the horrors of modern war were brought to a new level. This led many people to believe that future wars should be avoided at all cost, that any situation would be preferable to fighting another such war.
Then, in the span of only about 20 years, the rise of Adolf Hitler tested that thesis to the breaking point. The fascist threat was repelled at the cost of much blood and sacrifice by members of what some have called the greatest generation. In Korea, Vietnam, the Persian Gulf War and other conflicts, American blood was spilled on foreign soil to contain threats to American liberty. During the last decade, a new generation of patriots has answered the call of duty. To those who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan, I thank you for defending my freedom and the freedom of all Americans. Those words cannot be said enough.
Like all those uniformed men and women in whose footsteps they follow, members of the Armed Forces continue to make the words “land of the free and home of the brave” ring true. We owe our liberty and our way of life to them.
America’s veterans put their lives on the line to defend freedom, protect national security and secure the safety of loved ones here at home. It’s our duty and our privilege to honor them on Veterans Day for their outstanding service and tremendous sacrifices.
November 11, 2011